22 A Promise Best Kept 3

"Stability: Financially, you have a job that you are guaranteed to keep barring any abnormal incidents. The pay from one tour of duty will be more than enough for you to live in comfort for the rest of your life even if you must provide for a partner and children. Socially, your current position puts you in a relatively high position."

"That's new."

"Faithfulness: Your medical records indicate no previous sexual relationships. I also have testimony from you that you have yet to quote 'get a girlfriend'. Your commitment to becoming an elite pilot from a young age also shows promise that you will remain faithful to a partner should you ever become attached to one."

"I don't think that counts."

"Intellect: From your grades at the academy, it can be accurately assumed that you rank among the top percent of all humans currently alive. Further analysis into actions during mock combat and simulated fleet battles describe a level of alertness and adaptability unusually higher than the norm."

"You live in that environment 24/7 and that happens."

"Ability to protect: While you are by no means the strongest person alive, not even approaching the top ten percent, you demonstrated a high level of proficiency in both martial arts and combat with weapons during the time spent in training. Combined with your situational awareness it is safe to assume you could protect her from the average criminal and safely evacuate her from a dangerous environment."

"I got my ass kicked repeatedly. I also don't think a criminal is going to give me the chance to fight back."

"Mental fortitude: You were noted for maintaining a cool head even during parts of combat simulation where things went out of your initial control. You have demonstrated in the past few week your ability to keep a strong mind in spite of drastically changing the ship parameters and minimal sleep."

"Once again I think that's a matter of circumstance."

"You dealt with a gruesome and intense regiment for ten standard years under the direct supervision of Doctor Draco Helmsguard for the majority."

ARC had him there. He could deny the rest, but he had felt every painful moment.

"If you remain unconvinced, perhaps I can put it this way."

"The military is an outstanding example of bias in their selection processes. They are not interested in equity as that causes more people to die, they are only interested in the best. They are therefore elitist not out of preference, but necessity. Would you agree on this much?"

Don nodded.

"These elite values have not changed much in human history, only a slightly more focused shift towards reaction time and intellect as technology allows. Therefore it stands to reason that the same attributes that would make one considered an elite pilot during the era of the dogfight would still make one at least better than average in the modern day. Do you agree?"

Don nodded once more. This train of thought was logical.

"Those successful as combatants in that era are usually thought to have been successful. From the information we have at our disposal, we can infer that Diana is basing her standards on roughly the same values of that era. Assuming both of these are true, we can infer that you fulfill those standards. Knowing this, a staunch refusal that you qualify, even categorizing those standards as so high as to be unreasonable can only be seen as arrogance."

It made sense to Don. At least the way ARC put it, he could see how he could be seen as arrogant. "Alright, alright. You win. I plead ignorance. But really, calling me an elite? Since when did you get so good at flattery?"

"It was not flattery but the truth. There is no other qualifier than 'elite' that seems proper. In fact, labeling you as the elite of the elite might be more accurate. I was told this was a by product of the degree of isolation you received in your education, but your ignorance to your own ability is astonishing even after all this time."

"I'm that good? Surely I couldn't be classified as above the aces of old could I?"

"Your ability has the potential to place you among figures such as Erich Hartmann and Manfred von Richtofen. The combination of your skill, this ship's capability, and my computational and data analysis ability, has the potential to leave a mark on naval history at the same level as the Monitor, The Dreadnought, The Enterprise, and The Immortal."

Don was silent. He was unfamiliar with the Monitor, Dreadnought, and Enterprise, but he knew that the Immortal was the first ship capable of space combat. If ARC's words were in good faith, something he had no reason to contest, then this was an incredibly large weight that had been placed on his shoulders.

"If you were not the elite of the elite, we would have never had the chance to meet. Have some confidence in your skill. It will reflect in your performance."

He had been beaten thoroughly. There was nothing he could say in response.

He sat back in his seat, the lights dimming to match his closing eyes. There wasn't much to do out in the depths of space. Despite being docked in the bow hangar, the departure of his supervisor meant he was no longer allowed to leave. No one was allowed to enter either.

ARC was a secret. The ship was a secret. Everything was resupplied by use of the robotic apparatuses installed specifically for the ship. It was boring, but it was required for the mission.

Determining how long a person could remain in the ship without contact was important as it would be a factor in determining the ship's operational doctrine and design path.

Well, 'without contact' was a bit of a misnomer. Admiral Adirondack could get in touch with him, but only through digital message, the mark of which was a flashing purple light on the roof of the pilot pit.

"Oi ARC, message from Adirondack. Looks like we're going to war."