Ten Thousand Fleets Chapter 6: 6: Doctor Nara Seung

Read chapter 6 of Ten Thousand Fleets by DavidNiemitz on NovelPedia.

6: Doctor Nara Seung Academy Hill, Vidako Imperium Stellarum August 13, 2847 The screech of a tablet alarm shredded Arc’s muddled dreams. He’d been back on Zurah V, at the annual Silk Festival with Teo and Rashmi. Phoebe had snuck them all a bottle of rice wine, and Teo had been giving her moon eyes again, but it had been good. Good enough that, when he rolled over and pawed at his own tablet to check the time, he felt the weight of knowing that it would never happen again. Phoebe was gone, and Teo and Rashmi were back on Zurah V; besides a few recorded messages here or there, he didn’t expect to see either of his friends for months. The tablet screen informed Arc that it was 0330, Imperial Military Time. He’d made the change before turning in the evening before, and he’d set an alarm for 0400—an alarm which, his tablet informed him, was still active. Arc groaned. “Whose alarm went off? It’s too early.” His eyes felt dry and grainy, as if sand had been kicked in his face, and even rolling over to pull his pillow over his face was nearly too much effort. The lights flicked on, and then Cal Madine’s voice came from the edge of Arc’s bunk. “Get up and get dressed. We’re due at the infirmary in fifty-nine minutes.” He hit the side of Arc’s upper bunk, apparently to emphasize his point, and the whole frame shook. “Only need half an hour to roll out of bed,” Arc grumbled. He didn’t think he’d ever woken up this early in his entire life. “You need to be in uniform, and your bunk needs to be made properly,” Cal insisted. With a sudden yank, he ripped Arc’s academy-issued blanket off of his body, leaving him in only the sleeping shorts they’d all been given. “I’m not failing room inspection because of you, so let’s go.” Arc gave another groan, which sounded too whiney even for his own liking, lurched upright, and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. By the time he was able to look around, he was surprised to see that both Pika and Delvan were up already. The Alu’kan had a towel slung over his shoulder, and a shower basket that looked preposterously small for his size in one hand. “How are you all just—awake?” Arc complained. “This is so early.” “I told you I’m genetically engineered,” Delvan said. “Part of that is a hyper-efficient brain flush. The chemicals and hormones in my brain are tuned up better than a racing yacht. Anything more than three hours of sleep is just a bonus. I’d guess the admiral’s son here is the same.” Cal was already folding his sheets with, Arc noted grumpily, the expected military precision. There wasn’t so much as a crease or wrinkle to be seen. “Of course,” he confirmed. “One of the best basic gene-mods a soldier can have. My father made certain of it when I was first conceived.” Arc squinted, and looked over at Pika, who’d slipped a pair of shower sandals on over his enormous webbed toes. “And I suppose you’ve got it, too?” Pika shook his head, and gave Arc a big, toothy grin. “No. My ancestors had to sleep at sea before they migrated to land,” he explained. “We sleep in short bursts. Have to be able to surface to get a breath of air.” “This...” Arc tried to think of a word for just how unfair it was that he was the only one in the room who’d be dying of exhaustion all day. “This is such a load of crap.” “I’m off to hydrate,” Pika called over his shoulder as he headed out the door. “I’ll make my bunk when I’m back.” “Hey Cal,” Delvan said. “Could you show me how to make my bunk right?” Cal Madine nodded. “Of course. Like I said, I don’t want to fail our room inspection, so you all need to learn how to do this. You should get down here too, Sandhurst, and watch.” “I thought you didn’t like me.” Arc squinted and regarded the other cadet with suspicion. Perhaps it was being jolted awake so early, but he had a difficult time believing that Madine actually cared about him in the slightest. In all fairness, it definitely had something to do with being woken up. But also, the other boy hadn’t exactly given him