First Day came too fast. My best sleeping period was between 05h00 and 07h00. Now I had to be at work by 07h00. It was going to kill me.
Taking the EW1 Highway, I made great time and reached the Mountain Drive off-ramp twenty minutes later. The Precinct was situated near the docks.
We had been advised to park at the back of the building in the allocated parking bays. I found mine easily enough, with Stacey stopping next to me as I exited my Commoner.
“You ready for our first big day?” she asked with a smile on her pretty face.
“Only if my bets pay off,” I joked back.
Smiling, we walked to the back doors of the precinct and into the locker area. The other three rookies were already busy putting on uniforms. We quickly found our named lockers and changed clothes.
There was no bantering between us now. It was serious business and we were all feeling apprehensive, not knowing what exactly to expect. I did not want to venture into a pre-sight right now, needing all my wits about me.
We were stared at by the other uniformed officers who were whispering and joking amongst each other.
“Probably taking bets on us,” Jack commented.
Jack knew exactly where to go, his whole family already being employed by the NHSF. The Captain’s office was situated on the first floor.
We all stopped in front of the Captain’s attractive assistant. Smiling at us, she pressed a button on the comm system on her desk and spoke gently into it, “They are all here, sir.”
Hearing a door opening behind us, we all turned around.
Five sergeants came over to us, each extending a hand to his particular Student, exchanging introductions.
I was immensely relieved when I suddenly realized I’d won my bet!
Slick would collect our winnings this evening.
Jack seemed let down. Ryan gave me a sidelong glance. If looks could kill . . .
Tucker was greeting me and I gave him my full attention.
“Welcome Storm. I’m sure we are going to work well together.”
He had a solid handshake.
“I’m sure of it too, sir.”
“Please, call me Tucker.”
“Thank you, Tucker.”
The Captain joined us for a short speech. He was immaculately dressed in a grey, tailored suit. His hawk-like eyes and short-cropped grey hair completed the picture of a no-nonsense person.
“Learn from your Sergeants and you will survive in this city. You’re in the hands of some of my best men. Universal speed to all of you.”
“Come,” Tucker took my elbow and gently steered me to an elevator. We were on our way down before any of the others could join.
“We’re going to spend today getting you up to speed with procedures and then we’ll take a drive around our turf,” he continued.
We exited the elevator opposite the Charge Office and turned left down the passage. There were double barred doors leading to holding cells to the left and interrogation rooms to the right. The officer cubicles were behind the door at the end of the passage.
Tucker took us to a quiet corner. It consisted of a desk with chairs on either side. It was small and felt crowded.
Tucker noticed the look of disgust on my face.
“It’s only for paperwork. The sooner it gets done, the sooner we’re back on the streets. I usually do it early morning. I arrive at 06h00 and expect the same of you.”
Did I have a choice?
I think the interior decorations were done on purpose to encourage an officer to spend as little time as possible here.
Tucker handed me a stack of papers. “Fill these out. It is for Government Taxes and general- and medical insurance. There are also a few disclaimers. Simply sign everything that says signature.”
I never thought about paying Taxes. I would no longer be flying under the radar. If my name entered the system, it might come up as a flagged item.
Did I just hand myself over to be picked up by the Government?
I hoped to the Universe that it was not so. It was a bit too late for that.
I mentally closed my eyes and signed everything as required.
The general questionnaire asked a lot of personal questions. Parentage and siblings, schools attended, hobbies; your normal ‘I want to find out about you’ stuff. My form looked pathetically blank as I handed everything back to Tucker.
He glanced through the forms, raising an eyebrow at the rather bare questionnaire.
“Wait here, I’ll go hand this in and then I’ll run you through the office procedures.”
While waiting for him to return, I sat looking at the things on his desk. It was mostly things you would expect on a desk, including a stack of case-files.
There was also a photograph of him with a woman and a young boy. It must be his family. I reached out and touched the images, then relaxed, and suddenly felt convinced that they were no longer alive.
Hearing Tucker coming back, I quickly brought my hand back to my lap, feeling sorrow for this man. Not knowing where this feeling suddenly came from, I reflected on it while clearing the lump from my throat.
Tucker sat down and went through office procedures with me. I did not pay much conscious attention, knowing I could retrieve the information if I missed something. The other rookies were also going through the drill, so I did not feel alone.
“There you have it. Can you run it by me now?”
I was a bit shocked. I did not expect him to throw me a curveball right away.
Taking a deep breath, I fetched the information from short-term memory and repeated it almost word for word and action for action. I consciously had no idea what I was talking about, but it seemed to impress him immensely.
“Do you have a photographic memory?” he asked as I concluded.
“Not as far as I know,” I replied.
I was a bit puzzled as I did not perceive remembering things exactly as photographic memory. It was simply something I always did. I mostly did not comprehend the information I remembered the first time around. Comprehension took approximately 24hours with me.
Tucker did not push the subject and I let my breath out in relief. He was looking at the other Sergeants and their rookies.
We were done. They were still busy, with some having more success than others.
“Right, now that you understand all this, let us move out onto the streets.”
I followed Tucker, winking at Stacey and smiling at Ryan’s obvious annoyance with me.
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