Battleship book1: A new beginning

Making friends and weird dreams

I stared at the hand in silence then looked up slowly, realising it was smaller than mine and softer somehow I knew. Looking up even more I found my eyes to be on the girl that sat next to me on the shuttle up. She was standing there waiting for me to grab her hand and I silently laughed at the thought of her helping me up. So I just pushed myself up and ignored her hand yet offered her my thanks anyhow. She looked at me curiously, well more liked analysed me and simply said "Forget those guys they're jerks". At that comment I laughed and simply shook my head at the 5 ft 6 inch (ish) petite brunet and remarked "I know don't worry about it, anyhow not really a great way to introduce myself but my names... At this she laughed " yes I know your names John" while cocking an eyebrow. I just stood there puzzled. She giggled again and said "its on your name tag". At this I felt like jumping out into the vacuum of space, looking like a ripe tomato I responded with a simple "oh" which in turn made her giggle again. I looked at her name tag and said her name in my head "Jessica". Then I remembered "shit come on were gonna be late". Her face dropped and she quickly turned on her heel and ran followed by myself closely behind her running through corridor after corridor lined with doors and windows alike until we made it into a giant hall. The lecture had already started so we tried to sneak in the back. Which turned out to be a huge mistake as the commander at the front instantly noticed us and shouted "where the hell have you two maggots been all this time". The rest of the cadets were snickering at the front and I looked down. The commander came walking up to us at a slow pace his cold eyes hard and calculating as he approached. I was easily a couple inches taller than him and had a bigger frame and such but this man made me feel like I was two feet tall and I hated it. He walked straight in front of me and Jessica and barked "I wont repeat myself again. Where. The. Hell. Have. You. Been". It didn't seem like Jessica could form a reply so I mustered up the courage and begin to tell him the reason why. Only to be interrupted by the commander who said "on second thought I don't care, drop and give me twenty. I couldn't tell if he was serious or not but apparently he was as he all but shouted " NOW!". I instantly dropped to the floor, Jessica moments later copying me and completed twenty push ups while the cadets at the front were practically howling with laughter. However the commander didn't share they're amusement and shouted at them " You find this funny, drop and give me twenty and any complaints you can do 20 more maggots". To this I shot Jessica a smile which the commander didn't miss and said " ok love birds sit down now that's an order". I rushed over to my seat and dropped onto it sighing in relief of getting of my feet. Jessica doing the same next to me. The other cadets just finishing they're punishment didn't look so amused anymore and say down with dark faces. Once on stage again the commander began his gruelling speech from whence he left of. "You will train for months, you will train for years. Some of you will feel like giving up heck some of you will give up but I can assure you 100% those who are left will be space fearing battle hardened veterans". At this I could feel myself getting giddy and tuning out, thinking this would be a cake walk oh how wrong I was as not even a few hours after the commander finished his speech we were given our bunk numbers (mine being 17) and a two hour r&r session. Which may not seem like a bad thing In fact it literally means rest an relaxation but by the time we found the living quarter a good one hour into our r&r time we were all hot and sweaty. When we reached our specific quarters we hit the showers. This didn't go to plan as there were 5 cadets in a room meaning ten rooms total for just us cadets. So the mad rush for the showers began as everything dropped there things off as rushed towards the bathroom stalls. I just then decided to wait and see as the rest of the teens rushed into the bathroom only for a bald head to pop out and say "theirs five stalls, get in here john". Once again to question how he knew my name only to hear Jessica's voice in my head "it's on your name tag". To which I turned red again and walked towards the bathroom. After finishing up showering and doing my business I decided to lie down for a few minutes only to feel my self succumb to the darkness that is sleep... I dreamt something strange, something I didn't understand at the time. The only way to explain it was weird flashbacks,faves I've never seen before words mumbled or in some cases screamed in a foreign language that sounded distinctly like hissing. It was like watching a movie through someone else's eyes yet they were blinking constantly and has extremely poor eye sight. But that was soon forgotten as I was jolted awake, I shot up out of bed and came face to face with the commander who looked slightly shocked but tho was quickly masked with his usual stone faces demeanour. "What's a djävulen cadet" the commander barked in my face. To this I had no reply but a incomprehensible "huh". The commander slowly repeated him self which was a surprise to myself and said in a snail like pace. "What...Is.....djävulen". "I don't know sir I've never heard of it". The commander moved with a heavy sigh and mumbled something along the lines of " repeated...dream....aliens". But I must of heard him wrong so I dismissed it altogether. " ok maggots get up and follow me were going to the training course to test your physical capabilities and later today where your at in education. So i along with four others got up and followed the commander to where the other cadets were waiting in the hallway. "Get in line now move maggots move". Hastily moving towards the back of the line we were stood by the window. Gazing out into the void that is space is the many distant planets and stars. One day I'll be out there piloting a Goliath class cruiser exploring the unexplored. Shaking out of my fantasy as we started to walk I looked out the window one last time admiring the Orion's sleek surface filled with tiny blips which I knew were the automated turret placements. But it all disappeared as we continued down the corridor at a brisk pace to the gym. I was ready for anything I told myself or more like tried to reassure myself that I was.