Tailspin, page 35
General
This specialist bird - Combat/Rescue/Drone or Search - has a crew of two pilots.
With a maximum crew of four troops, litters, and additional cargo.
It is ideal for small deployments to the inner city or farmlands.
Drone Capable - Hopper carries 2-4 trainee drones.
2 - Usual for first timers
4 - For experts at this level
A length of 62 feet, 10 inches and a height of 16 feet, 5 inches, it has an empty weight of 16,000 lbs and a maximum takeoff weight of 22,000 lbs with two Tanta T100-SE-700 / -701C turboshaft engines producing 1,940 HP (1,450 kW) and a main rotor diameter of 52 ft 8 in (16.05 m).
It has a maximum speed of 193 kn (222 MPH), and a cruise speed of 159 kn (183 MPH).
A range of 324 nautical miles (373 MPH), a ferry range of 441 nautical miles (507 MPH), and a service ceiling of 14,000 feet (4,300 m).
This helo is armed with two 7.62 mm (0.308 in) mini guns or two .50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm) Heavy machine guns GAU-18/A.
I really wanted to know what came after it, but the image faded as someone else walked into the room.
“Good to see you’re all bright and early. You can all see we have a new student joining us. Airman Ruslan Korolyov has come with extra honors, so treat him as you would any of the others in this class. He is skilled, trained, and has more knowledge than most of you already.”
There were several murmurs around the room and a few what the fuck looks.
Mostly, I met their eyes and tried to smile. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was something special. I had no practice experience at all. This was all way out of my league. The way they held themselves, the way they talked. It was so—
Professional, the voice in my head said.
Can you go back to being quiet?
The voice went quiet. Thankfully.
A voice in my head was not what I wanted. Did it see, hear everything? Was I never going to be alone ever again?
Fuck, I had to ask someone this. Who? Malaki?
I cursed again. She’d think I was absolutely crazy. There were AIs and voices in our heads anyway, but this was different. It felt different. Yeah, I was crazy. I couldn’t tell her yet. Even if I promised. I needed to know what this AI was first.
“Carry on with your assignments,” the lecturer said. “We’ll be doing tests as discussed, now through till the end of the month.”
More tests, more teachers.
My mind was overwhelmed.
I am here to help.
Who are you?
I am still an AI, it said, Yes, the X1.
So help, I said.
My screen changed, and a test came up.
Modules from the beginning. You want to complete them.
How many?
10.
One per day?
This will take you till the 17th of March.
Possible?
For you, yes.
With everything else I have to do?
Yes, it’s still possible.
Were they going to let me do them?
No, they were bypassing everything.
This way?
This way you have full proof you deserve to be here. If anyone hacks your details, you are legitimate.
Okay, then let’s do this.
Scheduling in all tests.
Do I have to get up at 3 a.m.?
No, you do not. You will take them while they are studying in the morning. Then in the afternoon, you will read for the following day.
For now, test one, I said, and on the inside I grinned.
The AI pulled the test up and I stared at the first question, a simple multiple choice question.
1- Rise and fall from a main rotor blade from a mean position during rotor rotation is called:
A - Resonance
B - Flapping
C - Phase lag
I clicked B for Flapping.
There were fifteen more questions with really easy-to-choose answers. I finished the test in what seemed like no time. A buzzer sounded, and the class broke for lunch. I hadn’t even noticed my stomach needed it, even after all the food I ate earlier this morning. I followed the others and my HUD till I smelled the food, then I followed my nose.
***
The canteen here was so much bigger than the one at Ground School.
Niko joined me in the line. “Are you doing okay?”
“Class is fine,” I said. “Can even do with the stares.”
“But?”
“No one likes me already. I know it.”
“Err, don’t think too much about it,” Niko said. “They don’t know you.”
I laughed. “So, Justin was at your neck all year. How do you think he’s going to take me?”
“Yeah, you won’t get any favors being around me. Which he noticed last night.”
“He knows who Malaki is?”
“More than likely, but I doubt he’d even dream of her plans.”
“She’s really something,” I admitted and sighed.
“She is. She knows exactly what she wants, and she was prepared to get into a lot of trouble waiting for it.”
“So the guy she chased off?” The line moved, but damn, it was slow. So, we just talked while it moved, some of it in hushed voices.
“That is a real story, but it wasn’t the reason she’s stuck behind a year.”
“You already knew her?”
“No, but she approached me about six months ago with the okay of her CO about joining her team if I passed all my tests.”
“Which you are doing?”
“Yes.” He smiled. “It’s really not hard.”
“No. It isn’t. What do you want,” I asked him, “when you get over there, your specialty?”
“I’m still a medic,” he said. “I’m just not like Lacy.”
“Oh?”
“She’s got that gift, magic, you know.”
I could only nod. I’d felt her use it even if I didn’t feel it inside.
“So, you’re a team medic?”
“Yep.” He grinned. “Combat medic, someone you’ll be very glad you have most of the time.”
I laughed at that.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Pilot,” I said, I wasn’t talking much higher than that. DP was taking into the following year, or more, even if I knew what I wanted now. He probably just thought I wanted to sit with Malaki.
“Good to learn. We need two fully functional, before we get anywhere else.”
“Agreed,” I said with a smile.
“So you know Walter?” I asked.
“No, he just looked like he needed a friend too. Thought I’d show him some of the ropes.”
“Oh.” My stomach churned a little. “But—”
“Don’t worry, you can already handle yourself. He seemed a bit of a loner.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Seemed Declan only knew his name too. Speaking of, where is he?”
Niko’s eyes glazed slightly. “He’s gone for some other tests.”
“You’re a hacker, too?” I insinuated.
“Shhh,” Niko said. “You’ll have me lynched.”
“Sorry,” I replied.
“Do you think Declan will want to be with us?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “Maybe. What do you think he’ll want?”
“What he wants would be team lead, but I don’t think he’ll get that. There’re some other really strong guys out there that can do that.”
“How many would we need?”
“Going much bigger than a Bumble,” he said. “I would think our teams are going to be eight or ten strong, with you and Malaki.”
I ran that around in my head. “Pilots, team leader, medic, gunners, two to four highly trained soldiers?”
“Soldiers could be one weapons officer, radio specialist, engineer, warfare, animal or marine specialist.”
“There are a lot of jobs,” I said. “Declan’s tech side is a thousand percent; I would trust him to fix or get around anything.”
“Walter?” Niko asked.
I thought about that for a moment. “You know what, I’ll go out on a limb here and say he’s a thousand times team leader. He’s super calm and knows Senior First Lieutenant Marx.”
“Interesting, I could actually see that too. He’s super observant,” Niko said.
“Who else do you know Mal’s got her eyes on?”
“That would be telling, but I do believe there’s probably a few.”
“Yes, no doubt. She’s a sly one.” The line moved, and we moved with it. “We’ll settle together, and those in charge of us will make sure we gel together well enough for a helo position.”
We sat and started to eat, my stomach finally feeling sated once again. “You can eat for the whole team,” Niko said.
“I have some catching up to do, and I was starving for some time before I came here.”
“Most people who are starving don’t eat anywhere near as much as you.”
“I know. I need to feed my brain,” I said.
“No, your tech,” he added. “You’ve got something else going on in there, and it’s not normal. Even Lacy said she couldn’t work it or you out.”
“That’s probably a good thing. I don’t even know what’s going on.”
I looked at him and really wanted to say something. How many of you have talking tech?
I didn’t.
That wasn’t for now, it wasn’t for here, and maybe it would be for never.
I didn’t know him. Not really and not yet.
42
I read for the rest of the afternoon, then went to the gym and listened while I ran, lifted some weights, ate dinner, showered, and hit my bed exhausted.
I can listen while I sleep, right? I asked. The AI had not spoken to me again. Maybe it felt there was just no need.
Anyone there?
I am here. Yes, I can play the recording through while you sleep.
Thanks, I said.
Before you sleep, I wanted to show you this.
I pushed myself up a little and watched my HUD as it flickered.
You liked this, really?
It was the spinal TAP I’d been looking at back at home earlier in the year.
Tier 1
HC - TAP - Nodes: 2 to 6
I’m sure there’s much better out there than that.
Yes, I want at least this.
Tier 4
TH 20 - TAP - Nodes: 22 to 26
Another image came up this time. The spinal TAP was a lot more detailed. I could make out every crisscrossing line, vein, and pathway. All twelve branches.
I can’t get anywhere near that kind of expense, I said. Not likely in many years.
Surgery is dangerous.
The image changed once more and spun down a few levels.
I will accept this, with upgrades every few months.
I doubt that will happen.
It will. Notice board for jobs is displayed at Station Five. You can join weekend teams to head to the farms for money. I will help you to invest.
You mean gamble?
Gamble. Yes.
An AI that wanted to gamble. Fuck. I was screwed.
Find me a job I’m not going to die doing. I’ll get you the money, then I’ll get the spinal TAP as soon as I can.
I swiped my screen away. Now I sleep. Got it?
The image of that Tier-4 TAP played over and over in my mind. I needed to sleep, though.
The recordings of life on a ship and on the base here started to play in the background, nice and low. I laid my head down. There were no messages from Niko, or Malaki. They would know how tired I was. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep and dreamed of everything that I should have been doing this last year.
In really visual, vital images.
It was as if I was there in the classrooms and on the ships, living and breathing in all of it.
My alarm went off way too early, but I got up, got my gear on from the day before—though clean, it was wearing even thinner—and went running again.
I sent Malaki a message.
Me- Fell asleep early, I need shopping. Can we meet after lectures?
To my surprise, I got a message back right away.
Malaki- VR meet only, 8 p.m. I’m off base.
I panicked.
Me- Off base?
Malaki - I’m okay, don’t worry. Just a few things to deal with. I’ll talk to you later.
I was going to worry, anyway; I didn’t like to hear that from her.
Afternoon lecture was okay, and break was okay; I sat with Declan, Walter, and Niko. Even the test was okay. I knew I’d pass them all anyway, though I made sure it looked like I had to fawn over it. I didn’t want everyone to really think it was that easy for me, despite what they knew or thought.
My mind, though, was on Malaki.
I put off the physical training for a while, letting my dinner settle, then went for a swim before I would meet with her. I was back in my bunk and resting when she knocked properly.
“I don’t usually meet anyone in VR, just nosing around,” I said to her.
“You don’t have a presence?”
“Not really; I never spent any time on an avatar, or had the money, either.”
“Little cheaper at this time, even if we have endless credits,” she said. “Just log in here. I’ll find you, and we’ll go from there.”
“Okay, give me a minute. Not done it with the new HUD and tech, either.”
It’s not hard.
Within a moment, I lay on my bed. The surrounding room faded, and white walls, bright walls and lights replaced everything.
See.
I ignored it and waited.
Malaki’s avatar formed in front of me, nothing different from herself. “That’s good to see,” she said. “I was almost expecting you to still be naked.”
I laughed. “Where are we heading?”
“We have two shopping centers here in Section Four, but I think I’ll take you to Three, just so you’ve got the better gear.”
“Expensive gear?”
“Look, you have nothing. I spoke to a mutual friend, and we organized a startup grant for you. You’ll have it deposited any minute.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” I said.
We walked. Seeing the base from VR was slightly different, knowing I wasn’t actually walking, that my body just thought it was; it was, in fact, asleep.
“Is this place actually here?” I asked her.
“No,” she said. “There’s no room for shops at all here, and the stall owners know and see nothing about the base. They’re just allocated space which they can use, and they do. First, bag, then we can fill it.”
“I have no clue about anything I’ll need,” I said.
“Pretty easy. The shops don’t mess about. They know what we buy most of.”
In fact, the very first one she picked had bags that were much better than the tattered thing I had. She picked that up and threw it at me. The owner watched her as she started to fill it. Was he adding that up as it went in?
I was impressed.
1x
Bed roll
1x
Sleeping bag
2x
A few sets of clothes
1x
Another pair of boots
1x
Knife
5x
Snack packs
1x
Water bottle
5x
Drinking water purifier
Malaki also picked up running gear and shoes, too. This was going to be a small fortune. An old radio. That was something I hadn’t expected. “We never rely totally on tech,” she said. “At any point, if something really fails, you’re dead without talking to the others. This will get you on our secured sat network.”
“The others on it?”
“Those I trust, yes.”
Batteries and a solar charger went in, along with a flashlight and utensils, things I’d never dreamed of putting in there.
Eventually, she seemed to slow and then stop. “You’ll need other things, but those will all depend on how and what you want to specialize in.”
“Drone pilot,” I said without hesitation. “A hundred percent, no deviation now, that’s what I want.”
Malaki paused then, staring at me. “I’ve not thought beyond the next year, but you’re really wanting that already?”
I nodded. “I really want it.”
“Wow,” she said. “That’s unreal. I never thought about a DP helo partner. I was thinking tactical, gunner, rescue, medical?”
“Is it an issue?” I asked, suddenly worried.
“No, it is pushing for the top. I thought maybe you liked the Black Bears’ helo and had similar aims to me.”
“Sorry.” I cringed.
“I love it,” she said with a grin. “Honestly, I’m glad you know already that is what you want. I can focus on a few other aspects for pilot, to assist you better.” Her grin grew even more, then she said, “You know the buttons to push.”
“Is that good?”
“You better blow everything out of the water,” she said. “DPs really are so expensive.”
“I’m betting on it,” I said. “I’m aiming to get my first spinal TAP soon as I can.”
“How?”
“It’s a basic plan, but weekend farm protection and gambling, it seems.”
“That hacker put you up to this?” she asked. “I knew that was trouble.”
“No, I know I need to handle it, and fast, and I know a bit about gambling. I can handle it.”
“Be careful, Rusty. No one here will like you doing that at all. There’re some shady characters around.”
“I can keep it pretty low key. Just use some of my older crowds, take it slow. I just need that first TAP.”
She nodded and walked to the counter, paid the man, and turned to me. “It will all get delivered to your room. Lock it up. Sort the bag. You’ll need that when you get to year two, but not yet.”
This specialist bird - Combat/Rescue/Drone or Search - has a crew of two pilots.
With a maximum crew of four troops, litters, and additional cargo.
It is ideal for small deployments to the inner city or farmlands.
Drone Capable - Hopper carries 2-4 trainee drones.
2 - Usual for first timers
4 - For experts at this level
A length of 62 feet, 10 inches and a height of 16 feet, 5 inches, it has an empty weight of 16,000 lbs and a maximum takeoff weight of 22,000 lbs with two Tanta T100-SE-700 / -701C turboshaft engines producing 1,940 HP (1,450 kW) and a main rotor diameter of 52 ft 8 in (16.05 m).
It has a maximum speed of 193 kn (222 MPH), and a cruise speed of 159 kn (183 MPH).
A range of 324 nautical miles (373 MPH), a ferry range of 441 nautical miles (507 MPH), and a service ceiling of 14,000 feet (4,300 m).
This helo is armed with two 7.62 mm (0.308 in) mini guns or two .50 caliber machine guns (12.7 mm) Heavy machine guns GAU-18/A.
I really wanted to know what came after it, but the image faded as someone else walked into the room.
“Good to see you’re all bright and early. You can all see we have a new student joining us. Airman Ruslan Korolyov has come with extra honors, so treat him as you would any of the others in this class. He is skilled, trained, and has more knowledge than most of you already.”
There were several murmurs around the room and a few what the fuck looks.
Mostly, I met their eyes and tried to smile. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was something special. I had no practice experience at all. This was all way out of my league. The way they held themselves, the way they talked. It was so—
Professional, the voice in my head said.
Can you go back to being quiet?
The voice went quiet. Thankfully.
A voice in my head was not what I wanted. Did it see, hear everything? Was I never going to be alone ever again?
Fuck, I had to ask someone this. Who? Malaki?
I cursed again. She’d think I was absolutely crazy. There were AIs and voices in our heads anyway, but this was different. It felt different. Yeah, I was crazy. I couldn’t tell her yet. Even if I promised. I needed to know what this AI was first.
“Carry on with your assignments,” the lecturer said. “We’ll be doing tests as discussed, now through till the end of the month.”
More tests, more teachers.
My mind was overwhelmed.
I am here to help.
Who are you?
I am still an AI, it said, Yes, the X1.
So help, I said.
My screen changed, and a test came up.
Modules from the beginning. You want to complete them.
How many?
10.
One per day?
This will take you till the 17th of March.
Possible?
For you, yes.
With everything else I have to do?
Yes, it’s still possible.
Were they going to let me do them?
No, they were bypassing everything.
This way?
This way you have full proof you deserve to be here. If anyone hacks your details, you are legitimate.
Okay, then let’s do this.
Scheduling in all tests.
Do I have to get up at 3 a.m.?
No, you do not. You will take them while they are studying in the morning. Then in the afternoon, you will read for the following day.
For now, test one, I said, and on the inside I grinned.
The AI pulled the test up and I stared at the first question, a simple multiple choice question.
1- Rise and fall from a main rotor blade from a mean position during rotor rotation is called:
A - Resonance
B - Flapping
C - Phase lag
I clicked B for Flapping.
There were fifteen more questions with really easy-to-choose answers. I finished the test in what seemed like no time. A buzzer sounded, and the class broke for lunch. I hadn’t even noticed my stomach needed it, even after all the food I ate earlier this morning. I followed the others and my HUD till I smelled the food, then I followed my nose.
***
The canteen here was so much bigger than the one at Ground School.
Niko joined me in the line. “Are you doing okay?”
“Class is fine,” I said. “Can even do with the stares.”
“But?”
“No one likes me already. I know it.”
“Err, don’t think too much about it,” Niko said. “They don’t know you.”
I laughed. “So, Justin was at your neck all year. How do you think he’s going to take me?”
“Yeah, you won’t get any favors being around me. Which he noticed last night.”
“He knows who Malaki is?”
“More than likely, but I doubt he’d even dream of her plans.”
“She’s really something,” I admitted and sighed.
“She is. She knows exactly what she wants, and she was prepared to get into a lot of trouble waiting for it.”
“So the guy she chased off?” The line moved, but damn, it was slow. So, we just talked while it moved, some of it in hushed voices.
“That is a real story, but it wasn’t the reason she’s stuck behind a year.”
“You already knew her?”
“No, but she approached me about six months ago with the okay of her CO about joining her team if I passed all my tests.”
“Which you are doing?”
“Yes.” He smiled. “It’s really not hard.”
“No. It isn’t. What do you want,” I asked him, “when you get over there, your specialty?”
“I’m still a medic,” he said. “I’m just not like Lacy.”
“Oh?”
“She’s got that gift, magic, you know.”
I could only nod. I’d felt her use it even if I didn’t feel it inside.
“So, you’re a team medic?”
“Yep.” He grinned. “Combat medic, someone you’ll be very glad you have most of the time.”
I laughed at that.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Pilot,” I said, I wasn’t talking much higher than that. DP was taking into the following year, or more, even if I knew what I wanted now. He probably just thought I wanted to sit with Malaki.
“Good to learn. We need two fully functional, before we get anywhere else.”
“Agreed,” I said with a smile.
“So you know Walter?” I asked.
“No, he just looked like he needed a friend too. Thought I’d show him some of the ropes.”
“Oh.” My stomach churned a little. “But—”
“Don’t worry, you can already handle yourself. He seemed a bit of a loner.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Seemed Declan only knew his name too. Speaking of, where is he?”
Niko’s eyes glazed slightly. “He’s gone for some other tests.”
“You’re a hacker, too?” I insinuated.
“Shhh,” Niko said. “You’ll have me lynched.”
“Sorry,” I replied.
“Do you think Declan will want to be with us?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “Maybe. What do you think he’ll want?”
“What he wants would be team lead, but I don’t think he’ll get that. There’re some other really strong guys out there that can do that.”
“How many would we need?”
“Going much bigger than a Bumble,” he said. “I would think our teams are going to be eight or ten strong, with you and Malaki.”
I ran that around in my head. “Pilots, team leader, medic, gunners, two to four highly trained soldiers?”
“Soldiers could be one weapons officer, radio specialist, engineer, warfare, animal or marine specialist.”
“There are a lot of jobs,” I said. “Declan’s tech side is a thousand percent; I would trust him to fix or get around anything.”
“Walter?” Niko asked.
I thought about that for a moment. “You know what, I’ll go out on a limb here and say he’s a thousand times team leader. He’s super calm and knows Senior First Lieutenant Marx.”
“Interesting, I could actually see that too. He’s super observant,” Niko said.
“Who else do you know Mal’s got her eyes on?”
“That would be telling, but I do believe there’s probably a few.”
“Yes, no doubt. She’s a sly one.” The line moved, and we moved with it. “We’ll settle together, and those in charge of us will make sure we gel together well enough for a helo position.”
We sat and started to eat, my stomach finally feeling sated once again. “You can eat for the whole team,” Niko said.
“I have some catching up to do, and I was starving for some time before I came here.”
“Most people who are starving don’t eat anywhere near as much as you.”
“I know. I need to feed my brain,” I said.
“No, your tech,” he added. “You’ve got something else going on in there, and it’s not normal. Even Lacy said she couldn’t work it or you out.”
“That’s probably a good thing. I don’t even know what’s going on.”
I looked at him and really wanted to say something. How many of you have talking tech?
I didn’t.
That wasn’t for now, it wasn’t for here, and maybe it would be for never.
I didn’t know him. Not really and not yet.
42
I read for the rest of the afternoon, then went to the gym and listened while I ran, lifted some weights, ate dinner, showered, and hit my bed exhausted.
I can listen while I sleep, right? I asked. The AI had not spoken to me again. Maybe it felt there was just no need.
Anyone there?
I am here. Yes, I can play the recording through while you sleep.
Thanks, I said.
Before you sleep, I wanted to show you this.
I pushed myself up a little and watched my HUD as it flickered.
You liked this, really?
It was the spinal TAP I’d been looking at back at home earlier in the year.
Tier 1
HC - TAP - Nodes: 2 to 6
I’m sure there’s much better out there than that.
Yes, I want at least this.
Tier 4
TH 20 - TAP - Nodes: 22 to 26
Another image came up this time. The spinal TAP was a lot more detailed. I could make out every crisscrossing line, vein, and pathway. All twelve branches.
I can’t get anywhere near that kind of expense, I said. Not likely in many years.
Surgery is dangerous.
The image changed once more and spun down a few levels.
I will accept this, with upgrades every few months.
I doubt that will happen.
It will. Notice board for jobs is displayed at Station Five. You can join weekend teams to head to the farms for money. I will help you to invest.
You mean gamble?
Gamble. Yes.
An AI that wanted to gamble. Fuck. I was screwed.
Find me a job I’m not going to die doing. I’ll get you the money, then I’ll get the spinal TAP as soon as I can.
I swiped my screen away. Now I sleep. Got it?
The image of that Tier-4 TAP played over and over in my mind. I needed to sleep, though.
The recordings of life on a ship and on the base here started to play in the background, nice and low. I laid my head down. There were no messages from Niko, or Malaki. They would know how tired I was. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep and dreamed of everything that I should have been doing this last year.
In really visual, vital images.
It was as if I was there in the classrooms and on the ships, living and breathing in all of it.
My alarm went off way too early, but I got up, got my gear on from the day before—though clean, it was wearing even thinner—and went running again.
I sent Malaki a message.
Me- Fell asleep early, I need shopping. Can we meet after lectures?
To my surprise, I got a message back right away.
Malaki- VR meet only, 8 p.m. I’m off base.
I panicked.
Me- Off base?
Malaki - I’m okay, don’t worry. Just a few things to deal with. I’ll talk to you later.
I was going to worry, anyway; I didn’t like to hear that from her.
Afternoon lecture was okay, and break was okay; I sat with Declan, Walter, and Niko. Even the test was okay. I knew I’d pass them all anyway, though I made sure it looked like I had to fawn over it. I didn’t want everyone to really think it was that easy for me, despite what they knew or thought.
My mind, though, was on Malaki.
I put off the physical training for a while, letting my dinner settle, then went for a swim before I would meet with her. I was back in my bunk and resting when she knocked properly.
“I don’t usually meet anyone in VR, just nosing around,” I said to her.
“You don’t have a presence?”
“Not really; I never spent any time on an avatar, or had the money, either.”
“Little cheaper at this time, even if we have endless credits,” she said. “Just log in here. I’ll find you, and we’ll go from there.”
“Okay, give me a minute. Not done it with the new HUD and tech, either.”
It’s not hard.
Within a moment, I lay on my bed. The surrounding room faded, and white walls, bright walls and lights replaced everything.
See.
I ignored it and waited.
Malaki’s avatar formed in front of me, nothing different from herself. “That’s good to see,” she said. “I was almost expecting you to still be naked.”
I laughed. “Where are we heading?”
“We have two shopping centers here in Section Four, but I think I’ll take you to Three, just so you’ve got the better gear.”
“Expensive gear?”
“Look, you have nothing. I spoke to a mutual friend, and we organized a startup grant for you. You’ll have it deposited any minute.”
“Oh, that’s cool,” I said.
We walked. Seeing the base from VR was slightly different, knowing I wasn’t actually walking, that my body just thought it was; it was, in fact, asleep.
“Is this place actually here?” I asked her.
“No,” she said. “There’s no room for shops at all here, and the stall owners know and see nothing about the base. They’re just allocated space which they can use, and they do. First, bag, then we can fill it.”
“I have no clue about anything I’ll need,” I said.
“Pretty easy. The shops don’t mess about. They know what we buy most of.”
In fact, the very first one she picked had bags that were much better than the tattered thing I had. She picked that up and threw it at me. The owner watched her as she started to fill it. Was he adding that up as it went in?
I was impressed.
1x
Bed roll
1x
Sleeping bag
2x
A few sets of clothes
1x
Another pair of boots
1x
Knife
5x
Snack packs
1x
Water bottle
5x
Drinking water purifier
Malaki also picked up running gear and shoes, too. This was going to be a small fortune. An old radio. That was something I hadn’t expected. “We never rely totally on tech,” she said. “At any point, if something really fails, you’re dead without talking to the others. This will get you on our secured sat network.”
“The others on it?”
“Those I trust, yes.”
Batteries and a solar charger went in, along with a flashlight and utensils, things I’d never dreamed of putting in there.
Eventually, she seemed to slow and then stop. “You’ll need other things, but those will all depend on how and what you want to specialize in.”
“Drone pilot,” I said without hesitation. “A hundred percent, no deviation now, that’s what I want.”
Malaki paused then, staring at me. “I’ve not thought beyond the next year, but you’re really wanting that already?”
I nodded. “I really want it.”
“Wow,” she said. “That’s unreal. I never thought about a DP helo partner. I was thinking tactical, gunner, rescue, medical?”
“Is it an issue?” I asked, suddenly worried.
“No, it is pushing for the top. I thought maybe you liked the Black Bears’ helo and had similar aims to me.”
“Sorry.” I cringed.
“I love it,” she said with a grin. “Honestly, I’m glad you know already that is what you want. I can focus on a few other aspects for pilot, to assist you better.” Her grin grew even more, then she said, “You know the buttons to push.”
“Is that good?”
“You better blow everything out of the water,” she said. “DPs really are so expensive.”
“I’m betting on it,” I said. “I’m aiming to get my first spinal TAP soon as I can.”
“How?”
“It’s a basic plan, but weekend farm protection and gambling, it seems.”
“That hacker put you up to this?” she asked. “I knew that was trouble.”
“No, I know I need to handle it, and fast, and I know a bit about gambling. I can handle it.”
“Be careful, Rusty. No one here will like you doing that at all. There’re some shady characters around.”
“I can keep it pretty low key. Just use some of my older crowds, take it slow. I just need that first TAP.”
She nodded and walked to the counter, paid the man, and turned to me. “It will all get delivered to your room. Lock it up. Sort the bag. You’ll need that when you get to year two, but not yet.”
