001. Introduction

001. Introduction

The first thing that James Hawkins notices about the Interstellar Academy is not its size, not its elegance, not even its students. No, the first thing he notices is that they have really nice automatic toilets.

Having spent the better part of ten minutes in a stall relieving his nauseated guts out, Jim regrets not taking the ginger pills that his mother offered him before he left Montressor.

Oh, don't get me wrong, Jim doesn't easily get motion sickness. Which is why he adamantly refused the pills in the first place. He's a solar surfer, for crying out loud! He was born to be a spacer, it's in his blood! But what he wasn't counting on was the absolutely jam-packed transport, so much so that he was unable to lift his hand to scratch his nose, or for that matter, cover it. He'd been squeezed against some creature that was obviously of the sort that didn't believe in deodorant, and from the stench, it probably didn't believe in bathing, either.

So the limited freedom, the permeating smells, and an hour and a half trip from the Odyssian Spaceport brought Jim sprinting past the Dean of Men (who had, in fact, come to personally greet the boy his schoolfellow Captain Amelia Smollet had so generously praised) and dashing to the restrooms.

Upon returning to the main entrance, Jim battles the burning shame rising in his face and stands up straight and tall, even saluting for extra measure, to save what chances he has left of making a good first impression.

"You know, Mr. Hawkins, I must say that with that resolve and determination of yours, you'll turn out to be a fine spacer indeed," the Dean of Men smiles.

"W-What?" Jim sputters. Is this guy being sarcastic? Great, now he's already on his loser list. So much for a smooth introduction. Captain Amelia had said that was key with Mr. Admiral. Though he was a good guy overall, he didn't tolerate nonsense (even less than the Captain, shockingly), and it took a good amount of time and effort to prove yourself to him. This just put a good dent in his record for sure.

"Well, you see, most cadets never even make it as far as the front steps." He stares pointedly at a few green faced boys standing over by the bushes. "I'm impressed you even found the men's room as quick as you did."

"Uh, thanks," Jim says, the corner of his mouth tugging upward. But inside, he's doing backflips on his solar surfer.

For once, the school year is off to a good start for him.