Creed of the Stars

Rosara walked down the corridor, seemingly in a shocked daze. Was it true? Could it be? Had she been chosen to be one of the next Captains in Rosca’s exploration of space? It was almost too good to be true, but it had happened, her dream, her wish, was coming to fruition. The feet of the pixi practically carried her to the college’s little church. She didn’t even pause to wonder why her feet brought her there without her realizing it; she merely opened the door and entered the chapel. She genuflected and made the sign of the Cross before sitting in one of the back pews, her heart bursting into joyous song. Her heart and soul were so full of joy and gratitude that she could not find the words to say as she glanced up at the statues of the crucified Jescariah and the exposed heart of Marielle, surrounded by angels and saints. Instead, she let the song in her heart, her shining smile, and the joy in her hazel-green eyes do all the talking. But, after the initial shock and joy began to wear off, about ten minutes, worries and concerns began to plague her mind. She knelt down immediately and made the sing of the Cross.

“My Lord, wonderful God, I thank you so, so much for the promotion to Captain, this dream that You have clearly filled me with desire for. But now, I ask of You, beg You to help me, guide me in finding a crew and granting me the wisdom to guide them. Amen.” She made the sign of the Cross before leaving the pew, pausing to make another genuflection and another sign of the Cross before she turned around and left. The light in the church seemed to shift and seemed to make the smiles on the statues brighter. If anyone had seen the change, they would have taken it to mean that Heaven smiled with favor upon the pixi leaving the church; that she was picked for greatness.

Rosara let out a breath as she closed the doors of the church behind her and glanced at the paper in her hand. Apparently, later that evening, one particular Captain already well-renowned in the thirty years since Cosmar Pinoka’s doors opened, the famous Captain Kalmiel, was to give a class of some sort on picking one’s crew. She let out a breath, this time of relief, which was followed by a smile; she was definitely going to be there. She walked off towards her first class, eager to get the day over with and meet one of the greatest Captains to ever sail the far regions of space. Her classmates congratulated her on obtaining the position of Captain when they noticed the purple paper in her hand. She thanked them all before sitting down and concentrating on the class. By concentrating more on the classes than what she looked forward to, she found that the hours seemed to speed by. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the classroom doors behind which Captain Kalmiel was to give his lecture. She took a few breaths, smoothed out her cream, collared shirt, straightened out her black skirt, made sure her auburn hair was still in its bun, and let out one last huff before opening the door. To her surprise, Captain Kalmiel was the only person in the room. He was taking some papers out of his briefcase and placing them on the desk, but glanced up at the door when he heard the door opening. He gave her a bright smile that reached up into his eyes as he came forward to shake her hand. She could see why ladies would notice him, with his charming smile, his luscious strawberry-blonde locks, and sparkling violet eyes.

“Welcome to Kalmiel’s first, and only, class of the year! Sorry about being disorganized, but, they did call me in at the last minute . . . literally.”

Rosara chuckled. “Oh, you’re fine, Captain Kalmiel, I’m just early.”

“That you are, madam, that you are, but that just lets me know you take this Captain business seriously,” he said with a smile before he brought her hand to his lips.

“Oh, no, I think my class got out earlier than the other Captains,” she replied with a smile.

“There is that too. Though, I was informed that Captains and Commanders were taking this class, Corporals only if they wanted to, though with my name attached to the thing, I’m sure they’ll all be here.”

Rosara chuckled. “Oh, no doubt about that. Do you need any help, Captain?”

Kalmiel glanced back at the desk as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, no, not really, thank you for asking, but, I was only getting some papers out, just some simple things really. Thank you for the offer, though.”

“Oh, you are quite welcome. I really only asked because I don’t like sitting around doing nothing.”

Kalmiel grinned at her as he walked back to the desk. “You and me both, madam, unfortunately, sometimes being a Captain means that you have to sit and do nothing. It can get quite frustrating; let me tell you, you want to fix every single problem in the universe that falls into your lap. Now, it’s a great desire to want to fix everything, but you can’t be everywhere at the same time, that’s God’s job, not yours.”

“I understand.”

“You say that now, but wait until you have to actually live through it, it’s actually kind of hard to give up control and hand it all to God.”

“Then I’d better get some practice in,” replied Rosara with a smile.

Kalmiel grinned. “I like you, I think you’re going to do great.”

“Just like every other lady you’ve met?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault that acting like a gentleman on some worlds means I’m flirting. Though, I am of the opinion that needs to change,” he quipped before bending down and taking more papers out of his briefcase.

“My goodness, you have a lot of paper! Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

“I’m quite positive, Rosara, thank you. How about you take a seat, your classmates should be here any minute.”

“Yes sir.” Rosara took a seat close to the front of the room and watched as Kalmiel took out the rest of his papers. “Excuse me, sir, may I ask a question?”

“Besides the one you just asked?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

Rosara let out a snort. “Yes, sir.”

“Alright, then you may ask it,” he said with a chuckle.

“Will I be picking my Commander and Corporal today, or at a later date?”

“Well, you don’t necessarily have to until the end of the semester. You kinda need to get to know the Commanders and Corporals before you make a final decision. But, if the Lord moves you to choose a Commander and a Corporal today, then follow His bidding.”

Rosara nodded. “Of course, thank you.”

“That was it? No, ‘how did you do it, Captain?’ No, ‘how did you survive that deadly plant on Forla or the blistering heat of the deserts on Danet’?”

Rosara let out a playful gasp. “And deprive my classmates of such wondrous tales because you went through them so quickly on my account?”

“Oh no, I have no problem retelling my stories. If you’ve studied my Captainship, you would know that by now,” Kalmiel replied with a grin and a wink.

Rosara laughed. “Quite true, quite true. But you never asked if I wanted to hear it more than once in less than an hour.”

“Ah, yes, an oversight on my part, madam, it would get old hearing it over and over again in just a matter of minutes.”

Rosara let out a chuckle. “Thank you for understanding, Captain.”

Kalmiel shot her a grin. “Not at all . . . Captain.” Rosara merely chuckled and rolled her eyes as other students began trickling in. Soon the room filled up with all the purples, blues, and silvers of the Officers, everyone chatting away, mostly about meeting the great Captain Kalmiel, who was standing just feet away from them, listening in with a sly grin. But the students apparently did notice that he was there as they made no signs that they were surprised at his presence when he cleared his throat to begin the class. “Thank you all for coming today. I understand it was quite the chore to come see little old me,” he began. A few students chuckled good-naturedly. He grinned at them before continuing, “But, as it is, our good Principal figured it was a good idea to teach you a few techniques I’ve figured out on my travels. You may end up encountering different scenarios and will need to come up with your own solutions, often times on the spot, but at least with the knowledge I have to offer, some scenarios can be resolved quickly. As such, I will be giving you select scenarios for you to figure out on your own,” he stated as he began handing out papers. “And we’ll see who is able to think on their feet, and under pressure You have thirty minutes to understand the situation and come up with a solution. Thirty minutes for each situation.” A few breaths of relief could be heard from several people. Thirty minutes per situation? Not bad, especially if it was the most anyone ever had in any particular situation. “Start.” Rosara glanced down at her paper, she had three scenarios, each involved the Milgeans. She pursed her lips, this was touchy territory, as some Milgeans were quite friendly, while others, mainly those in power and authority, were not. There a few in authority who were friendly to other races, but most were not, which was quite sad, really. And most encounters required a snap decision, while trying to keep the body count low on both sides if it ever came to a fight. Rosara quickly went back to the test at hand, for that was what it really was. The first scenario consisted of a hostage situation, sort of. The Milgeans were not holding the Commander and a scientist for ransom, they were trying to get information out of them. The question was, what to do? Leave the Commander and the scientist to their fate, or fight your way through the fortress, or wherever they were held, and break them out? How would the escape be planned? Rosara lightly tapped her pencil on the desk as she quickly thought out the solution. She needed her Commander and the scientist, there was no question about that, which meant she had to break them out. But, how to plan? The Milgeans were smart and fierce, meaning this wouldn’t be easy. So then, what could be done? Stealth of course was necessary, but in order to that, she needed the floor plans of the building. An idea grew in Rosara’s head and she quickly jotted it down, knowing she had little time before needing to move on to the next scenario. The next scenario consisted of an attack by the Milgeans, which needed to be handled effectively, and with little to no bloodshed, preferably. Rosara knew that the best way to handle this situation was to take out their guns first, and worked her strategy around that. But the3 last one came as bit of a surprise. If a Milgean asked to join the crew, what is the answer? Rosara ran through the four races of Milgeans in her mind. There were primarily two races that could not be trusted, the poludnisa and the capcaun, while the younik and the polevik were more trustworthy. She quickly wrote that down.

“Time’s up,” came Kalmiel’s voice, snapping everyone out of their deep thoughts. He approached the desks and gathered the papers, making sure each had the right student’s name. “I will grade these tonight and return them to you tomorrow. But for now, I would like to ask a simple question.” He paused, using what Rosara knew to be a ploy to make sure he had everyone’s attention. When he knew he had it, he continued. “Should we hate the Milgeans?” Everyone blinked in surprise, some glancing at their friends questioningly, but they all shook their heads no. “Why not? I mean, especially the poludnisa and the capcaun, they attack us, steal our ships, and try to stop us from exploring and spreading our knowledge. We have ample reason to hate them. Why aren’t we?” A hand went up. “Yes Wilijah?”

The encantado stood, his typical playfulness was toned down several notches. “We do have ample reason to hate them, but that is not the way of the Lord, first of all. Secondly, we must keep the door open for any who may have a change of mind, and heart. Hating them all will close that door, making them believe all the bad things spoken about us all the more.”

“That is correct, Wilijah. Please sit down.” The silvery grey skin and dark blue hair disappeared behind another encantado. “He is right, hating others close way too many doors than necessary, even if they hated us first. Will they change their minds in the next five years? Highly unlikely. Change takes time, and it start with baby steps. We must help those baby steps not only get started, but also grow. Some will only need a seed, others will need guidance. Our job is to be there when the good Lord says it is our time to do His bidding in their growth. Or sometimes, for them to His bidding in our growth. How can we stay mad at someone for long if their actions actually help us become closer to our Lord?” The officers nodded. That was yet another reason to not hate anyone, no matter how mean, or sometimes, downright evil they could be. Hate was reserved only for the pure evil they might face. “Point is, our job is to spread the knowledge we have obtained from our Lord and help Him become close with as many people as possible. That is part of our mission, that is what is asked of us, and we must see it through, to the best of our abilities.” The class nodded, this was true, and it had been taught to them their whole lives. A reminder every now and then was always a welcome. Especially as, in some minds, it was coming from the most famous Captain of all. At least, at that moment. Some wondered if any of them could be the next famous Captain. But first, they had to get some tips from the currently only famous Captain. They listened intently to his harrowing tales of danger on planets such as Danet and Borig, plus his several encounters with the Milgeans and a few possible encounters with the Lord Himself. Rosara took lots of notes, she wanted to be extra prepared in case any such thing ever happened to her. Yet, as Kalmiel kept pointing out, they could end up with different scenarios than what he had, and they would have to make their own decisions. But they took notes, just in case. Everyone jumped when the bell rang, all of them a bit disappointed that their time was already over with the great Captain.

“Basically, remember this, work with the Lord’s inspiration, first and foremost! Pray, if you can, before making your decision! But most importantly, if you think you made a bad decision, remember, it’s done with, you can’t go back and change it, and worrying about it won’t help either. Fix it to the best of your ability, but don’t worry! Have a great day, and see you tomorrow! Same place, same time!” Everyone filed out of the room quickly, rushing to get to their next class. Rosara didn’t pay much attention to the small talk as they began to each go their separate ways, but if she had, she could look back on it with wonder. They were talking about who the next famous Captain might be, not realizing that at that moment, she was walking away to her next class.