Chapter 6

The bus ride to Lackland Air Force Base was uneventful, but I do remember the electric feeling of excitement exuding from everyone the entire ride. Everyone was on this journey together, the first chapter in a book that was yet to be written for all of us. We came from various backgrounds, from all over the United States, with the sole purpose of being molded into the next generation of Airmen slated to defend the interests of our nation.

As the busses pulled up to the gate of the base, I was taken back how… imposing it all looked. The fence for as far as the eye could see was a deep black chainlink of some sort, looking almost like parts of reality were devoid of existence. It was weird just how… black, it was. I had never seen anything like it.

It also had to stand at least 9 feet, towering over the guards that patrolled. They were also dressed in the same grey fatigues as the MTI’s that greeted us at the airport. In the past military members wore various camo patterned fatigues, ranging from black and green, to some sort of desert pattern, from what I could see from images on the internet. While these were still widely available to things like militias, terrorist organizations, and smaller countries that still fought war in a more uncivilized fashion, all countries with a more modern military structure converted to single-colored fatigues for day to day wear.

From what I gather, it was a choice to not only save money, but also because war was fought in a digital space with members hooked to VR rigs, members really only wore uniforms when not on duty, or if they were performing more traditional jobs. For example, the United States Coast Guard still patrolled the shores of the United States and everyone wore dark blue fatigues. This was because, while large scale war was digital, there were still sometimes physical attacks that needed to be thwarted. For the other services, they provided their own physical security measures at the apartment habs, bases, and training facilities. Generally the guards were armed with taser pistols and neural disruptors, a type of weapon that shot a short wave audio signal that caused folks to begin seizing. These types of weapons were seen to be more humane than traditional weapons, allowing for subduing and capturing infiltrators for questioning versus outright killing them.

As we pulled up to the gate and stopped, the bus doors opened, allowing a couple of the waiting guards to get onto each bus.

The two who embarked onto our bus, one male and one female, positioned themselves next to the driver up front - the female picked up a microphone that, until now, I didn’t realize there was a speaker system built into the bus. She was a slight thing, maybe standing 5’ 5”, with long dark brown hair coming from under her grey cap. I noted that the grey cap didn’t have “Air Force” marked on it, but instead it had a logo of some sort - it was hard to tell from my position in the back of the bus. She raised the microphone to her mouth, her blue eyes scanning the bus as she began speaking.

“Hello new Air Force Trainees. My name is Specialist Hugo, and I will be your introductory guide as you begin your new journey within the world's greatest Air Force. But first, I need to verify everyone on the bus is who they say they are, and that they are on the dossier.”

She nodded to the other guy who entered the bus with her. He moved around her, and for the first time I could see he was hispanic, with dark hair and eyes. The name tape on his chest said Rodriguez, and he raised what looked like some sort of scanner to someone at the front of the bus.

“Please look into the end of this, thank you” he could be heard clearly, his thick accent making it obvious english was not his first language. From where I sat I couldn’t see much, but there was a loud “bing” and he nodded, moving to the next person.

Once Rodriguez was onto the third row of the bus on the right side, Specialist Hugo began on our side of the bus repeating the same process. I found myself wondering what would happen if someone wasn’t who they said, or if they snuck onto the bus? Also, how did they know who was on which bus? I know we had to file our biological signatures as part of joining, so that part wasn’t hard to understand, so maybe they just had a pool of folks, and knew when you would arrive?

As i found myself lost in thought, Thomas whispered over to me. “I wonder how often folks sneak in… I mean, it can’t be good for ‘em, right?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I glanced over to him. Was he reading my damned mind?

“Yeah.” I mumbled, looking up as Specialist Hugo was completing the 6th row. We were sitting in the 23rd row, with the baggage area behind us for the larger suitcases some people brought. We had a bit of time before she got to us.

“I was thinking the exact same thing, honestly. Regardless, I don’t think I would want to be that person, I don’t think whatever happens would be good.”

Thomas nodded, watching intently at the couple as they slowly came down the row. “Did you notice their hats brother?”

“I did, why doesn’t it say Air Force? I thought the branches were responsible for physical security of their own bases and stuff?”

Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know much about that. But their hats have the logo for the Department of Homeland Security on them. I only know that because the lumber yards in Massachusetts are protected much the same way, but the folks there wear dark brown fatigues, like they’re plannin’ to blend in with the trees or something.”

The Department of Homeland Security was once responsible for controlling things like immigration, terrorism, and border security. At least, that was its mission in the 2020’s. In 2028, from what I remember, that all changed and suddenly the DHS was responsible for protection of national monuments, counter terrorism, and things “of national interest that could cause irreparable harm to the interests of the United States” (you can thank my Aug’s for that quote, that one stuck with me for some reason).

It suddenly struck me that bases could definitely be lumped into that. Plus, I suppose when you're training your military for virtual service, why waste their time protecting gates and patrolling the base when you have a department that specializes in it?

I must have been sitting there silent for a minute as I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up and Thomas was staring at me intently. “You ok, brother?”

“Oh, yeah, no I’m fine. Sorry, I uh… think a lot. I guess I have an extremely strong internal voice.” I smiled at Thomas, genuinely for once.

He nodded. “I get it, I do that sometimes. I think we all do. Just do better at not leavin’ conversations hanging, makes it a bit weird.”

I laughed softly at that, and nodded. “I’ll try and remember that, Tom.”

His eyebrows raised, looking like I just said the most offensive thing he had ever heard. “Tom?”

I looked quizzically at him. “Yeah, short for Thomas. Tom. Has no one ever called you that?”

He nodded. “I mean, some do, but I always saw a name as the thing you were stuck with. Why would I shorten your name? Does it save brain power or somethin’? Also, we’ve known each other for like an hour. Seems a bit presumptuous brother!”

I sighed. “I’m sorry, did I offend you? Do you not want me to call you that?”

He laughed, this time a boisterous, deep laugh from his chest. It caused everyone around us to look back at the sudden outburst, and both Rodriguez and Hugo paused for a moment.

Tom stopped laughing, a toothy smile on his face. “Sorry for the interruption! I just thought of something funny, didn’t mean to be so loud!”

Everyone went back to what they were doing, Tom returning his attention to me, speaking in a low voice.

“No brother, I’m fine with it. I was fuckin’ with ya. You really are awkward, ain’t ya?”

I sighed once again. I’m definitely going to need to work on my social skills, I could tell. I was already botching it with the first guy I met. If I was going to be stuck in a hab with the same folks for a while, I needed to learn to talk to people, or it would be a very long, boring existence.

“Yeah, I really am. Anyways, looks like we are up in a minute.”

As Specialist Hugo finally got to us, she had a smile plastered onto her face. She eyeballed Tom, her blue eyes boring into him a bit. “So, the comedian, care to tell me what was so funny?”

Tom grinned up at her, shaking his head. “It was nothin’ ma’am. James’ here just mentioned how awkward he is, and I laughed in agreement.” He said thumbing over to me.

I blushed super hard at that. What the fuck Tom?

Hugo let out a small chuckle, “He does look like the awkward type. Please look into the scanner please.” A small bing let out, clearing Tom.

It was my turn, and without a word, I looked into the scanner. It let out the same chime, signalling I was clear to go.

Hugo nodded, turning and bringing the microphone, which was holstered in a slot in her belt, up to her mouth. “Welcome trainees, your future starts now.”

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.