Alpha One - Chris Burton [3]
He was distracted. Carla grew distant in the last few months. He didn’t know why, but he had a growing feeling it had something to do with Jake. While Jake was his ‘best buddy’, if he and Carla became involved, their friendship would come to a sticky end.
With the session complete, all fifteen students set down their ‘craft’ and completed post flight checks. Day one was over.
Carla joined Steve and Jake in the Students Bar on the main campus. Over beer and pasta they talked about the day, their expectations for the year and what they did during the long recess. As they left campus and walked back to the accommodation block, the evening turned cooler but was still humid. Steve walked beside Carla, with Jake a few paces adrift.
“I guess you’ll be able to find a few moments for me this evening Carla…your place or mine?” Steve sounded playful, but ever so slightly confrontational.
“Can we give it a miss tonight Steve? It’s our first day back and I have two language sessions tomorrow. I really need to prepare.”
“Will Jake be helping you prepare then?”
“Why should he do that?”
“You seem to spend more time with him than with me.”
“Oh, come on. I know you’ve been away from this for a while but let’s not get paranoid.” Carla was clearly agitated.
“What’s this all about?” interjected Jake.
“You keep out of this. It doesn’t concern you.”
“Okay, it’s your funeral. Jake turned round and walked slowly back towards campus.
“What the hell’s wrong with you? Why did you just shout at Jake?”
“Are you seeing Jake or not?” demanded Steve.
“No, I am not. I am not seeing you tonight either.”
The rest of the walk back to their block was spent in silence. As Steve reached his block, he turned off towards his apartment without further comment. Carla sighed. This is becoming repetitive, she thought. In the corner of her eye she spotted Jake who caught up having done a u-turn a minute or so after his earlier exit.
“Everything okay?” he asked Carla.
“You know it’s not. He really pissed me off.”
Jake comforted her and asserted that Steve would be fine tomorrow. he was just under a lot of pressure. With that the two friends chatted briefly, said goodbye and agreed to meet up before breakfast for a drink and a chat the following morning.
Jake arrived at his front door two minutes later. It opened automatically. He entered, stripped off his clothes and jumped straight into the jet shower.
He awoke the next day at five a.m. as usual. The proximity of his accommodation to the space port meant two things: one good, one bad. The noise from the roar of all manner of space craft, be they Academy, Alpha or commercial was constant. This was a bad thing. The good being front row seats to the finest display of ships this side of London. Sleep disturbed, he showered quickly and set off to meet Carla.
Jake Carter was in this for the long term. This was his career of choice and the long term aim was clear in his mind. He wanted ‘ship of the line’ command and preferably star ship command. This was all he had ever wanted. At the age of six, he had his first off-world experience in a Mars shuttle with his father.
Simon Carter rose to his current rank of three-star Commander during the Galactic war of 2195. His highest command was a B-class battle cruiser. He regretted never commanding a star ship or achieving a higher rank.
Although in recent years, Jake’s relationship with his parents grew difficult, he always wanted the best for his father and had the utmost respect for both of his parents. He knew the best way to make his Dad proud of him would be to graduate and work towards his personal target to command a star ship. Jake knew he had the capability to achieve it. He always came near the top of his class for everything he did while at the Academy and prior to that at the Edwards Academy, where Jake spent his childhood and teenage years studying.
He considered himself