6

"So, are you going to tell me about it or what?"

Tox took a sip of wine and leaned back in his chair. Ness had restrained herself for almost two hours. There had been another couple of rounds of drinks, then a set from the Kaf Quartet. Then the entree and the main meal. She had fidgeted more and more as time progressed but she had done extremely well.

Tox shrugged. "Not a lot happened really. He asked me a couple of questions. We chatted for a while."

"Yes, but..."

"I've actually decided that the meeting was to give me a chance to talk my way out of the Academy, not into it. They wouldn't have gone to all this expense and trouble." Though 550 crits was probably nothing to them.

"So did you talk yourself out of it?"

Tox shrugged again. He was worried that he'd been too casual about it. Two scotches or not, he should have shown more respect. He should have shown more care.

They brought out desert and Tox pushed his dumplings around on his plate. He ate one but wasn't really interested. The idea that he might be a part of the Flight Academy in little more than a week was too big a thing for him to be able to continue with his life as if nothing strange had happened. Ness contented herself with eating again though she glanced up now and again. By the time she'd finished Tox had made a mess of the cream and not much else.

"Do you want a game of 3D Boliards?" Ness asked eventually, perhaps inspired by his efforts with the remaining dumpling.

Tox nodded and followed her to the table on the Up side of the room. She stopped a waiter. "We had a bar credit-- can we use it on this?"

The woman explained how, giving them the passkey number that would allow them to do it.

"Thanks. And can we have some more drinks?"

"Of course, Miss."

They were playing before the man returned. The electronic balls floating in the glass box of the table were brighter than and table Tox had played on. The sounds of the balls hitting together was crisper and cleaner. The collisions were more exact. But still he could not stop thinking of the academy. He didn't know how Ness thought he could. After the first game it became apparent that she realised the same thing and decided to increase her efforts.

"Come with me."

"Where to?"

She took his hand and led hi macros to the other side of the bar. There were some stairs there that Tox hadn't noticed.

"Where are we going?" Tox asked again.

But at the bottom there was a sign. There were docks to the left where private yachts could be berthed and sensi-cribs to the left.

As Tox and Ness stood in the intersection, a group of people strode up from the docks. Three of them were obviously guard with Mahute uniforms and weapons at the ready. The other five were strange to say the least. One was barely five feet tall-- a hairy man with a missing arm and beard that hadn't been in fashion for a century or more. Another was a woman with dark hair and an annoyed expression. The other three were closer to normal height. One was slim and pale, the others were as solid as service droids. They were broad across the shoulders, heavily muscled, and looked as if they didn't trust their escort at all. They all wore a badge on their breasts-- two triangles, sides curving inwards, laid one atop the other to form a star.

Tox pressed himself against the wall as they passed. The woman saw him looking. She gave a small, tight smile and nodded once. Then they were up the stairs and gone.

"Come on," Ness said when they were out of sight. She took his hand again and pulled him towards the sensi-cribs.

"I don't know, Ness. This isn't going to distract me." He glanced back once more to where the strangers had gone. But he allowed himself to be dragged along the passage and into one of the cribs. Ness closed the door and examined the controls. She typed in the passkey they'd been given earlier but then had to add an extra ten crits from her pocket.

"What do you want?"

"Really, Ness, I'm not in the mood."

"It's too late now, Tox-- I've already paid. Come on, this is your party. What do you want?"

"All right." He sighed and went over to study the screen. As he examined the list, Ness started to remove her clothes. "Here we go." He hit the button and watched as a beach started to materialise around him. A slight breeze picked up. Waves washed over his feet. When he turned to look at Ness, the system had dressed her in three tiny triangles of material that were hardly worth the effort. He was more distracted then he expected.

Ness started to undo his cummerbund.

Notes

I know all the directions and everything are mixed up. Just assume that I'll fix it and It'll all work. Which of course it will. :o)

5

Keel Sector was the centre cube of the nine that made up the western side of the Station. It didn't line up perfectly with the others but was instead stuck almost half a mile beyond them out into space. This meant that the top half of the Sector, the western half, had better views than most other sections of the station. The Down side could see the planet. The Up side could see all the way out into the Hakahei. The Northern side could see the wild colours and lazy swirls of the Taskano galaxies. The South had the Swarm.

The Flight Deck was raise on a pedestal above all that. It stuck a further 100 meters above the western face and could see it all. Tox may well have stood in the doorway and stared all day had not the door man touched him on the shoulder.

"Mr Intya, Captain Dramil has not yet arrived but has left you a bar credit of 50 crits. Please feel free to make use of any of the facilities on the lower level but we do ask that you don't mount the stairs just yet."

"Sure. Great. Thank you." Tox smiled at Ness and led the way into the room. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"You aren't trying to pick me up are you?"

Tox laughed and sat down at a table that offered views north-- where the strange ship had so recently appeared-- and east. Barely had he settle in when a waiter appeared.

"I'll have a..." Normally he would've had a beer but decided this may well be the only chance he got to have a drink on the Flight Deck. "I'll have a glass of your best scotch."

"The Vinalo 5 in 50 crits a glass, sir."

"Right. Then a glass of your worst scotch." Tox smiled some more. It was probably better than anything he'd ever had anyway.

"You for you?"

Ness gave it some thought. "Just some wine?"

"Very well. Would you like me to chose which?"

"That would be nice, thank you."

When the dinks came Tox sat and sipped and looked out at the view. He chatted with Ness about the Wexler and her Nikota and tried not to think about his interview.

By the time the Captain he was onto his second glass of 10 crit scotch and feeling very mellow. He almost didn't want to go-- though that probably had less to do with mellowness and more to do with subconscious dread. Ness gave him a smile of encouragement.

"What have you got to lose?" she said. "This is further than most people get."

"Right." Tox nodded. "You use the rest of the crits."

He squared his shoulders and he made his way up the spiral stairs in the waiter's wake. There were half a dozen tables, all with views of everything. Star Admiral Hulse sat at one table with his wife. Commander Demoye sat at another with her latest fling. Captain Drimil was the only other person there.

Tox decided that now was not the time to be shy. With a deep breath he touched the waiter on the shoulder and said, "I think I can find my way from here." He walked across to where the Captain sat.

"Captain." He started to bow but Drimil rose to his feet quickly and held out his hand to be shaken.

"Tox. How are you?"

"Excellent, thank you, Sir."

"Good. Good. Not at all nervous?"

Tox let out the breath he'd been holding. "What do you think, Sir?"

"I think the next few minutes could change your life."

"Yes, and it makes me feel a whole lot better hearing you say it."

The Captain laughed and Tox relaxed even more. When Drimil was on TV talking about the Flight Academy or presiding over ceremonies it was hard to imagine him as a man had bad hair days just like everyone else. He didn't have bad hair today but... Tox tried to keep himself focussed.

"Would you like another drink?"

"No, thank you, Sir. I think I've had too much already."

"Did you know that the alcohol served here is stronger than anywhere else on Ereal Station. Almost twice as potent, in fact. Even the illegal stuff sold by the Knoglin Clan is lite in comparison."

"Well then, I've definitely had too much."

"I can remember the first time I came in here. I didn't drink anything for more than an hour. I just moved from table to table down stairs admiring each view in turn. I course, I wasn't given a 50 crit bar tab though."

"Thank you for that, Sir, though I dare say it was as much a ploy as a kindness."

"You're right, of course."

"And if I hadn't had so much to drink and wasn't so relaxed I probably would've have mentioned the 'ploy' at all."

"Why's that?"

"Because if I don't know about it, then the advantage is yours. If I do know and keep my mouth shut, the advantage is mine. If you know I know then it's all back to a level playing field." Tox looked around at the Flight Deck. "Well, not quite level. You have too many advantages to count, but you know what I mean."

The Captain smiled. "Right, let's get a bit more serious. Why do you want to join the Flight Academy?"

Tox gave it some thought. He could see the Captain watching him carefully. He decided to avoid the pithy, 'Who wouldn't' answer. He probably shouldn't mention the romance of the uniform. Or the power of being in control of a few million tons of starship. "Well, one thing is, I love ships. Always have. I know just about everything there is to know about the smaller varieties but I still want to know more. But mainly it's people. There are billions of them out there, on hundreds of worlds and without the Mahute Trading Company ships linking them all together the human race will fragment and fracture like it's done a dozen times in the past."

"So you want to join the Academy so you can save the human race?"

"That's part of it yes. That's the big picture. Seeing the universe for myself is also an attractive idea."

"And the uniforms? Women love them. The fame and fortune? And those huge ships?"

Tox laughed. "Those are great too, Sir, but I'd do it for room and board."

"Good. Excellent answers. You've thought about the big reason but don't feel the need to hide the small." He took the last sip of his drink and pushed a button on the table. A waiter appeared a few seconds later with another glass. Now, you've applied for every intake since you were 15 years old. Did you know all there was to know about small ships ten years ago?"

"Pretty much."

He nodded and had a small smile that said-- you don't actually know all that much at all. "You wanted to save the human race ten years ago?"

"Well, let's just say it was higher on my agenda than the uniform."

"But below the huge ships?"

Tox laughed. "Of course."

"You realise you were probably too young when you were 15 and are probably too old now?"

"And yet here I am, Sir."

"Yes, here you are. You wouldn't mind being in a class with a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds, most of whom have known they'd be going to the academy since they were children?"

"Right now, Sir, there's nothing I'd rather be doing."

"And the money. The study allowance is far less than what Tinner is paying you now. And you wouldn't be able to continue working Red Shift."

Tox shrugged. "I'll do whatever I have to do, Sir."

"Well, Tox, I think that's about all for now." The Captain rose to his feet and held his hand out to be shaken again.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Sir. And just let me say that I would not let the Academy down."

"We know about your background, Tox. We know the type of person you are. We know you wouldn't let us down. We'll be in touch."

"Thank you."

"And Tox, there is another 500 crit credit for you. Why don't you and your friend stay and have some dinner and enjoy some of the entertainment. You will be required to leave by the end of Blue Shift."

"Six hours on the Flight Deck? Ten years of applications were worth every moment."