“I’ll hand out your assignments on your way out,” Terra says. “When I call your name, come up and receive yours.”

You sit and watch as she goes through the class. Most people seem happy with their assignments, a few even cheer. Suki does a little dance. She must have gotten that sweet admin core she wanted. Others don’t seem so pleased and shuffle off with their heads hung low in disappointment. Not all assignments are created equal, and some are more competitive than others. Only 1% of cadets are streamed into spec ops. They only take the best into that core, and some years they take none. About 50% go into combat, 10% into espionage. Administration, exploration and construction make up about equal amounts of the rest. You joined hoping for a coveted spec-ops assignment, but so did everyone else, and you knew that wasn’t likely to happen. Odds are you’ll be a combat grunt, or join Suki in the office.

Your name is the last to be called. The class is empty as you approach Terra’s desk and realize that she has no more slips of paper to hand out.

You look at her in confusion. “Where’s my assignment?”

“You didn’t finish your assessment,” she reminds you. “Well, you did, I suppose, but you’ve not given us any real results to work with. Your results, such as they are, have already been referred up the chain and…”

Your mouth drops open. “They’re going to kick me out, aren’t they. I’m going to be…”

“Settle, cadet,” Terra says sternly. “I’ve told you before, you’re not going to be removed from the corps because of an assessment of that nature. Instead of repeating tests which have already proved ineffective with you, Captain Derring will interview you in half an hour. Report to the administration building in ten minutes. Do. Not. Be. Late.”

“Yes ma’am!”

You go straight to the administration center. There’s no way you’re going to be late for this. You don’t even know what ‘this’ is. Terra didn’t really tell you much. The secretary directs you to the waiting room and you spend what feels like a very long time waiting to see the captain.

After several minutes, Captain Derring’s door opens and Boris walks out. He looks pleased with himself. You both exchange silent ‘what are you doing here?’ glances at one another, but he moves on quickly. Maybe you can see what Suki sees in Boris. His hulking big frame, blonde hair and blue eyes give him a certain country boy charm. Suki, being a dark haired, brown eyed delicate city girl probably thinks he’s exotic or something.

Not that it matters right now. Suki’s love life is about the least of your concerns.

“Come in, cadet!” A matronly, but powerful voice calls you from the inner office.

You step into the room and see a broad shouldered woman, large chested, hair graying, her face lined with the marks of battle and age. She has sparkling green eyes which run over you in an assessing fashion which makes you conscious of every hair out of place. Captain Derring is one of the originals. Being in the same room as her is an honor.

“Cadet!” She booms. “Take a seat!”

“Thank you, ma’am,” you say, doing as you’re told. You sit down in the comfy chair in front of her desk, finding it slightly warm where Boris’ big ass must have sat.

“Well,” she says, her presence filling the room. “You’re a difficult one to pin down, aren’t you, cadet!”

You can’t tell from the expression on her face whether that is a good thing, a bad thing, or an unrelated pleasantry.

“So I hear, ma’am,” you say, figuring that’s a safe response. “Am I in trouble?”

“Not yet,” she says with a hearty laugh at what must have been a joke.

“Your scores are high across the board,” she says. “But our assessment methods are showing you to be something of an anomaly, cadet. Instructor Terra referred you to me because of that. She thinks you could be useful outside our standard core. She’s been at me for years now to create a new unit. She wants to train her soldiers from their first year as cadets to perform high level sensitive operations. A sort of special, special ops. SSO. This is the first year she’s found anyone suitable. Well, two anyones. You and Mr Binary. He has already accepted a placement in Terra’s experimental unit. Will you?”

“Yes!”

You answer without hesitation. An assignment to a special unit with Terra? That’s a result beyond your wildest dreams. It’s a pity about Boris, but life’s never perfect. With any luck he’ll wash out, and it will be just you and Terra.

“Careful what you agree to, cadet,” Derring says. “This will be the most extreme experience of your life. You won’t have the same study period of three years the other cadets have. You won’t share a dorm with them either. Everything you do will be more intense and will require more of you. You will be pushed to your limits – and maybe beyond them. Failure to live up to the standards set will lead to harsh punishment. You know Terra as a first year instructor. She’s one of our most accomplished officers, but she’s good at babysitting the intakes. She won’t be like that once you agree to this. She will own you. Literally. Your life will be hers to command. You can expect to see active service in a matter of months, maybe less.” Derringer’s green eyes glitter at you. “Do you still agree, cadet?”