Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets Read Online Free PDF Page A

of space was that large glass window. Aisha was
glad she had taken a seat near the back, as she could partially
feel the desire to shrink away from it, to bury herself somewhere safe . A single micrometeorite could penetrate that glass and
kill them all. The odds were astronomically small, but that
didn ’ t prevent the fear.
    It took almost three hours before
the deceleration rockets fired, and lifting from her seat told her
that they had almost reached their destination. In an instant,
Soo-Kyung unbuckled and was out of her seat. Aisha laughed as she
watched her lift ever so slowly, floating up.
    “ I’ m not
completely weightless,” she said. “But this feels
great!”
    Aisha ’ s
stomach was already in her mouth. Despite being worried that she
might throw up, something that wouldn ’ t be
pretty in this environment, she figured that she may as well just
go for it. She ’ d have to get used to
weightless conditions in the Academy station anyway. She unbuckled
and pushed herself out of her chair, trying to be gentle, but
failed and launched too quickly.
    A fine netting stretched across
the passenger area, and she bumped into it. It was loosely spread,
absorbing the impact and propelling her gently downward. She
hadn ’ t noticed it before, but was glad it
was there now.
    “ Makes sense to have that
netting,” said Soo-Kyung. “They don ’ t want
us bashing our brains out on the hardware.”
    Before long, a klaxon sounded,
warning them of the impending end of the journey. Their shuttle
would dock at the top of the cable, from where it would be
disassembled into different pieces. Some would head toward the
Academy space station, some to the moon base, and the rest to the
end of the cable - 70,000 kilometers further - to act as a
counter-weight to improve the efficiency of the
Elevator.
    In response, the girls strapped
themselves into their seats and awaited deceleration. It was
smooth, they barely felt it, and their journey ended with a soft
clunk. They exited their ship into the area affectionately called ‘ the Lobby ’ ,
where they waited and watched in rapture as the shuttle’s
deconstruction commenced.
    “ It ’ s
like Lego,” said a boy with an English accent.
    “ You mean Legos?”
    “ It ’ s actually called
Lego, ” he
said. “ Despite
what you Americans say. ”
    He sniffed a little and pushed his
feet against the wall, causing him to float off, away from Aisha,
ignoring her outstretched hand.
    Aisha rolled her eyes.
“Whatever.”
    “ Seriously,” said Soo-Kyung.
“That ’ s something you ’ re going to have to watch out for up here. I think
there are many things you do differently in your country that the
international community don ’ t understand
or accept. Just little things that shouldn ’ t matter.” She nodded her head in the boy’s
direction. “Like him.”
    Aisha nodded. “Yeah.” Looking into
Soo-Kyung ’ s deep brown eyes she could see
something within. The girl had more to say on the matter, but was
holding back. Aisha made a mental note to ask her about it
sometime. It was clearly personal, and Soo-Kyung had the discretion
not to bring it up here.
    ***
    Before long, their transport was
ready, and they boarded the flight to the space station containing
the Academy. While it was made from various pieces that were
recycled from the shuttles, it was clearly more functional, and
definitely less luxurious than its predecessor. They boarded, and
the passenger compartments more clearly resembled a typical
terrestrial aircraft. They sat in rows, without assignment, so
Soo-Kyung joined Aisha. There were no windows. Aisha turned,
looking around the cabin, counting the passengers. There was an
even thirty, including the smirking English boy from
earlier.
    “ Can ’ t
risk micrometeorites or other space junk penetrating a window and
killing us all,” said an attendant cheerfully as Aisha fumbled
around, trying to find a view.
    “ Better settle in,” he continued.
“It ’