This is the latest installment in the adult sci-fi serial Orbital Academy!
New to the series? Read from the beginning here
"I spy with my little eye, something devoid of all light, sound, and life."
Jackson's joke wasn't all that funny, but Julia and her squaddies all chuckled nervously. As if the vast expanse of space in front of them could be ignored, when in only a few minutes they would all be careening out into it on the most dangerous flight of their lives. Julia was shaking her leg up and down, venting nervous energy while her fingers drummed across the armrest of her cruiser. The hangar was filled with the noises of hissing steam and the voices of the scrubs below checking gauges and ticking off final flight checklists, but even so Julia felt very alone. She flicked her comms transmit button, keeping the channel open,
"We should have flightsigns," she commented lightly, "in the stories pilots always have code names like 'Big Rig' or 'Hotshot' or 'Red Five' or something."