The Empire's Corps: Book 07 - Reality Check

by Christopher Nuttall

  “The names are as follows,” the man said, dragging the whole affair out as much as possible. “Gary Seaman ...”

  A dull chuckle ran through the class. Darrin wasn’t too surprised; Gary was a swot, someone who wouldn't hesitate to complete the essay even though he knew it was probably pointless. Gary looked terrified; the teacher standing near him urged the young man to his feet, even though he clearly wanted to run and hide.

  “Come on,” the man said, his voice echoing around the hall. “Don’t be shy.”

  Darrin joined in the laughter as Gary somehow walked towards the stage. A number of students, seeing weakness, jeered and catcalled as Garry passed them, the back of his neck glowing red. Luckily for him, he didn't have to pick his way out of the rows of seats or he would probably have been kicked a hundred times before he even reached the aisle. The hall settled down, slightly, as Gary took a seat on the stage and waited, his head in his hands.

  “The second lucky winner,” the man said, “is Kailee Singh.”

  The hall erupted into wolf-whistles as Kailee was pushed to her feet. Darrin saw the shocked expression on her face and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she hadn't even entered the competition. Whatever her goals in life happened to be – and he was sure that she had goals, or she would have put out for him – they probably didn't include a trip away from Earth. Kailee’s long dark hair fell around her ass as she walked up to the stage, drawing the attention of every boy and not a few of the girls in the room. But she didn't look happy as she sat down next to Gary.

  “The third lucky winner,” the man announced, “is Darrin Person.”

  Darrin stared at him in absolute shock. For a moment, he didn't even believe his ears. How the hell had he won? His essay had been nothing more than a handful of sentences! The whole system was fixed, but why had it been fixed in his favour? It wasn't as if he was a prize student or even someone the teachers wanted to get rid of for a few months ... no, he just tried to get through the day with a minimal amount of actual work, then play sports until he was sent home.

  Judy untangled herself from him, her face a strange mixture of awe and shock. She seemed to have decided to make him her boyfriend – and protector. Having him go away for several months would put a crimp in that plan. But, at the same time, if he had been so lucky ... Darrin had to force his legs into cooperating as he stood and started to move towards the stage. The entire school seemed to be staring at him, some cat-calling from the safety of the crowds, others cheering loudly. After all, he wasn't as unpopular as some other students ...

  Kailee gave him a weak smile as he sat down on the other side of her, but her face was pinched and wan. She hadn't wanted to go, Darrin saw; Gary, sitting next to her, hardly looked any more enthusiastic. Now the shock was fading away, Darrin could see some advantages in spending a few months away from Fitz. It wasn't as if he could do anything to help his mother ... and, by the time he returned, he might be old enough to apply for premature emancipation and get his own apartment.

  And at least it isn't school, he thought, although he had no idea what a trip to the colonies actually entailed. He made a mental note to read the essay instructions more carefully; somehow, he doubted they were going however many light years just to sit behind desks in a colonial school. What did a colonial school even look like? He honestly didn't know.

  “The fourth lucky winner is Barry Sycamore,” the man concluded. “Come up here, young man, and join us on the stage.”

  Yep, Darrin decided, it was definitely a fix. If Barry had entered the competition at all, Darrin would be very surprised. He heard Gary let out a groan as the oversized student made his way up to the stage and sat down next to Darrin, grinning inanely at the students in the audience. In all honestly, Darrin tended to agree. Being close to Barry was like being close to a savage dog, with the added disadvantage that the dog had a certain animal cunning.

  He scowled as the man droned on, extolling their virtues to the skies. Agreeing with Gary was painful – he didn't want to agree with a nerd on anything – but he had to agree that while the trip might have been tolerable without Barry, it would be a nightmare with him.

  But at least Fitz won’t be there, he thought. Look on the bright side.

  ***

  Gary felt too stunned to move – or to listen to the stranger telling the entire school just how wonderful he was, even though he knew it would just make him more of a target. How the hell had he won? The essay hadn't been that good, had it? But then, the instructions had claimed that the competition was global; it was unlikely that someone had even bothered to read the essays. It was much more likely that they’d picked at random and he'd simply been unlucky. And Barry ... Gary tried not to look at the hulking student sitting next to Darrin and grinning like a loon. If there was one thing guaranteed to ruin the trip, it was having to share it with one of his worst tormentors.

  He couldn't take nine months away from Earth, not with the really important exams coming up. If he missed them, he would have to retake the entire year, forcing him to spend more time in the goddamned school. And he hadn't even wanted to go! Somewhere in the school, he was sure that there were students who wanted to spend some time on a colony world. Why couldn't they go and not him?

  Beside him, Kailee looked as irked as Gary felt. For once, he was sitting next to a truly hot girl and he couldn't even enjoy it. He wondered, absently, what she’d written on her essay, before deciding that it didn't matter. Barry had probably submitted a blank sheet of paper, if he’d bothered to submit anything at all. Maybe one of the teachers had entered him in the hopes of getting the bastard out of their hair for a few months. If so, Gary decided, they'd done very well indeed.

  The man finally stopped droning and the principal dismissed the students back to their classes, then told Gary and the other winners to remain behind where they were. Gary sighed, inwardly; he would have to speak to the principal in private to ask if he could decline the honour. Perhaps he could give his slot to Moe and the two bullies could spend six months away from the school ... he tried to form a mental image of their starship being boarded by pirates and the assholes being sold into slavery, but it refused to form properly. It was much more likely that the pirates would recruit Barry and Moe into their ranks.

  “The departure date is one week from today,” the man informed them. They still didn’t know his name. “Instead of your standard afterschool classes, you will be expected to attend lectures on Meridian , your destination. I strongly suggest that you listen carefully, read around the subject and remember everything. It could come in handy when you’re on the planet’s surface.”

  Gary snorted to himself. He could read, but he doubted that Barry or even Darrin could read very well. Could Kailee read? He had no idea. But it hardly mattered; the readers could read the textbooks out to the students, if necessary. They even provided explanations for the most difficult words. Sighing inwardly, Gary stood when dismissed and headed directly towards the principal’s office. He could wait there for the man all day, even though it was a technical breach of school rules.

  And then, if he were lucky, he could get out of the whole trip.

  ***

  Kailee knew that she should be used to attention. After all, when she became an actress, she would have to perform on stage in front of gawking crowds. But facing the entire school was difficult – and not just because of the wolf-whistles and other harassment. She hadn't expected to win the contest, not really. How the hell had she won?

  She walked through the deserted corridors in a daze, barely aware of her surroundings until she reached the classroom door. Kailee hesitated for a long moment, then opened the door and stepped into the classroom. The girls looked up at her as she sat down next to them, the teacher saying nothing about her lateness. But then, he would have been at the assembly too; he knew that she’d won the competition. He wouldn't penalise her for that, would he?

  But there were always rumours, stories of teachers who had abus
ed their charges – or taken advantage of them. Kailee knew that she was relatively immune – it wasn't as if she cared about her grades – but she knew better than to lower her guard. And yet, she’d walked alone through the school’s corridors ... she shook her head, then pulled the reader from her pocket and placed it on the desk.

  “You won,” Sally muttered to her, as soon as the teacher’s back was turned. He was droning on about something called the verb-noun infinity. “Well done!”

  “Thank you,” Kailee said, sourly.

  She gritted her teeth. A few months on a colony world would completely ruin her looks. Someone had heard that she planned to enter the acting world and deliberately set out to ruin her chances. There could be no other explanation. Gary might have won the competition fairly – the little nerd was smart – but Kailee had entered a blank sheet of paper, satisfying the basic requirements.

  “You’ll get to spend time with hunks, like in Farmer’s World: This Time We’re Sowing,” Gayle put in, from the other side of the desk. “I think it would be great fun.”

  Kailee scowled at her. Farmer’s World was a pornographic flick, shared on the datanet and watched by countless students. It was set on a farm; Kailee knew nothing about farming, but surely the farmers didn't spend all their time making love. Besides, the scene where the heroine had been taken by four men in the middle of the pigpen had been thoroughly disconcerting.

  “It's going to be boring,” she predicted, crossly. “And I don't want to go.”

  “But you’d be able to introduce them to Earth’s fashions,” Sally pointed out. “Get a set of new outfits before you leave, take them with you and wear them on the farm.”

  “If there is a farm,” Gayle said. “It might be more like Rumble In The Jungle ...”

  “Oh, shut up,” Kailee said. She couldn't afford even one new outfit. There were ways to get loans from the gangs, but she knew she couldn't meet their payment schedules. She’d end up indentured and working in a brothel, if she was lucky. “I don’t think it’s going to be like a movie at all.”

  “Crabby Bitch III,” Gayle offered. “Or Break the Cutie.”

  “Shut up,” Kailee snapped. Gayle’s porn addiction was an open secret, as was her desire to sleep with as many boys and girls as possible. “Please!”

  Dismissing the thought of actually trying to catch up with whatever the teacher was saying, she activated her reader and downloaded the instructions, reading through them quickly. It wasn't too clear on just how long the lucky winners would spend away from Earth; the figure given was six months, but there were plenty of weasel words written into the instructions to make her think that it might be longer. She had to admit that the thought of spending time away from the cramped apartment was a good one, but what would happen to her career?

  The average actress started work at seventeen, she’d discovered, unless they had a special permit to act at a younger age. Assuming she returned before her seventeenth birthday, she should still have a chance ... but if she returned later, she would already have burnt up some of her time. If she failed to get in at seventeen, it wasn’t too likely that she would get in when she was older. Youth was in at the moment too.

  But her family would be pleased ...

  Of course they will be pleased, she thought, bitterly. The thought was not a pleasant one. They'd get the bedroom for themselves while I am gone.

  Chapter Six

  On a wider scale, the educational process also trains and equips the next generation to take their place in society as adults. Even the basic skills of reading and writing are almost mandatory in jobs, while additional skills like operating a computer and suchlike are strongly preferable.

  - Professor Leo Caesius. Education and the Decline and Fall of the Galactic Empire.

  Gary didn't really like Principal Rico and he suspected that the feeling was mutual. Rico was short, stout and smiled too much – and he was a completely ineffective disciplinarian. Gary had gone to his office once before, after he’d been advised to report bullying behaviour to the principal, only to discover that the principal could do nothing more than ask him to stop whatever he was doing to incite them. The fact that Barry and Moe and their ilk would have picked on Gary whatever he was doing seemed to have passed him by.

  “I can’t go on the trip,” he said, as soon as the door was closed. “Please can you give my slot to someone else?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Principal Rico said. He didn't sound as though he cared. “The selections were made well above my station, Mr. Seaman. I cannot change them at a whim.”

  “But I didn't mean to win,” Gary pleaded. “I cannot go.”

  Principal Rico eyed him, suspiciously. “And why, if you didn't want to win, did you even enter the competition?”

  Gary stared at him, fighting the urge to burst into tears. He’d entered the competition because he'd believed that not entering the competition would blight his academic career. And then he'd won ... and winning the competition would also blight his career. Having to retake a year of schooling would automatically downgrade him when it came to entering Imperial University. He might not even make it in at all. The thought was so horrifying that he refused to face it. Where else could he go?

  “This is an important initiative that was mandated by senior authority,” Principal Rico said. His eyes met Gary’s, as if he were trying to say something important without being able to come right out and say it. “I do not believe that anyone in this school has the authority to change the winner, no matter how ... unhappy the winner has become.”

  His eyes hardened. “And there will be consequences for not going.”

  Gary closed his eyes, trying to recall some of the courage he felt online. “There are students who have done nothing in class and do not face consequences ...”

  Principal Rico looked, for a long moment, bitter and helpless. “You do not understand,” he said. “Who do you think is in charge of the school system?”

  Gary blinked in surprise. Principal Rico had never talked to him as though he were an adult before, not ever. He’d normally talked down to all of his students, no matter how old they were.

  “You,” he said, finally. “You’re the boss ...”

  “I wish that were true,” Principal Rico said. His gaze never left Gary’s eyes. “Do you realise just how little authority I actually have? Of course you don’t. I have to follow orders issued by someone much higher in the hierarchy than myself. Those people are the ones who set the exam question, who set up the entire competition. And it was those people, those truly powerful people, who picked the winners.”

  Gary hesitated. “But ...”

  “But nothing,” Principal Rico interrupted. “Those people don't care about your concerns, young man, or about why you entered the competition. All they care about is making sure the entire process runs smoothly – or as smoothly as possible. And if you anger them, you can be sure that they will definitely take it out on you.”

  His voice hardened. “Do you understand me?”

  Gary shuddered. He’d heard stories – they’d all heard stories – of what happened to those who pissed off the bureaucrats. Their support allowances were delayed or cut completely, their requests for new apartments were ignored, they were put at the bottom of the list for receiving medical aid ... and that was just the tip of the iceberg. If he angered someone much higher up the food chain, his life – and that of his family – would not be worth living.

  “Yes, sir,” he said, reluctantly. Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. “I understand.”

  “Good,” Principal Rico said. “I’ll expect you to attend all of the orientation classes, Mr. Seaman. You are going to need them.”

  With that, he motioned for Gary to walk out the door.

  ***

  Darrin had spent the day in a daze, despite the vast number of students who wanted to congratulate him or try to pick a fight. It didn't seem possible that he'd won; it just didn't seem real. And he honestly couldn't
decide if he wanted to go or not. But he knew that there was no point in trying to argue with the system. If it said he’d won, he'd won. By the end of the formal hours of schooling, he couldn't wait to tell Fitz that he was going to be away for several months.

  He was still contemplating it when he entered the classroom that had been put aside for orientation lessons. A man was standing at the head of the room, wearing a uniform that seemed strikingly military and a cloth hat that cast a shadow over his eyes. He was tall, muscular and wore a neatly-clipped beard that gave him an untidy air. But his sharp blue eyes followed Darrin as he sat down and looked back at the newcomer. Moments later, Barry swaggered in and took the seat at the end of the room.

  “Sit at the front,” the newcomer ordered. There was something in his tone that suggested that disobedience would be a very bad idea. “Now.”

  Barry stood up and reluctantly moved to sit beside Darrin. The newcomer eyed him, then lifted an eyebrow as Kailee slipped into the room, followed by a reluctant-looking Gary. Darrin concealed a smile; the nerd was behind one of the best asses in the school, yet he wasn't even looking at her. But then, Gary would have been targeted too ... and everyone knew that he couldn't defend himself. He’d probably spent the day trying to hide.

  “Close that door,” the newcomer ordered. Gary obeyed, then sat down next to Kailee, as far from Barry as he could. “My name is Yates, Mathew Yates. For my sins, I have been charged with serving as your guide, supervisor and teacher while you are on Meridian. This is not a task I welcome, so I suggest – very strongly – that you listen carefully to me, because I hate having to repeat myself.”

  Darrin blinked in surprise. Teachers were rarely firm with their students, if only because they knew they could do nothing to back it up. But Yates looked tough, tougher than Mr. Howarth ... and used to obedience. Even Barry, who looked muscled enough to pass for a primate in the holographic zoo, said nothing. He just stared at the newcomer.