Free Sacrifice:The Shenkar War by Seth Libby Page A

I’ve been ordered to tell you and your fellow pilots that you are to proceed to Building 234 for your class on Shenkar biology and society.”
                  Gathering up his laptop, Liam left Building 216. He wasn’t surprised to see Evan and Crystal waiting just outside to walk with him, but with them also were Tim and Dimitri. Soon, they were all walking and speaking of their first experience in the simulators.
                  “ Evan, I don’t know how you do it. You flew like you were one with the machine. Compared to you, I was flying a garbage truck,” said Tim.
                  “ Oh, you did fine, I think I used to play a lot of video games . . . it seemed like I had done something like it before,” said a smiling Evan.
                  “ Hey, did anyone notice anything when we did the group exercise?” asked Crystal hesitantly.
                  Liam had noticed something, but it was Dimitri who spoke up first.
                  “ I could almost feel all of you, like a sense of if you were in trouble or if you needed assistance,” said Dimitri.
                  “ Yes, that would be how I would describe it exactly,” added Crystal.
                  “ It seems that our enhancements go beyond just physical and learning abilities,” observed Tim as he unconsciously rubbed his left earlobe. “I have been wondering something. Dimitri, I overheard you say that you grew up in a little town in Russia. Where did you learn to speak such perfect English?”
                  Looking confused, Dimitri looked at each of them in turn, then smiled as if he thought he was part of a big joke. “ I don’t speak English at all. It is you who speak perfect Russian,” he said.
                  Now it was Liam’s, Evan’s, and Crystal’s turn to look as if they were part of a joke. Before Liam could ask what this was all about, Tim elaborated on what he had been getting at.
                  “ It seems that the nanites in our bodies grant us the ability to understand any language spoken to us--or at least any language in the Meshtrell database. It would also explain why all the people who haven’t undergone the enhancement process wear those earpieces that look like hearing aids. They must be some sort of translating device,” explained Tim.
                  “ Wow, it would have been nice if they told us of all our abilities instead of just letting us figure them out,” said Evan, a bit irritated.
                  “ Actually, in truth, I am willing to bet they don’t know exactly the limits of our abilities,” Tim said as he rubbed at his left earlobe again.
                  “ Well, then, I guess it is our job to discover them all,” Evan said with a smile of mischief on his face.
                  The rest of the conversation was cut short as they reached Building 234. Inside, it looked pretty much the same as the previous building minus the flight simulators. A Meshtrell stood at the front of the room with two human assistants waiting for everyone to take their seats. Once everyone was settled, the Meshtrell spoke.
                  “ Welcome, my name is Jaera. I will be your instructor on the subject of the biology and society of the Shenkar Federation. First, let us begin with what are the Shenkar. As you know, the Shenkar are a highly religious race to a point of being fanatical. We know where they call their home world, but up until four hundred of your Earth years ago, they were nonexistent as a dominating, spacefaring race. It is highly speculated that they were an undeveloped race that came upon advanced technology that accelerated them into a spacefaring species.
                  “The leadership caste consists of thirteen council members led by a Shelecore, which is the equivalent of an emperor. The name