Song of Stars

Chapter 3: Most Boring Job

Juniper fidgeted with her bracelet while everyone else seemed to pace. The tests results weren't coming fast enough.  "Don't worry, Juniper, everything will be fine." Nova said and the words echoed in her head. 

"Shh." Juniper snapped.

"What?" Byron snapped.

"Sorry, a sneeze." She lied. Byron stared at her a little longer. "Seriously, I sneezed."

Byron looked like he had more he wanted to say but the man child poked his head out of the room. "Well, don't stand there gawking like a bunch of seagulls. Come, take a look at your grade and your stations."

Everyone crammed through the door nearly at the same time. At the front was a hologram of a chart with everyone's names and pictures we took a year prior. Byron and Rachel were at the front before anybody could move to take a closer look. 

"Alright! I knew it!" Byron punched the air in his excitement and nearly hit a richly dressed girl. "Sorry." He muttered sheepishly and moved out of the way.

"What?" Rachel walked with Byron toward the door. "What did you get?"

"Medic on U.S.S Song. What about you?"

"Communications for Fort Gates." 

Juniper's heart pounded in her throat, and got louder and louder with each step forward. One by one each person either squealed with victory or slumped their heads in defeat. There weren't that many recruits this year. The numbers were less than twenty.

It took Juniper a few moments longer to find her name. Each exam had four marks to pass. The first mark was the least important, alien language, which she passed flawlessly. The next was engineering, and understanding of ships, which she barely passed. That was to be expected. Anatomy was next, and that she barely passed as well. Finally, rules of exploration, which was nearly flawless.

The man child coughed loudly next to her. She nearly jumped away from him. Everyone else had exited the room. It was only the two of them. "We were aware of your NovAI before the test." He pointed at the final row, which she missed, marked with HM. "Your health was also taken into account when you did your physical last week, you remember that, right?"

Juniper barely remembered. She had passed out midway and was afraid she'd for sure fail, but she was assured that it happens often. "Yeah."

"The doctor didn't realize of your...malformations in the brain, and accidentally took out the AI. We were able to get a serial number off of it and contacted the doctor that did your surgery. He was able to update us further on your health." He gave her a sideways look, and suddenly Juniper felt smaller than the man. "You should have noted it before the test."

Juniper sucked in a breath through her teeth. "I didn't cheat, though."

"Nobody said you did. However, we modified your test to take your AI into account still, just in case. I must say, your comprehension of alien languages is most impressive, and proved to me that I made the right decision in modifying your test, even if your overall score," he gestured to the last column, "failed to meet the benchmarks."

Juniper's stomach sank. She received the lowest test scores, but they still gave her a position.

"Welcome to the Corps, Juniper. You'll report here tomorrow, second floor, room 210, 1300 on the dot and don't be late."

Juniper's stomach sank further as she read the position. Interpreter. "Wait, Interpreters...they stay here on Earth, don't they?"

"Yes, most do. Some are rented out during peace treaties or when other ships are going to farther quadrants of space and no other interpreters are on board. It's not all that bad, my dear, I assure you. I should know. I was the interpreter during the Jacir Wars. I helped negotiate the treaties and stopped the extinction of an entire species due to my talents." He stood taller, proud of his more youthful self as he gazed past her, into his own past, then he shook his head. "1300, Juniper. Don't be late."

She sighed.

"It's not all bad," Nova reminded her during dinner. Her parents had looked relieved when she told them, then they went about their business. It was nearly time for their quarterly report, and they had waited until the last possible minute again to put it together and send it in. It left Juniper alone at the table, staring at her food.

"Still, it's not fair!"

"That isn't accurate. There was going to be a 20% chance of you passing the other parameters with or without the modifications, Juniper. Your math skills aren't exactly average of someone of your age."

Juniper groaned. She wanted to do nothing more than crawl into bed. Interpreter was a boring position. She'd stay here on earth, and help immigrant aliens come and go, and speak on their behalf in front of judges who would either accept them as a visa candidate or reject them outright. It wasn't what she dreamed about. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.