Exodus Of The Phoenix Read online

  As she heard the door open she put her DAT down on the coffee table and stood to see who was coming in. She had heard some commotion outside but dismissed it as rowdy cadets passing by. She wasn’t too surprised to see Billy carrying in her roommate.

  “It’s only 9 o’ clock. You finished early?” she asked in an amusing tone as she watched Billy struggle to haul John inside.

  “Maybe for him,” Billy replied as he led John over to the couch. Julie got a whiff of John's putrid breath and moved out of the way to let Billy through the living room. After dropping John face down on the couch Billy collapsed on the recliner, exhausted from carrying his friend. After a few moments trying to catch his breath he looked up at Julie and gave her a smile.

  "Hi!"

  “Hi. You want something to drink?” she asked as she went to the kitchen. Julie considered Billy a close friend despite the fact that he was John's best friend and Julie and John didn't get along. It never made sense being friends with someone who was best friends with a person she loathed.

  Billy really thought about having a beer, but looking at John’s condition quickly squelched that thought. “Water's good. John barfing killed any desire I had to drink.”

  Julie cracked a grin hearing his remark. She opened the refrigerator to get some cold water. “How’d you do on finals?” She didn’t want to talk about John and changed the subject. John and Julie's relationship was bad from the start and only got worse as time past. She requested to move to another apartment freshman year, unfortunately that request was denied. Eventually the two cadets learned to simply avoid one another as any interaction they had always ended in a fight between them.

  “Pretty good, I think,” answered Billy. “Even though spatial physics was a bitch I think I nailed the final.” Julie returned to the living room and handed Billy his glass. She sat down on the futon next to the recliner and took a sip of iced tea she poured for herself. "Did you get an assignment for next semester?” Given her ranking in the class Billy assumed she would be working in the fleet come January.

  Julie shook her head. “No, I never received a letter.”

  “Impossible," said Billy, not expecting that answer. "You have a higher GPA than Martin and he got an assignment.”

  “I know, I heard. I was thinking about talking to Superintendent Mortino about it.” Julie put her glass down on the coffee table. When the mail bot arrived with no letter in today's mail it devastated her. Very little rattled Julie, but this caught her completely off guard and she spent the entire afternoon crying. It never occurred to her that she wouldn’t be selected. Even her instructors had asked where she was going to work come January. She had even put off calling her dad back in Nebraska to tell him the bad news. What went wrong? Did she do something to eliminate her from consideration? She racked her brain trying to come up with a explanation, but couldn't come up with any viable reason.

  “I'd wait a couple of days before talking to the superintendent," said Billy. "John had a meeting with him today and I don’t think it went well at all.”

  Julie would have naturally assumed that whatever the meeting was about resulted in John getting Mortino infuriated yet again. But this time was different. John was rarely bothered by anything, but when something really upset him he always drowned his sorrows with whatever bottle of liquor was lying around. Julie at first thought John was an alcoholic, but he could go six months without touching any booze. He just used it as a tool to get away from the world and whatever awful feelings he was experiencing. It was another habit that prevented Julie from respecting him.

  Billy looked and saw Julie had bowed her head when he mentioned John's meeting with the superintendent. “You know what it is, don’t you.”

  Julie lifted her head back up. “A couple of students were at the admin and saw John storm out of Mortino’s office screaming and yelling.”

  “Ah shit! I hope he didn’t get expelled.”

  “No, I called Sally. She told me that John’s been assigned to the reserves after graduation.”

  “The reserves?! I thought that was only a rumor.”

  “Apparently not. They’re going to make an official announcement Monday, but Sally already knew about it from Mortino. John’s part of the first group being assigned to the program.”

  “Aw, hell!” said Billy. “Four years of hard work, and for what? A job in the civilian sector? John’s the smartest student in the Academy. He’s can do amazing things for TERRA, but they're not even giving him a chance.”

  Although Julie disliked John she couldn’t help but admire Billy coming to the defense of his friend. Billy and David were pretty much John’s only friends. John's aloof attitude about his studies and outward confidence had alienated him from his fellow classmates, even her. She still wondered how she managed to stay sane being roommates with him. They fought whenever they interacted and each time it left her frustrated and upset.

  “It is unfair how John is being treated,” admitted Julie. Despite her disdain of him she had to give credit where it was due. When he chose to John excelled at anything he did. It wasn't right that someone with his skills would be written off to the reserves.

  Billy was surprised to hear Julie utter such words of support. He wasn’t oblivious to the mutual dislike between the roommates. “I’m sorry for talking about John’s problems with you. I know you'd rather not hear about it.”

  “No, no. It’s ok.” Julie took another sip of her drink.

  Billy clasped his hands. It was his turn to change the subject. “You know what? Finals are over. We should be out there having fun. Why don’t we go out and join the celebration.”

  Julie shook her head. “No, I’m not much in the mood for celebrating tonight.”

  Billy was perplexed. “Why not? You love to party as much as the rest of us. I know you've got some stress that needs to be worked off. Come on, I’ll buy you your favorite drink.”

  “The whole spring assignment thing has really hit me hard Billy. I’m just not in the mood for anything.”

  “If you have to forgo a fleet assignment this spring to get the posting you want after graduation, maybe it’ll all work out for the best.” He did have a point. As long as she got posted on a capital ship she'd be able to forget about this bump in the road.

  “Did you put your request in with placement board?” asked Julie.

  Billy shook his head. He moved over to one of the stools at the kitchen bar counter. “I’m still up in the air. It’s between the monitoring center on Mars or the sensor team in Madrid or Luna.”

  “I for one hope you go for the monitoring post. Then we could see each other regularly.”

  “You’re going for the SOLARA, aren’t you?” It was no secret to anyone that Julie wanted to start her career on a capital ship with the goal of becoming a starship commander someday. TERRA's five capital ships were old and the SOLARA was the youngest in the fleet. “Well then, I guess I’ll have to go for the Mars post,” said Billy. At that moment the apartment's comm link beeped.

  “Hang on,” said Julie as she went over by the door to answer it. She hit the screen and it lit up, showing several TERRA students. They were obviously drunk, hanging all over each other with big smiles on their faces.

  “Hey Jules,” said one of the students. “Where’s Billy? Bunch of us saw him dragging John outta Neon.”

  “He’s right here,” she answered as she motioned Billy over.

  As soon as they saw Billy pop up on the screen, the students went wild. “Billy! Come on! We’re heading to Central Park for the bonfire,” they all chanted in a slurry discord.

  Billy laughed. “Ok, I’m there. Where you all at?”

  “Outside at the booth across the street,” one of them shouted. “We’re all waiting.”

  “Be there in a sec,” he said. He hit the comm link off and turned to Julie. “You sure you won't come along?”

  She shook her head. “No, I would just sour the mood. Besides, I'd better stay here and make sure John
doesn't throw up on the floor.”

  “Don’t let this get you down," said Billy as he patted Julie on the shoulder. "Think of it this way. The seniors who got a spring assignment actually have to work while you get one last semester of cruising through classes.”

  “Yeah,” replied Julie half-heartedly. She appreciated that he was trying to make her feel better.

  Billy headed out the door. “Tell John I’ll call him tomorrow before I head to David’s place.”

  “I will. Have fun.” Once the door closed she headed to the balcony window. She watched as Billy joined the jovial band of students on the street. Before long they were marching down the sidewalk towards Central Park. They corralled an innocent city bot on their way to the park. The square bot found itself usurped from its responsibilities of cleaning the streets as it was forced in the middle of the pack.

  After watching the students fade away down the street Julie returned to her seat on the recliner. She couldn't shake this depression that gripped her since realizing she wasn’t selected for a post. She began going over in her mind again as to what could have happened that negated her from consideration. The top ten classmen always got an assignment. There wasn’t any reason why she shouldn’t have been chosen.

  She looked over at John, who was passed out on the couch. Could he be the reason she wasn’t offered an assignment? She didn’t want to believe it. They were only roommates, nothing more. They didn’t associate with one another and, except for David and Billy, she had her own circle of friends. She had been warned once by Superintendent Mortino about being associated in any way with John. Julie brushed off the warning figuring it wouldn’t be a factor against her. But could it have been? Did John somehow sabotage her chance of being chosen?

  She got up off the recliner and looked at her roommate. “It’s probably all your fault.” It was an irrational statement, but she had no other explanation. She left John alone in the living room and retired to her bedroom. He could drown in his vomit for all she cared. Tomorrow she would head home and just forget about TERRA for a month. She was looking forward to spending some downtime in Nebraska. She did not know John wasn’t asleep as she did not hear the muffled cries coming from him as thoughts of a career on a capital ship taken from him floated through his mind.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The myriad celebrations in Dorm Row were curtailed by a snow storm that raced over the city. It wasn’t a severe storm, but enough snow flurries descended on the city to convince people to head indoors.

  Julie woke up early and spent the morning sitting out on the balcony in her winter robe sipping hot tea as she watched the city bots plow the small amount of snow from the streets. There was hardly a soul outside as most of the residents were sleeping off the previous night’s festivities. Julie enjoyed the crisp air the cold weather brought, but after a couple of minutes it became too chilly for her. She retreated indoors to make some more tea.

  John turned over on the couch, moaning. One arm was over his head in an attempt to cover his eyes from the morning light. He wasn't ready to get up and face the day. He wanted to crawl into bed but couldn't force himself up to his bedroom. His body felt like it had been hit by a shuttle and he had little incentive to move from the couch.

  “Morning,” said Julie in a flat tone. She briefly considered being courteous to John, given the news he was dealt yesterday. But this was a man who made it a point to make her life miserable and she quickly dispelled any notion of being sympathetic.

  “Mm-uh.”, was all John muttered. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, especially his roommate. He slowly shifted himself on the couch to get comfortable. He didn’t have a headache yet and didn’t want to spur one by moving too fast.

  “You need some water?” asked Julie as she put some water in the boiler unit. He slowly nodded in the affirmative.

  “Then get up and get some. I’m not your maid.” John extended his arm and gave her the middle finger salute. Julie expected nothing less than petty behavior from him.

  The door chime rang which caught Julie by surprise. Who the hell would be at their door this early in the morning? “You expecting someone?” she asked John.

  John slowly sat up and tried to adjust his vision. “No,” was all he could manage to crack from his dry throat. He felt his head was spinning around and he focused on one of Julie's paintings to try and shake the sensation. Yesterday seemed like a dream, but John knew in his heart that his meeting with Mortino did happen. The events of the previous day were slowly replaying in his mind. He may have not been expelled, but John couldn't help feeling that going back to the Academy was an effort in futility. Even if he did shape up in his last semester the decision had been made and nothing was going to change it. There was no career on a capital ship in John's future, no opportunity to live in space. John sank back into his depression as he quickly got lost in his thoughts again.

  Seeing John’s lack of movement from the couch forced Julie to answer the door. As she retied her robe she opened the door and almost stumbled back as she saw who was standing there.

  “Good morning, Cadet Olson.”

  “Admiral Johnson,” stammered Julie as she tried not to fumble her words. She took a step back as if she had taken a blow to the head. It was inconceivable that the person standing before her was one of the most powerful men in TERRA.

  “May I come in?” he asked.

  Julie didn’t do anything for a moment as she was stunned by his presence. Admiral Oliver Johnson was the head of TERRA operations. Every division reported directly to him. The only individuals the admiral reported to was those on the command council, which he was a member. He wielded enormous influence in TERRA and was held in high regards in the fleet.

  “Miss Olson,” said the admiral, snapping her back to reality. "Are you still trying to wake up?"

  “I’m so sorry sir. Please come in,” said Julie, motioning the admiral inside. She quickly closed the door and walked ahead of the admiral to the living room. John had managed to get up on his feet and was stretching his aching muscles when they came in. Julie hoped John would have retreated to his bedroom rather than wait to see who was at the door. She did not want the admiral to associate her with John.

  “John,” said Julie, trying to contain both her excitement and nervousness. “Admiral Johnson is here.” She wanted to scream at him to clean up and be on his best behavior, if behaving civilized was even possible for John. She could only hope John knew of the admiral. But how could he not? Admiral Johnson was a celebrity in TERRA.

  “Huh?” muttered John as he looked past his roommate to see the admiral. It didn't look as if John recognize who he was which made Julie more nervous. She prayed that he wouldn't say anything offensive. It wouldn't surprise her if John used the admiral as a scapegoat and blame him for what happened yesterday.

  “Cadet Roberts,” said the admiral, extending his hand to John as he walked past Julie. Hesitantly, John complied and shook hands with him as he continued staring at the admiral. He did recognized Admiral Johnson, but just couldn’t reconcile the fact he was standing in their apartment. Had he drank so much that he was now hallucinating? He looked over at Julie and assumed he was here for her. Great, now TERRA was having admirals personally visit their best cadets. John was disgusted at the thought. He wouldn't be surprised if Superintendent Mortino set this up, to twist the knife further.

  “I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about,” said John as he made no effort to be polite. “I’d love to stay and gab, but as you can see I’m hung over and look like shit. I'll be in the shower.” Julie couldn’t believe what she witnessed. Was it impossible for John to act civilized at all?

  “Actually, I’m here to speak with both of you,” said the admiral. John halted his retreat to the bedroom and turned around. The admiral gave the cadets a few moments to think over the possibilities of why he was here. What reason could the admiral have to see either of them?

  “Cadet John Roberts and Julie Olson,” said the ad
miral in a tone that sounded he was in awe of them. “I’ve waited a long time for the privilege to meet you.” Both cadets were perplexed.

  “You have?” said Julie.

  The admiral nodded. “I’ve been watching the two of you for a long time.” John almost wanted to burst out laughing at his statement but restrained himself. John assumed his constant defiance wasn’t worth the attention of anyone outside the Academy, unless Mortino was telling tales of his unpleasant encounters with John at TERRA pow-wows. “You both have demonstrated skills and determination far above what I’ve seen in years. You’re exactly what I need for the assignment I have in mind for you.”

  A spring assignment? Could it be true? Julie felt relieved. So they didn’t forget about her. This was unprecedented. She must have impressed the placement board so much that a letter was inadequate for her. “We’re honored that you would consider us,” said Julie. The admiral smiled seeing the gleam in her eyes. But none of this made sense to John and he had no qualms about speaking up.

  “Wait! Wait! Wait! I was told yesterday I was being placed into the reserves and now you come waltzing in offering me a post? Excuse me for being suspicious, but TERRA doesn't make it a habit of contradicting itself.”

  “Goddamit John! Why do you have to spoil this?” Julie knew her outburst wouldn't impress the admiral, but she wasn't going to sit by and let John run his mouth off.

  John crossed his arms. “Because yesterday I’m being thrown to the wolves and now the head of operations shows up offering an assignment." He looked at the admiral, giving him a defiant stare. "So which is it? Am I an out or one of the good old boys?”

  “For once would you keep your mouth shut and listen to what the admiral has to say?” Julie didn’t realize how loud she had become and was close to yelling at him. Admiral Johnson chuckled, drawing their attention back to him.

  “Admiral, I’m sorry about this,” apologized Julie. She felt humiliated that she allowed John’s behavior to get to her again. “This is not how officers should act in the presence of a superior officer.” John rolled his eyes hearing her words. She always had to be the suck up. John threw a couple of kissy noises out but Julie ignored him.