Paxton rubbed his palms together. He'd been to interviews before, but they always made him feel nervous. "There was no helping it" his mother had told him. He was just hoping the sweat wasn't showing through his uniform. It was probably better that the Fort Ready instructors hadn't let him go to Pisces Station. They told him one of the other students had already taken leave to go to the interview and they weren't about to see their whole class up and leave. After all, this was boot camp.
He sat in front of the comm terminal, his shirt clinging to his back in the evening's heat. His mother's voice echoed in his head, throwbacks to previous interviews he had gone to in the civilian sector. "Look 'em straight in the eye, don't turn away, give a strong handshake, stand up straight, don't fidget. Remember! They're not gonna hear you if you mumble!"
He booted up the messaging program.
He ran through a checklist in his head. Was his hair straight? Was his uniform dirty? Was he calling too early? Too late? Because of the distance, real time communication wasn't possible, but he wanted his message to arrive when it was expected.
***ERROR LOADING MESSENGER UTILITY***
He inspected the screen with furled eyebrows.
*Whack*
One good solid palm to the machine.
Several scripts and load programs flickered across the screen.
***MESSENGER UTILITY LOADED SUCCESSFULLY***
PLEASE RECORD YOUR MESSAGE IN 3...
"Oh no! Look them in the eye. Where are the eyes on this thing? Right. The camera." Panic cycled through his brain as the machine began to count down.
2...
He caught himself rubbing his palms together and clenched them at his side. "Too rigid" he thought. "Just keep cool"
1...
His brain shut off. He struggled to remember what he was going to say, but it was like trying to catch sand in a net.
*beep*
"Taisa Ketsurui Hanako of the YSS Eucharis" followed by a deep bow of his head. He would have gone further, but the camera was only capturing his shoulders up and it seemed silly to bow below the camera level.
"I am Kouhosei Santo Hei Paxton Daysun, currently stationed at Fort Ready. I am requesting service under your command as a Technician aboard the YSS Eucharis, pending my graduation from the Fort Ready Academy. I am still very green, but I am hoping you can overlook that as I am a tireless worker, operate well under pressure and am quite capable. I specialize in engine maintenance and repair and, while hardly considered an authority, I have tinkered with many other ship systems. I hope this message finds you well and that you consider my application for transfer. Daysun out."
He punched the record and send buttons on the screen and slumped back in the chair. He felt as if a thousand pounds of pressure had lifted off of his spine. "Where the hell did THAT come from?" he queried his brain. "How did I pull that off?"
He then waited patiently, consumed by what would probably be a dreaded rejection. Though he did manage to cling to a small spark of hope.
He sat in front of the comm terminal, his shirt clinging to his back in the evening's heat. His mother's voice echoed in his head, throwbacks to previous interviews he had gone to in the civilian sector. "Look 'em straight in the eye, don't turn away, give a strong handshake, stand up straight, don't fidget. Remember! They're not gonna hear you if you mumble!"
He booted up the messaging program.
He ran through a checklist in his head. Was his hair straight? Was his uniform dirty? Was he calling too early? Too late? Because of the distance, real time communication wasn't possible, but he wanted his message to arrive when it was expected.
***ERROR LOADING MESSENGER UTILITY***
He inspected the screen with furled eyebrows.
*Whack*
One good solid palm to the machine.
Several scripts and load programs flickered across the screen.
***MESSENGER UTILITY LOADED SUCCESSFULLY***
PLEASE RECORD YOUR MESSAGE IN 3...
"Oh no! Look them in the eye. Where are the eyes on this thing? Right. The camera." Panic cycled through his brain as the machine began to count down.
2...
He caught himself rubbing his palms together and clenched them at his side. "Too rigid" he thought. "Just keep cool"
1...
His brain shut off. He struggled to remember what he was going to say, but it was like trying to catch sand in a net.
*beep*
"Taisa Ketsurui Hanako of the YSS Eucharis" followed by a deep bow of his head. He would have gone further, but the camera was only capturing his shoulders up and it seemed silly to bow below the camera level.
"I am Kouhosei Santo Hei Paxton Daysun, currently stationed at Fort Ready. I am requesting service under your command as a Technician aboard the YSS Eucharis, pending my graduation from the Fort Ready Academy. I am still very green, but I am hoping you can overlook that as I am a tireless worker, operate well under pressure and am quite capable. I specialize in engine maintenance and repair and, while hardly considered an authority, I have tinkered with many other ship systems. I hope this message finds you well and that you consider my application for transfer. Daysun out."
He punched the record and send buttons on the screen and slumped back in the chair. He felt as if a thousand pounds of pressure had lifted off of his spine. "Where the hell did THAT come from?" he queried his brain. "How did I pull that off?"
He then waited patiently, consumed by what would probably be a dreaded rejection. Though he did manage to cling to a small spark of hope.