I could actually be said that what the order became was the Republic government, the Aurora government, Anagathics Research Project and then the media. My shuttle had actually docked at the government building in Aurora City the capital of planet and the capital of this subsector of space for the Republic government. I was greeted by enough officials an bureaucrats that I eventually was thinking dark thoughts about stealing another ship to get away. I had unfortunately and against my intentions created an interstellar incident.
I found out quickly what had happened to Regulus III. They had indeed been attacked by the Holton Empire and had pretty much been devastated from orbit and then ground troops did a mop up operation. All of this took place so fast that by the time the Dontar Republic even managed to get some ships in orbit, the Empire was long gone and had through diplomatic channels offered a truce. In short, neither government would settle Regulus in exchange for peace. I was pissed off that there had been no retaliation but the Republic could not risk a war at the time, so they agreed.
They were allowed one trip in a liner civilian vessel to pick up any survivors but they must have missed me in their haste but the did recover about 200 people. The system was now empty of people and treaty meant it had to stay that way. The problem was the Empire had picked up my departure on its sensors and wanted to know what was going on. The Republic shrugged its shoulders because they didn’t know either. The problem was my ship’s transponder told everyone I was a Republic vessel so they couldn’t argue against the Empire’s sensors. By that time, I had already reached Pugar and another scout vessel of the Republic had picked me up and then the Republic knew I was a ship long thought lost. I of course had to spend a couple of days in Pugar refueling so the Republic had a two-day notice before I arrived in Aurora. They were not sure I was headed there, so they sent a scout ship back to Pugar but also stationed Captain Summers and the Valiant to wait at the area where I would likely enter the system. The rest you know. For me personally this was pretty dark tidings. My father had always told me that the desire for personal revenge was useless in interstellar politics, but now I was wrestling with that more directly.
In the end the Republic released my story to both the public and the Empire. It seemed to satisfy both and the Empire accepted it given all the evidence. My citizenship in the Republic was confirmed and reactivated. No charges were filed, so I was happy for that. My father remained listed as missing. The Aurora government showed up and under their refugee law for the people they had rescued from Regulus III, I was offered Aurora citizenship. I accepted and at least I now had a base world I could call home. Then the people from the Anagathics Research Project showed up and things got interesting.
My main problem at this point is I had no way to fund the education I wanted. My father’s money was still his until the mandatory ten standard years had passed and then it would pass to me. I had nine years to go so that was out. The 10,000 credits I had would not last long but it would buy me some time to find a job. I wanted college first but if I had to I would join the Scout Service to be employed immediately. The Anagathics Research Project offered me another option. They offered to pay for everything involving my education: room, board, tuition and even a stipend for expenses, if I agreed to come in each month for a full examination while I was in school. They had a problem, because all the research information had been destroyed by the Empire’s attack, so they had no idea what the doctors on Regulus III had done to me. They wanted to try to reverse engineer the process by looking at what had happened to me. I signed the contract to let them poke and prod me once a month, if they left me go to school on their credits.
The last thing to hit me was the media coverage. I was finally allowed to talk to the media and a big press conference was planned. I was a little overwhelmed as I was interviewed so I was thankful for the various people who also helped answer questions but I was afterwards somewhat of a hit. I was the brave girl from Regulus III, who found a way to survive using medical stasis bed and then repaired a broken down scout ship and flew home. I found myself on a lot of talk shows and even was offered a job in acting which I turned down because it was a pornographic role. I managed to keep humble about the whole thing but it was a bother to my privacy for a couple of months until something new came along to occupy the public’s attention.
Thanks to the Anagathics Research Project, I was able to set up in a small apartment near the campus of Aurora University. It was basically a one bedroom place with a nice view of the city. I put the 10,000 credits in a bank and lived off the stipend. I had agreed to let them examine me once a month as long as I was in school. What I didn’t tell them is that I planned on being out of school as quickly as possible. I took maximum credits each semester and went year round over the next three years. I enjoyed Aurora City’s nightlife when I could but I was much too dedicated a student to get involved permanently with a companion. I had a few flings on breaks and such but nothing serious. I even ran into a few refugees from Regulus III but they couldn’t tell me anything about my father and the three years passed with no word on him from the Republic either. In the end though, the fast pace probably hurt my grades enough that I didn’t graduate with honors like I intended, but I did graduate nonetheless.
The Anagathics Research Project reluctantly accept that my contract was fulfilled and I took my leave of them. They had learned a lot but had not be able to reverse engineer the process. They did however learn a lot about me and my anatomy and biology. It was confirmed that whatever they had done had improved me physically in every way. I was stronger, more agile and had greater stamina. What was puzzling to them is basically could maintain this without too much exercise. They also told me I was aging at one tenth normal rate. In short, I could easily live to be well over one thousand years old. They however agreed that this needed to be a secret and they would help me with that from time to time when I needed it. Basically if I ever needed a new identity, I could call them and they would arrange it.
I took a week off after graduation but a week to the day I was in the Republic Scout Service office offering my services which they automatically accepted once they saw my diploma in Stellar Navigation from Aurora University. I then found myself in a school of another type – Scout basic training for the next year. This was actually pretty standard stuff. The first three months you spend learning how to handle a Vacuum Suit without tripping over yourself. I was by no means an expert by the time we finished but I could move around without penalty and felt at least familiar with Vacc Suits as they are more commonly called. Then I spent nine months in Pilot School. Every Scout is a Spacecraft Pilot. The thing is I already knew how to pilot a spacecraft, so I found myself helping train others but also some of the instructors had special tests for me and I found myself becoming a much better pilot than I was, which also gave me some skill with smaller space vessels as well. I graduated and found myself ready for my first assignment.