Led by Lieutenant Zhang, Zhao Chen came to a fighter that stood ready.
Because Zhao Chen had flown ground-air fighters before, he first had to master flying an interstellar fighter.
Both were fighters, but in performance and handling there were no small differences.
And because the battlefield conditions differed, there was a great deal to watch for besides.
Lieutenant Zhang was truly like a coach, teaching Zhao Chen himself what he needed to know to fly this fighter.
In the course of it, to keep from seeming too remarkable,
Zhao Chen deliberately made a show of thinking hard and getting things wrong more than once.
Five hours passed just so.
"Sorry, Brother Da'an. Am I a bit slow?" Zhao Chen said with an embarrassed laugh.
But Lieutenant Zhang clapped Zhao Chen's shoulder and held up his thumb. "Slow? Are you joking? In five hours you've mastered most of the handling and knowledge of flying an interstellar fighter. That's already remarkable. You had a grounding in ground-air fighters, yes. And we've had people transfer over before. But to learn as far as you have takes three to five days at least!"
Zhao Chen was taken aback.
He had never thought that, keeping so low a profile and getting things wrong on purpose.
He would still come off as so able in others' eyes.
"That's enough study for today. Go back and go over it properly on your own. Tomorrow I'll set you simulated combat flying in an interstellar fighter. At the rate you learn. I expect that in about three days you can join our squadron's active formation and fight beside us. No wonder you shone in that battle and caught the General's eye. Of everyone I've trained, you're the finest talent."
Listening to Lieutenant Zhang's praise, Zhao Chen felt rather embarrassed himself.
This officer's temper truly was good, and he put on no airs with his subordinates.
"Come along, come along; it's mealtime. My treat today." Lieutenant Zhang threw an arm over Zhao Chen's shoulder as though the two had been good friends for years.
Zhao Chen only grinned foolishly.
In such an atmosphere, someone always comes along to spoil it.
"Oho, a genius? The finest talent. Isn't that praise rather much, Lieutenant Zhang? Half a day, and this man is a genius by your account? Then what does that make the rest of us?" Warrant Officer Jin, who had picked the quarrel before, came forward, several young faces behind him.
Their ranks were only master sergeant or staff sergeant.
They were presumably Warrant Officer Jin's subordinates.
"You there, Jin, don't go asking for trouble," Lieutenant Zhang said, growing angry.
This fellow had come picking at him again and again today.
However good his temper, he was not one to be bullied at will.
"I only want a look at this great genius come to our mother ship. A great genius surely ought to be brought out for everyone to see." Warrant Officer Jin folded his arms and smiled provokingly.
At this, the group behind Warrant Officer Jin came forward and jeered too.
But they were only petty officers, and naturally did not dare take on Lieutenant Zhang.
Zhao Chen, a master sergeant much like themselves, naturally became their target.
And this was the fellow who had come up from ground-air fighters, by all accounts.
A mere sergeant before.
And for flying a ground-air fighter in one battle he had been raised two grades outright, to master sergeant.
To small-minded people like them, that was naturally hard to stomach.
A ground-air pilot they looked down on had climbed over their heads?
Was that not an insult to them?
"Let's have a look at the genius."
"So this is a genius; he doesn't look much different. Ever flown an interstellar fighter?"
"He's a ground-air pilot; of course he's never flown an interstellar fighter."
"Probably never even flown in space, only inside a planet."
"How I envy them: they don't have to run about the way we do; they can sit in one place from dawn to dusk. Not like us, with not a woman to be found on a whole warship."
"Brother, were there a lot of women where you were posted before?"
"Say what you like, those ground-air bases do have plenty of women. Some even bring their wives to live beside the base. I ran into a few before, and they were really…"
"How would you know what the ground-air brothers' wives are like?"
"That's not my fault. When we put into port on leave, all I had to do was show who I was, and the women all but threw themselves at me."
Zhao Chen looked at this lot's faces.
They were plainly aiming their taunts at Zhao Chen,
and attacking above all his origin in the ground-air arm.
Any ordinary man out of the ground-air arm would most likely have been furious.
For such things had truly happened.
They had even turned up in the entertainment press.
But in most cases the outcome was that the interstellar fighter pilot involved took a reprimand and that was the end of it,
while those ground-air pilots' families were left in pieces.
So this line of attack never failed against ground-air pilots.
But Zhao Chen was different.
This body of Zhao Chen's had indeed come up through the ground-air arm.
But to his mind, ground-air pilots and interstellar fighter pilots were the same.
They only flew different weapons.
So words aimed that way carried little sting for Zhao Chen.
But after Zhao Chen had stood there placidly for a few seconds.
He felt the eyes around him settling on him.
And then he realized.
That was wrong.
Anger was what would be normal for him here.
But to leap up in a rage now would be rather odd.
Zhao Chen thought a moment, then looked coldly at the petty officers who had been jeering.
Then turned to Lieutenant Zhang beside him. "Lieutenant. Let me ask. Can one fly an interstellar fighter with one's mouth? Yes, Brigadier Jin's[1] mouth was very strong just now. Is he very good at flying an interstellar fighter too? Has his mouth-work any battle results to show?"
Zhao Chen's tone was very flat, as though he were speaking of something quite ordinary.
In taunting of this kind,
the flatter your tone, the better it works.
"What do you mean by that, lad!"
"You stinking brat, promoted five minutes and already too good for the rest of us."
"A genius, are you! Come out and have a go, if you have the nerve; I'll make you call me daddy!"