Sleepover I

The problem Lupus had to solve was how and where they were going to sleep considering neither the ship nor the base had heating available for the 18 hours they were forced to stay on the cold and snowy NB011. Thankfully, this problem had an easy solution, much to everyone's relief. Finally, a problem that didn't require much debate or consideration.

They found a working heating box on the base, they were like portable radiators that worked on batteries. This box was in peak condition and was barely used, but it was not powerful enough for what they needed it for. It had the heating power to only warm up a relatively small room.

So it was decided they were going to move the box to one of the smallest rooms on base and they would all sleep together in that room. Sleeping bags were prepared for the students, as the base had no beds. They would all have to gather around the box, on the floor, and close to each other in their sleeping bags. It was a little awkward but it was necessary to make it through the difficult climate.

Despite being still daytime on NB011, Lupus had its own 24-hour clock that they followed and it was now evening. Despite humans moving out to space, there was a resolution by the United Nations to preserve the natural 24-hour Circadian rhythm so all space colonies, space stations, and spaceships count time-based on Greenwich Mean Time(or UTC), London time.

The day and night cycle on Planet Spark doesn't always match Earth Day and Night, or London time, but the glass that covers the domed cities of Nova Occasio is specially made with darkening modes and high-tech lights that simulate and create illusions of day and night to match the London time clock.

Right now it was 9 pm according to the standard time in space and Lupus went to eat Lei Mei's prepared food. It was absolutely delicious food, seasoned, cooked, and spiced to perfection. After such a long and hard day the meal really hit the spot. In the span of this one day, Lupus had met the president, saw their dear instructor die, chased a mysterious cultist culprit, and fought with the Kortonians.

It was an excruciatingly long day and the food made all the worries of the world disappear. Lei Mei felt a real sense of pride in the joy the food caused her fellow classmates.

Regular civilians and citizens often wondered why space-faring military ships even had cooks. There was already technology available that could make nutrition blocks. They were tasteless and odorless blocks that contained everything a human needed to intake daily in order to survive.

These nutrition blocks dominated the early days of space travel, but opinions of them soured quickly. Before warp speed was invented and even before it got to its current speeds, space travel often lasted very long. During these prolonged trips that went on for a year, sometimes several years, the only thing passengers had access to were these nutrition blocks.

Passengers often would feel depressed and lethargic after months of being deprived of the simple joy of regular food. Toasted bread seemed to be like a luxury to these early space passengers. As a result of taste sensory deprivation, it was not uncommon for these early voyages to have a high number of suicides and mutinies.

Therefore the cook and their food were supposed to provide an anchor and grounding for those millions of kilometers far away from home. To ensure their mental health and happiness through tasty food.

Even now with shorter space travel times, cooks are essential for keeping high morale of soldiers tasked with dangerous missions such as exploration or moments of combat.

With their bellies full, Lupus got ready for sleep. They tucked themselves into their sleeping bags and they cuddled up to each other to share body heat and to warm up from the heating box.

They were supposed to sleep, but it wasn't something they could do easily. There was still much excitement amongst them over today's fights, so the Lupus kids casually talked. The chatter made them feel like they were on a sleepover rather than on a life-or-death journey home. They were still kids after all and talking made them take their minds off their dead instructor. It was something nobody wanted to think about right now.

"I wanted to ask you Lei Mei," Ana tapped Lei Mei's shoulder. "I mean no disrespect by asking this, but why did you apply to Celio's military academy? You are not bad at shooting, nor are you weak, but you are of such a gentle nature. You are a fantastic cook, I think all of us got to feel it tonight. It looks to me like that is your real passion, not being in the army. So why not just be a civilian cook."

"It is a bit complicated," Lei Mei sighed lying on her back. "My parents came from China, they were very poor and they couldn't find many high-paying jobs on Nova Occasio. They work on Planet Sparks moon, Carcer. The moon is used as Nova Occasio's penal colony, our justice system deports prisoners to the moon and makes them work in the mineral mines of the moon as slave labor. My parents work as prison guards and the conditions in that prison are abysmal. Torture, beatings, and many other inhumane practices are enforced.

"The Carcer prison is a taboo topic on Nova Occasio, that place houses prisoners who have committed various heinous crimes and received very long sentences or life in prison. However, there are also some political prisoners as well. For example, anyone who was against the independence war of 1973. and wanted to Nova Occasio under Earth's authority is still on the Carcer moon and in that awful prison."

Lei Mei turned to her side, "I rarely get to see my parents because they can't leave the moon whenever they want. My fondest memories of them were the times when we were all together at home. My mom, dad, and I, together in the kitchen, cooking some exotic and wild meals. Oh, that was so fun. They were both real gourmets and had so much knowledge on all sorts of dishes."

She felt tears well up nostalgic for those times and continued, "Ever since I can remember I was with them preparing some cool and exotic food, I really wanted to become a cook. Looking at the ways I could be one, being a cook for the military meant you would be amongst the highest-paid cooks on Nova Occasio and that's why I applied for Celio's military academy. I trained for the entrance exam and I passed. I want to finish my duty in the military after graduation, collect the money and benefits, and together with my parents, open up a family restaurant. It was always a dream of theirs but they never had the capital to open up one. So yeah, that's why I joined."

Lei Mei rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears, "What about you Ana? I always wondered why you were so passionate about the military and why you wanted to prove to everyone that you're the best so badly?"

“That’s one way to put it,” Ana gritted her teeth in embarrassment. “I liked the independence the school gives you and I wanted to be away from my family. I also need to prove something to them and myself”

“Well that was vague. You don’t need to join the military to get away from your family” Hitomi poked Ana, she felt Ana wasn’t giving the full story. “There are plenty of schools you could have applied if you wanted independence.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ana turned away from Hitomi. “What about your guy’s parents? Why did you join the military?” She curled up in her sleeping bag.