Thank goodness for boring Saturday afternoons.  Finally finished 
another chapter of this sucker.  Opinions desired...

------RM

Galaxy Police Mihoshi's ACADEMY DAYS
by Ryan Mathews

CHAPTER THREE

        "So what do we do now?" asked Mihoshi.
        "Wait," Kiyone replied.  "What else can we do?  Someone will
eventually find us.  At some point they'll have searched all the obvious
places and start looking in the silly ones."
        "But that could take forever!"
        "I doubt it," Kiyone said, not really doubting it.  "There may be
some external damage to the bridge.  If that's the case, this will be one of the
first places they look."  Of course, she continued to herself, if there isn't,
they'll likely dredge the whole stinking river before it occurs to them to look
underneath the bridge.
        Mihoshi sighed.  "Oh, well.  If we're stuck here, I might as well take a
nap."
        "Good idea!" Kiyone agreed.  A silent Mihoshi would make this much
more bearable.
        Mihoshi released her seatback and reclined.  There was a creaking
noise, and the entire car began to recline with her.
        "MIHOSHI!" yelled Kiyone in panic.  "SIT UP!"
        "I can't!"  
        The car continued to tilt backwards.  Any moment, it would come loose
and plummet to the water.
        Kiyone grabbed Mihoshi and pulled her up as hard as she could.  The two
women fell against the dashboard.  The car rose back up, then tilted forward. 
Kiyone and Mihoshi froze, not daring to breathe.  The car rocked a few times,
then came to a stop.
        "I think you'd better sleep sitting up," Kiyone said.
        Mihoshi nodded.
        Kiyone let Mihoshi lean against her, but twenty minutes later, Mihoshi
was still awake.  "Kiyone, I'm curious about something."
        "Shoot."
        "How come there's no traffic on this bridge?"
        Kiyone tried to remember the map she'd read of the city.  "I think
it's a commuter bridge.  If I remember right, they only open the bridge
during rush hour in the morning and afternoon, when the people go back and
forth to work.  Wait a minute."  Something started to bother Kiyone, but she
couldn't put her finger on it.  "How did you know there wasn't any traffic on
the bridge?"
        "Well, it would probably be noiser.  And the whole thing would be
shaking, right?"
        Kiyone went pale.
        "Well, anyway, I was just curious," said Mihoshi.  "G'night!"
        "We're going to die."
        "Huh?"
        "Don't you see, you stupid ditz?!  We're going to die!!"
        Mihoshi looked perplexed.  "B-but you said someone would eventually find
us!"
        "We can't wait that long!  In just three hours, they're gonna open
this bridge to traffic.  When they do that, the bridge will shake!  Then what
will happen?!"
        Mihoshi thought a moment.  "Um, the car will shake loose?"
        "And then what?"
        "It'll fall?"
        "And then?"
        "It'll hit the water?"
        "And then?"
        "We'll die?", said Mihoshi, fighting tears.
        "BINGO!" exclaimed Kiyone.  "Oh, god, does this ever suck.  Having to
wait three hours to die, three hours with YOU!  Maybe I should just jump out
now."
        "You don't really mean that, do you?"
        Kiyone fell back in her seat.  "I don't know what I mean.  I don't
want to die, but we're out of options.  We can't climb up, we can't climb
down, and we can't call for help."
        Mihoshi started to cry.  "It's all my fault.  If only I'd gotten that
upgrade on my communicator like I was supposed to!"
        "Forget about it.  This stupid planet is so primitive, I doubt they'd
even notice the signal, unless a boat came by, and you saw how few boats were in
the river."  Kiyone pounded on the dashboard.  "Stupid, primitive, moron planet!
 The imbeciles can't even invent a regenerative power source for their damned
vehicles!"
        Suddenly a light went on in Kiyone's head.  The car worked on a
primitive power source that required recharging.  GP communicators worked on a
much more sophisticated power source, or rather they had since the last upgrade.
 If Mihoshi hadn't upgraded her communicator, its power cell was almost
certainly compatible with the car's power system.  It wouldn't be enough to
power the engines, but they could reactivate all the onboard systems.  Including
the radio.
        Kiyone grabbed Mihoshi and kissed her.  "Mihoshi, sometimes you're so
stupid, you're brilliant!"
        "What'd I do?"
        "I'll explain as I go.  Give me your communicator, then get the
toolbox out of the back.  Carefully!"

              *                       *                       *

        Kiyone walked across the campus, her head still reeling from what
Tugh had told her about her roommate.  Part of her refused to accept it.
Surely no one as airbrained as Mihoshi could possibly be that important.  But
another part of her remembered what had happened at the firing range, and still
had no rational explanation for it.
        She entered a building and headed for the flight simulator, where
another cadet had told her Mihoshi could be found.  She reached the
simulator's control center and rang for admittance.  An instructor answered the
door.
        "Excuse me, I'm looking for Cadet Mihoshi.  I understand she's using the
simulator?"
        "She is," replied the instructor.  "She's just finishing up her round
now.  Why don't you come in?"
        Kiyone accepted the invitation and looked around.  She'd ridden in the
flight simulator many times, but she had never seen this side of it before.
Multiple displays allowed the instructors to observe and judge every aspect of
the pilot's performance, and gave them absolute control over the environment.
        "What's that howling noise?" Kiyone asked.  "Some sort of alarm?"
        "No, that's Cadet Mihoshi," replied the instructor.  "This is her
first trip on the simulator, and I think she's a little nervous."
        One of the main displays showed a simulated external view of Mihoshi's
virtual spaceship.  They had her piloting through an extremely dense asteroid
belt with a broken throttle.  Kiyone had had a similar experience on her first
ride on the simulator.  It was meant as a way of taking hotshot young pilots
down a few pegs, to show them just how much they had to learn.  The difference
was that Kiyone hadn't lasted thirty seconds, while Mihoshi was working on her
ninth minute.
        "That's impossible."
        "That what we've been saying.  We're trying to figure out if the
simulator's broken, if she's incredibly lucky, or if she really is that good. I
figure it gotta be one of the first two.  I mean, does that look like an expert
pilot to you?"  He referred to one of the displays, which showed a view of
Mihoshi.  Sweat poured down her temples.  Her mouth was open in a continual
scream.  Her eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets.  Her hand jerked the
control stick back and forth so fast that it was a blur.  She successfully
manuevered through another two dozen asteroids.
        The instructor rolled his eyes.  He turned to one of the technicians
manning the consoles.  "This is getting ridiculous.  I want to go home. Double
the density of the asteroid field."
        "Yes sir."  The technician tapped on a touchpad and the number of
asteroids doubled.  Mihoshi's screams became louder, and the motion of her
control stick became impossible to see.
        The instructor sniffed.  "What's that smell?"
        A thin curl of smoke drifted upward from the console, swiftly becoming
thicker.  Kiyone edged toward the door.
        "Quick, shut it down!!" yelled the instructor.
        "Too late!"
        "EVACUATE!"
        Everyone dashed into the hallway just as an explosion filled the room
behind them with flying glass and jagged metal.  They lay on the room, coughing
as the smoke drifted around them.
        Mihoshi's voice came through a broken, buzzy speaker.  "Um, do I
pass?"

        "I hope they're not too mad at me," Mihoshi said as she and Kiyone
headed toward the cafeteria.
        "They don't have any reason to be," Kiyone replied.  "Simulators
shouldn't do that.  It was probably in need of repair."
        "Yeah, but stuff like that happens to me all time.  It's hard not to
feel like it's your fault."
        "Really?  Then you won't mind cleaning this mess up by yourself?"
        "Oh, no!  You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"
        "Relax," said Kiyone, "I was just joking."  They reached the cafeteria
and went in.  If anything it looked worse than Kiyone remembered.  The walls and
floors were covered in caked, drying, grayish edible base matter.  Trays,
implements, and cups were scattered where the panicking cadets had left them.
The room stank to high heaven.
        "Oh, yukk," said Mihoshi.
        "We're supposed to clean this with a mop?  We'll need shovels!"
Kiyone sighed and rolled up her sleeves.  "Oh, well.  The sooner we start, the
sooner we'll be finished.  C'mon, let's get started."

        Four hours later, they were nearly done.  The walls and floors
sparkled.  All that remained was to do the chairs and tables.
        Mihoshi sagged.  "Pretty please can I take a break, Kiyone?  Just a
short one."
        Kiyone looked at her watch.  "Well, I suppose it's okay.  It looks
like we're going to finish in time.  Go outside and take fifteen.  I'll join you
in a moment."
        Mihoshi headed outside while Kiyone finished scrubbing a chair and
dropped the rag into a pail.  She walked outside to join Mihoshi.  "You know, I
have to give you credit, Mihoshi.  You're a hard worker, even if--"
        "Shi?" said Mihoshi.  "Shi!"
        Kiyone looked but didn't see any sign of Mihoshi's friend.
        "SHI!"  Mihoshi ran off, shouting.  "Shi, wait up!!"
        "Mihoshi, what are you doing?  We're not done!"  Kiyone started to
run after her, but Mihoshi had a good head start and the sun had set over an
hour ago.  Soon it was nearly impossible for Kiyone to make her out.  Damn that
ditz, Kiyone thought.  And just as I was about to pay her a compliment, too.
        Kiyone stopped dead in her tracks.  She had reached the entrance to the
port, or more importantly, the exit to the base.  The gate was open, which meant
that Mihoshi, and probably Shi, if he really was there, had gone through.  It
also meant that they were AWOL.
        She considered her options for a moment.  Her first instinct was to turn
around, finish cleaning the cafeteria, and go to bed.  However, Tugh had made
her promise to look after Mihoshi.  If she should fall off a dock and drown, or
worse yet, be shot by some city guard, Tugh would never forgive her. Kiyone
cursed her luck and headed into the port.
        Kiyone walked slowly and quietly past the warehouses and docks,
searching for her roommate with her eyes, and wishing the light was better.
"Mihoshi?  Mihoshi?  Dammit, where are you?"  She wanted to yell louder, but
feared alerting someone other than Mihoshi.
        Suddenly, she heard a gunshot.  Kiyone went pale.
        She ran in the direction of the shot, praying that she would get there
in time, that Mihoshi was only wounded.  She tripped over something and fell
flat on her face.  When she saw what she had tripped over, she started to scream
and clapped a hand over her mouth.  It was a corpse.
        At first she was terrified that it was Mihoshi, but the body was male.
It wasn't Shi, either, but an older man.  His hand was severely maimed and dark
blood dripped slowly from an ugly head wound.
        Kiyone became aware of a presence.  She turned around and found Shi
standing behind her.  He held a gun in his hand.  His clothes were splattered
with blood.  He looked terrified.
        Kiyone froze.  "Shi..."  
        "It's...  It's n-not what you think..."  He turned and ran off.
        "Wait!  Mihoshi!  What happened to Mihoshi?"
        "Kiyone?"
        Kiyone whirled to see Mihoshi's face peering out of a small window in a
warehouse door.  She ran up to her.  "What are you doing in there!  We have to
get back to the base!  Now!!"  She pulled on the door.  "Unlock the door!
Hurry!"
        "Um, I'm not sure how."
        "What do you mean, `you're not sure'?  You locked it, didn't you?"
        "No, I came in some other way."
        "So go *out* that way!" shouted Kiyone.
        Mihoshi smiled sheepishly.  "I, um, can't find it.  I'm not sure
where it is.  See I kinda got lost, and then I was here, and--"
        "I don't give a damn!  Just open the stupid door!"
        "Wait a minute."  Mihoshi's face disappeared from the window.  "I
think I've got it."  There was a click and the door loosened.  Kiyone pulled on
the large, heavy door and it slowly slid open.  She ran inside, but did not
immediately see Mihoshi.  "Where are you, dammit?!"
        "Up here!"  Kiyone turned to find Mihoshi perched atop an enormous
stack of crates stamped "GP".  "Isn't this amazing!" shouted Mihoshi.  "I'm
almost all the way to the roof!"
        "Will you get *down* here!  We are in so much trouble it isn't even
funny!  We haven't finished cleaning the cafeteria, we're AWOL, and there's a
dead body out here!"
        Mihoshi quickly climbed down, jumping the last few meters.  "I'm
sorry, it's just that I thought I saw Shi and it looked like he was in trouble
or something and so I followed him and did you say there was a dead body
outside?!"
        "Yeah.  I'll show you."
        Kiyone led her to where the corpse was, or rather, where it had been.
There was nothing there now, not even a blood stain.
        Kiyone's heart pounded in her chest.  What was she supposed to do?
She'd witnessed a murder.  She had to do something.  But what?  Report this to
her superiors?  Admit to going AWOL, risk expulsion?  There was no evidence that
anyone had been killed, assuming Shi ditched the weapon and his clothes. After
the incident at role call, her superiors would believe she held a personal
grudge against Shi.  They'd never believe her.
        Feeling like scum, she said to Mihoshi, "I guess I was mistaken. 
Let's get back before we're missed."  She resolved to make an anonymous call to
the city police.  Perhaps they could do something.
        She couldn't believe it had been only a day since she'd met Mihoshi.
Kiyone looked forward to sleep, hoping the next day would be normal, or at least
more normal than this one had been.

END CHAPTER THREE
TO BE CONTINUED