NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10: Hard to Breathe
Brinus sat across from the head training officer in his office and flicked a lighter while waiting for the commander. On the commander's desk was an ashtray with twenty cigarette butts mashed into the sand, which were of a different brand than what Brinus smoked. They belonged to the training officer. Next to the computer terminal, there was a mini black powder gun from an 18th-century ship of the line. The desk was made of solid oak with brass gilding.
The room smelled of unflavored Tarken Tea smoke, which had a distinct aroma of burnt tea leaves, charcoal, and burning paper. It smelled like burning black tea with chemicals in it. Even to Brinus, the smell was unpleasant. The main lamp was damaged in both battles, causing it to flicker due to faulty electrical wiring. On his desk was a brass nameplate named D. Orvill. Overall, the office had a similar creepy lighting to Commander Theodore's, with a grungy feel to it.
Commander Orville entered the room. He was an elderly man, almost at the age of retirement. The truth was that this post was his last. Brinus stood and saluted.
"First, I wish to offer my congratulations on completing your first semester at the academy. Most convict recruits wash out in their first semester."
The corners of Brinus' mouth curled into a slight smile, but he regained composure after a moment.
"I heard, you expressed interest in grad school?"
"Yes, sir.
Orville looked at Brinus' information and said, "You certainly have the grades for it. You made a ninety-six on your Warp Bubble Precalculus with Trigonometry final last week. For the screen ship's systems and schematics, you made a ninety-nine. I believe you made a spelling error on your essay question about escort frigates. You made a ninety-eight on your gravity physics theory exam. On your sublight geometry with proofs test last week, you made a 95. It looks like one of your proofs was riddled with spelling errors because you ran out of time. There is just one problem."
Brinus blinked and crossed his arms.
"You were recruited out of jail. You also had three run-ins with discipline issues in the last seven months. You're also on restricted movement, no shore leave, and half-pay. It looks like you were running an unlicensed business as well, which is a Class-D misdemeanor. I am afraid you don't have the moral fiber for grad school at the current time."
"Sir, with respect…"
"See! You're trying to interrupt me right now! In the name of the spirits! Fuck, Stinkball! If you wish to advance in your fucking career, you must control your mouth."
"Sir, how do I get into the command track?"
The training officer looked up from Brinus' file and smiled. "You must go one full year without a write-up or a criminal offense; oh, and your commanding officer recommended you for mentorship. If you're serious about being accepted into grad school through the command track for your officer training, you need to find a mentor. Your mentor will decide if you're ready for the personality test. Each one has a different test."
Brinus shifted in his seat and looked the commandant in the eyes. "What does that entail, sir?"
He leaned over his desk and grinned. "It wouldn't be much of a test if you could prepare for it now, would it?" He began shuffling datapads. "I also need you to complete a medical exam later today for starters, after failing your PT test last week."
"My physical fitness is at minimum standards, sir."
"You failed you're CPR exam, and you failed the cardio portion of the six-month physical assessment. I also received complaints about you welding shirtless and pulling 24-hour shifts with minimal fatigue. You aren't normal. You will do the exam, or I'll discharge you from this academy for failure to pass your physical test and failure to follow safety procedures. Understand, midshipman? Dismissed."
Brinus stood and saluted. "Anything else, sir?"
"Dismissed, midshipman."
Outside of the office, he looked at one of the mirrors inside the oak wood paneling in the halls. He stared at himself thinking,
I wonder what'll happen if I fail. I really want a mentor. I need to pass. I gotta a CPR test in an hour and am down to 71 cigarettes a day. Hopefully, that makes a difference. I need to pass.
Brinus shadow-boxed for a moment or two and then left to get ready for CPR class.
A group of 21 cadets and midshipmen huddled around a CPR dummy. They surrounded Brinus, who sat on his knees next to a medical corpsman pushing on the chest with his hands. the instructor played a death metal song from Brinus' playlist, which was at a rhythm consistent with chest compressions. The sweat rolled off Brinus' brow, and his mouth was dry. He breathed in and out to prevent getting dizzy.
The smell of one hundred percent ethanol alcohol and carbolic acid filled the room. It was dark with low lighting, and the ship's warp bubble light came through the window. It was gorgeous with rainbow colors and light prisms. A no-smoking sign hung above the wall. Used teaching tourniquet littered the floor. Teaching bandages were wrapped around dummy arms, torsos, .and legs.
"Stinkball, you're doing it wrong. You don't breathe into their mouths. That's the old way of doing it. You do it like this."
The instructor began pushing on the dummy's chest at the breastbone. "You need to do a hundred compressions a minute at a rhythm like this."
Brinus copied the instructor, who began playing his favorite metal song. It was a band from Saffron. The song was about a typical break-up from a Federation woman before the war. It was at the rhythm he needed to keep.
"This should set the tone. You seem to play them a lot in your playlist. You need to do this for ten minutes to the rhythm of your playlist. Go."
Brinus collapsed onto the floor at the end of the CPR session, his arms and legs spread out. His chest heaved up and down. I need to cut back even more. I'm gonna flunk outta the academy if I don't cut back. Even the other cadets and midshipmen who smoked less than him didn't get as fatigued.
The medic said to Brinus. "Now, do you think you can do that without music?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good for five minutes when you're ready."
Brinus lost his rhythm for a couple of seconds, three minutes in, as he became lightheaded. However, he breathed in and out slowly and regained control of his breathing. His arms burned with fatigue as his chest compressions began to falter. Five minutes in, the medical instructor called time.
"You failed and are out of my program. To pass, you need to make an eighty. My recommendation is that you cut the smoking and retake my course next semester. I can tell you smoke more than most cadets, to the point that it affects your performance."
Brinus crossed his arms in front of his chest and curled his left in disgust. "I don't know what you mean, sir?" I've got to save face.
The medic pinched the bridge and clucked his tongue. He then moved the dummy to replace the sensor. As he was working, he yelled, "First of all, Sinkball, you have a nic stain under your nose, and that only appears if you smoke more than two fucking packs a day! Next!"
Several cadets and midshipmen laughed at Brinus as he just failed the easiest first aid test to take in the first aid course. He felt humiliated and knew, at this moment, it was his time to quit smoking.
As Brinus was in the sonic shower of the locker room, he just soaked in the sound waves. That was so embarrassing. Why? Why did that have to happen? Now everyone is gonna gossip. I fucking hate this.
After twenty minutes, he got out of the shower and headed for the changing room with a towel around his waist. The room smelled like sweaty young men, men's deodorant, and the sonic shower soap. Although smoke was absent since it was a non-smoking section, the smell was still there. In the center of the room, there were rows of lockers and changing rooms, along with changing benches in the center of the room. The floor had a ceramic tile with blue and white porcelain tiles in a checkerboard pattern. The men's showers in the back were made of white tile with a sonic shower head.
A sonic shower used high-frequency sound waves to knock off dirt and grime. Sonic shower soap was used, along with a rag or a sponge, to make the skin smell better. It was usually a dry powder with a scent that would be pushed into the dermis by the sound.
He was putting on his uniform after changing out of gym clothes when his friend, Tango, from first aid class, came into the male locker room and slapped him on the butt. Brinus turned and yelled, "Only Simmie slaps me on the ass!"
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"Relax, dude. I'm just playin'." He made a nervous laugh and then looked at Brinus with lips curled downward, eyebrows drawn together, and jaw clenched. "I heard you failed the CPR test. Another cadet failed this morning 'cuz of smoking. The other cadet was apparently an ex-con, too."
An officer came into the trainee's locker room. He was at the rank of lieutenant commander and was the ship's weapons officer. He saw Brinus and announced himself.
"Officer on Deck!" He yelled in a military voice in the locker room after no one acknowledged him.
Everyone in the locker room stood at attention and saluted the weapons officer. He approached Brinus, dressed in his steel-toed boots and pants but shirtless.
"So you're Midshipman Stinkball. Your commander was telling me about you."
Brinus looked straight ahead and then yelled. "Sir, yes, sir!"
The commander went into Brinus's face and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Sir, yes, sir… Drop down and give me twenty push-ups!"
Brinus dropped to the ground and began doing push-ups. People around him laughed.
The weapons officer laughed. "Tell me, Stinkball, why should I take you on as a mentee?"
"I don't know, sir!" Brinus was confused as to why he was being smoked. What the fuck's goin' on? Am I bein' selected fer something?
The commander sat on top of Brinus. He then looked and saw the no-smoking sign. "Do you see that no smoking sign?"
"Yes, sir, I do, sir!" Fuck this guy! Who the fuck does he think he is? Coming in here and dressing me down in front of my friends
The commander yelled in a military voice that was ear-drum-busting and harsh in Brinus' left ear. The voice was basically ear assault and gruff. "I heard you have a taste for smokes! Light a cigarette and smoke! That's an order!"
"Sir, No, sir." Like hell I will.
The commander yelled even louder. "You must follow all orders, no matter what! A good soldier follows orders! Obey me now!!"
"Sir, no, sir! That is an illegal order, sir!" And even if it wasn't, go fuck yourself. Brinus laughed to himself at that last thought.
"Do forty push-ups now or smoke!"
Brinus was becoming breathless. "Sir, I'll do the push-ups, sir!"
The commander was impressed. Most cadets would crack by now. Brinus was probably not smoking out of spite. He sat on top of Brinus, screaming at him how much of a failure he was. He screamed insults at him the entire time, which made Brinus even more determined to stick to him.
The weapons officer didn't like cadets who mindlessly followed orders. He knew Brinus refused out of spite. He saw the look in his eyes and recognized the screw-you smile on his face when they locked eyes. However, it was a rebellious spirit he could work with and hone into something useful. The other cadets and midshipmen cheered Brinus on as he came up from the ground.
"Come on Bri! You can do it!" Yelled one cadet.
"Just a few more and you got it!" Yelled another.
After Brinus did all 40 push-ups with the commander on top of him, he collapsed on the ground — completely out of energy. Most cadets would follow the order or would give out after fifteen
The mysterious commander smiled as he approached Brinus. he patted him on the shoulder and shook his hand. "I want you to report to my quarters at 0600 hours tomorrow for your first lesson. That's an order."
After catching his breath, he came up and looked at the commander. "What's your name, sir?"
"Commander Thomo. You can call me Commander Tom." The commander smiled and patted Brinus on the back. "I think I will look forward to working with you."
Brinus saluted the commander and returned his smile. "Yes, sir. I will be there at 0600 hours tomorrow."
"Be there or be square! Dismissed!"
The other cadets and midshipmen began slapping Brinus on the back and shoulders. They congratulated him and told him how impressive he was.
Commander Tom knocked on Commander Theodore's office door ten minutes after issuing his test. "Enter!" Yelled Command Theodore.
Commander Tom entered the office. "Nice! I see the war has been good to you. I see you got oak wood floors! Very expensive."
The office looked the same, mostly, except it was now the floor was now gunstock oak wood floors, a large silk rug with a red and gold lion surrounded by gold flowery embroidery, and a flintlock musket from another planet.
Commander Theodore sighed, then laughed. "Did you meet Brinus?"
"Yes, I'm having him come to quarters at 6 am tomorrow. He'll be fun to train. I can tell we have a lot in common."
Commander Theodore wolf-whistled. "Damn, that says a lot."
Commander Tom crossed his legs and relaxed in the armchair. "Birds of a feather flock together, so they say." They both laughed for a moment. "I can tell Brinus is going to great officer someday. He just needs to temper that fire."
"What's your plan for Stinkball?"
Commander Tom leaned forward and uncrossed his legs. "I want to teach him malicious compliance to channel his rebellious energy. I also want to hammer home the lesson that not all orders are to be followed. I want to teach him about illegal orders and when not to follow an order. He also needs to know when he is obligated to follow orders."
Theodore resumed typing on his computer terminal. "I want a lesson plan by the end of the week."
Brinus sat in the doctor's office. Next to him was an ashtray with four cigarette butts. He tapped his lighter against his leg and sighed as he had been waiting for an hour in the ship's clinic.
The waiting room was mostly empty as it was close to lunch. It was quiet with a TV running on a loop about health habits and how smoking relaxes the nerves, about how the withdrawals are not that severe despite the rumors.
Brinus thought to himself. Yeah right. I once went without a cigarette fer three days in protective custody and almost died from the withdrawals. I had a seizure, and my heart stopped after hallucinating my foster mom's voice tellin' me how worthless I was. You know what? Fuck this shit! Why am I here?
"Midshipman Helios!" yelled the nurse at the door
He walked into the intake station and sat in the chair. The nurse took his heart rate, which was at 112 bpm, and his blood pressure, which was at 131/92.
"How much have you had to smoke?"
Brinus shrugged. "About three packs today?"
"I see. Do you take any meds?"
"No." What a fucking waste of time. What's the big deal? I just like being comfortable.
She put the thermostat to his forehead; it read 201 degrees celsius. "That can't be right." she took it again. She left for a moment and came back with the doctor. "I think the thermostat is broken. It says his core temp is 201 degrees."
The doctor smiled. "No, just write that down. We're doing an exam for the Magi."
The doctor left, and the nurse snorted. She wrote down her findings. "Room three."
Brinus sat in room three and sat on the exam table. The paper began smoking and burnt but didn't catch fire. That was weird. The only other time I've been to the doctor was when I got my vaccines at ten, and the same thing happened then, too.
The doctor came into the room. "Right, you must be Midshipman Helios. Sorry for the wait. I am Dr. Finnie, and I am with the magi. Have you been smoking in here?"
"No, sir."
Brinus stood and showed the charcoal black paper he sat on.
"Interesting. I am going to perform a few physical exams today. I want you to take off your uniform shirt.
Brinus removed his shirt to shirt to show a V-shaped chest, six-pack abs, and a rock-hard chest.
The doctor put her stethoscope to Brinus's chest. "Take a deep breath."
The doctor activated the holoscan mode and looked into Brinus's lungs.
"You told the nurse you smoked three packs today, and your blood pressure is high. Yet you're lungs have no heat damage. Yes, they have damage from the smoke and the tar but not from the heat in the smoke."
"I thought Tarken Tea had no tar?"
Dr. Finnie rolled her eyes and laughed. "Sure, sweetie." She then put her stethoscope to Brinus's arm. "Your arm bones have three times the density of a normal person. That could just be because of the nature of your job. You could lift in theory up to 1000 pounds based on your muscle and bone density, but your cardiac and pulmonary heath is severely limited. In actuality, you could lift up to 400 pounds." She pulled out her triquarter and took a blood sample. It tested negative for magic. "You smoke so much I expected it to test negative. AA nictontine obstructs the results because it binds to the same receptors responsable for magic."
Brinus crossed his ankles as he felt something warm and ticklish on his left arm. He looked and saw the Doctor putting a 2,000 degree celsius plasma torch to his arm. "What the fuck? That tickles!"
Doctor Finnie said nothing and put it off to the side. His bare elbow was still pink and unharmed. "I heard you could weld shirtless for hours, but I had to see it myself. I think that's all. You can go now."
Brinus buttoned up his uniform and left. She began a texting conversation with Captain Plato.
Dr. Finnie: He has magic. However, he smokes so much it is impossible to determine what kind.
Captain Plato: He is on a vape switch program. What will happen when he vapes?
Dr. Finnie: I don't know. We see these cases so rarely, and fire mages are not common. We need a blood test to determine if he is a dark fire mage or a light fire mage.
Captain Plato: He is already down to four cigarettes an hour. What happens when he is down to 60 or even 20 smokes a day?
Dr. Finnie: His magic will surface as soon as he is below 70 a day. Until then, we can't determine if he is a dark mage or a light mage.
Captain Plato: Don't the magi have a file on him already?
Dr. Finnie: They do, but it is sealed. It looks like only the emperor can open it.
Simmie was in bed with Brinus. Simmie was on top of him, and they were both in black military boxers on top of the sheets. Brinus smiled with his hands behind his head. Simmie was on top of him, eating chocolates and feeding them to Brinus one at a time. He put one in Brinus's mouth and started chewing with his hands behind his head.
The bedroom had paneled walls and a blue carpet. The bed was a simple metal frame with a box spring and a foam mattress. In his room was a closet with Simmie's and Brinus's clothes. They really only had a few outfits, each meant for comfort, and three sets of uniforms. The dresser was a simple oak wood dresser with eight drawers. It had a mirror, and on top were clothes strewn on it.
The room was smoky and smelled like burning coffee and chocolate tea incense. A low night light projected a soft yellow glow throughout the room, which mixed with the smoke and created the ambiance of a tea house in a bedroom.
"I heard what happened in first aid today," Simmie's lips caressed Brinus's left ear and the side of his neck.
Brinus tilted his neck to the side for easier access and wrapped his legs around Simmie's waist. "Why are people gossiping about it?"
Simmie put another chocolate into Brinus's mouth. He started chewing. Simmie said with a slight purr in his voice, "You're the ship's badass. No wonder why people are shocked. Do you know how many people came to me wondering if it was true you failed CPR?"
He moved his lips, caressing them down Brinus's jaw and neck. Brinus moaned as soon as he hit his vagus nerve.
Simmie decided to change the subject. He twirled the tip of his finger on Brinus's chest as he said and moved his lips across his right ear and the side of his neck, "I really want to help you. You know, I had the same issue last year."
Simmie put a third piece of chocolate into Brinus's mouth, and he swallowed. Brinus shuddered after Simmie's teeth grazed his left nipple. "This is why I love you. You know just how to cheer me up."
Simmie put a fourth chocolate in Brinus's mouth. "You know, if I can do it, so can you. It won't be easy, and I can help."
Brinus put his hands on Simmie's hips and flipped him over where he was on top. "I wonna do it on my own." Brinus moved his lips down Simmie's jaw to his neck to his chest.
Simmie ran a finger down Brinus's chest, his abs, and then into his underwear. "You don't have to. How can I help?"
Brinus smiled, removing his hands from his boxers. He said with a smile, "Not tonight, hon. I just ain't feelin' it."
Simmie ran his finger down his chest and kissed him. "You are my priority, and I understand."
"I am going to bed. It has been a long day, and I need to be at Commander Thomo's quarters by 0545 hours."
Brinus's lips caressed Simmie's for a few moments as they interlocked, and then he said, "Computer-cut lights."
The room went pitch black. Brinus and Simmie went under the covers, and then silence.