The Signal Out of Space (This Fine Crew Book 1) by Mike Jack Stoumbos

Author:Mike Jack Stoumbos [Stoumbos, Mike Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2021-12-07T05:00:00+00:00

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25 – This Fine Crew

0700 Day 4

Paul Newman

“Klaxon” is one of my favorite Human words. I am told it does not come from English-Human, but originally from some combination of other Terran tribes, one of which is called Greasy-Human. It means some combination of a machine produced sound and a shriek. It is also very close to a Teek word for the same, which is probably the best evidence that it was named for how it sounds, even light years apart with very differently evolving languages. At the Olympus Mons Academy for the Interstellar Initiative, klaxons had to be programmed for optimal reception for all our ranges of hearing.

Just seconds after the last member of our first trial squad confirmed her identity, the station’s klaxons sounded, calling us to attention and making communication very difficult. We knew certain signals and sounds from running the emergency drills. Each of us knew that this was a kind of drill. I assumed it was a first test, a way of seeing what each squad was capable of.

Our wrist devices vibrated and the screen showed our squad’s number and color designation in addition to a new destination. We followed the directions at a fast trot, out of our ready room and into the corridor. Two other squads of five cadets had already been cleared. One group of all Humans was running at full Martian sprint.

Shin yelled, “Pick up the pace!” so we did, as if we were racing. It hardly occurred to me at the time that we were racing, toward the hangers and the sectionally sealed garages.

I was the last to arrive in our next room, where another console was set up. This room had more cameras and a Red Terrain Vehicle, a six-wheeled tank, pointing toward a locked and air-sealed door. In other words, pointed outside to the Martian surface.

Lidstrom waved me over, saying, “Paul, come on! It needs all five of us.” He wore a smile when he said this, welcoming rather than ordering. I scanned my wrist, completing our squad and the video monitor began playing.

The face of Commander Claude Poissonier appeared, with shorter hair than he’d had this morning, indicating a pre-recording. I heard the hiss of the RTVs rear door opening as well, clearly prepped for our arrival and successful sign in.

The commander addressed us. “Squad, your clock has already begun on your first scenario. I will provide directions on this console, and there will be prompts inside the vehicle.”

That was apparently enough for some of my squad, for they split off and started toward the RTV. Shin was the first away. Kesiel hummed and followed. Lidstrom was unsure of which was more important. Arrksh remained, squatting low on her haunches so she was only centimeters taller than me, her arms folded across her chest.

“This scenario and task is being given to squads in waves,” the commander continued. “You all have the same directions and the same equipment. This task was set up so you cannot do it alone.

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