Hello everyone. I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. It’s a beautiful day up here in the high desert of Southern California. Before I get into my topic, I’d like to let you know a little bit about what’s going on with me. Regarding my writing, I am almost finished with the rough draft of my new novel, Gone Missing. I still have two or maybe three more chapters to go. I also have an audiobook back from the narrator. There is always something that I need to do. Yesterday I competed in a Karate tournament. I didn’t place but I had a great time. I did a weapons form, I spared and kept score. It was a busy day. I was living my best life and doing things that I enjoy.

How many of you have things that happened in your past that prevent you from manifesting the things that you want and desire? It could be beliefs about money, negative feelings about people, or feelings of lack or of being unworthy. It could be hard feelings toward another person over something that happened in the past. I know I am dealing with some of those. An example. About fifteen years ago when I was single, I went to the grocery store to stock up on two weeks’ worth of groceries. When I got to the checkout line and was about to pay for my groceries, the young woman at the counter scolded me for how much stuff I had in my cart. She said that living alone like I did, I didn’t need to buy that much stuff. This embarrassed me and pissed me off. I started to leave the cart where it set and walk out of the store, but I needed the groceries so I bit my tongue and paid for groceries. Now, over fifteen years later that woman still works in the grocery store where I shop sometimes. When I see her that instantly comes to mind even though it happened over fifteen years ago. She probably doesn’t even remember it. I need to let it go, so I purposefully get into her checkout lane and treat her with the utmost respect and courtesy.

What if there was a way to mentally time travel to your past and change the negative things that happened to you so that they no longer affect your present or your future? I’m not talking about jumping into a time machine and physically going to the past, though that would be way cool. What I am talking about is mental time travel. Going back to your past and getting rid of those negative emotions. Let them go so that you can live in the moment. Let them go so you can manifest miracles in your life. The mental Time Travel System can do that for you. The Mental Time Travel System is a course that helps you revisit your past to get rid of the things that are holding you back mentally and manifest your best life. I encourage you all to live in the moment and create your best life. Peace out

And now for your reading pleasure, the Battle for Europa chapter 5.

Chapter 5

David Gallagher and Alonzo Garcia stepped off the bus. They stood in front of the shuttle port on the naval base in San Diego. A cold breeze hit them in the face coming in off the ocean. In the bay, a tugboat blew its foghorn. Two men in naval uniforms passed by glancing over at the crowd of young men gathered in front of the spaceport. David and Alonzo followed the crowd of inductees into the shuttle port and stepped into the lobby falling into line at a reception desk.

The sound of excited conversation echoed through the room. David gazed about taking in the white marble tile on the floor and the pictures of old sailing vessels adorning the walls. Several wooden desks were set throughout the room. Lines of people stood at each desk. They stepped into one of the lines. When David reached the front of the line, a cute young woman wearing a naval uniform looked up and smiled. “Wave your chip across my scanner.” Breathing in her sweet perfume, David passed his wrist across a little black box on her desk. A printer setting behind the young woman squealed and printed out his ticket and boarding pass. “There is a bank of turbo lifts to your left. Take one up to the fifth-floor lobby. Your flight leaves in forty-five minutes.” She handed him his paperwork.

“Thank you, Miss.” David returned her smile and stepped out of line. After Alonzo received his ticket and boarding pass, he stepped up next to David.

“What time do you fly out?” David asked. He had to shout over the noise in the crowded lobby.

“Eight forty-five. How about you?”

David Glanced at Alonzo’s paperwork. “We’re on the same flight.”

They crossed the lobby to the turbo lifts elbowing their way through the crowd. When they reached the lifts, David ran his hand across a scan pad next to the door. The door opened, and they stepped inside. “Fifth floor.” The turbo lift’s voice-activated sensors put the machine in motion. They felt their stomachs drop and heard a slight whirring noise as the turbo lift shot up to the fifth floor. The doors opened and they stepped into a smaller, but no less crowded lobby. Looking across the room, David saw the terminal doors leading out to the shuttle pad. To the left of the terminal doors, set a bar and a lounge. “Let’s have a beer while we wait.” Loud neo-pop music emanated from the lounge.

Alonzo glanced down at his paperwork. “What flight are we on again?”

“Flight four zero seven. Why?”

“I don’t want to miss our flight when they call it over the PA.”

“We’ve got a forty-five-minute wait. This place should start to thin out a bit by then.” They wormed their way through the crowd to the bar.

“What can I get you boys?” a dark-haired waitress asked. She wore a skintight cocktail dress, cut low in the front that left little to the imagination. David inhaled her cheap perfume and checked out a field of tiny freckles displayed on the top of the woman’s breasts. He glanced down at the deep valley of cleavage for a second then his eyes darted back up to her face.

“A beer for me and my buddy. Make it two Blue Bombs.”

She gave him a seductive smile. “We don’t have it. All we have is the house blend on draft.”

“I guess that will have to do then,” David said staring into her almond-colored eyes. The waitress poured them each a beer and they sat at the bar. “I can’t believe it. We’re finally getting out of Diego.”

“I know. This town can kiss my ass goodbye.” Alonzo held up his glass. “A toast. To our new lives in the Federal Defense Forces. Who knows? If I like it, I could make a career out of it.”

David shook his head. “I’ll drink to that, but I doubt if I’ll do more than one hitch.” David raised his glass into the air.

Thirty-five minutes later, a computerized voice came over the room’s PA system. It announced that passengers could now board flights 407, 408, 409, and 410. David and Alonzo, both half-drunk, headed to the terminal gates. They stepped through the gates onto the shuttle pad. A cold ocean breeze hit them in the face once more while they headed toward the waiting shuttles.

“You can see the whole world from up here,” Alonzo said glancing about. From the vantage point on the fifth floor, not only could they see the entire base, but the entire city of San Diego. Off in the distance, they saw the dark blue water of the Pacific Ocean. A strong cold wind coming in off the water buffeted them.

“You better take a good look. We might not be back here for a long time.”

“Maybe never.” They stepped into the boarding line and handed a young man in an Air Force uniform their tickets and boarding passes.

“Welcome aboard, Mr. Garcia and Mr. Gallagher. I am Lieutenant Cunningham. I will be your flight attendant on this trip. Come aboard and find a seat where ever you like.”

“Thank you, sir,” Alonzo said, giving the young officer a drunken salute. They staggered up the boarding ramp and found seats on the left halfway up the aisle. David took a seat by the window and Alonzo took the seat next to the aisle.

“This is your pilot speaking. Welcome aboard. Please strap yourselves in. We will be taking off shortly. You are looking at a thirty-minute flight to Frisco and your new life in the Federal Defense Forces. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Your flight attendant will be handing out food and beverages. Please put on your seat belts now,” the voice of the shuttle pilot said coming over the PA system. The flight attendant closed the outer hatch. He helped people with their seatbelts, and then found a seat at the rear of the shuttle and strapped himself in. The pilot applied thrust; the shuttle rose off the pad and headed north. Once airborne, the flight attendant unfastened his seatbelt. He headed up the aisle passing out beverages.

“What will it be Gentlemen?” the flight attendant said when he stopped next to David and Alonzo’s seats.

“Give us each a beer,” David said. The flight attendant handed each a plastic bottle filled with beer. A loud cheer went up from the passengers when the shuttle passed over the city. The shuttle headed north to San Francisco.

***

They touched down on the landing pad on a naval base in San Francisco. The passengers boarded shuttle buses and headed to the induction center. The holographic image of a bus driver on the VID screen at the front of the bus kept up an ongoing commentary. He pointed out various buildings and landmarks along the route. The bus pulled up to the curb in front of a large brick building painted white. A banner strung across the front of the building in bold red letters said: Welcome Inductees. David and Alonzo followed the crowd to the Induction Center. Inside, several receptionists sat at tables. Across the lobby, a set of double doors set in the far wall behind the reception desks. Outside, more shuttle buses arrived bringing more inductees. David and Alonzo fell into line at the nearest table. When they reached the front of the line, a dark-haired lieutenant looked up and smiled. David couldn’t help but notice the cute little dimples in her cheeks, and her fresh scent. He thought she smelled as though she just stepped from the shower.

“Good morning. If you’ll run your wrist over my scanner, I’ll print up your records.” David ran his hand over the stationary scanning device on the reception desk. A printer behind the lieutenant printed up David’s school records. It printed his medical records plus all his background information. “Proceed to stage one. That will be in the orientation room. Go through the doors behind me. The orientation room will be the first door on your left when you head down the hallway.” She handed David his records.

“Thank you,” David said and then stepped out of line waiting for Alonzo. They crossed the lobby, stepped through the set of green doors, and into a long hallway that seemed to run on forever. Green tile covered the floor and brown wooden doors were evenly spaced on both sides of the hallway. They stopped at the first door on their left, where a gold plaque over the door said: Orientation Room. A blonde-haired female Air Force lieutenant standing by the door smiled.

“If you gentlemen will step inside and find a seat, we’ll get started as soon as the room fills up.” They stepped into a rectangular-shaped room. David glanced about for a second. Several tables were set perpendicular to a raised platform. A green carpet covered the stage. A small podium was set in its center, and military officers sat in chairs on the stage facing the tables. Pencils and stacks of paperwork were set on the tables in front of each chair. David and Alonzo made their way to the front of the room, sat down, and talked quietly while the room filled up with people.

A young naval officer stepped up to the podium. “Welcome to orientation. I am Ensign Blackwell. You can expect a full day of testing mental, physical, and physiological. As you can see, we will be doing things the old-fashioned way, today. Our digital pad system is down. Setting before you are some forms for you to fill out. They ask various questions about your background and interest. The last form asks you to choose which branch of federal service you are most interested in. I would ask that you save that form until you have heard from the men standing behind me. The Federal Defense Forces allow its inductees some choice in their assignments. As always, the needs of the service come first. Now I’d like to introduce Lieutenant Goldenstein from the Army.”

A muscular man with sandy-colored hair wearing a CEU-Army uniform stepped up to the podium. “Gentlemen. I hope you’re enjoying yourself so far. If you choose the Army, you can look forward to a grand adventure. You will do your boot camp at Fort Campbell Kentucky. You will serve your first term of enlistment on the moon or Mars. If you’re lucky, you might land an assignment here on Earth serving as peacekeepers. There is always some brush fire war popping up that we have to deal with. There is an element in the colonies, on the moon and Mars that is a constant source of irritation. It is the Army’s responsibility to deal with these miss guided insurrectionists. If you choose the Army, if you apply yourself and work hard, the chances for advancement are good. I won’t take up any more of your time. Thank you.”

He stepped away from the podium and then Ensign Blackwell stepped back up to the microphone. “Now we’ll hear from Lieutenant Baker from Fleet Marines.” A stocky, muscular man with dark hair and bulging biceps stood before the group.

“Hoorah! If you choose to serve with the Fleet Marines, you will serve on our space-going vessels. You could serve as peacekeepers here on Earth or Mars. You might get a shot at an Earth assignment and spend some time at sea. Those assignments usually go to second-term enlistments. If the brass assigns you to the space-born Fleet Marines, you will do your boot camp on the moon. If they assign you to the planet side division, you will do boot camp in San Diego.”

“I don’t want to go back there,” Alonzo whispered.

“I hear you. I’m choosing Fleet Marines, Space Division.”

“Let’s wait until we hear what the guys from the other branches have to say.” An Air Force officer replaced the marine lieutenant. He explained that as airmen, they would serve with the space fleet as shuttle pilots or mechanics and that you might serve on Earth at the various airbases. He said that if you went to flight school, you would fly air support for the Army or Marines and that in the Air Force, you would do your boot camp either in Texas or on the moon.

Another naval officer stepped to the podium, looked out at the inductees, and smiled. “Gentlemen. If you join the Navy, you will serve with the fleet in space or on one of the surface vessels on Earth. If you receive orders for the space division, you will do boot camp on the moon. If your orders assign you to the straight-leg Navy on Earth, you will do your boot camp in New Chicago, up by the Great Lakes. Either way, you are in for an adventure. You could also serve at one of the space stations orbiting Earth or Mars.” He paused and then said, “See the solar system, sail the world’s oceans, join the Navy.”

“I thought we were inductees? This guy acts like we have a choice,” David whispered.

“We can choose. It all depends on the numbers. The only thing we can’t choose is to say the hell with this shit and go home.” David let out a muffled giggle. He was feeling the effects of the alcohol they drank earlier, and a few heads turned giving him stern looks.

An officer from the Planetary Patrol Force stood behind the podium. He looked out at the inductees and smiled. “The PPF is a fast reaction force that spends most of its time chasing smugglers or pirates. We are the first ones the brass calls on when there is trouble anywhere in the solar system. If you join the PPF, you will do your boot camp on the moon and serve in space. Thank you,” the man said and then sat down.

Ensign Blackwell stepped back up to the podium. “Please fill out your last form choosing which branch of the service you would like to serve. Take your forms to the room across the hall for stage two of induction. That will be a physiological and political evaluation.”

“What are you choosing?” Alonzo asked.

“I told you. Fleet Marines, Space Division.” David filled out the last form. Finished with their paperwork, they stepped out the door. Another group of inductees filled the orientation room. They stepped through a doorway on the right side of the hallway. A plaque in the center of the door said: Stage Two, Psychological and political Evaluation. The room was filled with small desks and chairs like those used in school. More papers and pencils were set on the desk. Five small offices with glass windows were at the front of the room.

A young female naval officer standing at the front of the room smiled. “Inductees. Before you on each desk set a one hundred question test. There are no wrong or right answers. Answer the questions truthfully to the best of your ability. After you’re finished, remain seated. When you hear your name called, report to whichever evaluator calls your name. The evaluations will be in one of the offices behind me. Let’s start the test people. We have a lot of people to process today.”

David and Alonzo picked up their pencils and went to work on the test. The test consisted of true or false questions and some multiple-choice questions. There were also some abstract reasoning questions mixed in. David’s head pounded and he found it hard to concentrate. God, I drank too much beer.

After finishing the test, they sat back to wait, and after a few minutes, a fat man dressed in a black suit stepped out of one of the offices up front.

“Is there a Mr. David Gallagher here?” he asked.

“I’m Gallagher.” David made his way to the front.

“Come in. Have a seat, young man.” David followed him through the brown door. He sat down in an office chair across the desk from the fat political officer and handed over his paperwork breathing in the smell of stale tobacco and cheap whiskey.

“How are things going this morning?”

“Everything’s fine. Hectic, but fine,” David said.

“I see here that you chose the Fleet Marines Space Division to serve in. Why is that?”

“I want to get off the planet and see the solar system.”

“Yes. It’s an adventure out there. What we are going to do is I am going to ask you a series of questions. I want to answer with the first thing that comes off the top of your head. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Piece of cake.”

“Okay. Here we go. The first question.” He asked David questions about his loyalty to the Council of Economic Unions, his belief system, his value system, and his plans for the future. When he finished with his questions, the political officer looked up and smiled. “Your name got red-flagged on the computer. It is because of your relationship with someone named Shawn Gallagher. Do you know this person?”

David sighed, feeling the heat rise on his face. “He’s my brother.”

“It seems that your brother is part of some insurrectionist activities. He’s right in the middle of this work stoppage on Europa. There are rumors that he is part of a terrorist group, known as the People’s Fist. If that is true, when the federal forces catch him, he faces execution. What are your feelings about your brother’s activities? Do you share his nationalistic and insurrectionist views?”

“No. My loyalties lie with the federal system. It’s what pulled us out of the chaos of World War Three. My brother is a troublemaker. He has been from the time he was little until now.”

“Then you don’t approve of his activities?”

“No. We don’t even get along.”

“What if you get assigned to a mission to apprehend your brother? Let’s say your superiors ordered you to use deadly force if he resisted. If not, you are to bring him in for trial and execution?”

David paused. “I would do my duty. I wouldn’t like it, but I would do my duty.”

“Good. I realize that you shouldn’t have to pay for your brother’s sins. Even though the state should come first, some people let family ties get in the way of doing what is right. I’ll let you proceed with induction. I’m going to mark your paperwork so that the political adviser at your first assignment can keep an eye on you. If you ever need to talk the door to your political advisor’s office will always be open.” The political officer looked at the digital clock embedded in his wrist and said, “It’s almost noon. Go to the cafeteria and get some chow. Report to stage three at one AM for your physical and your strength and agility testing.”

“Thank you, sir.” David took back his paperwork, stepped out the door, and exited the room. When he stepped out into the main hallway, David found Alonzo waiting for him.

“How’d it go?” Alonzo asked.

“All right. They gave me some shit about my brother. That asshole is always getting his ass in a sling. It makes me mad when I get dragged into his bullshit.”

“Forget about it. Let’s go get some chow.”

They followed the crowd down to the cafeteria, stepped into line and moved their trays down a buffet-style counter, and breathed in the rich aroma of freshly cooked food. David’s stomach rumbled. They heaped mounds of mashed potatoes and gravy onto a hot roast beef sandwich. They had French fries, some fruit, and a glass of fruit punch to drink.

“The grub doesn’t look too bad,” Alonzo said after they sat down.

David gazed about the room. Half of the inductees were good-looking females. “No. I could survive on this.”

“What did you think about the written test? What did you put for question seventeen? It went something like this. If your ship was about to explode, but you only had room for one other person on your escape pod, who would you, choose? The answers were, A, your best friend, B, your captain, C, your political advisor D, whoever is closest to you, or E, none of the above.”

“I put E. None of the above. I’d get the hell out of there,” David said.

“I picked D. But it would be the nearest good-looking female.” Alonzo laughed, diving into his hot roast beef sandwich. “They wanted you to say, C, your political advisor.”

“Screw the Political Advisor.” Finished with lunch, they headed out into the hallway and entered a door on their right with the words: Stage Three written over the door. A long line of tables was set in the center of the room and inductees stood facing a doorway on the other end of the room. Across the tables from the inductees stood a group of medical personnel. Next to each inductee set a large canvas bag. A good-looking young female inductee stood in front of David.

“Take off your clothes and put them in the bag, next to you on the table,” the head nurse standing at the head of the line said. David blushed and hesitated for a few seconds.

“Let’s go, inductee. We don’t have all day,” a young nurse standing next to David said. David stripped out of his clothes and put them in the bag as instructed. The young female inductee in front of David took off her clothes. David’s eyes dropped to her shapely bottom. He felt something stir in his lower regions.

“Do you have an eye problem inductee? Keep your eyes up and point them straight forward,” the female nurse standing next to David said. David’s face turned crimson.

The doctors and nurses gave each one of them a thorough physical exam which included several inoculations. They took DNA samples and had their eyes and ears examined. The nurses ran bio scanners over their bodies checking their internal organs. The doctors and nurses poked and prodded the inductees for over an hour. A nurse took their fingerprints and copies of their retinas with a scanner. She took samples of hair follicles. When the exam was over, a nurse near the doorway at the end of the room handed them each a set of gym trunks and a t-shirt.

“Step through this doorway and form up on the bulkhead to your right. Your strength and agility test will begin in ten minutes.”

David and Alonzo took their gym shorts and t-shirts and headed through the door. They put on their workout clothes and leaned against the bulkhead behind them. The girl standing next to David who had been in front of him in line smiled.

“I heard you get in trouble back there.”

“Yeah. So sue me. You’ve got a nice ass.” David laughed.

She let out a giggle. “I’m glad that parts over. It’s kind of embarrassing stripping like that in front of everybody. I’m surprised that they didn’t separate the sexes.”

“They’re trying to herd us through like cattle. They’re more concerned about quantity than modesty.” David gazed across the room and saw chin-up bars and weight lifting equipment. There was a rappelling tower and an obstacle course. On the far side of the obstacle course set several machines. There was a stair stepper and a treadmill, but there were a few that he didn’t recognize. Four physical fitness instructors stepped up to the inductees. Two were male and two were female.

“Inductees. Let’s step away from the wall and do some stretching exercises. Then we will pair up and do some exercises to see how physically fit you people are,” the head instructor said. He was a fifty-year-old man with bulging biceps and six-pack abs said. David paired up with the young woman standing next to him. They went through a rigorous ordeal and had to do as many sit-ups, pushups, deep knee bends, leg lifts, and squats as they could; it was a timed test. David’s head pounded; sweat cropped up, on his forehead and he smelled like beer. After that, they ran an obstacle course where they climbed over walls and ran through a row of rubber tires. David climbed up a wooden tower using ropes to slide back down when they were through. By the time he finished the obstacle course, was soaked in sweat and his body hurt but his hangover was gone.

The instructors allowed them a five-minute rest break. Then they started the strength test. They lifted weights with their legs and bench pressed as much weight as they could lift. The instructor had them use a machine where they stood on its platform and pulled two rings with their hands. The machine applied resistance. It measured the foot-pounds of pressure that they pulled with their arms. The machine caused their arms to ache. After they finished, they ran on the treadmill until near exhaustion. The instructors moved the inductees back to the bulkhead.

“That will be enough people. Hit the showers to my left. Put your street clothes back on and put the gym trunks and t-shirt in the laundry hamper by the door to the showers. After that, report to stage four of induction. That will be in the last room on the left-hand side of the hallway. It’s on the far end opposite from where you first entered this morning!”

The inductees headed to the showers. The physical fitness instructors stood at the doorway watching. They made sure that no sexual conduct occurred in the shower. David and Alonzo couldn’t help but make fugitive glances at the female inductees while they lathered up their naked bodies.

“Madre Dios, look at them titties,” Alonzo whispered.

“Good Lord God almighty! I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

“Do you two inductees have an eye problem? Finish up and get dressed! We’ve got more inductees waiting for the shower!” the woman standing guard at the door yelled.

“Yes ma’am!” David and Alonzo both yelled. Finished in the shower, they put their street clothes back on and headed to the main hallway. They entered the last door on their left. A naval officer stood on a raised platform. Behind the platform hung the flags from the various Economic Unions. There was also the blue-green flag of the Council of Economic Unions.

“Step to the front of the room and make room for as many people as possible! Once I administer the oath, report to stage five, which is out-processing! Go through the double doors at the opposite end of the hallway that you entered this morning! Out processing is in the south end lobby!” the naval officer said.

The room filled up. The naval officer on the platform issued an oath of allegiance to the Council of Economic Unions. After swearing their oaths, David and Alonzo, followed the crowd, back out into the hallway. They stepped through the double doors on the south end of the building and waited in line at an out-processing desk.

A red-headed female naval officer shot David a quick smile. She took his paperwork and put his papers on a portable scanner. The scanner downloaded them into the computer system. She printed up his orders and handed him the paperwork. “The Federal Defense Forces have assigned you to the Fleet Marines, Space Division. Your boot camp will be on the moon. You are on flight seven twenty-nine. Your flight leaves the shuttle port tonight at twenty hundred hours. That will take you to the spacedock where you will catch a troop transport to the lunar colonies. Show your orders to the clerk at the spacedock and they will direct you to the right ship. You have an advance in your first month’s pay of one hundred credits for meals. Good luck inductee.”

“Thank you,” David said. He stepped out of line and waited for Alonzo. When Alonzo received his orders, he stepped up next to David and glanced at David’s orders.

“We’re on the same flight. We’re both in Fleet Marines and headed to boot camp on the moon. I hope they put us in the same platoon,” Alonzo said.

“Let’s get out of here and catch a bus to the spaceport.” They caught the shuttle bus and at the spaceport, David used some of his credits to buy dinner. Alonzo bought the beer. The announcer called their flight. They staggered outside and up the shuttle’s boarding ramp. Alonzo found two empty seats in the back of the shuttle. The shuttle lifted off the landing pad, the pilot applied thrust and the Gee forces shoved them back into their seats. The shuttle reached orbit. Alonzo looked out his porthole at the Earth rotating below.

“Take a good look bro. It may be a long time before we see old Mother Earth again. I almost wish I was back in Diego.”

***