Post by dasproteus on Jan 28, 2012 22:18:57 GMT -5
100 years from now, a young boy dreams of becoming a racer.
Daydreaming, Fennius’ thoughts were far away. And while his body was sitting like the rest of the teenagers in the classrooms of the El Reno High School, flights of fancy carried his mind elsewhere. Fennius knew that if stood up from his desk this instant, left the building, and caught the next public transport heading east, it would whisk him away from this never ending parade of monotonous lessons and deliver him to the only place a fifteen year old boy would want to be. If he could be anywhere right now, he’d be in the packed stands of the Oklahoma City Super Thunder Speedway. If you were there, you could catch the fastest racers in the area tearing up the ten mile track while jockeying for a place in the coming regional finals. Each of the racers a daredevil, strapped to an angry comet disguised as a hovercraft. When the green lights blinked to life on the starting pole, and the engines allowed to run free, the sound was unlike anything else on the planet.
He remembered his first visit to the track down to the detail. His father Alexander Taylor had gotten lucky enough to find someone trying to sell a pair of lower grandstand seats at a discount and snatched them up. While only eight years old at the time, he could still recall all the sensations of bearing witness to the electronic circus of neon and noise. The smells of the food and exhaust mixed in his nose keeping him alert for the procession of power that was inching ever closer. But of all the sensations to witness, there was nothing like the sound.
When the turbines of the “sleds” ignite, the world outside of the racetrack vanishes and leaves you with goose bumps racing up your arms. And when the explosion of decibels hits you in the chest, there’s no use trying to talk. No human sound can stand up to it. Even before he knew what a demon was, little Fennius Taylor imagined angry ethereal beings writhing inside the engines. And when those figures of fire and racket fought to be loosed from their cages, the roar alone was loud enough to knock him back into his seat.
But that wasn’t all that happened seven years ago. That fateful night, when the flood lights and advertisements lit the track for the main event, the reigning king of professional sled racing, Kerry “The Wall” Kensington, descended upon Oklahoma City and held court over his subjects and fans as only a true champion could. Fennius, sitting atop his fathers’ shoulders in the north stands cheered on a man he hadn’t heard of before that day. But in an exhibition of skill and mastery, the champion did not disappoint. He climbed into a junior league rated hovercraft like the rest of the racers and proceeded to pound the top seeded up-and-comers by a full eight seconds. After that, Fennius was hooked. He begged his father to meet the man who was known as a master of speed. Amongst a crowd of tens of thousands, young Fennius, with stars in his eyes, and ringing still in his ears, got to shake hands and have his picture taken with a legend. And ever since, that picture of a bespectacled boy with a tired but smiling man still wearing his racing suit, was the first thing he saw when he awoke, and the last thing he saw before he shut his eyes. And every night, when Fennius shut his eyes, he dreamt of being behind the controls of those amazing machines. He pictured the incredible speed that would be within his grasp to command. There would always be danger. Every racer who’d ever gotten in the cockpit of a hovercraft knew the consequences of a mistake at three hundred miles an hour. On top of that, the other racers would do anything and everything to beat him across the finish line. But Fennius knew he’d be ready for them. He’d study all the tracks for hours so he could cut every corner down to the millimeter. He’d know the strength and capacity of all the parts of his sled so he could bleed the engine for every ounce of thrust. And when the tree of that knowledge bore fruit, he would pluck it from the branches, sink his teeth deep and taste victory. Fans from all over would cheer his name as he stood in the winner’s circle.
“TAY-LOR!” They would chant. “TAY-LOR! TAY-LOR!” It was beautiful. He wanted it more than anything. But as much as he wanted it, the accolades would have to wait.
“FENNIUS XAVIER TAYLOR!” The booming voice brought Fen out of his dream-state like he’d been doused in freezing water. “ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?!” He opened his eyes to see not only the instructor of his class but the entire room full of students staring at him from every angle.
“Um, what was the question?” He asked with a vacant expression. The students erupted with laughter at his expense for being caught skylarking. Fennius’ cheeks flushed with embarrassment and the weight of humiliation shrank him in his chair.
“Well, Mr. Taylor. If you’d been paying attention to your physics lesson, you’d be able to tell me what happens in the problem I’ve explained. Let’s try it again, shall we, class? As we were studying, Centripetal Force is more directed towards the center of the axis of rotation of an object following an elliptical or circular path. Centrifugal Force is the force that pulls away from the center because of the objects inertia. If you took a rock, tied it to a string, and swung it around, the force from the center of the axis of rotation is centripetal force. The force that causes the rock to pull away from the center, is centrifugal force. And since we all know Mr. Taylor is a huge fan of sled racing, let’s use that as our example. Let’s suppose that Mr. Taylor is a world class sled racer and he’s racing along the course at the local speedway. If Mr. Taylor is buckled into the cockpit of a fast moving hovercraft that sharply takes on a flat turn and he feels as if he is pulled to the side, that too is centrifugal force caused by your… what Mr. Taylor?
“Inertia.” Fennius answered confidently.
“So you have been paying attention after all!” The instructor said, making the classroom fill with laughter again. “Exactly. Inertia is the correct answer. And the more mass you have, the more inertia. That’s where centrifugal force comes into play.” Fennius raised his hand. “Yes, Mr. Taylor? Did you have something to add?”
“That’s not entirely correct, sir.”
“The text on your holo-tablet begs to differ, Mr. Taylor.” The man turned away and pressed a button to make the larger screen at the head of the class change to the next problem.
“But it’s wrong!” Fennius blurted. The teacher froze for a moment before turning around. The man’s face was a mask of agitation. As soon as he saw the instructors expression, Fennius knew he’d made a grave mistake of speaking his mind.
“Well then, class. It would appear that our lax pupil of the day has taken a turn for the proactive. And as you know, Mr. Taylor, I do not tolerate outbursts within my classroom. Can you tell me what the consequences are for such an infraction of my rules?” Fennius froze but another student raised his hand.
“Yes, Mr. Treben?” Gary Treben looked at Fennius with a snarky look as he spoke. “Sir, the disciplinary action for outbursts is detention.”
“But it’s not right!” Fennius blurted again.
“A second infraction! That’s two detentions! Your conviction about the flaws in my teaching are turning you into a glutton for punishment! However, in the interest of fairness I’m willing to forego your punishment if you can
explain why you think the text is inaccurate.” Fennius straightened and stood up.
"Sir, centrifugal" force doesn't exist. It's a made-up thing that's not really there.”
“Go on.”
“When the centripetal force suddenly shuts off, the object proceeds in a straight line, in the direction it was going at the instant when the centripetal force stopped. We see the object take off straight away from the former center, and we say ‘There must be a force pulling it away from there.’ But there isn't any.” Many of the eyes in the room looking at Fennius grew wide. Was the text on their holo-tablets wrong? “And that "force" that you think you feel when the sled turns a corner and you get pressed against the outside, away from the curve?” he continued. “That's just the tendency of your body to want to keep moving in a straight line, and its reaction to the centripetal force that the car-seat and the door are exerting on you in order to make your body move in a curved path.” After such a long expulsion of information, Fennius stopped to take a breath before finishing. “That’s why there is no "centrifugal" force.” The class grew silent as a tomb as they looked to the instructor for an answer.
“I see, Mr. Taylor. Your answer may or may not be all correct, but I can tell you with a hundred percent certainty, that you will meet with me after class is over.” The anxious faces of his peers turned to grins of malice after the verdict fell unfavorably for their classmate. Fennius took his seat and stared blankly at his school-issued learning tablet. He was sure he’d been correct in researching the problem. The only problem that remained now would be how he was going to break the news to his father that he’d earned not one but two detentions. An hour later, the three tones sounded to signal the end of the school day. The students rushed to pack up their tablets and belongings before exiting the building. Fennius gathered his things before approaching the teacher’s desk at the head of the room. Standing ahead the intimidatingly large desk, he waited to receive his punishment. The man spoke without looking up from his desk.
“That was quite a display, Mr. Taylor. “It’s so rare that my pupils voice opposition to the lessons given. Tell me…” The man said. “How exactly do you know the problem was erroneous?”
“I-I read the syllabus and text for the class while school was out of session.”
“You’re saying that you’ve read the syllabus for the term in its entirety?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Is that a fact?” The man tapped his tablet to access the syllabus. “Can you tell me what next week’s studies will cover?”
“Section 4.2 covers Einstein’s theory of relativity.”
“Correct, and the week after?”
“Section 4.3 covers the properties of sound waves and how they move.”
“Name one of the main terms from the text.”
“The Doppler effect.”
“Well, Mr. Taylor.” His instructor looked up and pushed his tablet aside. “I see no reason to interrogate you any further. Your answer about centrifugal force was correct. To be honest, if it were up to me, there’s quite a bit of the syllabus I would like to remove. But that’s not always how things work. Other boys and girls your age seem to struggle with the topics you seem to breeze through. I would estimate it stems from them not taking their studies seriously, which tends to be the norm. Do your parents have a hand in your extended studying?”
“My dad encourages me to learn as much as I can. He says that acquiring knowledge is a lifelong lesson.”
“That’s a very wise statement. What does your father do, if I may ask?”
“He’s the engineer on a deep space freighter. The company he works for takes bulk cargo and delivers it to other systems.”
“So you have a lot of time alone with your mother to concentrate on classwork?” Fennius’ expression soured and he averted his eyes away from the teacher to look at the corner of the room next to the door.
“My mother…” Fennius started. “It’s just my dad and I.”
“I’ve touched a nerve, forgive me. But let me say that if you continue all of your studies in this manner, then you have a bright future ahead you, Fennius. And since your physics answer was correct, I’ll withdraw your two detentions.”
“You will?” Fennius’ face brightened.
“Yes, but I will still be sending along a message to your father, nonetheless.” He pushed himself back from the desk to cross his hands on his lap. “That’s all Mr. Taylor. You can go.”
“Yes, Sir.” Fennius turned and left the room. Outside the school, a group of boys were waiting. None of them were what Fennius considered to be friends.
“What did you get, Fennius, another detention? How many is that, three?” Gary Treben, the class instigator goaded him from the safety of the group around him. Fennius said nothing. He didn’t even make eye contact with them after hearing his words. Gary was a jerk. He got his kicks from belittling others and Fennius wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of a response. “If you keep disrupting classes, you’re going to end up working on a cargo barge like your dad!” Fennius kept walking. There was nothing wrong with working on a freight vessel. Dad said it was honest work and there was no shame in working on a dirty ship. Gary didn’t have to worry about getting good grades, he knew his future was bought and paid for. Gary’s father was a magistrate and politician who raked in more than enough credits to spoil his kids. When school resumed after Christmas break, everyone in school heard Gary Treben gloat about how his father had gotten him one of the new “career downloads”. While Fennius didn’t know anyone who could’ve afforded such a procedure, he knew there were people who could have subject knowledge downloaded into the cortex of another person if they had the credits. Not only was Gary going to be an engineer after he graduated high school, but he was going skip college and start his career with forty year’s worth of engineering experience from his award-winning, architect grandfather who’d offered to pass on the information as a gift.
It’s a shame they don’t have a download that keeps you from being a brainstem deficient ass. Fennius thought. I hope he gets that procedure. I hope he’s halfway into the download and a power surge cooks his brain.
But Gary Treben wasn’t important. What was more important right now was what his father’s reaction was going to be once the electronic message his instructor sent reached him. The eventual look of disappointment on dad’s face would be more devastating than any punishment that could be handed down. The taunting fell away as Fennius tuned the followers out and activated his personal electronic tablet. The screen came alive in his hands. The first thing he checked was the arrival time of his father’s ship to the space dock. Alexander Taylor gave his son the passcode to the company datahub so that Fennius would know the location and arrival time of his freighter.
<WELCOME TO TRAVEL DATABASE>
<PASSWORD?> *********
<ACCEPTED>
<WELCOME A. TAYLOR>
<QUERY?>
*OCTAVIUS TIME OF ARRIVAL TO EARTH
<SEARCHING…TRIANGULATING>
<FOUND>
<CALCULATING ESTIMATED RETURN TIME TO EARTH QUADRANT DOCK FOR FREIGHTER “OCTAVIUS”>
<48-HOURS-18-MINS>
<END>
Dad would reach the dock in Earth’s orbit in another forty eight hours. It would take another seven or so to get home and Fennius would be sound asleep by the time he arrived. He couldn’t wait. Dad never returned without a small souvenir from another planet for him. He’d been gone for three weeks to take a shipment to Felia, the home world of the felians. But more important than the gifts, father always had stories about meeting those of the different races. Mostly, dad’s encounters were with the felians, the cat-like humanoids. While the holo-vids and archives told so much about the aliens, his father’s recounting of his interactions with the felians seemed to tell him more about them. He hoped to hear more this time, but he would have to wait. Fennius rode the public transit to the outskirts of town where he and his father lived. Peering out the windows, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and as always, the land was perfectly flat in every direction. On clear days, you could see for miles and storm fronts were visible two days in advance on the horizon. Hot and dry, the temperature stayed a constant seventy to eighty degrees three quarters of the year. The hovering transit cars shuddered and juttered as they shifted their weight on the magnetic tracks. It didn’t take long for the train to reach his stop. When he stepped off, the tram sped away, leaving him with the silence of the countryside about him. As much as he loved the roar of engines, he loved the aura of silence that surrounded his home and the one next to it. These were the only two houses for miles in any direction. Both of the small cottages were owned by the old man living in the one on the left. And when Fennius held his hand up to get the sun out of his eyes, he could see the grizzled and white bearded face of the Ol’ Jimmy Abernathy sitting on the front porch of his home.
“Howdy, Fennius!” The man waved.
“Hi, Mr. Abernathy!” He waved back. Ol’ Jimmy rented the second house to Fennius dad for next to nothing in exchange for the occasional odd favor or errand. That, and not many other people wanted to rent a house this far from town. But in the ten years they’d lived next to Ol’ Jimmy, the man rarely asked for help or a favor. Mr. Abernathy mostly kept to himself but had grown to like Fennius. He didn’t know how old Jimmy Abernathy was, but dad once said he was over ninety. His own children had moved away years ago and never visited. Every Christmas, Fennius and his dad invited Ol’ Jimmy over and the three would eat dinner together. Dad said: “No one should be alone on Christmas”. And sometimes, if dad worked on Christmas eve, Fennius would prepare food for just the two.
“How was school?!” He asked as Fennius got closer.
“About the same. I did well in science.” Fennius drew close and sat on the wood fence a few feet from the old man.
“Science is good for ya!” Ol’ Jimmy rocked in his chair. “Science is all around, but it takes a lot of complex thinkin’ to understand all the simple stuff that happens around us! I used to be an engineer, years ago. There’s a science to building stuff too.”
“I guess. Did anything happen today?”
“Of course not! Perfect day it was.”
“What did you do all day?”
“You’re lookin’ at it. Sometimes I like to just sit here and let my mind wander.”
“Oh yeah?” Fennius let a smile slip. “Where does it go?”
“Here and there. Sometimes I think back to when I was your age. I used to download my schoolin’ for the day and then go fishing. You can do both at the same time but I don’t recommend it. Leave it to education to ruin something as fun as catching fish.”
“But you became an engineer. You must’ve liked learning if you went on to become a schooled builder!”
“Learning is alright, but it doesn’t improve fishing. Sure school will teach you a trade but real smarts don’t come from those school lessons.”
“They don’t?” Fennius asked.
“Hell no! You learn by living and figurin’ things out on your own! You don’t learn from your victories in life, you learn from your failures! I learned more from fishing than that damn university taught me! Your dad is always showing you stuff isn’t he?”
“Yeah, we spend time doing things when he’s home.”
“Listen to your dad. He’s a smart one. Do what he says.”
“Okay.”
“Did ya kiss any girls today?”
“No, not today.” Fennius blushed.
“You do like kissing girls, don’t ya?” Ol’ Jimmy asked.
“Umm, yes. Very much. It’s just not happening a lot right now.”
“Well take it from me, when you get to be my age, you’ll wished you kissed more of them. And I kissed my fair share! Hundreds, I think! I even spent a night once with a beautiful female felian!”
“You did?” Fennius asked with excitement.
“At least I think it was a female. There was so much damn fur, and I’d had a few to drink that night. Bloody fantastic that was. Where was I? Oh yes, don’t ever start drinking. When does your father get home?”
“Late, two nights from now.”
“Good. You want a swig, my boy?”
“A swig of what?”
“Booze, of course!”
“I thought you just said I should never drink!”
“This is different! You ever had any?”
“No.”
“How old are you, fourteen?”
“Fifteen.”
“Then its time.” Jimmy reached behind his chair and pulled a silver container from a cooler just out of sight. When he turned around with the cylinder in one hand and a cup in the other, Fennius reached his hand out. Just before the cup was given, Ol’ Jimmy stopped. “You wouldn’t tell your dad would you?”
“No!” Fennius reached closer.
“Good.” Jimmy continued by taking the top off of the container and filled the cup half full. “You go brush your teeth after you drink this. And don’t you start drinking on your own!”
“I won’t.” Fennius promised as he took the cup and sniffed it. The smell almost made him topple backwards on its own. “What is this?”
“It’s good, is what it is. Now turn it up!”
“It smells strong.”
“Well then just pinch your nose with one hand and turn it up with the other! But you have to take it all at once!” Fennius pinched the bridge of his nose and swallowed every drop. His cheeks filled and then forced the burning liquid down. It was so potent. The downing of the drink wasn’t the worst part. When he took his first breath of air, the fumes from the concoction stole every iota of oxygen and forced him to cough up the vapors. The cup was pitched aside as Fennius choked and spit from the awful aftermath.
“HA-HAAA!” Ol’ Jimmy cackled as he slapped Fennius on the back to get him breathing again. “Good stuff, isn’t it! It’ll degrease an engine and put hair on your nuts at the same time!”
“No…more.” Fennius gagged and spit again as he watched Mr. Abernathy snatch up the cup and fill it to the top.
“Hell no you can’t have any more! Your father would have a damn fit! Besides, the rest is for me.” The cup was drained without so much as a twitch and the cylinder was returned to its resting place. “Now get on home. And don’t forget to get a shower before you turn in, you hear?” In between waves of revulsion, Fennius nodded “yes”, picked up his pack and walked towards his house.
“Don’t start drinking on your own or I’ll whip your little ass!” Ol’ Jimmy called after him. “And don’t tell your dad!”
more is available upon request. the whole file is attached if you want the whole book. enjoy
Daydreaming, Fennius’ thoughts were far away. And while his body was sitting like the rest of the teenagers in the classrooms of the El Reno High School, flights of fancy carried his mind elsewhere. Fennius knew that if stood up from his desk this instant, left the building, and caught the next public transport heading east, it would whisk him away from this never ending parade of monotonous lessons and deliver him to the only place a fifteen year old boy would want to be. If he could be anywhere right now, he’d be in the packed stands of the Oklahoma City Super Thunder Speedway. If you were there, you could catch the fastest racers in the area tearing up the ten mile track while jockeying for a place in the coming regional finals. Each of the racers a daredevil, strapped to an angry comet disguised as a hovercraft. When the green lights blinked to life on the starting pole, and the engines allowed to run free, the sound was unlike anything else on the planet.
He remembered his first visit to the track down to the detail. His father Alexander Taylor had gotten lucky enough to find someone trying to sell a pair of lower grandstand seats at a discount and snatched them up. While only eight years old at the time, he could still recall all the sensations of bearing witness to the electronic circus of neon and noise. The smells of the food and exhaust mixed in his nose keeping him alert for the procession of power that was inching ever closer. But of all the sensations to witness, there was nothing like the sound.
When the turbines of the “sleds” ignite, the world outside of the racetrack vanishes and leaves you with goose bumps racing up your arms. And when the explosion of decibels hits you in the chest, there’s no use trying to talk. No human sound can stand up to it. Even before he knew what a demon was, little Fennius Taylor imagined angry ethereal beings writhing inside the engines. And when those figures of fire and racket fought to be loosed from their cages, the roar alone was loud enough to knock him back into his seat.
But that wasn’t all that happened seven years ago. That fateful night, when the flood lights and advertisements lit the track for the main event, the reigning king of professional sled racing, Kerry “The Wall” Kensington, descended upon Oklahoma City and held court over his subjects and fans as only a true champion could. Fennius, sitting atop his fathers’ shoulders in the north stands cheered on a man he hadn’t heard of before that day. But in an exhibition of skill and mastery, the champion did not disappoint. He climbed into a junior league rated hovercraft like the rest of the racers and proceeded to pound the top seeded up-and-comers by a full eight seconds. After that, Fennius was hooked. He begged his father to meet the man who was known as a master of speed. Amongst a crowd of tens of thousands, young Fennius, with stars in his eyes, and ringing still in his ears, got to shake hands and have his picture taken with a legend. And ever since, that picture of a bespectacled boy with a tired but smiling man still wearing his racing suit, was the first thing he saw when he awoke, and the last thing he saw before he shut his eyes. And every night, when Fennius shut his eyes, he dreamt of being behind the controls of those amazing machines. He pictured the incredible speed that would be within his grasp to command. There would always be danger. Every racer who’d ever gotten in the cockpit of a hovercraft knew the consequences of a mistake at three hundred miles an hour. On top of that, the other racers would do anything and everything to beat him across the finish line. But Fennius knew he’d be ready for them. He’d study all the tracks for hours so he could cut every corner down to the millimeter. He’d know the strength and capacity of all the parts of his sled so he could bleed the engine for every ounce of thrust. And when the tree of that knowledge bore fruit, he would pluck it from the branches, sink his teeth deep and taste victory. Fans from all over would cheer his name as he stood in the winner’s circle.
“TAY-LOR!” They would chant. “TAY-LOR! TAY-LOR!” It was beautiful. He wanted it more than anything. But as much as he wanted it, the accolades would have to wait.
“FENNIUS XAVIER TAYLOR!” The booming voice brought Fen out of his dream-state like he’d been doused in freezing water. “ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?!” He opened his eyes to see not only the instructor of his class but the entire room full of students staring at him from every angle.
“Um, what was the question?” He asked with a vacant expression. The students erupted with laughter at his expense for being caught skylarking. Fennius’ cheeks flushed with embarrassment and the weight of humiliation shrank him in his chair.
“Well, Mr. Taylor. If you’d been paying attention to your physics lesson, you’d be able to tell me what happens in the problem I’ve explained. Let’s try it again, shall we, class? As we were studying, Centripetal Force is more directed towards the center of the axis of rotation of an object following an elliptical or circular path. Centrifugal Force is the force that pulls away from the center because of the objects inertia. If you took a rock, tied it to a string, and swung it around, the force from the center of the axis of rotation is centripetal force. The force that causes the rock to pull away from the center, is centrifugal force. And since we all know Mr. Taylor is a huge fan of sled racing, let’s use that as our example. Let’s suppose that Mr. Taylor is a world class sled racer and he’s racing along the course at the local speedway. If Mr. Taylor is buckled into the cockpit of a fast moving hovercraft that sharply takes on a flat turn and he feels as if he is pulled to the side, that too is centrifugal force caused by your… what Mr. Taylor?
“Inertia.” Fennius answered confidently.
“So you have been paying attention after all!” The instructor said, making the classroom fill with laughter again. “Exactly. Inertia is the correct answer. And the more mass you have, the more inertia. That’s where centrifugal force comes into play.” Fennius raised his hand. “Yes, Mr. Taylor? Did you have something to add?”
“That’s not entirely correct, sir.”
“The text on your holo-tablet begs to differ, Mr. Taylor.” The man turned away and pressed a button to make the larger screen at the head of the class change to the next problem.
“But it’s wrong!” Fennius blurted. The teacher froze for a moment before turning around. The man’s face was a mask of agitation. As soon as he saw the instructors expression, Fennius knew he’d made a grave mistake of speaking his mind.
“Well then, class. It would appear that our lax pupil of the day has taken a turn for the proactive. And as you know, Mr. Taylor, I do not tolerate outbursts within my classroom. Can you tell me what the consequences are for such an infraction of my rules?” Fennius froze but another student raised his hand.
“Yes, Mr. Treben?” Gary Treben looked at Fennius with a snarky look as he spoke. “Sir, the disciplinary action for outbursts is detention.”
“But it’s not right!” Fennius blurted again.
“A second infraction! That’s two detentions! Your conviction about the flaws in my teaching are turning you into a glutton for punishment! However, in the interest of fairness I’m willing to forego your punishment if you can
explain why you think the text is inaccurate.” Fennius straightened and stood up.
"Sir, centrifugal" force doesn't exist. It's a made-up thing that's not really there.”
“Go on.”
“When the centripetal force suddenly shuts off, the object proceeds in a straight line, in the direction it was going at the instant when the centripetal force stopped. We see the object take off straight away from the former center, and we say ‘There must be a force pulling it away from there.’ But there isn't any.” Many of the eyes in the room looking at Fennius grew wide. Was the text on their holo-tablets wrong? “And that "force" that you think you feel when the sled turns a corner and you get pressed against the outside, away from the curve?” he continued. “That's just the tendency of your body to want to keep moving in a straight line, and its reaction to the centripetal force that the car-seat and the door are exerting on you in order to make your body move in a curved path.” After such a long expulsion of information, Fennius stopped to take a breath before finishing. “That’s why there is no "centrifugal" force.” The class grew silent as a tomb as they looked to the instructor for an answer.
“I see, Mr. Taylor. Your answer may or may not be all correct, but I can tell you with a hundred percent certainty, that you will meet with me after class is over.” The anxious faces of his peers turned to grins of malice after the verdict fell unfavorably for their classmate. Fennius took his seat and stared blankly at his school-issued learning tablet. He was sure he’d been correct in researching the problem. The only problem that remained now would be how he was going to break the news to his father that he’d earned not one but two detentions. An hour later, the three tones sounded to signal the end of the school day. The students rushed to pack up their tablets and belongings before exiting the building. Fennius gathered his things before approaching the teacher’s desk at the head of the room. Standing ahead the intimidatingly large desk, he waited to receive his punishment. The man spoke without looking up from his desk.
“That was quite a display, Mr. Taylor. “It’s so rare that my pupils voice opposition to the lessons given. Tell me…” The man said. “How exactly do you know the problem was erroneous?”
“I-I read the syllabus and text for the class while school was out of session.”
“You’re saying that you’ve read the syllabus for the term in its entirety?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Is that a fact?” The man tapped his tablet to access the syllabus. “Can you tell me what next week’s studies will cover?”
“Section 4.2 covers Einstein’s theory of relativity.”
“Correct, and the week after?”
“Section 4.3 covers the properties of sound waves and how they move.”
“Name one of the main terms from the text.”
“The Doppler effect.”
“Well, Mr. Taylor.” His instructor looked up and pushed his tablet aside. “I see no reason to interrogate you any further. Your answer about centrifugal force was correct. To be honest, if it were up to me, there’s quite a bit of the syllabus I would like to remove. But that’s not always how things work. Other boys and girls your age seem to struggle with the topics you seem to breeze through. I would estimate it stems from them not taking their studies seriously, which tends to be the norm. Do your parents have a hand in your extended studying?”
“My dad encourages me to learn as much as I can. He says that acquiring knowledge is a lifelong lesson.”
“That’s a very wise statement. What does your father do, if I may ask?”
“He’s the engineer on a deep space freighter. The company he works for takes bulk cargo and delivers it to other systems.”
“So you have a lot of time alone with your mother to concentrate on classwork?” Fennius’ expression soured and he averted his eyes away from the teacher to look at the corner of the room next to the door.
“My mother…” Fennius started. “It’s just my dad and I.”
“I’ve touched a nerve, forgive me. But let me say that if you continue all of your studies in this manner, then you have a bright future ahead you, Fennius. And since your physics answer was correct, I’ll withdraw your two detentions.”
“You will?” Fennius’ face brightened.
“Yes, but I will still be sending along a message to your father, nonetheless.” He pushed himself back from the desk to cross his hands on his lap. “That’s all Mr. Taylor. You can go.”
“Yes, Sir.” Fennius turned and left the room. Outside the school, a group of boys were waiting. None of them were what Fennius considered to be friends.
“What did you get, Fennius, another detention? How many is that, three?” Gary Treben, the class instigator goaded him from the safety of the group around him. Fennius said nothing. He didn’t even make eye contact with them after hearing his words. Gary was a jerk. He got his kicks from belittling others and Fennius wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of a response. “If you keep disrupting classes, you’re going to end up working on a cargo barge like your dad!” Fennius kept walking. There was nothing wrong with working on a freight vessel. Dad said it was honest work and there was no shame in working on a dirty ship. Gary didn’t have to worry about getting good grades, he knew his future was bought and paid for. Gary’s father was a magistrate and politician who raked in more than enough credits to spoil his kids. When school resumed after Christmas break, everyone in school heard Gary Treben gloat about how his father had gotten him one of the new “career downloads”. While Fennius didn’t know anyone who could’ve afforded such a procedure, he knew there were people who could have subject knowledge downloaded into the cortex of another person if they had the credits. Not only was Gary going to be an engineer after he graduated high school, but he was going skip college and start his career with forty year’s worth of engineering experience from his award-winning, architect grandfather who’d offered to pass on the information as a gift.
It’s a shame they don’t have a download that keeps you from being a brainstem deficient ass. Fennius thought. I hope he gets that procedure. I hope he’s halfway into the download and a power surge cooks his brain.
But Gary Treben wasn’t important. What was more important right now was what his father’s reaction was going to be once the electronic message his instructor sent reached him. The eventual look of disappointment on dad’s face would be more devastating than any punishment that could be handed down. The taunting fell away as Fennius tuned the followers out and activated his personal electronic tablet. The screen came alive in his hands. The first thing he checked was the arrival time of his father’s ship to the space dock. Alexander Taylor gave his son the passcode to the company datahub so that Fennius would know the location and arrival time of his freighter.
<WELCOME TO TRAVEL DATABASE>
<PASSWORD?> *********
<ACCEPTED>
<WELCOME A. TAYLOR>
<QUERY?>
*OCTAVIUS TIME OF ARRIVAL TO EARTH
<SEARCHING…TRIANGULATING>
<FOUND>
<CALCULATING ESTIMATED RETURN TIME TO EARTH QUADRANT DOCK FOR FREIGHTER “OCTAVIUS”>
<48-HOURS-18-MINS>
<END>
Dad would reach the dock in Earth’s orbit in another forty eight hours. It would take another seven or so to get home and Fennius would be sound asleep by the time he arrived. He couldn’t wait. Dad never returned without a small souvenir from another planet for him. He’d been gone for three weeks to take a shipment to Felia, the home world of the felians. But more important than the gifts, father always had stories about meeting those of the different races. Mostly, dad’s encounters were with the felians, the cat-like humanoids. While the holo-vids and archives told so much about the aliens, his father’s recounting of his interactions with the felians seemed to tell him more about them. He hoped to hear more this time, but he would have to wait. Fennius rode the public transit to the outskirts of town where he and his father lived. Peering out the windows, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and as always, the land was perfectly flat in every direction. On clear days, you could see for miles and storm fronts were visible two days in advance on the horizon. Hot and dry, the temperature stayed a constant seventy to eighty degrees three quarters of the year. The hovering transit cars shuddered and juttered as they shifted their weight on the magnetic tracks. It didn’t take long for the train to reach his stop. When he stepped off, the tram sped away, leaving him with the silence of the countryside about him. As much as he loved the roar of engines, he loved the aura of silence that surrounded his home and the one next to it. These were the only two houses for miles in any direction. Both of the small cottages were owned by the old man living in the one on the left. And when Fennius held his hand up to get the sun out of his eyes, he could see the grizzled and white bearded face of the Ol’ Jimmy Abernathy sitting on the front porch of his home.
“Howdy, Fennius!” The man waved.
“Hi, Mr. Abernathy!” He waved back. Ol’ Jimmy rented the second house to Fennius dad for next to nothing in exchange for the occasional odd favor or errand. That, and not many other people wanted to rent a house this far from town. But in the ten years they’d lived next to Ol’ Jimmy, the man rarely asked for help or a favor. Mr. Abernathy mostly kept to himself but had grown to like Fennius. He didn’t know how old Jimmy Abernathy was, but dad once said he was over ninety. His own children had moved away years ago and never visited. Every Christmas, Fennius and his dad invited Ol’ Jimmy over and the three would eat dinner together. Dad said: “No one should be alone on Christmas”. And sometimes, if dad worked on Christmas eve, Fennius would prepare food for just the two.
“How was school?!” He asked as Fennius got closer.
“About the same. I did well in science.” Fennius drew close and sat on the wood fence a few feet from the old man.
“Science is good for ya!” Ol’ Jimmy rocked in his chair. “Science is all around, but it takes a lot of complex thinkin’ to understand all the simple stuff that happens around us! I used to be an engineer, years ago. There’s a science to building stuff too.”
“I guess. Did anything happen today?”
“Of course not! Perfect day it was.”
“What did you do all day?”
“You’re lookin’ at it. Sometimes I like to just sit here and let my mind wander.”
“Oh yeah?” Fennius let a smile slip. “Where does it go?”
“Here and there. Sometimes I think back to when I was your age. I used to download my schoolin’ for the day and then go fishing. You can do both at the same time but I don’t recommend it. Leave it to education to ruin something as fun as catching fish.”
“But you became an engineer. You must’ve liked learning if you went on to become a schooled builder!”
“Learning is alright, but it doesn’t improve fishing. Sure school will teach you a trade but real smarts don’t come from those school lessons.”
“They don’t?” Fennius asked.
“Hell no! You learn by living and figurin’ things out on your own! You don’t learn from your victories in life, you learn from your failures! I learned more from fishing than that damn university taught me! Your dad is always showing you stuff isn’t he?”
“Yeah, we spend time doing things when he’s home.”
“Listen to your dad. He’s a smart one. Do what he says.”
“Okay.”
“Did ya kiss any girls today?”
“No, not today.” Fennius blushed.
“You do like kissing girls, don’t ya?” Ol’ Jimmy asked.
“Umm, yes. Very much. It’s just not happening a lot right now.”
“Well take it from me, when you get to be my age, you’ll wished you kissed more of them. And I kissed my fair share! Hundreds, I think! I even spent a night once with a beautiful female felian!”
“You did?” Fennius asked with excitement.
“At least I think it was a female. There was so much damn fur, and I’d had a few to drink that night. Bloody fantastic that was. Where was I? Oh yes, don’t ever start drinking. When does your father get home?”
“Late, two nights from now.”
“Good. You want a swig, my boy?”
“A swig of what?”
“Booze, of course!”
“I thought you just said I should never drink!”
“This is different! You ever had any?”
“No.”
“How old are you, fourteen?”
“Fifteen.”
“Then its time.” Jimmy reached behind his chair and pulled a silver container from a cooler just out of sight. When he turned around with the cylinder in one hand and a cup in the other, Fennius reached his hand out. Just before the cup was given, Ol’ Jimmy stopped. “You wouldn’t tell your dad would you?”
“No!” Fennius reached closer.
“Good.” Jimmy continued by taking the top off of the container and filled the cup half full. “You go brush your teeth after you drink this. And don’t you start drinking on your own!”
“I won’t.” Fennius promised as he took the cup and sniffed it. The smell almost made him topple backwards on its own. “What is this?”
“It’s good, is what it is. Now turn it up!”
“It smells strong.”
“Well then just pinch your nose with one hand and turn it up with the other! But you have to take it all at once!” Fennius pinched the bridge of his nose and swallowed every drop. His cheeks filled and then forced the burning liquid down. It was so potent. The downing of the drink wasn’t the worst part. When he took his first breath of air, the fumes from the concoction stole every iota of oxygen and forced him to cough up the vapors. The cup was pitched aside as Fennius choked and spit from the awful aftermath.
“HA-HAAA!” Ol’ Jimmy cackled as he slapped Fennius on the back to get him breathing again. “Good stuff, isn’t it! It’ll degrease an engine and put hair on your nuts at the same time!”
“No…more.” Fennius gagged and spit again as he watched Mr. Abernathy snatch up the cup and fill it to the top.
“Hell no you can’t have any more! Your father would have a damn fit! Besides, the rest is for me.” The cup was drained without so much as a twitch and the cylinder was returned to its resting place. “Now get on home. And don’t forget to get a shower before you turn in, you hear?” In between waves of revulsion, Fennius nodded “yes”, picked up his pack and walked towards his house.
“Don’t start drinking on your own or I’ll whip your little ass!” Ol’ Jimmy called after him. “And don’t tell your dad!”
more is available upon request. the whole file is attached if you want the whole book. enjoy