The chimera hadn’t been intelligent, but they were a savage killing species with an advanced chameleon-like ability which let them merge into any shadow. That had let them get on board our ships, sneak through the old portals that didn’t have protective bio filters, and infiltrate our worlds.
If humanity had met an alien life form as lethal as the chimera, with the added advantage of intelligence and a technology as advanced, or even more advanced, than our own …
No, I told myself firmly, I was overreacting. Whatever humanity had encountered this time, it couldn’t possibly be as bad as the chimera.
We went out of the dome and looked around. I’d seen on the map that this place was big, but …
‘Amaz!’ said Fian, gazing around in awe. ‘That’s a lot of domes.’
We were standing on a grassy plain, dotted with a positive forest of huge domes. There was a clear area ahead with three oddly bulky portals in the middle of it. Judging from the map, it was a long walk to the Accommodation area, so I headed hopefully for the portals.
‘All this in two days!’ said Fian. ‘It’s impressive, but why set up a base on Earth?’
I gave a despairing wave of my hands. ‘The orientation sessions may explain that. We should have time to attend one before Captain’s Table.’
‘What’s Captain’s Table?’ asked Fian.
‘It’s an archaic term the Military use. Dates way back into pre-history, originating from seafaring ships. It means being invited to dinner with the commanding officer, and please …’ I held up a hand to stop him before he said it. ‘Don’t ask me why we’re invited to dinner with Colonel Torrek. I’ve no idea.’
We arrived at the portals. There was no way to enter a portal code, just a list of preset destinations, so I selected Accommodation Green. The portal established, Fian and I went through, and popped out in another grassy area surrounded by domes.
‘Dome 9!’ Fian pointed at a grey dome with a huge white number nine painted on the side.
We headed inside and found a door labelled 18, which opened when I touched the palm plate. The room inside was dark, so I tried a hopeful order. ‘Room command lights.’
The glows obediently came on, proving we were somewhere far more luxurious than a basic dig site dome. We led our retinue of hover bags inside and spent a moment exploring.
‘Living area, bedroom, shower,’ said Fian. ‘Proper voice controls, and our own food dispenser too. Zan! Aliens or no aliens, I’m hungry.’
‘What’s in the food dispenser?’
Fian scrolled through the menu display. ‘The obvious drinks. Snacks. A few meal options. I expect there’s a proper dining hall somewhere as well.’
I checked the time on my lookup. ‘We’ve only got forty minutes before the next orientation session so …’
Fian was already getting us glasses of Fizzup. ‘You want the cheezit and tomato mash?’
‘Please.’
I carried the glasses over to the table and Fian followed me with two plates. We spent the next few minutes eating at high speed.
‘That wasn’t bad,’ said Fian. ‘Better than we get from our dig site dome food dispensers anyway.’
‘Dig site dispensers are old models and …’ I wrinkled my nose as I saw Fian go across to one of his bags and take out a small bottle. ‘Oh no, not again. I hate taking meds.’
‘Well, if you’d rather fall asleep in the middle of dinner with Colonel Torrek …’
I sighed and held out a hand. Fian carefully counted seven tablets into it and I gulped them down. This was the second time in two days that my body clock had been hit with biorhythm adjustment meds. It probably wondered what the chaos I was doing.
We washed the tablets down with more Fizzup and I checked the time. ‘Uniforms!’
Two impact suits and a neat line of standard and formal dress uniforms hung in the bedroom storage area, all in the blue of true combat Military. I ran my hand over the sleeve of the nearest uniform, feeling the cool smooth fabric, checking it was actually real. I saw there were medals already attached to the uniforms. Fian had the blue planet image of the Earth Star pinned to his, while I had both the Earth Star and the distinctive golden sunburst of the Artemis.
‘We’d better wear standard uniforms first, and change for dinner later,’ I said.
‘Do we have hats?’ asked Fian.
‘Hats?’ I shook my head. ‘You’ve been watching too many history vids. The Military haven’t worn hats in centuries.’
I caught sight of myself in the full-length mirror on the wall. I hadn’t given a thought to what I was wearing until now. The red and black top had been a present from Issette. It was fine for me to wear it in class, but … Why hadn’t I changed clothes before coming here? I’d taken the Military Oath while wearing a black top emblazoned in large red letters ‘I TAGGED FIAN.’ I gave a faint scream.