I shrugged my shoulders before looking around to see if I could spot the way to the bridge, when I didn't notice one I picked a random direction and started walking in it. It was a dozen feet before Itshu Biyu asked me a question as she fell in beside me.

  “Where are you going? We need to go to the communications suite and ask my cousin if she can send a pilot and navigator over. I know we will have to promise her something, probably three or four of our disciple picks, but we have no choice, we can't land without a pilot, and we can't get there without a navigator.”

  “Uh huh… hey, where's the bridge?” I responded as I mostly ignored her question.

  “That way, and two floors up. Why do you need to go to the bridge?” she was starting to look confused as we changed directions and headed for the bridge.

  “You need a pilot” I stated simply as I climbed the stairs. When I reached the top, I turned to look for another set of stairs up or a sign indicating the direction. I found a sign and followed its little arrow as Itshu Biyu followed me. I could feel the cogs in her brain turning as she tried to puzzle out what I was up to.

  “There is a communications officer on the bridge, are you planning to ask them to connect you to my cousin so you can ask for a navigator and pilot while sitting in your command chair?”

  “Nope” I called out cheerily as I found the next set of stairs and ascended them. Once I reached the top, I noticed Itshu Biyu still at the bottom looking at me in complete confusion.

  “Then why the hell are you going to the bridge? The communications suite is down here” she called up to me.

  Feeling a little mischievous, I just smiled at her before flicking my hair, by turning my head quickly, so it was the last part of me she saw as I walked away. I walked over to the wall that told me the direction of the bridge and quickly turned and followed the direction down a long hallway. When I reached the end, I found a large blast door that I thought was impressive before looking around it trying to figure out how to open it. I was surprised momentarily when it started opening by itself. I must have gotten close enough to it to trigger some sort of proximity sensor. I decided not to break stride and continued to walk onto the bridge as I heard loud footsteps running down the hallway, I knew it was Itshu Biyu trying to catch up to me, but I focused on looking around the small bridge.

  There wasn't much, just a command chair that sat in the middle of the room facing a large 20-inch thick glass that wrapped around the front of the bridge. Between the command chair and the glass were four stations with their own chairs. Three of them were between the command chair that was raised slightly higher than them, and the last one, which looked like it was half in the ground. Off to the right and left and a little behind the command chair were two more stations. Two people were sitting at stations that were in front of the command chair.

  “Bridge Officer Lea Micheals, communications officer, and Bridge officer Jack Donalds, Weapons Master.” Itshu Biyu helpfully supplied as I watched them for a few minutes.

  I nodded my head and glanced at the two stations behind the command chair curiously Itshu Biyu helpfully named the stations, the left was the Engineering officer's station and the right was the XO’s station. I nodded my head again and assumed the last free station was the navigators, and walked over to it. I poked it for a bit and found the course was set for the planet the disciples would be selected on, and all the pilot had to do was follow it.

  “Commander, can you please tell me why we are here? We really need to ask my cousin for replacement staff before her ship gets too far away.”

  I said nothing and walked over to the station that looked like it was half buried in the deck before stepping out over the seat and letting gravity pull me down into it. My hands reached out and over the controls as I closed my eyes, feeling the cold metal under my fingers and revealing in the long missed feeling of being back in control of a flight capable vehicle.

  “Commander?” Itshu Biyu asked slowly as she looked down at me.

  “I was Flight Lieutenant Kenna Mackenzie of the Void Hawks Squadron.” I stated as I slammed the throttle forwards and feeling the ship beneath me respond with glee as its thrusters fired. I watched the speed tick up quickly, and grinned. “You reached out into the void and called for assistance, the Hawks have flown together, always together, no matter the distance, no matter the danger, the Star Hawks Squadron answers the call, and I have answered your call for assistance, For I am a pilot of the Star Hawks Squadron until the day I die!” I screamed the last part as I shoved the throttle to maximum and grabbed the yoke, moving the ship back onto the course set by the previous navigator.

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  I felt the shock and confusion in the room but ignored it as I tried not to dance in my chair with glee at being back at the controls and quickly got to work piloting this huge ship towards its jump point.

  “Impressive speech, but you are a federation pilot not a sect pilot, you can't fly a sect ship” Itshu Biyu said, popping my happy bubble.

  “Oh, what do you know” I snapped at her in annoyance.

  “I know it's illegal for you to fly this ship without the appropriate certifications!” she snapped back at me.

  “Ma’am! The Lazarus is requesting information on what has spooked our ship into a combat run for the jump point” Lea suddenly stated from her stations.

  I glanced up at Itshu Biyu who was looking down at me with a ‘see, I told you’ look on her face. I rolled my eyes and pulled the throttle back, easing the ship back to the speed that the federation had trained me to use while flying through a star system.

  “Tell them it was a course correction and the new pilot got scared of being left behind, so they accelerated beyond recommendations. Then tell them she has been reprimanded.” Itshu Biyu stated as she continued to glare at me.

  “Fine, fine, how do I get these pilot certifications, and not that I won't get them buy why do I need them? And keep in mind, I still need to land this ship.” I said as I sunk into the seat, feeling a little depressed at my happy bubble being completely popped.

  She snatched a helmet resting on a hook that was attached to the left side of my seat and tossed it into my lap. I was a little surprised because I hadn't noticed it was even there.

  “Put that on, it will allow you to fly the ship properly. I will have the ship’s AI create a void university account for you so you can log in while you sleep and take the sect ship course. Do some studying, take the exam and get your grade 1-starship pilot’s licence. Then I will be able to legally argue that you were needed to get us to the planet and land the ship. After that, you will need your grade 2-star ship pilot's licence to be able to take off and fly the ship. As for why you need them. Well, answer this, would you trust a child to fly this ship, or would you want an educated person to do it?”

  “I see your point, when do I get to sleep and do the studying?” I asked curiously, feeling a little excited now.

  “As soon as you stick the helmet on and request the ship AI follow the Navigational course while you rest!” she snapped at me before turning on her heel and stomping off.

  “Yes, Ma’am” I muttered to myself while rolling my eyes, I put the helmet on and pulled the visor down in front of my eyes. The next second, I was grinning ear to ear as I felt the shift and my body becoming the ship. Feeling the thrusters and the sensors. Knowing where I was headed and how fast I was going.

  I took a few moments to enjoy the feeling of being in complete control of the ship before slowly turning my attention to what I needed to get done now. I glanced around and started searching for where the AI could be. However, when I found nothing, I resorted to just asking.

  “Where is the AI? And how do I ask it to follow the navigational course?”

  “I am, part of the ship, and always with you when you are deep dived. Engaging assisted flight now. Sleep well pilot.”

  I felt a shiver run down my spine, but before I could do anything about it, I suddenly found myself sitting at a desk in a large library. I looked around at the billions of books sitting on the thousands of shelves that seemed to lead away into the darkness that surrounded me, even above. I slowly turned my attention back to the desk in front of me, after I had decided I was not going to spot a wall or ceiling. On the desk sat a single book, closed, its title read ‘Star Ship Pilot's Course’ under that it stated 0 prerequisites were required. I frowned and opened the book, only for confetti and loud noises of celebration to fly out of it.

  “What the hell!” I stammered as I waved the confetti out of my face.

  I looked back down at the first page and read, ‘CONGRATULATIONS! You have been accepted into the Star Ship Pilot’s Course!’ my mouth fell open.

  “That's so dumb” I muttered before turning the page.

  I read slowly, making sure to absorb as much as I could, I discovered quickly that I already knew a lot of it and was quickly advancing through the course. Before I knew it, I had reached the end of the book, and it was asking me if I wished to read it again or take the exam. I considered reading it again just to make sure I had absorbed it all properly, but I knew I was ready, and a moment later I had placed my finger on the word exam.

  The book vanished, it was replaced by a few sheets of paper and a pencil. An old woman that had more wrinkles than I had ever seen on a person stepped out of nothing like she had been invisible a moment ago. I quickly took in her sparkling blue hair that looked like someone was shining a light into a sapphire. She did have signs showing her Asian ancestry and was wearing luxurious robes that wouldn't look out of place at a royal banquet.

  “You may begin your test now.” she stated as she just stood there watching me.

  I nodded my head slowly and looked down at the papers. The questions were pretty straight forward and easy, I completed them one after another. However, as I got a quarter way through them, I noticed they were slowly getting harder, and had begun to throw new stuff in that I knew wasn't covered in the book. I slowed a bit but fell back on my understanding from training at the boot camp and flight school to help me get through it. When I was finally finished, the papers and pencil vanished a moment after I placed the pencil down.

  “Congratulations, you are now a certified Star Ship Pilot grade 1. Would you like to begin studying for your grade 2 Star Ship Pilot’s certification? Completing that course allows you to pilot capital and sect ships.”

  I glanced down at the empty desk before grinning, the first cert hadn't been too hard to study for. I nodded my head as I looked back up at the woman. She smiled and gave me a half bow, as I blinked she vanished into thin air. I looked down to see a book sitting on the desk. The title read ‘Star Ship Pilot's Course stage 2’ under that it stated 1 prerequisite required, Grade 1 Star Ship Pilot certification.

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