by Kal Spriggs
Was it just me, I thought, or was he looking at Sashi and I when he said that?
“Now,” Mackenzie said, “the reason you are in full combat gear is simple: the final exercise for all candidates consists of a full obstacle course with several scoring events worked into the overall competition. These events will be graded to both performance and time. Each event is worth a maximum of five points. You will receive up to fifteen points based on a sliding scale based upon your times. The fastest time of completion will be the standard. If no one else successfully completes the course, the scale will be based off of the furthest that the next candidate went in the shortest time, with the top fifteen finishers taking those fifteen points.”
I nodded at that. It sounded pretty comprehensive, actually. If I weren't to complete the course, but I were to get the best time of those who didn't finish, then I would still get some of the points, as long as I made it further than the rest.
“Normally,” Mackenzie said, “we would take the course by section, but the Cadets in charge of organizing it this year have set it up so you'll run by ranking. The lowest ranked candidates will run it first while the rest of you stand by and wait. You will be allowed to cheer on your fellow section mates from the sidelines, and I've made sure that we'll have the same sets of lanes for most of your runs.”
He looked around expectantly, “Now, one final addendum. There are an additional five points to be allotted or removed at the judges’ discretion during this event. Don't count on getting those points, most of the time they are only rewarded when a candidate does something outstandingly creative or particularly dishonorable. Most times the judges will disqualify candidates if they do something particularly stupid, which will void whatever points that candidate might have earned.”
I felt suddenly nervous at that. What if they noticed Sashi and I working together and decided to disqualify both of us? I'd looked at our standings just after they posted our final grades. There was only a three point difference between the top ten candidates. A difference of thirty points could push me not only out of the top ten, but possibly out of the top twenty-five percent depending on how other candidates scored.
In theory, since there were around eight hundred of us remaining, some of the lower-ranked candidates might finish strong and improve their ranking, but Sashi had said that didn't normally happen. While luck was a big part of the competition, the final exercise was designed to test a full spectrum of skills and from what she had heard, most candidates would have already improved their scores if they had those skills.
What had surprised me was how well I'd done. I was ranked as third, just behind Sashi and Ashiri and only quarter of a point ahead of Karmazin. I had only done that well because of their help, I knew.
“Candidates,” Mackenzie said, “we'll break you down by what run you'll have. Then we'll move into the amphitheater.” From what Sashi said, the final exercise changed every year, but they held it in the amphitheater every year, so the exercises needed to fit there.
He split us up and then we moved into the amphitheater. We hadn't been in the huge room before. The broad steps that led into it lined the back part of the parade field. I felt a weird sense of disconnection as I walked up those steps. Something odd would happen, I felt.
As we came in, I could see that the huge chamber could hold tens of thousands, but a bare eight hundred candidates filled in the inner ring while the next ring out held cadets, what I would guess was almost three thousand of them. I wasn't sure why they were here, whether to watch from duty or curiosity. The amphitheater itself had an odd weight, built of concrete and most of it kept dim, with just enough light for us to find our way. In the shadows of the ceiling I saw what looked like banners and flags, draped from the high ceiling.
My section took seats along the east side, three rows near the front. The lighting kept the course in shadow, I could barely make out the forms of the obstacles. I wondered why they kept everything so dark. It wasn't as if they could keep it that dark for candidates to run, they wouldn't be able to see anything.
Just as I thought that, some lights came on midway around the amphitheater. A tall, stark figure stood on a balcony, her uniform perfect in every detail. She looked so striking that it took me a long moment to recognize the Admiral. “Candidates,” she said, “today is the day of your final exercise. Today you will prove your ability to move on to the status of Cadet.”
She looked around and despite the shadows in which I sat, I felt like her eyes pierced me. “To some of you, this has become a game, a bit of fun. This competition is nothing more than a way to prove you are faster, smarter, or stronger... do not fall into that pattern of thought. Everything you have done here has been designed to test you, to see if you have what it takes to defend our world.”
The Admiral straightened, “The cost of our defense is paid in blood and lives. It is not something to be taken lightly. You are here to show that you will do what it takes to defend your world, nothing less. Each of you have borne a weapon carried by someone who gave their life in that cause. Each of your sections bears the name of a unit that died to the very last to defend our people. Do not disgrace them today.”
The Admiral stepped back and the lights cut out.
I closed my eyes, almost in a panic. What if she knew? My secret agreement with Sashi didn't seem right anymore. What would Private First Class Santiago Ballanco have thought to know that the person who carried his rifle had gamed the system to her own benefit?
It was a crisis of conscience I couldn't afford. I had to keep focused, I was here to win, to place as well as I could and to move on to my internship. I would leave this place behind in only a week. Seven days, I thought, yet that gave me no comfort. Everyone else here planned to stay, this would be their lives... and I was going to sabotage their standings by working with Sashi... so that she would score higher than she should.
Yet I couldn't back out. I'd already told her that I would help. How would she react if I didn't? We still didn't know the details of the final exercise. For all I knew, it wouldn't even matter. We might have no way to help each other. I prayed that would be the case, that we couldn't help each other and that I wouldn't be a disgrace.
And then the lights came on.
***
Imagine an entire world laid out, so that you are looking down at it from on high, an almost godlike perspective. High enough that you can see it all and yet low enough to make out all the details. Populate this world with trees, rocks, streams, and at the very center, a mountain. Then lay the world out on a circle and then suspend it in open space. That was what we looked down upon when the lights came on.
Staring at it, I saw that the whole “world” was laid out with similar obstacles and clusters along a series of different tracks, each one like the spokes of a wheel. Each of those spokes would be a lane for a candidate, I realized.
At first, I thought it all had to be holograms, yet the sound of splashing water, the chirping of birds, and of all things, I caught a hint of a breeze which carried the smell of warm, moist earth and green plants. It was insane, in a lot of ways, I didn't want to think about how expensive this must be... yet at the same time it was trivial in comparison to the expense of fueling a single warp-drive ship, I knew.
With the lights up, I could look back at where the Admiral had stood. On that balcony I saw a host of officers, many seated in groups or clusters around senior officers. The Admiral sat at the center of the balcony and I noticed two other distinct groups.
“Tama-de,” Sashi said next to me in a low voice. “That's my grandfather over there.” She didn't point, but she nodded at the group of officers furthest from the Admiral. The family resemblance with Admiral Drien and the cluster of officers closest to him was unmistakable. Sashi looked like all of them, short, with darker complexions and dark hair and eyes.
I glanced at Sashi and saw her expression harden. “They'll see everything I do out there.” Something about her posture shifted and I co
uld feel that something had changed, but I wasn't certain what.
“Candidates,” the Regimental Training Officer said, his voice loud enough to reach us all, “Below you is the course for the final exercise. Forty cadets will run the course at a time. As you can see, the obstacles include features that you would typically find on a standard Earth-like world: trees, streams, and embankments. You will also find threats there, with enemies and traps designed to increase in difficulty as you pass from one stage into the next. The first series of obstacles is a general maze through broken terrain where candidates will need to find the shortest path while avoiding a number of traps designed to slow or incapacitate. The second stage will utilize armed enemies who will engage candidates as they try to move through the area. Candidates will need to utilize stealth and tactics to bypass or engage these enemies in the shortest time possible. The final obstacle is the pylon at the center. The final stage is to climb the final obstacle and push the button at the top in the shortest time possible. This stage will utilize armed enemies as well as traps from the first two stages.”
He paused and we had a moment to think that through. I felt a flutter of uncertainty as I looked at the course. In some ways, it was as devious as the Grinder, a full, comprehensive challenge designed to be extremely hard. While I'd at least have the opportunity to see others run first, that didn't mean as much as I had hoped. Each of the lanes was a little different, but there was no guarantee that the traps or opponents we would face wouldn't be moved with each new candidate running their lane.
“Cadet Instructors will now demonstrate,” he said.
Forty Cadet Instructors moved into the lanes, each equipped like us, with body armor, combat fatigues, and weapons. I recognized Cadet Salter and Cadet Marris from behind as they moved up their lanes, almost directly beneath us. It was clear that they were at least somewhat familiar with the lanes, because they moved quickly, bounding from one position to the next. The lane over from Cadet Marris I saw a Cadet step into a pit of some kind and drop out of sight. Across the coliseum I saw a cloud of yellow gas erupt and a cadet stumble and fall.
Marris and Salter both avoided such traps and I saw them pause, here and there as they noticed something suspicious and then took a different path. They moved quickly but still with enough caution that they made it through the first stage before most of the other cadets.
I knew as soon as they made the next stage because that was when a pair of men popped up and opened fire. Marris returned fire, moving down the side and using cover while I could see Salter low-crawl through brush to get clear of her opponent. All along the course I saw Cadets engage their opponents. Some lanes it seemed that the more they fought, the more opponents emerged to return fire. The rattle of gunfire would have left me a shaking mess before the chaos of the Grinder, but now it just set my heart racing and made me feel oddly excited.
Somewhere in the confusion of the second stage, Cadet Marris had gone down. I saw that Salter and a pair of other Cadets had made it as far as the pylon, though, and they started their ascent. They were clipped onto safety ropes, I could see. The need for those safety ropes became apparent as one of the cadets was shot and went limp as the training round took him down.
I felt a bit of surprise as I realized that it was Salter who had shot him, and somewhat less surprise as I saw that the cadet to her side fire at her. The two exchanged fire for a moment but then Salter went down as she triggered a trap of some kind. Evidently the competitors were allowed to take one another down as well.
At the end, only three cadets managed to climb to the top of the forty who had started.
I couldn't help a glance at Sashi, “No problem, right?”
Sashi just scowled. “I am going to finish, no matter what.”
“Me too,” Ashiri said next to me. I couldn't help but notice how nervous she looked. I knew she had expected a more cerebral test. Ashiri was tiny and while I knew she was tough, she would have issues with some of the longer jumps and with carrying all of her gear, the climb would be especially difficult. For that matter, I knew I would have problems with that climb.
I glanced at Karmazin and his face held no expression, it was as if he felt nothing. Darned robot, I thought with irritation and no little envy. I wished that I could turn off my fear at will. There was no lying to myself, either, I was afraid. If I messed up here, it would be in front of everyone. The Admiral, my fellow candidates, even our Cadet Instructors, who had put some measure of trust in me in that first week.
I don't even want to be here, I told myself and clenched my hands into fists, yet the old anger didn't rise. In truth, some part of me did want to be here, to prove myself, to show everyone what I could do... and I couldn't help but feel that this had some meaning, some worth, beyond the merely material.
And I think that scared me most of all. I wasn't looking for meaning, I just wanted to take the internship at Champion Enterprises and then progress on to a stable job, good pay and benefits, and maybe someday a family and kids. I would be comfortable, I would be happy, and most of all, I could have a boring life without any of the complications of my weird family heritage.
The Admiral spoke, “Candidates, your final exercise begins now.”
“Finally,” I muttered, “let’s just get this over with.”
***
Chapter Nineteen: I Take The Fall
None of my section ran in the first group, or the second, or the third. We watched in silence as candidates from other sections ran through the lanes, forty of them at a time. I felt increasing dread as each group went out... and most of them fell in the first stage. The first group didn't make it to the third stage and neither did the second or third groups. Dawson, from my squad, ran in the fourth group. I knew his grades on some of the warp drive mechanics classes were what brought his standing down, but that didn't slow him down as he tore into his lane. We cheered him on as he raced through the first stage. I felt no surprise as he went into the second stage firing. He took down two of his opponents before a third and fourth caught him in a crossfire and he went down. I glanced up and saw his points spread: seven points for completion.
No one from his group or the next two made it to the third stage either.
The Zahler twins went in the seventh group. When I saw their grades posted the night before, I'd felt shock to see that they had only done passingly well on a couple of their final exams. When I'd spoken to them about it, they said they'd done it on purpose, to get an edge on the final exercise and go in with a less competitive group. It made some sense, I could admit, especially with how close the points were. If they had easier competition, then they might be able to pull ahead, maybe even establish the standard for completion. I guess I would see how they fared.
Right off, I could see that they were working together. They moved up next to each other's lanes and I saw them spot for one another as they moved up, using hand signals to show the way. Apparently Sashi and I aren't the only ones who planned to game the system, I thought.
They moved faster than the other candidates and without setting off any of the alarm traps, either, so they didn't draw immediate fire in the second stage. I saw them move quickly through that, with us cheering them on as they flanked a couple of opponents and then moved into the third stage. They were the only ones to have made it that far and I could see that they didn't have to worry about any of the other candidates firing on them, they were all down.
What they did have to worry about was their opponents. I saw a couple of them pop up from positions and fire at them. Yet even so, Tyler Zahler laid down cover fire while Ryan Zahler climbed and it seemed like the pair of them were going to succeed... right up until Ryan grabbed something he shouldn't have and a cloud of yellow gas erupted around him. Ryan went limp just as Tyler had started to climb, and his two opponents caught him in the open.
We groaned as they lowered the twins down, but I couldn't help but feel a little bit of relief. Tyler and Ryan had shown it was possible to work
together and there hadn't been any obvious repercussions. In fact, I noticed that Senior Cadet Instructor Mackenzie had a smirk on his face, as if he were proud of them.
After a moment, their obstacle scores came up, thirteen points for each of them. I measured out where they had climbed to, it looked like a little more than half-way up the mountain, maybe twenty-five meters in total. With how the competition had gone so far it seemed daunting, but doable. Ryan was a better shot than me, I knew, and both of them were stronger, but Sashi and I were both smaller and probably stealthier, we might make it further before we had to worry about getting tired.
We had three candidates in the eighth group. Jason Stringer and Jonathan Stroud went down in the second stage and Gus Albany had just started to climb when a candidate from Ogre Section shot him from behind. We booed him as he did it, and I cheered just as much as the others as he slipped and fell, then got picked off by shooters as he dangled from the safety rope.
In the ninth run, Grainger, Chance, Proscia, and Gault all went. I groaned as I saw Grainger go down right at the start, she tripped on a rock and fell into a net trap that pulled her into the air. I could see her face red with embarrassment. She didn't even have the benefit of being unconscious like most of the candidates who went out and even worse, she had to wait there, suspended for all to see, until the end.
Chance also went down in the first stage, shot by another of Ogre Section's candidates. I had begun to see a trend here and I elbowed Sashi and nodded at where Ogre sat. We would have to run against Thorpe and Bolander, and I didn't miss how the two of them stared in our direction. We would really have to watch our backs, I knew.
More of the candidates made it into the second stage, in this run, and I saw that the total number of opponents was somewhat limited. The candidates hit in a wave, ten each on opposite sides of the course, and I spotted several of the opposition as they rushed to defend against what had been basically a trickle in the earlier rounds.