Making of a Starship Captain Ch. 04

The Making Of A Survey Service Captain

By Gary L.M. Martin

[Note: This Science Fiction story is an intense character study with occasional sex scenes.]

Disaster on the Moon

Mike became a senior in high school. His Survey Service exam was looming in just a few weeks. He had been studying intensively all summer. For the rest of his life he would remember the long nights he put in at the Robolawya control room, lying on the brown carpet while listening to the hum of the consoles under the soft lighting. Hal would talk to him and encourage him and keep him strong; Mike didn't know what he would have done without him.

He could see that Allyson was becoming more and more nervous. She was always checking in with him, seeing how he was doing and asking how his studying was going. He wondered if she really had the answers to the exam. It was looking more and more like she didn't.

Still, she tried to project confidence. She had a whole array of tutors who were making sure she was quite ready for every subject on the exam--physics, math, chemistry, electronics, and everything in between. But even Mike could see that she was increasingly nervous.

One day she came to him and said, "Mike, have you given any thought to going to college instead?"

Michael looked at her curiously. "It's a little late for that now, isn't it, Allyson? I haven't taken any of the right courses for that; I haven't even taken the Social Aptitude Test."

"That doesn't matter. Would you like to go to Harvard?"

Harvard? She meant, of course, the Simon Bolivar Institute of Higher Learning.

"Harvard?"

Allyson nodded. "My Dad can get you in anywhere. Even there. Full tuition, a comprehensive scholarship."

His eyes narrowed. "Why, Allyson?"

Her hand roamed over his arm. "Because... we're friends, and I don't want to see you fail."

Mike pulled his arm away. "Well, thanks for the friendly consideration, Allyson, but my mind's made up."

She frowned at him even as he walked away.

********

Two days later, Allyson came out of the closet.

She announced she was trisexual. And also trigendered. She demanded the school provide bathrooms for each one of her genders. The school at first refused, saying she could use the boys or girl's bathroom, but Allyson started a one woman (person?) picket line in front of the school, and it was picked up by the local World Government news network. Allyson's rich family threatened to sue the school unless they created a bathroom for trigenders. Before long the school caved in and agreed to fund the creation of a special restroom for trigenders.

Allyson, riding a successful wave of publicity, created the "33 Club", a safe space for trigendered trisexuals. She explained the purpose in a sympathetic interview with the local World Government media syndicate. "For years we have focused on the plight of trisexuals, and trigenders. But no one has ever talked about the special needs of people who are both trigendered and trisexualized. The 33 Club will lobby on behalf of this neglected and sorely abused group."

********

"What is she doing?" Michael asked.

"What do you think she is doing?" Hal asked. He never answered any of Michael's questions! And yet he was always invaluable in helping Mike sort out his conflicting thoughts. "Mike, do you think that Allyson has suddenly discovered that she is trisexual?"

"No," said Mike flatly. "I think she's worried about the Survey Service exam. I think she's worried she may not do well. She wants another advantage. She thinks that coming out as a trisexual will help her get into the Academy."

"Will it?" Hal asked.

Mike listened to the hum of the consoles for a long moment. The dim, soothing lighting left Hal's face in shadow.

"It might," he said.

********

It was the morning of the exam. "Are you ready for it?" his mother Sara asked anxiously.

"I think so," said Michael, mechanically eating breakfast.

"Have you been studying for it?"

Michael burst out laughing. "Mom, what do you think I've been doing for the past ten months?"

"We're not sure," said his father. "You disappear, late into the night. Don't think we haven't noticed."

Sara looked at him with concerned eyes. "Where do you go, dear? What are you doing?"

"I'm studying, Mom. Really." He saw the way they looked at him. "I found a... relaxing place. It helps me study."

"I hope you do well, son. I hope you get what you want," said his father.

"Yeah, good luck, kid," said Darden. For once Darden didn't seem to be sarcastic.

********

He saw Allyson, at the entrance to Malcolm Shabazz. She took a deep breath. "Are you ready, Michael?"

"I think so," said Mike.

Allyson took another deep breath. She was obviously nervous. She gave him an uncertain look which made Mike feel a bit uncomfortable. "Mike... whatever happens... whether you get in, or I get in, or whatever... let's always be friends."

Mike bit his lip and nodded. "Of course. Sure." He was surprised when she gave him a hug. His eyes widened as he felt her soft warmth against his chest.

They went inside. For some reason they were seated in the exam room facing each other, in two desks turned towards each other, just ten feet apart.

Mike was filled with horror. So was Allyson. As the proctor downloaded the exam to special Pads they were given, they vowed to ignore each other, and get to work.

The test was multiple choice, but it was difficult! It was all subjects Mike had studied, but the questions were not exactly what he had expected. He felt overwhelmed, until he felt Ambition give Fear a punch in the face.

Mike looked up, and saw the shock on Allyson's face. She saw the shock on his. They both subtly nodded to each other. A connection of sorts was made. Then they both turned back to their work.

********

They had a ten minute break at noon. Allyson came over to Mike. "What do you think?" she whispered.

"It's tough," said Mike.

Allyson nodded. "Tougher than I expected!"

"I know!" said Mike, feeling a little better. There were questions on particle physics which he hadn't fully prepared for, hadn't even known that he needed to prepare for. He had had to make some educated guesses.

"Mike... I'm scared," she said, squeezing his hand.

Michael had never seen Allyson like this before. She was so brash, so confident, so outspoken. Suddenly, he felt a special bond with her, a bond created by the tenseness and anxiety of the situation they were both going through together. He said the first words which popped into his head. "It's going to be all right. We're both going to make it."

"We are?" said Allyson.

"Yes," said Mike, sounding confident.

Allyson smiled at him.

The afternoon session was no less brutal. Mike didn't think to look up even once. He gritted his teeth and did the best he could. Whenever Despair raised its head, Determination gave it another punch.

********

When it was over, Mike and Allyson felt drained. They both went to get an equality beverage at the Bogey Café.

"I don't know what I'll do if I don't make it," said Allyson. "I guess I'll wait a year and reapply to college."

"You'll make it. You're smart," said Michael.

"Not as smart as you," said Allyson.

Mike felt oddly jolted by this admission.

"You're smart. Really smart. We all know that," said Allyson. "You're going to make a great Survey Service officer." This was a totally different tune from her. Previously she had told him that he wasn't temperamentally suited for the Survey Service. Now she acting as if it was practically inevitable.

"We're both going to make good Survey Service officers," said Mike, putting his hand over hers.

"It's so rare for them to choose two people from the same High School," said Allyson, in a pained voice.

Mike looked up into her hazel eyes, and saw the pain, and uncertainty.

********

"So how do you think you did?" Hal asked.

"I don't know," said Michael.

"You seem calm," said Hal.

"I am calm," said Michael.

"Good. Very good," said Hal, giving him a rare smile.

********

The scores came out a week later.

"What did you get? What did you get what did you get?" Allyson babbled, getting into Mike's face.

"What did you get?" Mike asked.

"1510," said Allyson. She grabbed his shirt. "Now tell me your score!"

"1510," said Mike.

Allyson's jaw dropped. "No. It couldn't be. Are you being serious?"

Mike nodded.

They had the exact same score.

A 1510 out of 1600 was a respectable score, placing both of them in the top fifth percentile of applicants, that is, scoring better than 95 percent of all those who applied. That was high enough to be admitted, but far from a guarantee of admission.

And Michael Taylor and Allyson Harshbarger had the exact same score.

********

Mike filled out his application and sent it in. He realized the essay was the most important question: why he wanted to be a Survey Service officer. He wrote, and rewrote and rewrote again, until he thought he had given the perfect answer.

He was nervous the day he showed up at the Boston home of Robert Freston, a retired Survey Service officer who would be interviewing him. Freston smiled and shook his hand warmly, and told Mike a little about himself.

Freston had retired as a first officer on the Deep Space Cruiser Aurora. He had fought in not one but two of the wars with Ramada. He had helped discover dozens of planets, and made contact with four alien species. He had retired at the relatively young age of forty to get married and start a family.

"And so why do you want to join the Survey Service, Mike?" Freston asked.

"It's a life of dedication and duty, of thrill and wonder," Mike began, as he had rehearsed it.

Freston's smile faded. "Yes, I've read your application essay. But tell me, why do you want to join the Service?"

Mike's smile faded. He thought he had crafted the perfect application essay. Even Hal thought it was great when Mike read it to him.

"I... uh...."

"Everyone wants the excitement of joining the Survey Service. Who doesn't? But is there anything special about you, Michael? Any special reason the Service should invest time and money and energy into making you an officer?"

Mike's mind raced. "I... I have to become a Survey Service officer."

"Have to?"

"To pay off a debt."

And then Mike told him the story, how the Survey Service had saved his life and his family's lives when he was seven years old on the Space Liner Arcturus. He told Freston of his conversation with Captain Renton, and how he decided that he had to join the Survey Service.

Freston's eyebrows went higher and higher as Michael told his story. He seemed genuinely impressed. He realized that the young man sitting in front of him didn't want to join the Service out of a whim or a lark; he had had a powerful experience in his formative years which had guided him to this very day, and brought him to Freston's doorstep.

"The Survey Service saved my life. I owe them a lot. Now I want to help others," said Mike.

Freston nodded. But then he frowned and looked stern. "But can you do it? Can you be an officer, in the finest tradition of the Survey Service?"

Mike sat up straight. He looked Freston in the eye. "Yes, I can."

Freston stared at him for a long moment. Then he nodded again. "All right, then."

********

Four weeks and two days later Mike heard Allyson Harshbarger yelling at the top of her lungs. He saw her dancing down the hallway with an enormous smile.

His heart sunk.

"I did it!" she said, holding up her Pad. "I got in I got in I got in!" She grabbed Mike and gave him a big kiss on the lips. Mike recoiled, startled.

"Did you hear from them, Mike?"

"No," said Michael.

Allyson's grin couldn't get any wider. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mike. But you tried your best.... I'm going to be the greatest officer in Survey Service history! I'm going to be the first trisexual admiral! Ha ha! Got to go!" And she pranced off, wiggling her hips and her ass with her hands waving above her head, yelling at the top of her lungs.

********

"You didn't hear back yet?" Hal asked. It was two days later.

"No," said Mike. "Since Allyson got in, I don't expect to."

He listened to the hum of the consoles for a long moment.

"So what are you thinking?" Hal asked.

"Probably that they chose Allyson over me," said Mike.

"And what are your plans?"

"I don't know. I could still join the Survey Service as an enlisted man. It might not be so bad," said Mike. But his head drooped as he said it.

"Hey, Mike."

Mike didn't respond.

"Mike, look at me!" said Hal, and his voice had a sharp edge to it.

Mike slowly raised his head.

"You wanted to be a Survey Service officer. It's a career, but it's more than that. It's a way of thinking. Whatever path life takes you, you can still be a Survey Service officer here," and Hal touched his head, "and here" as he pounded his heart, "As long as you live with honor, dignity, and competence."

Mike's eyebrows went up. "I... I never thought of it that way."

"You just did," said Hal, leaning back so that his face was in shadow.

********

And then the next day, Hal's Pad pinged. He had received an official communiqué from Survey Service Headquarters, from Auburn Field in Perth, Australia. His hands trembled as he looked at the message. Should he open it? He couldn't get himself to do it. He was too nervous.

Mike took a deep breath. Then another. He was still trembling. His heart was pounding. He took another deep breath, and said, to no one in particular, "Here goes nothing." And he tapped the message.

Mike read the message once. Then a second time. Then a third time. And then-

"Mom! Dad! I'm going to join the Survey Service!" he yelled, at the top of his lungs.

*********

His parents couldn't have been prouder of him. Even Dad. "I'm so happy for you, son!" he said, and to Mike's great surprise, his father looked like he was about to break out in tears.

"Thanks, Dad," said Mike, feeling stunned. His mother Sara was already on the holocom, calling the entire extended family, to tell them the good news. "But I thought... I thought...."

"I only wanted you to succeed," said Edwin. "I'll be honest. I didn't think you could do it."

"You didn't?"

"No." Dad shook his head slowly. "I thought you would fall flat on your face, and have no options, not the Survey Service, nor college. But you did it. Through determination and energy and skill you got your act together and you did it. I'm so proud of you, son, so tremendously proud." And he hugged Mike again.

When Dad pulled back, Darden was there, with a curious mix of astonishment and respect in his eyes. "Congratulations, Mike," he said. Mike. And then he leaned forward, and gave Mike a hug!

This was the first hug he had ever gotten from his brother. "I'm proud of you, kid," said Darden softly. He pulled back and looked at Mike. "The next time I call you Captain, it will be for real."

Mike couldn't have been more astonished than if Darden had grown wings and flown out the window. Who had come in the night and replaced his brother with an alien duplicate?

"You'll love Pensacola," said Edwin. "It's on the Gulf Coast, a very temperate climate, very pretty. You have enough money saved, right?"

"I think so. The letter mentioned tuition," said Mike, raising his Pad. He had skimmed over that part of it. But then his eyebrows raised as he read it again.

"What?" said Darden.

"The tuition... it's 2000 credits higher than I expected. I'll... I'll manage. I'll get a part time job-"

"No you won't," said Edwin. "The Academy is going to be the most grueling experience of your life. You will need all your time and energy just to avoid flunking out."

"But Dad, I need to make more-"

"I'll take care of it!" said Edwin firmly.

Mike was stunned. He had lost count of how many times his Father had told him he would never, ever pay for the Academy. He opened his mouth to protest, but his father put a finger over his mouth. "I. Will. Take. Care. Of . It." His father spoke with a determined look in his eye.

Mike nodded slowly. This was a side of his family he had never seen before.

"You just be the best Survey Service officer you can be," said Edwin, and there was a tremor in his voice and he looked about to tear up.

"I will!" Mike sobbed, and he hugged his father tightly.

********

Things at school were different too. The kids, who had mostly avoided him since his diary had become public, were now friendly. Suddenly everyone was talking to him. It surprised him when several students who had never spoken to him before called him by name. He hadn't been sure they knew his name.

Even Shanice came up to him. Shanice, who he hadn't spoken to since... since....

"Congratulations, Mike," She said, looking at him with dark eyes. "May I hug you?"

Mike nodded wordlessly.

As he felt her large, soft, warm, and slightly black breasts pressed against his chest, she whispered, in his ear, "I'm so happy for you. We all are."

When he pulled back, he looked into her dark eyes. He saw something new there. Perhaps he would have another chance with her. Everything was changing now.

The most surprising reaction of all, however, came from Allyson Harshbarger.

********

Mike thought Allyson would be excited to hear his news. He was dead wrong.

"Is this a joke?" said Allyson, her face screwing up.

"No, I got in."

"They never admit two people from the same school. Show me."

"Allyson-"

"Show me!" she snapped. She practically wrenched the Pad from his hands as he pulled it out of his satchel. Her jaw dropped as she read it.

"What the fuck?" said Allyson, as Mike winced. She looked up at him. "You did it. You really did it," said Allyson. She looked totally astonished.

"Yes," said Mike. "So I guess that means we'll be going there together-"

"Yeah," said Allyson. "Congratulations, Mike," she said in a flat voice, giving him the most perfunctory of hugs. Then she walked off, looking dazed and confused.

********

"Why?" Mike asked.

"What do you think?" Hal asked.

Mike was starting to wonder why he came there to ask Hal questions when Hal never gave him any answers. And yet, by turning his questions back on him, somehow Mike found himself able to find answers he couldn't get anywhere else.

In all the years he had been coming to Hal, in the comfy Robolawya control room, he had never asked anything about Hal. Not a single question. Was Hal married? Did he have a family? How had he become the night watchman at Robolawya? Did he like it? What did he do before he came here? Mike had always been so wrapped up in his own problems that he never thought to ask, and Hal didn't seem to mind.

"Logically, since Allyson already got in, she shouldn't have minded that I did too," said Mike. "At that point, we were no longer in competition with each other, at least, not until we get to the Academy."

"And yet, when you told her, she looked like her best friend died."

Mike blinked. He had thought that, but he hadn't told Hal that. He wet his lips. "Yes."

"So?" said Hal, swiveling in his chair slightly.

"She... she's not just competitive. She likes pulling people down. She feels taller when everyone around her is shorter."

"Aptly put, Michael," said Hal.

"But sometimes she's so nice to me! Right before the exam, she said she wanted to be friends-"

Hal punched a button, and the holoimage of a Mark 4 Robolawya appeared in the control room. "Mike, what is that?"

"It's a Robolawya," said Mike.

"What's it made of?"