Free Tarik: Entry Level Warfare by K. A. Kerr Page A

help.”
    “Bink had mentioned she saw her sister die and that’s why she’s always drunk. What’s the rest of the story there?”
    “That was a few years back. Her sister was a pilot, Rye had just finished repairing a scout  ship and they took it out for some canyon runs. I don’t know the whole story but her sister either misjudged a turn or one of the repairs failed during the flight. In any case, the scout  ship crashed and they were both trapped. A drop  ship had been sent to rescue them, by the time the rescue party got there her sister had bled out. Rye had been pinned under a crossbeam and saw her die without being able to help her. She’s had a hard time moving on.”
    “Sounds like it was rough, I could see myself having a hard time with that. Was she always so racist though? Talking so casually about genocide doesn’t seem like something that just comes up every once in awhile.”
    “No idea, we are close and she never said anything like that to me before yesterday. Then again I’m only part European.”
    Tarik thought it over; he didn’t know about Rye’s sister and felt himself wanting to forgive her. On the other hand  it would only excuse the occasional drunken fight with people she knew. They didn’t know each other at all, and she had no excuse to target him like that.
    “So what are you going to do?” Tarik asked. “I mean you still have to work with her right?”
    “It won’t be a problem, I mostly do work on the Beetle. Rye mostly works on the ancillary ships. From now on the ship AI will evaluate our work and check for errors.”
    “What do you suggest I do?”
    “For now I’d just focus on your own work. You probably will only have limited interactions with her.”
    As if on cue, Rye walked into the Dome. The pilots halted their conversation and looked to Tarik to see if he would go off again. The Gorrex stopped his pacing on the walkway and took in the situation. Daze turned to see Rye walking toward the nutrition unit. Rye kept her eyes forward and didn’t even acknowledge the presence of Tarik or Daze. Rye drank a glass of water, placed her cup into the cleaner and walked out the room having not said a word.
    “Well, I guess that’s an improvement.” Tarik said has he rose put his tray away. ”I’ve got bathrooms to clean, let's catch up again later. It was nice talking to you.”
    The next day, Tarik woke up to the red giant staring back at him. The comet the sun had been devouring had broken apart into several pieces which each had its own icy tail. The streams of ice swirled and reminded him of a sprinkler. Tarik made his way to the showers, relieved to find no one else there. He cleaned himself, and dressed without anyone bursting in. Tarik thought today may actually be his first normal day on the ship.
    He checked his log, he had an appointment with both Lamb and Goddess; he also had six  bathrooms to clean. After end of day meal he had a tentative appointment scheduled with an unknown   instructor . Why the appointment was tentative he had no clue but it was on his schedule nonetheless. Tarik managed to clean three of the assigned bathrooms before he met with Lamb.
    Tarik entered the range and Lamb was standing in the briefing area waiting on him. As Tarik walked over Lamb said nothing but pulled up a battle scenario. Multiple glowing orbs were on the battlefield, there were no walls this time but small trenches where enemies were highlighted in red. A group  of twenty green points sat off to the side.
    “I am going to teach you about situational analysis today.” Lamb said. “You can see here that you have multiple objectives. I want you to ask me questions, gather your data, and finally you will decide how you will achieve your goals with your forces. Proceed with your questioning now.”
    Tarik studied the board, the orbs were common enough, and the defenders seemed evenly placed. He thought he knew what to do, but then he remembered that he should not