Assemble

UNSF Headquarters, flagpole
11:50 Standard Eastern Time (SET)
2181

Dressed in nothing more than his light long sleeve uniform, the young man stepped up to the United Nations Security Force flagpole for the first time.

Never before had he seen it up close, only from a distance with his father, a UNSF starship captain. From that day on, he had vowed that one day he would be enrolled in the UNSF Academy and follow his father into the life he knew awaited him up there among the stars.

He had applied for entrance into the Academy once before, when he was 17, but had been rejected. Headstrong as he was, he didn’t let that stop him from applying again and receiving the acceptance letter from his father on his 18th birthday. Now, 19, he packed up his small but well-worn groundrunner and headed for the UNSF Academy in Colorado.

The UNSF Academy had once been the United States Air Force Academy, a training school for those young men and women who had wished to serve in the United States Air Force. Now, hundreds of years later, its purpose had remained the same. It was home to the thousands of young humans, humanoids, and aliens who shared the same dream as the young cadet: serve in the United Nations Security Force.

It was wintertime; for some unexplainable reason, winter had come early this year, mid-September. People passed by the young male in their winter apparel, staring, wondering why he didn’t have a jacket on. It didn’t seem to bother him, though; he continued to stand and stare at the red and white UNSF flag wave and ripple in the wind.

A few yards away, second year cadet James Brungess stuffed his hands in his pockets and exhaled a frosty breath. Looking at his chrono, he realized that he was earlier than he had liked to be. As usual, he had misjudged the amount of time it would take him to drive from the Academy to the UNSF HQ flagpole. With the way groundrunners moved these days, a trip from Colorado to California took less than an hour. Jim was grateful to have a new top-of-the-line groundrunner, a Mazda 626. Somehow, Mazda had been one of the five transportation companies to survive to the 22nd century. Mazda, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Dodge, and BMW, known as the Big Five, had outlasted Ford, Hondai, Toyota and all the rest.

He quickly glanced around as he sat on his cold hard bench, waiting for his friends to arrive. They were supposed to be meeting this new roommate of theirs, some new freshmeat that probably wouldn’t survive the semester. If he did, however, it would be good for him; he’d have friends for life. He, Conrad, and Meelan were all selective about the company they kept. If they didn’t like this kid, he’d be gone by the end of the week. The kid had gone to high school with Conrad, however, and the junior spoke very highly of him. Great sense of humor, smart, decisive…Conrad had better be right was Jim’s only thought. Though Conrad spoke highly of him, he’d never gotten around to mentioning his name. Jim thought that odd.

He spotted the young cadet standing in front of the flagpole, the usual hangout spot for UNSF officers. However, the space was empty with the exception of the cadet, who had not moved in over five minutes. To keep the blood circulating, Jim Brungess stood and strolled over to the UNSF cadet. It was obvious that the cold didn’t disturb him one bit. This kid is amazing, Brungess thought to himself as he approached the cadet, with the intent on striking up a conversation to pass the time until Meelan, Conrad, and the new kid arrived.

Finally, he was within acceptable speaking distance. He smiled as he neared. He was determined to find out how in the world the cold wasn’t affecting him. “What’s your secret…” he looked down at the cadet’s nametag, “…cadet Mansel?”

For a time, Mansel didn’t move. He continued to stare at the flag as it snapped in the wind. Then, suddenly, as if shaken out of a dream, he stirred. Looking at cadet Brungess as if seeing him for the first time, he shrugged, then shook. “Don’t know,” he answered. “I guess I was just mesmerized by this flag. I’ve always wanted to see it up close.”

Brungess blew warm air into his hands and nodded. “I understand you, cadet. It was the same way for me the first time, too.” He extended his hand. “I’m Jim Brungess, sophomore cadet at the Academy.”

Mansel gave Brungess a strange look that was quickly replaced with a smile. He knew that name sounded familiar to him for some reason. He took Brungess’s hand and gave it a quick, hard shake. “I’m Darryl Mansel, freshman. Nice to meet you Jim.” He took a quick glance back at the flag and jerked his thumb towards it. “You here to stare at a piece of cloth, too?”

Brungess barked a short laugh and shook his head. “No, I’m supposed to be meeting some friends of mine out here,” he explained.

Mansel nodded. “Yeah, so am I.” He checked his chrono. “Kinda late, though.”

“You or them?”

“Them.”

“Must have their heads in their...” he stopped short as a Lieutenant walked by. Both quickly came to attention and saluted. The Lieutenant, not used to being saluted, awkwardly returned it.

“How did you know what to do?” Brungess asked, surprised. “Classes haven’t even began yet.”

Mansel favored Brungess with a smile. “My dad is an officer,” he explained. “A starship commander.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Brungess, interested. “What starship?”

“It’s called the Explorer, one of those Excelsior-class type ships. That’s about all I know about it...I’m not real big into starships.”

“Not big into starships?” Brungess echoed. “What’s your major?”

“Engineering.”

“I know a couple of engineers. What type?”

“Electrical.”

Brungess frowned as he mentally cycled through the list of engineers he knew. “Don’t know any electrical ones,” he confessed, scratching his head. “I’m EDF, not UNSF.”