Space Cadets Read Free Page A

take your new skin for a spin out there. He said he would allow it.”
    I smiled and asked, “Can I do both? I still want to ride on the escape shuttle.”
    “That suit you’re in is its own shuttle, son. It’s equipped with thrusters.”
    “Thrusters don’t really work that well sir,” I said fearfully. I just knew one of these instructors would be the death of me.
    “Trust me Jack. You’ve never operated anything quite like it. You’ll be fine.”
    I was led to the airlocked bay where the escape vehicles are housed. It was very dark and very quiet until the bay doors opened up to outer space and the shuttle flew in. I held my breath but I found out right away that I didn’t need to breathe since I was a robotic super soldier. That was a weird realization.
    My metal feet stuck firmly to the deck when the atmosphere started to drag me out with it. I think they’re magnetic but I don’t know
    Humboldt was with me this entire time. We watched the bay doors close and then the students clopped off to safer regions of the Conquistador.
    The pilot remained seated, sealed his craft back up and gave me the thumbs up. Then the airlock opened up again.
    I heard Humboldt say, “Activate flight controls.”
    “I don’t know how.”
    “Just repeat what I said.”
    I said, “Activate flight controls,” and then my entire vision changed. I saw through my own eyes but I was also looking at numbers and stuff that scrolled up and down, left and right.
    Humboldt said, “Ignore all the readouts and ask for manual control.”
    I felt like crying. “Manual control please.”
    My legs cinched together under their own control and then I realized I was floating an inch above the deck.
    Humboldt said, “There aren’t really any controls, per se, you just use your mind and your will to force the skin to move.”
    As soon as I tried it, it reacted and I shot out of the airlock like a bullet. I panicked. The suit was throwing me out into deep space and I still wasn’t sure how to control the damn thing. I willed it to turn about and it did so instantly. I could now see the entire ship. It was enormous; far larger than I would’ve guessed.
    I willed the suit to gently move me in the direction of the ship and it did what I wanted it to do. I was already getting the hang of it. I just had to make my thought-commands really prominent in my own mind and the suit would obey. I considered getting right back into the airlock but I’m a bit reckless so what I did instead was I strafed the ship. As I passed the cameras, I did little barrel rolls and loop-de-loops. I could imagine my classmates talking about it for weeks afterwards but then I screwed up and got too close to the thrusters of the Conquistador. I didn’t get close enough to sustain injury or anything but my reaction must have looked hilarious because my panic manifested itself in the suit and it tried to take me in multiple directions all at the same time.
    I recovered, and realized my heart wasn’t racing, but that was because I had no heart. I made my way back into the airlock and the bay doors shut behind me. Humboldt was shaking his head at me but he did say, “You got the hang of that quicker than most do.”
    That made me mad because what if I hadn’t? What if I couldn’t get the hang of it at all? I’d be floating off into the void right now.
    I think I got lucky because it seemed like no one saw my near miss of the thrusters. Either that or I didn’t look as silly to them as I felt when I reacted to them. I don’t know but I’m thankful nonetheless.
    The captain was smiling when he said, “Handles like a dream, right?”
    “I was surprised by that. Why can’t we use one of these in training?” I didn’t mention that a skin would have saved dozens of lives lost during my stay at Deep Training Camp Eighty Seven.
    “They’re too expensive. At last count there are only twelve hundred units. We just don’t have a unit to spare.”
    That was bullshit though.