Starfighter Origins: Three Space Opera Adventures by M.G. Herron

Author:M.G. Herron [Herron, M.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub

By the time Casey reached the locker room, she was already sweating through her synthweave. It had been dark for hours, and the only lights on in the locker room were for emergencies. It gave the slick tile floor, long mirrors, and rows of rockers a dim, creepy feel.

Her skin itched, and not just from being overdressed.

“Hey, little bird.”

Casey jumped. Renata was sitting on the bench near the back door that led out to the sports fields, lacing up her snow boots.

“I was starting to think you decided not to come.”

She almost didn’t, but wasn’t going to give Renata the satisfaction of knowing that. “Had to get my synthweave shirt from the laundry.”

“You ready?”

Casey pulled on her parka and zipped it up, then dug her mittens and hat out of the pockets. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

Casey swallowed a sigh and trailed the taller girl out the back door and into the cold.

The wind burned her cheeks as they forged a path across the practice pitch and track, both buried in dry snow drifts. She began to follow a packed path on the other side of the track, the trail students ran a few times a week for their daily exercise. This morning was the only weekday morning she hadn’t run the trail since she got to Polar Prep, since they’d cancelled the students’ regular fitness regimen along with their classes.

“They gave us the day off so we didn’t have to run this trail, you know.”

“Just be glad we’re walking. At least it’s already packed down.”

Casey grunted.

At least it was a cloudless night. With Ariadne’s moon reflecting off the snow, they had plenty of light to travel by.

The fitness regimen had made her strong. The path angled up into the foothills, but it wasn’t hard going. Her lungs were used to breathing in the cold air, and for once she was actually thankful for the training Polar Prep required of every student. They said that fitness was a key component of military readiness, and since this was a military prep academy, it was important that they learned the discipline now they would need later, once they were old enough to enlist, or were qualified to proceed to officer training.

Renata made small talk while they walked, asking Casey about what it was like growing up on Ariadne. Being from Oltanis, she never got to visit the capital planet’s main urban centers—where the Osprey manor was located, close to Parliament and the headquarters of other government agencies. Out on the colony worlds, they hadn’t had to ration food and water to support the population, and Renata was still curious about how that worked. Students of Polar Prep were insulated from it. To Casey, rationing was just the way of things, however, Renata’s questions revealed how little she actually knew about the logistics, since dealing with rations was something her parents took care of for her.

“What do you want to do in the Fleet?” Renata asked, changing the topic. “When they finally let you join up.

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