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May 30th, 2208 - North Nevada University
Zoologist Esina Abdi
On the first day of mission training, my roommate Rhonda and I had an awkward moment. For several seconds we stared at each other's bodies in the gym shower room. I didn't think I liked girls, until I saw her nude. With her curly red hair and voluptuous shape, she was beautiful.
Still, the mission was the most important thing to us. It was the only thing in my life that really mattered anymore. The fraternization rules were quite strict. We turned away from each other and never discussed it.
Over the last three years, we became best friends. We studied together and helped each other through all kinds of difficulties. Her sister was struggling with drugs and went to rehab several times. The month after our second year started, my parents and brother died in an earthquake. I don’t know what I would have done without her.
When our final exams were finished, we had two hours to pack up our dorm room and say goodbye. We were nervous and on-edge about our chances of being picked for the mission. We said our goodbyes to everyone else and packed up with almost half an hour to spare. Our belongings would be sent to the appropriate places once our fates had been decided.
I said, "Rhonda, I wish you luck. You've been a great friend! Whatever happens, I'm gonna miss you so much!"
She optimistically said, “Maybe we’ll both go. Wouldn’t that be GREAT?”
We knew only three out of the fifty who just took the exam would be chosen, and I was usually a realist. I hugged her a long time. When we began to move apart, I said, "If I can't go, I hope you get my place instead. You're the best friend I ever had!”
“Esina! I love you!" She stared in my eyes and smiled through her tears.
I stared back at her as her cheeks reddened. I felt a dampness begin between my legs, and my nipples tingled a little. At the end of the exam we were no longer cadets, so the fraternization rules didn't apply to us anymore. I'm glad nobody can tell when I blush, due to the dark skin I inherited from my Kenyan ancestors. "I love you too, Rhonda!" I kissed her experimentally, to see if she felt what I did.
She kissed me back, licking my lips and gently squeezing one of my breasts. "I've wanted to do this for years!" She glanced at her screen and quickly pulled off her top. She urgently said, "It takes six minutes to run to the Admin building. That gives us nineteen. Get your clothes off!"
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In an office a kilometer away –
I smiled into the screen as the Dean of another University introduced me, "Students, this is Fanaka Adan, the Colony Training Director. She's in charge of preparing the colony ship crews. The third one leaves in two weeks. Please show your appreciation for Director Adan taking the time to talk with us." I smiled and waited for their applause to fade.
"I hope all of you love to learn and are working hard to be the best you can. That's what it takes, to start a new home on another planet. A new colony will be founded on one of the planets around star Ptolemy-1. The colonists need to be clever, self-sufficient, and resourceful. We're sending just one ship, with only 240 women and 120 men.
That might not sound fair for the girls, but they need to produce as many children as they can to make their new home a success. The population goal is 2,000 in the first generation and a million in 200 years. The ladies need to have at least eight children each to achieve that. We're also sending ten thousand frozen embryos with them, to make sure the colony has plenty of genetic diversity.
Speaking of diversity, all final year students are welcome to apply for the next colony mission. They need to be highly skilled in their specialty and willing to produce many children when they arrive. Everybody will be evaluated fairly. Canadian, Chinese, or Congolese; straight, bi, queer, or gay; tall or short; male or female; even those freaks who prefer fruit to chocolate." That got a few chuckles.
"Study hard and stay fit, and you might have a chance to live on another planet someday too. All of you will receive a link to apply for our next training group. Thanks for your time, and good luck."
I changed apps and ended the connection as they started to applaud again. I was happy to see the scientists had finally agreed on the last species of plants, microbes, and animals to send. The ship was nearly ready and waited in orbit for cargo and crew. My only task left was to approve the final choices and congratulate them.
Zoologists - Crew
Esina Abdi 889
Douglas Tamsin 887
Vera Volkova 887
Zoologists - Alternates
Hoshi Sakai 886
Serthi Dalal 885
Rhonda Simmons 883
I briefly reviewed their files and score details, checking for any errors. Everything was in order, so I approved them. After three years of nearly nonstop work, I'd finally have three months off. I planned to spend most of it on a beach somewhere, before the next batch of candidates were chosen.
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3 floors down – Esina Abdi
Rhonda and I made it to the Admin building with only half a minute to spare. Her bra was loose on me, and mine must have been tight on her. We did what we had to, in order to save a few seconds.
The half hour wait that followed seemed like the longest month of my life. Our screens dinged and displayed the message we'd been eagerly anticipating, 'Proceed to Director Adan's office.' We were thrilled! Both of us made it to the final six! Most of the other forty or so people in the waiting area cried, sighed, or groaned. Clearly, they didn't. One guy even yelled "NO!" and punched a wall.
In her office the Director said, "Congratulations to all six of you. After a final two weeks’ acclimation and loading supplies, half of you will be on the way to another world. Of more than five thousand, you are the six best candidates in Zoology this year. All of you should be proud. Those who don't go will still have great careers ahead of them." She shook hands with each of us.
She said what I’d worked three years to hear, "The alternates are Rhonda, Hoshi, and Serthi. Congratulations, future colonists Vera, Esina, and Douglas."
‘Esina!’ She called my name! I did it! But Rhonda was only an alternate. My emotions were on a roller-coaster.
She continued, "All six of you will report to the drone stop outside at 0900 tomorrow. A drone will take you to the East Pacific space elevator, for lift to the station and the ship. The alternates will assist with loading supplies and organizing things.
You're civilians until you climb in the drone, then service rules apply again. Enjoy your last night of freedom for an exceptionally long time. Gamble away a week’s pay, maybe even six. Have a drink or six. Find a lover or six.”
All of us blushed and giggled.
"Rooms have been reserved for you at the Casino Grand Hotel tonight. Dismissed!"
As we turned and started to leave, she called out; "Remember, oh nine hundred. One minute late, and the drone leaves without you!"
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Once I boarded the ship money would be useless to me, so I decided to have one Hell of a spendy good time. We went to the most expensive hair salon in the city, then the best massage parlor and a great restaurant. We saw a musical at a famous theatre. We stopped at a liquor store, where I got an expensive bottle of wine and Rhonda got two bottles of vodka. When I asked how she planned to drink that much, she just chuckled and smiled.
On the ride to the hotel, I asked her to gamble at the casino with me, but she wanted to go dancing. We agreed to split up, then meet in my room for some sexy bedtime fun.
As we walked in the hotel lobby, she tucked a bottle under her arm and said to me; "I don't need money to dance. There's two month's pay on it. Play some roulette for me." She handed me her banking token.
I was a little concerned. Since she probably wasn't going, wouldn't she need money to live as a civilian after the launch? I shrugged it off. We were in love and having fun.
"Whatever happens in the future, remember, I'll always love you, Esina!" She kissed me, then got in the elevator to the dance club upstairs. I wondered why she said that, since I’d see her again in only a few hours.
The slot machine sounds and the flashing lights were intoxicating enough, but I took sips of wine as I gambled anyway. Slots, roulette, craps, blackjack; I had loads of fun, trying and failing badly at all of them.
By two in the morning, I only had three credits left. I drunkenly asked a security guard for more wine. She was kind and helped me to my floor, then reminded me my room was at the far end of the hall on the right.
A lot of the other candidates were nude or half-dressed, drinking and dancing in the hall. Several couples were having sex with their doors open. In one room I could see five naked people on the floor, kissing and fondling each other. The place resembled an old Roman orgy. There was even an Asian man kneeling in the middle of the hall naked, sucking and jerking off another guy and fingering a woman at the same time. I recognized him! He was Rito Mori, our Mission Commander!
In the room next to mine, the door was open. I saw Rhonda with our rivals, Vera and Serthi. Rhonda winked at me but didn't say anything. All three of them were sitting on a bed half naked! They rolled dice, drank from their booze bottles, then groped or kissed each other!
I loved Rhonda! No! How could she! She broke my heart!
I cried as I struggled to open the door to my room. How could she do that to me! She said she loved me! I slammed the door and flopped onto the bed, then cried myself to sleep.
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I woke with a hangover, as I heard a man running back and forth in the hall yelling, "WHERE ARE MY PANTS? WHO TOOK MY PANTS?"
I glanced at the clock, and it showed ‘LEB’. I wondered, ‘What? ‘LEB’ isn't numbers? What's going on?’ I finally noticed I was upside-down and rolled over. The time was 8:37! I had under half an hour to get to the drone stop! I realized my usual morning shower would have to wait. I grabbed a piece of toast off somebody's plate as I ran past the hotel restaurant on the way out.
There was already a crowd at the drone stop as I arrived. I saw Rhonda and stared at the ground, to avoid dealing with her. She walked near me and said, "I'm so sorry, Esina! I love you!"
I didn't know how to handle it. I stayed quiet and stared more intently at the ants and a weed growing in a pavement crack.
"This is the most important thing in our lives! I have to go with you! I love you! There was no other way!"
I was curious what she meant and glanced around. I didn't see Vera or Serthi. Rhonda must have guessed what I was thinking, because she explained, "Serthi's a lightweight, she blacked out on only a third of a bottle. But there's only one way to outdrink a Russian."
I curiously looked at her. Rhonda smiled cutely and quietly said, "You cheat. I dumped most of my vodka in the toilet and replaced it with water. If they don't show up in the next two minutes, I'm going!"
I didn't want to make a scene, so I quietly said; "It's the most important thing in their lives too, and you're stealing it from them."
"Do you really want to be stuck on a hostile world, depending on somebody who would fall for that?" She had a point, but that didn't make it right.
The drone arrived and we got in with the others. As we lifted off, I saw Serthi run around the corner two blocks away. She waved in the vain hope the drone might come back.
I wondered, ‘Now what do I do about Rhonda?’
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