Breaking Through Limits (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 2

"Partnership. Commitment. Teamwork. These are principles we value highly here at the Lunar Academy of Excellence. If you wish to excel here you will do well to value them as well." The instructor, a man by the name of Colonel Marten, droned on and on, pacing back and forth in front of a view screen where his words were instantly reproduced in red holo letter. The classroom was the same dull gunmetal gray as the rest of the ship and no attempt had been made to decorate the walls other than the ubiquitous strips of colored directional lights.

Harry felt his head nodding and jerked back to attention, trying to keep from falling asleep in his hard plasti-wood desk. Gaius had been right about one thing - he'd been up something like fifteen hours the day before and after the ardous transport ride and the rush to get uniforms and class assignments, he was beat. It had been all he could do to toll out of his bunk in the common barracks he had shared with fourteen or so other new recruits at the sound of revelry playing over the loudspeakers.

All around him he saw freshly shaved heads nodding as the other new recruits tried not to drift off. And why should they stay awake? he thought resentfully. So far nothing he had heard in the Academy orientation was any different from every pep talk he'd ever gotten from every coach he'd ever had Earth-side. Any minute he was expecting to hear that "there is no I in teamwork" and "if you fail to plan you plan to fail". It was boring, not nearly what he'd imagined back when the recruiters had come around telling how they needed a few good men and he was the one they wanted.

"Partner assignments and permanent classifications, so listen up, people." The words of Colonel Marten, who looked to be in his mid-thirties with prematurely graying hair, finally got Harry's attention. Marten was wearing the crisp black and silver uniform of the Academy staff and striding back and forth in front of the plasti-wood podium as though inspecting the troops, which Harry supposed he and his fellow new recruits were, in a way.

"Now hear this," Marten continued. "I don't want to hear any complaints about any of these assignment.I know you all think you're here to be Admiral of the Fleet and you're certain that your best friend since nursery school ought to be your permanent partner but I'm here to tell you that isn't necessarily the case. The Academy did extensive aptitude and psychological testing on you before you set foot on the transport to come up here and let me tell you, the tests are never wrong. No ifs, ands or buts." As he spoke he scooped up and info grid from the podium and shook it in the air to make his point. "So let's get started." He looked down at the grid and cleared his throat. "Anderson, you're going to be in our engineering corps and your partner assignment is Wakens."

"Excuse me, Sir?" The bucktoothed recruit beside Harry shot his hand in the air, waving almost frantically.

"Yes, Anderson?" the instructor growled. "Problems already? You think Wakens has BO and you can't stand to live with him?"

"Oh no Sir. I-I'm sure Wakens smells great."

There was a ripple of suppressed laughter and the indignant Wakens at the back of the room muttered, "Damn straight."

"Well then?" Colonel Marten glowered. "Would you care to share your problem with the rest of the class?"