Anstractor (The New Phase Book 1) Read Free Page A

so there was no way that he could shoot himself. Samoo had noticed that Rafian had nothing of his own, and with the importance of high morale in addition to Rafian’s diligence in his duties, he felt it was safe enough to hand it over to the boy. Without toys, vids, or any of the things that children his age played with, Rafian made the gun his favorite toy. At first he was content with playing starfighter and aliens by himself when things were quiet, but out of boredom one day, he dismantled the gun piece by piece, only to panic and scramble to rebuild it in fear of making Samoo upset.
    As providence would prove, he was unable to fix it and was punished harshly by being hung with straps on his wrist, alone in the empty room. He was left to hang for a long time and made to run more miles the next day. When his temper had cooled, Samoo took the opportunity to show Rafian how to reassemble his broken weapon. This was typical of their relationship. Samoo would dish out hard penalties but would turn it into a teaching moment afterwards.
    When it was time for Rafian’s big test, the two were actually sad that they would be going their separate ways. The test was nothing special to Rafian. Six different officers took him on a series of physical courses with obstacles—all of which he passed with flying colors. He was given a verbal exam on military history, the Anstractor galaxy, and the history of the Geralos occupation of Vestalia. He impressed them all with his skill, knowledge, and intensity, so it was decided he was worthy enough to join the Galactic Cadet Corps (GC2).
    Rafian was given the rank of twelfth grade, the equivalent of where a nine-year-old would be in the standard system used for cadets. He was given a bed in the military bunk hall for the GC2 and was introduced to his commanding officer—a tall, skinny fourteen-year-old boy named Weine, who had brown skin and curly hair.
    Once the adults had left and he was alone with Weine to go over his duties, the boy barked at him: “Come with me, char,” which was a derogatory slur for dark-skinned people on Vestalia, a carry-over from its fractured past. Rafian realized Weine was going to be a problem, as he nodded and trailed after the older boy, who was describing what his duties would be every day. Rafian had known he would be bullied, but if it was going to be at the hand of the top boy, it was not something he was willing to deal with.
    The boys walked around to the sleeping area, and Weine showed him where the bathroom was. He then showed him the girls’ sleeping area and bathroom, while reminding him that it was off limits. He then showed him the gym, the mess hall, and finally, the flight-simulation deck.
    The deck looked very much like the arcades on Genese, with its hollowed-out shooters set-up to give the users the virtual experience of starfighting and controlling a space vessel. It was love at first sight for Rafian, and he couldn’t wait to hop into one of them and master the controls. Weine interrupted his thoughts, reminding him the flight deck was reserved for third-grade cadets and below (the lower the number, the higher the rank).
    Rafian’s first few days at the camp were rough, due to the various cliques and exclusionary attitudes of the children there. It was not that big a deal to a boy who was used to that sort of treatment, so he kept to himself, stayed out of trouble, and did what he could to fit in.
    One little girl who caught his eye was a cute cadet named Vani. She was Rafian’s age, eleven, only she was a fifth-grade cadet who excelled in the academic areas of their military life. She came from military royalty (her dad was a colonel), and she acted very much like it. Even though she had the reputation of being a brat, she was beautiful to Rafian. It did not matter to him how unpopular she was with the other children. He wanted to get to know her.
    Weine, however, was exactly as Rafian assumed he would be—a bully in fancy clothes.