Tommy Thorn Marked by D. E. Kinney Read Free Book Online Page B

labors—including military pursuits. In addition to quick minds and agile athletic bodies, the Tiejon race, with their strong, elf-like features, bronze skin, and large turquoise eyes, are considered by most to be among the most handsome races in the galaxy. They have very little body hair, an obvious trait of an evolved species, with the exception of their heads, where both males and females possess thick straight black hair—the females traditionally keeping it at a length just below delicate pointed ears. In addition, females who have earned a warrior status can be identified by a long braid, draped over the left shoulder and held in place by a golden band adorned with the symbol of their pride.
     
    - Races of the Empire -

CHAPTER SEVEN

Welcome Aboard
    From inside the boarding area, Remus found a vantage point from which to watch Tommy’s departure. He had thought at one point, during the hurried loading, that he had seen Tommy turn and look back. It had been hard to resist the urge to wave, but one goodbye was enough, he thought. Besides, Tommy would only be gone ten months. Ten months—he tried to imagine the homecoming in an attempt to take his mind off the sadness. Nonsense, he finally thought, shaking his great head and raising his hood. This is the boy’s dream. The day has come at last, a day we have both planned and worked for, he thought before being distracted by a very slight tremor; looking up, Remus once again focused his attention on Tommy’s shuttle.
    The shuttle’s captain had applied power and was in the process of rising into an easy hover. The ship’s three landing skids snapped up and out of sight in what appeared to be a pretty standard launch. But then, when just barely clear of the pad, the transport abruptly rotated ninety degrees and, with its nose pointing straight up, roared into the night sky, leaving behind long fading ribbons of condensed moisture trailing from tapered wing panels.
    Quite a spectacular sendoff, Remus thought, then turned and made his way toward the lift, filing out of the room along with gathered family and friends—all in silence.
    Inside the shuttle, their departure had initially, at least to Tommy, seemed completely normal. But shortly after liftoff, the captain had violently rotated the shuttle’s nose and accelerated with a force Tommy had not imagined possible for a ship this size. A maneuver most, including Tommy, had never experienced in any civil transport, and one that certainly got the attention of the wide-eyed occupants, all now frantically gripping their armrests as if to keep from tumbling up and out of their seats. And this, as it turned out, was to be the enjoyable part of the relatively short ride to the massive orbiting school.
    The dear captain, in addition to the erratic military departure, which included several inverted rolls and a high-G pull, had also chosen not to activate the shuttle’s synthetic gravity, resulting in several of the new cadets throwing up. Only a few at first, but soon the sight of panicked cadets groping for sick bags, ghastly gaging sounds, and the awful smell set off a chain reaction. Tommy, thankfully, was not affected, at least not physically, although he could not see the point of making the young first-years so uncomfortable. But then maybe that was the point. The Academy wasn’t interested in putting its students at ease, quite the opposite, a fact that would be reinforced repeatedly over the next four years.
    After what seemed like hours but had been in reality less than thirty minutes, the shuttle had mercifully docked, and their captain, after finally activating the gravity system, waited patiently for the last of the gagging to stop before keying the shuttle’s PA.
    “ You Toadies unstrap and get off my shuttle ,” he said without emotion.
    There was the sound of metal latches, mixed with harnesses being stowed and the feel of a slight air-pressure change, but nobody spoke as they stood and waited for the