G01-Graduation

She had no idea how they got here.

Having just awakened, she scanned the area around her. She could see two others from her Cadet class from the Galactic Services Academy also just waking up. Other than them, the place appeared to be a barren, gently rolling field of hard sandstone hills with a light breeze which carried a fine grained sand.

Slowly, Oosalia pressed her three large support tentacles against the rock and rose to her full seven feet height. Using her many smaller tentacles, she brushed loose sand from the smooth dome of her large head.

None of them had known what to expect on this, their graduation exercise. Before they went to sleep in the cryopods, they had only been told that they would need to use their intelligence and initiative to find their way to safety. She had also been given a personal cryptic message and assumed that each Cadet had been given one too. She was looking forward to proving herself.

As she looked around, taking in the details of their surroundings, she saw Teslalinka beginning to rise up on her support tentacles and Barbokko preparing his also.

“Well, here we are,” she said to the others as they started towards her. “Not many clues in our immediate surroundings.”

Indeed, the area around them was rather devoid of features. The tan sandstone had very little vegetation with a 10 degree slope allowing them a view of another hillside in the direction of the reddish sun that shone in a cloudless blue sky.

“When Barbokko gets here, we can make a plan,” Teslalinka replied.

Dark clouds started to build up as Barbokko made his way to where the others waited.

“Well, I think our first decision is do we stick together or strike out on our own,” Oosalia said when he arrived.

“I agree,” offered Barbokko.

Teslalinka merely nodded her agreement.

“I know that each of us was given a special clue before cryo,” Oosalia continued. “I say that, if we stick together, we share.”

“We can share if we split up too,” Barbokko declared.

“I want to stay together,” Teslalinka chimed in quickly, and then with a hint of a whine, “This place is soooo dry. It gives me shivers.”

Ironically, the growing clouds decided at that moment to unleash a torrent of cold rain. The three cadets were jubilant, since they were amphibious in nature and welcomed the respite from the glaring sun.

Barbokko looked at the water sliding down the hill and declared, “I think we should follow the water. It has to go somewhere and swimming will be easier than walking.”

Oosalia thought about that and replied, “I think we should climb the hill to get a view of what our surroundings are first. Then we can decide the best direction to go.”

“You go ahead with that. I’m going down to follow the river.”

“Lets share our secrets first,” Teslalinka said.

“Maybe we are not supposed to,” Barbokko said. “When I get to the finish, I’ll send them back for you.”  So saying, he floated up a few inches, raised his tentacles and drifted down slope.

“What should we do?!” Teslalinka wailed.

“I’m pretty sure he’s wrong,” Oosalia replied. “I’m going up if you want to come with me.” 

Raising her tentacles, Oosalia started to float uphill. She was not as sure of herself as she tried to sound, but she wanted to project confidence since Teslalinka seemed rattled. Oosalia worried for a moment that her actions might let Teslalinka down, if her assumptions were wrong.

“Wait for me! I’m coming!”

As they ascended the sandstone hill, Oosalia asked, “What was your secret?”

“Don’t drink after the fish.”

“Mine was the view can be stunning.“

As they went higher, the rain turned to a drizzle then quit altogether. The sun quickly dried the dampness from the warm rocks, creating a soothing mist for a while.

When the two Cadets reached the summit of their hill they looked around. They could make out that there probably was a river below them which appeared as though it would wind across in front of them before turning to the right and going down a gorge.  They could also make out the sunlight glinting off something on a distant hilltop ahead that the river would not connect with.

“That must be our goal,” Oosalia said. “Maybe we will be close enough to the river that we can get Barbokko to join us before he makes that wrong turn.”

“I hope so. He’s kinda cute,” Teslalinka agreed.

The two started floating on a direct course for their distant goal. They stopped at several depressions in the rocks which had collected rainwater to refresh their thirst and dampen their parched skins. As they got closer, they could make out that what they had seen was indeed a structure of some kind.

When the sun set, they stopped for the night so they would not lose the way to the structure in the distance. It would be easy to turn a degree or two descending from each summit and be way off their path after a couple of such errors.

As they sat next to each other to conserve warmth in the slightly chilly night they dozed. Hours later, the sound of claws scraping on the hard rock alerted them to visitors.

Looking around the area which was illuminated by the light of one large and two smaller moons, they saw the shapes of several canine-like creatures circling and creeping closer and closer.

“What are those?” Teslalinka squeaked.

“I don’t know, but they look hungry,” Oosalia answered. “Stay behind me.”

The two stood on their support tentacles, back to back, watching their visitors. Once they had risen to their full height, the creatures were initially loath to continue approaching, but as the night and the standoff wore on, they became more bold, inching up and edging back.

Finally, one of the creatures got too close and Oosalia’s reached out with one of her strong support tentacles, wrapped it around the the creature’s neck and flung it down the hill where it could be heard yelping in surprise and possibly pain. The others seemed to decide that easier and possibly smaller prey made more sense and slunk away.

They got no more sleep that night. Oosalia began to wonder during the early morning hours if her decision had been a good one. Would the Academy have put them in such a dangerous position? She finally convinced herself that they must be on the correct path.

When morning came they continued on their way.

As they neared the area where they would pass closest to the river, they were happy at first to see Barbokko below them. Their joy turned to concern as they saw how erratic he was moving, stumbling on his tentacles rather than floating or swimming along.

They rushed down to meet him. When they got closer they could see how cracked his skin had become, and it was covered with large dark splotches. It was clear that he could barely walk.

“Barbokko, Barbokko,” Teslalinka said. “What happened?”

“Don’t know. Sick. The water tasted so good but I think it was bad.”

“You didn’t wait to hear! Don’t drink after the fish!” Teslalinka cried out.

“We are pretty sure we know the way.” Oosalia said. “We will have to go back up the hill that way,” she continued, pointing away from the river.

“I don’t think I can make it,” Barbokko wheezed. “Go on without me and send someone back,”

“No!” Oosalia was adamant. “We stick together from here on out.”

After thinking for a moment she continued,”Climb on my back. I will get you up the hill. There is good water in puddles up there that will help you feel better.”

She lowered herself to the ground so Barbokko could climb up, then pushed slowly up on her support tentacles. With his additional bulk, she could no longer float, but she was able to compensate for some of his weight.

Turning, she started slowly up the hill with Teslalinka trailing behind. As they walked, they discussed their experiences from the night before. This helped to take their minds off the struggle uphill.

After the second pause to rest, Oosalia said, “Your turn Teslalinka.”

“I can’t possibly carry him,” Teslalinka huffed.

“You can and you will!” Oosalia commanded as she knelt and let Barbokko off. “We all have to do our part!”

Teslalinka gave up complaining and bent down to take up the task.

They only had to go a short way further before they found a depression containing water. Barbokko got to have the first drink, then after they had all drank some of the water, Oosalia and Teslalinka splashed and rubbed the liquid onto Barbokko’s parched head.

Looking around, they were excited to see that the had gotten quite close to the structure that was their destination. Oosalia again took up the job of ferrying Barbokko and they were off again.

It was only a few minutes before they apparently were noticed, since a group of people floated out to them.

“You made it!” The lead person of the group said.

“We were delayed,” Oosalia explained.

Barbokko was transferred to a stretcher and everyone made their way to the structure, which indeed turned out to be their goal.

They were all debriefed regarding their experiences as well as being provided nutrition and care. Oosalia received special mention in the exercise report for the leadership she demonstrated along with a promotion to lieutenant junior grade. The others would be graduating as ensigns.

A week later, at the graduation ceremony, the three of them were all assigned to the Galactic Oversight Division. They would be exploring the edges of the settled galactic civilization together.

Authors note: This story was related to me by my friend Doohan MacDonald while he was enjoying both my company and a couple of glasses of his favorite Laphroig. He explained that, of course, he had translated it from the Akslomic language which Oosalia had used to relate it to him. I leave it to my readers to determine how much of the story is valid and how much might be influenced by the scotch whisky.