near the seals on the doors. When they were satisfied they moved to their own seats and hit a sequence of controls. With a clunk the interior lighting switched off and was replaced by a dull glow from the transfer lights. There was a final sound and a hiss from manoeuvring thrusters. Spartan looked from his window and noticed they were drifting from the station dock. As the shuttle altered its course he could immediately feel the difference. Now they had broken free of their tether they were free floating in the zero gravity environment, it didn’t appeal to Spartan at all.
“Crap!” he muttered as he grasped his harness to ensure he didn’t drift out of his seat. The woman next to him laughed.
“So much for the mighty Spartan, I thought your scars meant you had seen action. Maybe you’ve just seen the wrong kind of action?” she laughed again.
“Nice.” Spartan closed his eyes for a moment. With them shut he could concentrate on calming himself down and getting used to the feeling. It didn’t take long and from what he had heard it was pretty common to feel a little nauseous in this situation. They had been in space for several minutes now and he didn’t expect the journey would be that much longer. He gave it a few more seconds before opening his eyes. The Hispanic woman was staring right at him.
“You okay?”
“No problem,” Spartan answered with a forced smile.
“Now, what did you want to know?”
“What happened to you, Spartan?”
“I got screwed over just like you and they gave me a choice. No way was I going to prison, so here I am.”
They sat in silence watching through the small windows as they approached the Santa Maria. It was clear how massive and old the ship was. The outer hull was marked with age and there were signs of damage and wear on many sections. They moved past the bow of the large ship and then alongside the habitation sections. These parts of the ship rotated but it wasn’t where they were heading. Their speed reduced even further as they reached the loading area. A great hangar door was already open waiting for them. With great precision the pilot moved the shuttle in sideways and towards a platform. It took almost two minutes for them to be in the exact position before he lowered the craft. With a gentle clunk the magnetic seals locked it in place. From the wall a number of tubes like great tentacles pushed and headed towards the entry points on the shuttle. They slowly reached the body of the craft they linking with another clunk. Outside the main hangar door started to shut. Spartan gave one last look at the life he was leaving behind and then it was gone, the only light came from inside the shuttle.
“Welcome to the CCS Santa Maria. Please make sure you hold the rails as you leave. There is no gravity until you enter the first level of the habitation ring. Hope you enjoyed your short ride,” said the pilot over the intercom system.
Almost as soon as the intercom switched off there was a loud gulping sound as the pressure normalised, then the door opened. Through the gaps the flexible access tubes led to the habitation section. The tube was wide enough for two people to walk abreast. Not that this was going to happen as they were all struggling to use the lowered hand rails in the zero gravity section of the ship. Spartan, now feeling comfortable in this environment let his legs drift and pulled himself along with his upper body. Looking back he noticed Teresa doing the same. As he expected she was much stronger than she looked. It took almost a full minute to reach the end of the tunnel and the bright light of the arrivals area.
Spartan paused as he reached the end, for a moment confused by what he saw ahead. As he entered the habitation ring he could see it rotating around him, people were all around the perimeter, though he was in the centre and still experiencing weightlessness. Ahead of him was a marine sergeant who was moving people down a series of ladders to the surface. He moved up to the marine who raised his hand to stop him.
“Wait. The ladder will take you down to the grav zone. You’re gonna feel weird when you get hit by full on gravity again, so take it slow and wait if you feel nauseous.”
Where he was waiting were four ladders, each rotating very slowly so that he could easily grab onto any of them. He chose the one to his left and noted that he was already moving up slowly. Reaching out he grabbed the metal rung and swung his feet up onto the frame. At this point he was barely moving. Lowering himself down Spartan nodded and then started to work his way down the ladder. Although the section only rotated at about three complete revolutions a minute it was still moving at a considerable speed. Looking up he noticed Teresa was following close behind. He concentrated on the ladder and kept moving down until he finally reached the other section. He jumped down and was glad to feel the force of gravity pulling him to the outside of the vessel. He looked up to see the centre section where he had started seemed to be rotating though he knew it was actually him moving around it. He thought about it a little more, especially the idea that maybe he wasn’t moving and maybe it was the centre section, then he gave up. Physics wasn’t his forte and thinking about it for any longer he thought his head would explode.
There were over a hundred recruits now in this area and they were all busy looking around their new home. Though they were standing in what was essentially a big wheel, as they looked along the ship they could see the habitation section was just the other twenty metres or so that rotated around the main hull of the ship. It made sense, as the space in the centre would be a total waste if used as a zero gravity area to float around in. Teresa jumped down next to Spartan.
“That wasn’t so bad now was it?”
“Yeah, bloody great!”
“Okay recruits, this is your last day as a civilian!”
Spartan turned to see a tall black man stood in his Marine Corps dress uniform. You have your berth numbers on this board and I suggest you get your gear unloaded. The time is set to Proxima Standard Time. That makes it fourteen hundred hours. We will re-assemble here in one hour for your introduction!”
Spartan approached the board and searched for his name. He noted he was in a section with three other men, none of them sounded familiar. Lifting his small backpack onto his shoulder he turned back to Teresa who was also reading the board.
“See you around, look after yourself.”
Teresa smiled back, “Don’t worry, I can take care of myself.” She turned back to the screen.
Spartan moved off down the slightly curved corridor, reading the numbers on the berths as he went. Some of the doors were already open and he glimpsed a number of people putting their gear away. He reached his and noticed the door was shut. Pulling hard it swung open to reveal a small berth with two bunk beds one on each side and a small table in the middle. Against the far wall was a video terminal that had strong similarities with the screens back on the station. As he entered the room, it flickered and a three-dimensional face appeared.
“Welcome recruit. These are your quarters for the duration of your training. In this room you have adequate storage for your clothing and personal items. Communal showers and toilet facilities are between each eight berths. Video communications are available free of charge for all Marine Corps personnel but with the usual ten second security delay. Please exercise caution when using any outside communication devices. We are at war and information must always be guarded. Your briefing will take place in fifty-one minutes,” said the voice before it went silent.
Another man entered the room, a tall black man with dark hair and a tattoo of a knife on his neck. Spartan scanned him quickly, instantly noting the way he moved and carried himself. Behind him were the final two men, a pair of Hispanics in their late twenties. The black man spoke first with a thick German accent.
“Marcus,” he said, shaking Spartan’s hands and then moved forward to one of the lower bunks. Spartan’s gear was already on the top bunk to the right. The next two men entered, the first ignored everyone but the shorter one looked a little more agreeable.
“Jesus, and you?”
“Spartan.”
“You Greek?”
“No,” came the reply, in his usual sardonic manner.
“Oh, okay. Well, I guess I’m on the left.”
With the four men now in the cabin, the artificial intelligence system reactivated and repeated the message Spartan had already listened to. He looked around, spotting the sprinklers system, fire extinguishers and fire axes.
