NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: Sargent Blade
Vorden's eyes fluttered open just as the speed at which the ship was traveling greatly reduced. The tell-tale sign of a conveyance on the approach of its final destination. His body naturally detected the shift and woke as a result. He shifted in his seat to return his body to an upright position and leaned forward a bit to peer out the large front windshield.
There it was. In all its glory. The brand new, state of the art, incredibly large... Bubble? What could only truly be described as a massive, bustling, complex of buildings, all neatly packed under a dome. Each building being more impressive than the last and quite flashy for a military base and academy. Looking out into the distance Vorden could see the school clearly drawing near. For the first time since agreeing to take the position... He finally felt a glimpse of, what Vorden only hoped could be called excitement.
With nothing but blue oceanic waters surrounding it on all sides, that island stuck out like a beacon gleaming with the almost blinding reflection of the sun. The pilot slowed down further and followed the coordinates he had been given previously with their landing instructions. Soon they were lining up in a row of other crafts of all manner of shapes and sizes. Each one was waiting for their turn to enter the security field protecting the school. A small gateway with several military personnel was soon in view, checking credentials against an approved entry list,and only allowing authorized personnel entrance into the vicinity.
As they waited, Vorden was pleased to discover that the line was actually moving rather quickly, and so it wasn't too bad. When they were the next in line the door nearest him slid open, revealing Vorden sitting directly inside. He presented his Gold Id Card, as he had been instructed to do, upon request by the younger gentleman checking in the ships.
He held the card up and took a close look at it. His eyes grew wide as he peered down at the bright golden card and he quickly tapped it against the terminal in front of him. A couple of very cheerful sounding beeps rang out and then Vorden heard. "Good morning Sargent, Sir!" The young guy quickly shot up from his chair and saluted Vorden. A second young man around the same age immediately followed suit, leaping to his feet as he heard his companion's words. Vorden blushed slightly, looked away and gave the soldiers a swift salute. Holding the card in his outstretched hand for Vorden to retrieve the young soldier added, "Have a nice rest of your day sir!"
Vorden made sure the door closed and started to gather his things. They were directed to a hanger on the island and continued to park the ship in a loading/unloading area temporarily since it would be returning back home as soon as the pilot had a chance to refuel and stretch his legs. Vorden stood next to the plane briefly, and waited for the co-pilot to return from the cargo hold where Vorden's bags were stored. Two young soldiers came out to meet him and after another saluting situation, collected his bags and informed him that they would be transported to his room for him, and that he was to report to the General who would be waiting for him inside.
Vorden gulped. His experiences with meeting generals had been rather traumatic up to this point in his life. Pushing those memories aside, he proceeded to follow the men further into the complex.
As they walked Vorden couldn't help but to gawk at the scene around him. The Military Academy was a grand structure that gleamed under the brilliant shine of the midmorning sun. The entire location was nestled safely under a giant dome. The dome was a defensive invention, while perfectly clear it was made from a bulletproof glass that was able to withstand the most destructive projectiles and other types of attacks like energy pulse weapons. The whole base from a distance looked like a snow globe. The air inside was pumped in through a filtration system that removed toxins and could even eliminate nuclear fallout if the situation called for it. The new type of glass that had been used was also coated with an older technology that had recently been improved, a translucent film that could be utilized like solar panels. Vorden had read that the dome was able to procure enough energy to keep the entire facility up and running, as well as excess that was then either stored in high tech battery cells to be sent to other locations or sent back to the power grid to assist with the ever growing needs of human power consumption.
Beneath the dome, the base and academy were spread over the entire island, with the base itself and the academy somewhat apart from one another. The academy, was composed of multiple, impressively large, buildings, each situated just slightly spaced apart far enough to create small courtyards of lush with greenery in between them.
The the soldiers continued down a path through just such a courtyard and Vorden was slightly surprised to see how much vegetation they allowed to remain. It gave the whole place a much more relaxed and pleasant atmosphere than he had been anticipating.
Past the first string of buildings was another string of buildings however these next ones were considerably smaller and there were less of them. Only three in total actually. Yet again there was a fair amount of space in between each. Vorden could see past those, and in the center of the whole thing was one final massive building. However they reached the inner ring and paused momentarily. One of the men turned to Vorden, and pointing at the door of one of the buildings and he said "Your belongings will be in your room when you arrive there. The general is inside this building, if you head in his assistant Sarah will be meeting you". Vorden offered him a smile and the man saluted him one last time before turning and continuing on after his companion. Vorden watched them walk away with his bags for one moment before he turned back to the building he had pointed to. Vorden looked up at it's several floors, and took a deep breath before walking over to the door and stepping inside.
The academy was a testament not only to advanced technology but also to the anticipation of the future. Every square inch was brimming with advanced and useful technology, the military spared no expense it seemed, as all the building materials used were top tier. The highest quality in every place he looked. It was full of light, very bright and invigorating. The brand new floors were so new and untouched that they looked like mirrors, still shiny and unscuffed, they reflected everything. The walls almost hummed with potential, just like the young individuals about to fill its currently vacant halls.
Vorden let out a long whistle as his eyes looked over the entire room, impressed with it all, anywhere his gaze landed made him feel like perhaps the Blade building wasn't as top of the line as he'd thought.
As his curious and excited glance danced from one side of the foyer that he had entered, stopping only for a second on each and every thing possible all around the room like a kid in a candy store. A little overwhelmed by it, his eyes inevitably fell upon a girl. Almost not noticing her smiling, round, doe eyed face as his eyes were moving faster than his brain could process, as soon as what he had just seen registered in his brain, he quickly did a double take and apologized, blushing out of embarrassment.
"Sargent Blade, sir". She quickly gave Vorden a salute once he finally noticed her standing there.
Vorden looked at her badge which read 'S. Smith' and offered her a kind smile and salute, then he responded politely, "Please just call me Vorden. It's lovely to meet you Private Smith".
"Thank you sir... Erm... Vorden" she had a confused smile but then continued. "The general is waiting for you, if you would just follow me".
Vorden gave her a nod and proceeded to follow behind her to an elevator just at the center of the room. They quickly took it to the third floor and directly across the hall from the elevator was a closed door with a sign that read 'General J. Neely'. With another deep breath, the private showed him inside.