RIPE & DRAGGERS

CHAPTER 1

Graduation day finished on schedule. Across the street from the dormitory windows you can see the maintenance crew starting to remove the fold-able chairs from the academy's central park. A few students still wearing their ceremony cloths linger around the place with friends, and by the way their cloths dance to the wind and the dry leaves starting to float to the swift breeze you can feel that summer is over.

Standing by the window you can smell the new season coming. The bright yellow trees that drowns your eyes in color slowly looses the luster into pale gray pictures of falling leaves and dried tree branches.

It is quite remarkable how the morning was so bright but the afternoon colder, he thought.

Standing there he remembered his childhood and all those wonderful things between summer and fall. For him, the changing of the seasons always bring different vibes of blanketing air of peaceful aging, and the menacing humor that comes with it.

To look at it from this window is comforting in an intoxicating way.

If not for the banging on his door he would have stood by the window for the rest of the day, but here is this loud hammering that wakes him up irritatingly.

The man by the door, hitting it like fiesta is the dorm head master.

"Are you packed?....so sorry to rush but your transport is at the deck."

He turned around to face the 'dork' head master "I know, I know." he answered "And so is the outpost captain waiting with enthusiasm ...ugghh." he added in between sighs.

The dork head master almost laughed, "Well your new vocation of choice is based on promptness you know."

"Yeah...the perks of foreign service. Spread peace and be quick about it." he said in mid stride to collect his bag and headed down the hall.

He continued to the stairs leading to the main hall that brags his academy house logo largely printed in the marble floor of the lobby. A round shield with crossed Runkan arrows in the middle encircled with pearl leaves at the rim; with the large embedded motto in the middle of it saying "Conquer the Universe with Peace."

He paused right in front of the proud logo and he thought how stupid it is to use both words conquer and peace in one sentence to promote an ideal.

He realized this may be the last time that he may see this astounding marble floor so it is only fitting to give it the final salute of respect.

Seeing how the lobby was empty or even the whole building for that matter, he sighed and pulled the spray gun from his bag.

What he holds now is a portable paint spray gun that contains mill-ink. He smirked at the thought that it would be almost impossible to remove the stain once he uses it.

He knelt to the floor and crosses the word peace with the spray painter. Right on top of it he wrote the large 'Bob' to replace the word he crossed out.

The dork head master right behind him saw what he did and almost bursted into flames at the atrocity.

"Very funny man.....you do realize that it will be me to clean that up, you fuckin' retard."

Bob stood up and gathered his things, and without looking at the dork continued to the main door while giving him the finger.

When he reached the front porch, a mini-frigate class cruiser is right in the middle of the deck with a skinny outpost dressed man standing in front of it. Walking towards the transport he can notice how the skinny guy looked like a horror show host in the history channel.