Making of a Starship Captain Ch. 09

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

Partners were optional in the survival course.

They were to be dumped in the middle of nowhere, with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, a few ration cubes, and a very vague map. Their goal was to get to the evacuation area in four days. The only problem was the very real possibility of getting lost... or getting captured.

They were called the "Blue Army", presumably because they wore blue jumpsuits. If contestants were captured by the Blue Army, they would be held until the four days were over, and they would lose.

If they didn't arrive at the exit point in four days, they were eliminated. But even if they did arrive at the exit point, if they were in the last ten percent of the class to get there, they would also be eliminated.

The survival course was much feared at the Academy. It typically caused twenty to thirty cadets to drop out, or be dropped. Occasionally, a cadet would even die. A lot could happen in four days.

Partners were not required, but were highly recommended. And so, as Taylor saw people pairing up, he felt panic setting in. He went to Cherry's quarters.

"Hey Mike," she said, studying her Pad. She looked at him. "Who died?"

"No one," said Taylor. "Have you been thinking about the survival course?"

"Yeah," said Cherry.

"I was wondering... ah...." He felt his confidence draining. Why was this so hard?

"What?" said Cherry, smiling at him.

"I was... wondering if you have a partner yet."

Her face fell. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mike," she said. "You should have asked me yesterday. I already have a partner."

Taylor felt rage and anxiety bubbling within him. "W-Who?" he asked.

Cherry's smiled returned with a vengeance. "Why, you, of course, silly."

********

Taylor talked to upperclassmen who had gone through the survival course and researched what to do expect. So did some of the other cadets who wanted to be prepared. Taylor held an impromptu strategy session with Cherry, Joanna Martin, Andrea Farber, Ernie Maslarov, Sophie Astor, and Mohammida Najjar.

"They seem to use two or three different pieces of forest over and over, somewhere not far from here in the south-central United States," said Taylor. "The terrain varies, but usually there are mountains, grass lands, and forests. We're given maps right before we start, but the maps have purposeful gaps and errors in them." He looked up. Everyone was listening respectfully to what he had to say.

"There are several enemy bases where the Blue Team operates from. Some will be noted our maps, but others won't. I think of all the terrain the best to traverse is the forest. It will provide the most cover."

"Which is why I would avoid it," said Sophie Astor. "That's exactly what the Blue Army would expect us to do."

"And what would yew do?" Joanna Martin asked.

"Travel by night, and take the grasslands," said Sophie. "It will be quicker, and we won't be stumbling over tree roots at night."

"I agree with Sophie about traveling at night," said Taylor.

"Only at night?" said Mohammida.

"The actual distance we have to cover isn't that great, only 30 to 35 miles, and we have four full days and nights to do it."

"Assuming we don't get lost," said Cherry, smiling at him.

"Assuming we don't get lost," said Taylor, smiling back at her. "If it's only 35 miles, we have the option of walking half the day and resting the other half. I prefer to walk at night, to avoid detection."

"You stumble around the trees at night," said Mohammida. "Me, I'll walk in broad daylight."

"Mohammida, are yew out of your mind?" Joanna said.

Mohammida smiled. "In the mountains, I can see them coming for miles. Besides, I come from a mountain clan. I feel at home in higher elevations. Safer."

You didn't feel so safe on Ramada, Taylor thought. But he admired her determination, so he said nothing.

********

They were blindfolded, searched, taken up in a transport, then down again, put in air busses, and then at the end of their journey the blindfolds came off. They were on a dirt road by the edge of a forest.

Sergeant Lionel Chappie stood there glaring at them. "So nice to see all of you. Especially since I probably won't be seeing a number of you ever again. You are each being given maps, and food concentrates, enough to keep your bellies overflowing for the next four days."

Taylor took his packet, which had tiny food cubes, a canteen... and a map. He took out the map and eagerly looked at it.

"Your task is simple. To get to the exit coordinates in four days. You will have no electronic guidance, not even an old fashioned compass. All you will have is the sun and the stars... and your wits, if you have any." Chappie stared at them for a long moment and then added, uncharacteristically, "Good luck."

********

Day One: High Noon

Over 200 cadets flooded off the road into the forest. At first it was crowded; but very quickly they started to fan out, and before long, Taylor was on his own with Cherry. When they could see no one else in the vicinity, Taylor raised his fist, and Cherry obediently stopped.

"Trouble," said Taylor grimly.

"I saw it," said Cherry.

According to the map (if it could be believed) there was a ribbon of forest that ran from their starting to the exit point. That was the good news. The bad news was that the forest route was close to not one but two Blue Army bases.

"And then there are these little squiggles," said Cherry, staring at the map. "What do they mean?"

"Bog," said Taylor.

"Bog," said Cherry.

"Bog," said Taylor again.

Cherry sighed, causing her small, half Chinese breasts to thrust out. "So what do we do, Mike?"

"We could take the mountains, but that would take longer. A lot longer. We'd have to cut a wide ring around here, see?"

"Yeah," said Cherry, studying the map. "And the grasslands are out. No cover there."

"I'm thinking the same thing."

"So what do we do, Mike?"

Mike studied the map again. As he did, he was conscious of Cherry leaning against him, of her body so close to his, when they were all alone in the-

Not now!

"I have an idea," said Taylor. "Look, see the river that bifurcates the map?"

Cherry peered at the map. "Yeah, I see it."

"We could cross it before we get close to the enemy bases," said Taylor.

"How big a river are we talking about, Mike?" Cherry asked.

"I don't know," Taylor confessed.

"I'm from Los Angeles. The only swimming we do is in pools."

"We can do it," Mike said.

Cherry looked at the map, and then at him. "That's all I needed to hear, Mike."

********

At first they walked in the daylight. Taylor didn't expect there to be any enemy patrols. Not because there were no enemy bases on the map--he hardly trusted the map. Rather, common sense told him that the Survey Service would give them some breathing room to acclimate before making things difficult for them.

At dusk they ate some of their food cubes and drank from their canteens. Cherry made a face as she bit into one of the cubes. They would be nutritious, to be sure, but hardly filling. They had walked all afternoon but were hardly tired. Suddenly Taylor saw the value of all those long runs around the perimeter. They had built up endurance.

Day One: Night

They kept walking into the evening. They came to a heavily wooded area that roughly corresponded to the one on the map which Taylor still didn't fully trust. Taylor paused to find a fallen piece of wood, about the length of a walking stick, and picked it up.

Luckily it was a full moon, so they could see where they were going. Probably, it wasn't luck at all, as the Survey Service timed this exercise this way. As they walked ,Taylor heard the chirp of the crickets. There was something decidedly intimate about being alone, in the forest, at night with a woman.

And not just any woman, but Cherry Oteri.

Taylor and Cherry weren't touching, weren't even directly looking at each other, and yet there was a certain intimacy, a togetherness, about walking together like this. Alone, together, in the forest, anything could happen. Taylor knew anything would not happen; he was too smart to try to insert a romantic encounter into a serious situation like this; but still the possibility excited him, and put a spring into his step.

What if Cherry tried something when they went to sleep? What if, when daylight came, when they went to sleep, Cherry made a sexual advance on him? Could he resist it? Taylor feared and fantasized about it endlessly.

It wasn't as if he were starved for sex; it had been less than two months since he had last been with Sarah Blade. Poor Sarah! He sometimes wondered where she was now! He had had sex with her on five different occasions which, he was sure, should be enough to satisfy any man for months, if not longer.

And yet, with Sarah gone, his thoughts increasingly turned to Cherry. Taylor thought Cherry was simply gorgeous. Sometimes when he was walking behind her, he would admire how the moonlight showed the nice shape of her firm ass. The same moonlight also reflected off her dark, silky half-Chinese hair. Other times, when they were walking side by side, he would look over at her, and she would immediately smile at him. And then Cherry had this... habit... of accidently brushing against him while they walked. It was just a brief touch of an arm, or a leg, but it drove him wild!

What if she lay by him when he slept? What if she reached out and touched him? What if she kissed him? Could he resist her? He didn't think he would be able to. Part of Taylor feared the result of such an encounter. But another part of him wanted it more than anything.

Suddenly his foot started to sink into the ground, and Cherry cried, "Bog!" and pulled him back.

Cherry felt the ground gingerly with her foot. "It's soft all around here. We could sink through without any warning."

"That's why I brought this," said Taylor, holding up his walking stick.

She grabbed his arm. "Mike, I have the utmost confidence in you. But do you really think that we're going to be able to use that to navigate patches of quicksand, in the dark of night?"

"Why not? It worked on the Moon."

"On the Moon?"

Taylor probed the ground to the left with his stick. It felt solid. They started again, at a slower pace, as Taylor sampled each piece of earth before stepping on it. He instructed Cherry to walk only where he walked.

As they started moving again, Taylor explained what had happened on the Moon, how he had taken a rod from the Space Bus and used it to probe the ground in front of him to lead the other students to safety.

"That was incredibly brave of you, Mike," said Cherry.

Taylor was acutely aware of how tightly she held onto his arm as they walked. There was something comforting about it.

"You took command. You showed leadership skills. You're going to be a wonderful Survey Service officer," she said.

"Thanks," said Taylor, feeling a tingling in his body.

They continued to walk through the night. Sometimes the bogs were so wide that they had to go some distance to get around them. It was hard to see the stars through the tree cover, but Taylor had always had an innate sense of direction, and felt confident that they were moving west, the direction they needed to go.

They paused once to take a bathroom break, which was almost Cherry's undoing. She went behind a tree, but then Taylor heard a scream. "Mike!"

Taylor ran to her. Cherry had sunk knee deep into a bog and was on the verge of falling face forward into it. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Thanks!" she said. She looked up at him. "I guess this teaches me a lesson for leaving you." She smiled at him, and Taylor felt another nervous tingling, and shyly looked away.

Day Two: Morning

They were tired by the time they could see the first rays of light. They settled down by a cluster of thick trees that would hide them from casual view.

"I'm tired," said Cherry, smiling at him as she lay just a foot away. She was too close!

"Me too," said Taylor.

"But somehow I can't sleep," said Cherry.

This is it! She's going to make her move!

"Talk to me, Mike," said Cherry suddenly.

"About what?" Taylor asked.

"I don't know. Tell me why you joined the Survey Service."

Taylor paused, considered, and nodded. He told Cherry the story of the Arcturus, and how the Survey Service had saved their lives. Cherry's eyebrows went higher and higher as she learned that Commandant Renton had been the very same officer who had saved him, all those years ago.

"That's incredible!" she said. "Does Renton know who you are now?"

"Oh yes," said Taylor.

"How did he react?"

"He's a very hard man to judge. It always feels like he's looking straight at me, even though he can't see me."

"I wonder why he didn't get ocular implants," said Cherry.

"I'm not sure. I was too young to read about it at the time, but years later, when I did go back and read press stories about the Arcturus incident, I saw some mention that EM radiation had damaged his visual cortex of his brain, not his eyes. He's lucky he didn't die when he went out to attach those magnetic grapplers," said Taylor.

"And so, since he saved your life, since the Service saved your life, you wanted to join to pay them back."

"Yes, but more than that. I... it's hard to put into words... I want a life of consequence. A life of meaning. The act of saving so many people... there's nothing more important than that. That's the kind of life I want to lead."

"Hopefully without losing your eyesight," said Cherry. "But I know what you mean. My parents both worked for the World Government. They were horrified when I told them I wanted to join the Survey Service. But I was just as horrified as going to work for the World Government. They are bean counters, Mike. They don't accomplish anything. Though of course I would never say that to Mom and Dad's face. They were hurt enough when they learned I didn't want to follow in their footsteps. I remember my Mom told me, 'But Cherry, working for the World Government is normal, and safe', and I told her 'Mom, I don't want to be normal. I don't want to be safe' and she got this horrified look on her face as if she suddenly discovered she had given birth to a space alien."

Taylor smiled. "I thought I was the only one who had to fight his parents about this."

"No, Mike, you weren't," she said, and she felt him touch his hand. Her voice started to get sleepy. "Mike... do you think we'll be together, after graduation? Do you think they'll post us to the same ship?"

"I don't know," said Taylor. "It's not under our control."

"I hope so," said Cherry, squeezing his hand.

"I hope so too," said Taylor, squeezing it back.

Day Two: Night

They woke around nightfall, when the last embers of daylight were burning out. Their bodies felt stiff and cold. They got up and ate and drank a bit. Then they started walking again.

The bogs were thinning out, so they could go faster. Taylor walked, step by step, with Cherry following behind.

And then, a few hours later, in the dead of the night, they both heard a sound. Like a twig snapping.

They both froze.

They heard another twig snapping.

"A squirrel?" Cherry whispered, her face frozen in fear. "A deer?"

A moment later they saw a light. Then several lights.

Not a squirrel. Not a deer. A search party.

Cherry and Taylor shrunk behind a tree. They watched the search party come closer and closer. There were seven or eight of them. They were armed with what looked like compression rifles. Taylor couldn't get a good look at them in the dark, but they wore some kind of uniforms.

As they got closer, Cherry whispered, "Do we run, Mike?"

Taylor shook his head vigorously and whispered, "Quiet."

They needed to be silent now, as the closest searcher was now only feet away. At their closest approach the searchers were only about fifteen feet away. They waved their flashlights casually left and right. Taylor could sense from their movements that this was a routine patrol. Taylor and Cherry watched them come... and then eventually go.

As the lights faded in the distance, Taylor realized that Cherry had been holding his hand tightly. He looked at her sexy face in the moonlight. "It's all right now. We can go."

Day Three: Morning

They stumbled behind a cluster of trees and collapsed as dawn was breaking. After two days of constant walking they were getting worn out. As they lay there, chewing their food cubes and drinking from their canteens (they had been lucky enough to find a babbling brook to refill them), they talked about their classmates.

"I wonder how the others are doing?" Cherry said. "I'll bet Ernie Maslarov is going to turn this part of his book into a travel guide."

Taylor laughed.

"And Mohammida, Mohammida will cross the finish line proudly carrying the head of the leader of the Blue Army. She'll present it to Sergeant Chappie, and yell, 'For the Greater Glory of Laquinta!"

Taylor laughed again. "You have a wicked sense of humor, you know that?"

"Do I?' she smiled at him.

"That's what I like about you."

"The only thing you like about me?" she said, flirting with him. When he didn't immediately respond, she said, "It's true I'm no tremendous beauty, like Andrea Farber, with her bright green eyes, her long red hair, and her big... you knows."

"Don't say that, Cherry!" said Taylor.

"You think she's pretty, don't you?" Cherry asked.

"Well, of course she's pretty," said Taylor.

"Of course," said Cherry, as if she had just been slapped in the face.

"You like staring at her... things," said Cherry.

"No I don't!"

"I've seen you do it!"

"Well, all right, I've looked at them. But that doesn't mean I like them."

"You hate them. You hate them with a passion," said Cherry, and she laughed.

"You're such a tease!" Taylor said. "And jealous, too!"

"Me? Jealous!"

"You, Jealous. You're jealous of Andrea Farber."

"No I'm not!" said Cherry.

"Yes, you are," said Taylor. And he tickled her. She tickled him back, and they both laughed. Now they were lying side by side.

"You're fun, you know that?" said Cherry.

"You are too," said Taylor.

"I'm glad you're with me for this, Mike," said Cherry. "You're much more fun than, say, Sophie Astor."

"Sophie can be fun," said Taylor defensively.

"Really? I don't think the poor girl even knows how to laugh. Everything with her is serious analysis," said Cherry. "If she were in the forest with you, she would say, I don't know, something like" and Cherry imitated Sophie's deeper voice "Trees. Hm. Vertical brown layers of wood. Cellulose. How fascinating."

Taylor laughed. Cherry's imitation of Sophie's voice was spot on.

"I wonder if she's ever had a boyfriend," said Cherry. "I wonder what she would do if she ever saw a penis. I wonder what she would say if she ever had sex. She would say," and she deepened her voice again "Hm. Penis. Rigid flesh. Fascinating how it plunges in and out of me. I must study this phenomenon in greater detail. Can you hold it still, Bruce, so I can study it further?"

Taylor laughed hysterically. Somehow his face was right next to her. "You crack me up, Cherry, you really do."

"I do?" she said, looking somehow expectant.

Taylor looked at her face, dimly illuminated by moonlight. He saw the need, he saw the hungering, but knew he had to resist. "Yeah," he said. "Listen, we'd better get some sleep. It's going to be a long day."