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One message. One simple seven word message. A person doesn’t think words can truly change someone’s life until it happens to them. “Report to Testing at 0800 tomorrow morning.” The words blinked on the datapad, so innocuous that any normal person wouldn’t catch their meaning – unless they’d been studying at Hedion University for several years. No one went to Testing for any passive reason.
“So, it’s either really, really good news or really, really bad news, cuz you’ve been frozen for five minutes. Saleha?”
The words of her friend barely registered; her mind was still numb from the shock. She knew that her instructors had been impressed with some of her skillsets, but she had no idea they had been
that impressed. Suddenly, her datapad was yanked out of her hand, and Saleha found herself back in reality, across from Nabim and Lanly. Nabim was staring at her datapad while Lanly snickered.
A stream of very impolite words came from Nabim’s mouth, followed by a loud guffaw. “Saleha! You’re a---“
Saleha threw her spoon at Nabim, knocking him in the forehead before he could finish his sentence. Lanly laughed, yanking the datapad from him as he nursed the growing bruise. Lanly’s laugh stopped the moment she read the blinking message.
“By the Holy Scriptures, Saleha. I knew you were good, but… damn,” Lanly, the only “True Amarran” in Saleha’s small circle of friends. She returned her friend’s datapad and looked her in the eyes, “Are you going to go through with it? I mean, if you pass the Testing.”
They all knew what the Testing was for, and they had all heard the nightmarish stories. Capsuleers. The rumors were that once a person started the training, there were only two results. Either that person became a capsuleer, or she ended up psychotic or catatonic. The idea of a psychosis caused by the strenuous gauntlet made Saleha shiver. Though she hesitated in answering Lanly, she finally shook her head.
“Nah,” she chuckled, running a hand through her hair, “I think I’ll take my chances with a normal life and engineering training.”
“Are you serious?!” Nabim asked, grabbing a mirror from Lanly’s pocket to examine the bruise on his forehead. “Why would you turn down Capsuleer training? I’d give my right arm to be one!”
“Not saying much when your right arm is a prosthetic,” Lanly smirked, then turning her attention back to Saleha. “I’m with you on this. You know that sometimes the training doesn’t go so well. My best friend and future connection into a fabulously successful engineering business cannot go crazy. I’d have to re-evaluate my entire future plan!”
“But, c’mon! Seriously, that only happens, like, half of the time!” Nabim grinned, “You’d be your own boss, Saleha! You could only hire yourself out to the people you wanna work for, an’ ta hell with anyone else. The universe would be at your fingertips!”
Saleha rolled her eyes, “You just want to have one quasi-important friend that owes you favors.”
“Is it too much to ask?” Nabim smiled innocently.
“I’m not going to do it, and that is that,” Saleha smiled back at him, and then glanced at her congealing stew. “Now, give me my spoon back.”
Her mind remained on that one blinking message for the rest of the day. Saleha couldn’t concentrate during Dr. Harub’s lecture, and the ship she was building in the virtual lab broke on its first simulated flight. Her lab partner gave her an angry look at that one, as the simulation’s success was part of their class rank that week. When finally the horrid day was over, Saleha fell backwards onto her bed, heaving a great and tired sigh.
Upon opening her eyes, she saw the great expanse of space through the porthole. Every day before this one, it had simply been a “pretty” sight. Now, though, it meant more. The vast emptiness of space lay there before her, a swirling mass of lights and nebulae. It seemed to beckon her, a hand outstretched.
“Come,” it felt to say, “Dance with us.”
She knew it was merely her own thoughts, but part of it almost felt divine. She had always professed belief in God; everyone in her family did, as loyal minor Khanid Holders. However, she had never felt this pull so strongly. Was God calling her to a purpose? Saleha felt certain, then, that this was what she was meant to do. If she passed the Testing tomorrow, then it was truly meant to be. God wanted this of her; He would not let her fail.
In the morning, exactly at 0800, Saleha entered the office with a confident stride. She had had the best and most restful night of sleep she had ever experienced. With a voice as full of confidence as she was, she declared to the professor, hands folded at the small of her back, “Your next Capsuleer, reporting for duty, Sir.”
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Topic: Saleha Khashour: Student or Capsuleer? (Read 1221 times)