Alpha One - Chris Burton [2]
Jake opted for Weaponry, Advanced Stellar Navigation, Quantum Mechanics, Earth Defense and, his key skill set—jump ship Command. These were spread over fifteen periods throughout the week, interspersed with his six core subjects. In all, fifty periods spread over a five day week. The rest of Jake’s time was in theory his, but private study and extra curricula activities meant limited free time.
By one p.m., registration was completed and timetables calculated. Lunch was followed by Parade Ground and thirty minutes’ intensive physical training in the gym, before the first actual tutorial of the day commenced. Geometric Mathematics was a core subject in year four and a double period on the first day of term, together with the insatiable heat and the desire to engage in his favorite activity, did little to improve Jake’s enthusiasm as he watch the old style ‘station’ clock tick slowly towards four o’clock.
The period ended so Jake joined Steve and Carla at the Alpha Broadcast panel in the corridor outside the classroom. After catching up on the latest Academy gossip and a précis of Alpha, Earth and Galactic news, they headed towards the main campus for a coffee break.
Fifteen minutes later, Jake and Steve climbed aboard the subrail, which departed with its usual tuneful whoosh before it reached its desired velocity. Within a few minutes, they reached their destination and they exited the train and climbed the steps to the surface. The brightness and sudden rush of heat hit the students as they arrived at ground level. The Academy’s space port was the largest of its kind in southern Britain and seconded as an official Alpha Launch Port, a commercial port as well as a student training facility.
The Students were here for their first flight theory lesson of the year. Today was Rapier simulation and while it wasn’t flying, it was the next best thing and definitely the highlight of the day.
Steve Costello was an excellent pilot. He vied for academy Top Gun and, in his eyes, he had little competition. Sure Jake was good, but this wasn’t his forte. Steve intended to be the best pilot in the fleet and be recognized in years to come as a flying ace par excellence, outpacing his rivals and out maneuvering his enemies. Steve found nothing wrong with being confident. He believed it was a good trait in a jump pilot. What he hated almost vehemently was formation and wing-man flying. Alpha insisted its trainee jump pilots master the vagaries of team ethics, above anything else.
Steve never showed his dislike of this. He needed to show team spirit was his highest priority and his actual outstanding ability was second. Today he was wing-man to Monte, an Algerian whose command of the simulator was good, but in reality, he would never be a real jump pilot. He would follow the Algerian’s maneuvers and stay out of trouble. He wanted the real thing and would come up soon.
Flight simulation was a critical part of jump pilot training. A newly qualified jump pilot was required to amass fifty hours of simulator flying in addition to three hundred hours of actual flying before he could be qualified. The flight simulation sessions were multi-disciplined and multi-craft-oriented to ensure the ‘Pilot’ experienced the maximum number of scenarios and training in as many types of craft as possible.
Steve was a product of the colonies. Born in New Portsmouth on Titan twenty-one years ago, he always wanted to be a jump pilot. He was accepted into the South Downs Academy on a scholarship, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. Both had graduated and gone onto become middle-ranking