Holding his furry paws before his nostrils the Nogoll said." To every rule there is an exception. We scrubbed, scanned and searched you. Where did you get these?"
" There was a snack machine in the hall, sir and I watched it being stocked and so I asked if they had any Elly Snacks. They man stocking it got me a whole case. I gladly share with everyone!"
"No need Cadet, but you helped me to make a point and showed us that we all, me included , need to learn to keep our reactions better under control. To make my point, were you offended by my reaction to your offering , that was meant as a present?"
"Offended, no of course not, it takes us Elly years to get used to the smell and kids react just like you do, but I do understand what you trying to make us see, Sir."
"Well now please eat your Maggots fast and put them away so I can continue with my instructions and…" He stopped and threw his hands in the air." No not tonight, I am an Instructor for a long time and have taught thousands of new Cadets to accept seemingly revolting foods and tonight you taught me a lesson, so tonight we forget about the eating utensils and I just instructed the kitchen to serve Pizza. The one food I learned almost everyone likes."
The Cadets greeted the announcement with a cheer and as it ebbed off some lonely voice somewhere said." I don't like pizza."
Right after the wakeup call and a hurried shower, the Nogoll inspected us and found hundred things wrong with the uniforms. He was only satisfied when the last Cadet looked exactly like regulations required , then he said." You are lucky Cadets as we are not the Marines. You would already made 200 pushups for every problem I found on your uniforms, but we too put great emphasis on personal fitness. Now it seems quite difficult to find a common denominator and a training regimen that is equally demanding on all of you but the Academy found an elegant solution to the problem. We simply train you hard and it is your responsibility to keep up. "
For the first exercise we had to get up where the transparent dome that encased the entire academy areal rested on a Duro-Crete ring. The foundation ring was about 5 meters wide and as I learned exactly 12 kilometers long and 10 meters high. The transparent material split the ring more or less in the middle and created a two meters wide ledge on the inside of the dome. The foundation wall below the ring had doors in equal intervals I had entered the Academy a few days ago through one of these. Over a ladder we had to climb up onto that inner ledge and then they simply made our group of ten cadets run around that rim. Other Cadet groups lifted weights, climbed robes attached to scaffolds or carried boxes up and down the stairs leading from the domes perimeter to the Applicant roads. My group included an Elly, the Non-Corp and the Garbini, four humans and two Attikan . I did not know the names of the others yet. I learned that the circumference of the pressure dome of the Academy was exactly 12 kilometers. I considered myself a decent runner and had a good condition from swimming and diving.
The Attikan, the trunk nosed Elly and the Humans had no problem with this exercise and for the first two rounds it was actually like a little contest between me and the two Attikan. They reminded me a little of Terran Wolfs. As the Wolf was the Olafson herald animal it was one of the Earth animals I knew and I had made a point to check them out during a Virtual Zoo Visit. The Attikan had the same kind of short coarse fur, except around the shoulders and up their necks where it was much longer. Their snouts were much shorter than that of a wolf and their ears not pointed but round. Both Attikan were as tall as I am and very muscular. They walked like a Wolf would walk upright and on their toe tips, their heels were much higher up the leg. To support their upright walk they wore boots with enormous high heeled wedge like soles to support their tip toe walk. The one with the gray fur and the black dots introduced himself as Pure and the one with brown fur and black horizontal fur stripes listened to the name of Fectiv.
Fectiv and I ran at head to head and he laughed in a coughing manner. "Your fast human, but you couldn't keep up with a Attikan if I ran for real."
I kept a good pace and regulated my breathing ." Well then my new friend, I think we need to run for real then."
"How about to that second flight of stairs leading to Applicant road four?" He suggested. I estimated it to be about 500 meters from where we were right now and I said. "Let's go for it!"
He dropped and ran on hands and legs, like a real wolf did and truly took off in a burst of speed. I sprinted as fast as I could, at school I ran the 400 meters at 49.56 and that was decent.
Still the Attikan beat me by many lengths but I almost kept up with the other Attikan. The rest of our group was far behind. After I caught my breath Fectiv put his paw on my shoulder." You are fast human! I think you could run with an Attikan Family."
"I am not so sure. You look quite fresh and I am pumped."
"Well I use four legs and Attika has vast planes, bigger than some planets oceans and in our stone age Attikan had to run away from Zinools when we tried to snatch their kill."
I wiped my mouth and grinned." I bet your planes are not as big as the oceans on Nilfeheim."
"You know Attika?"
"Not really but Nilfeheim is all water, except for a few specks of rocky islands."
He laughed." I wonder how you learned to run so fast on a planet without land to run on."
"My world freezes over for seven years and you can run on ice just fine."
An instructor came floating up to us." Being faster than the others doesn't mean you can stop running. It just means you have to do more rounds! Now get moving!"
So we started running again but at a measured pace. From up here I could look outside and see the planets yellowish brown cracked surface .Everywhere groups of Cadets engaged in a physical exercises, supervised by black uniformed Instructors. Pure didn't talk very much and I asked Fectiv about it. He turned to his friend and then back to me and said." He is a Striped, they never say much. It's nothing personal." Pure curled his chaps revealing a row of sharp incisors." And he is a dotted they talk way too much."
Remembering Mix I said." What does the showing of teeth mean for an Attikan?"
Pure made a few faster steps to catch up." There are hundreds of ways to show your teeth. Right now I was trying to insult Fectiv, not in a real bad way though. You see how he put the ears and his tail, that means he understood it was not serious. Now if you see an Attikan with the Neck fur all standing up and the chaps up as far as possible, that is as serious as it gets."
Pure glanced down the rim." Not that I feel very comfortable running so high up and that you can see because my tail isn't doing much, but hanging down."
Fectiv said." I am not exactly feeling all that well either, but I manage and I am very pleased you want to know about Attikan, maybe you can tell me what it means when a human raises the bushy fur remnants above their eyes. My Union teacher was a human and he did it all the time."
"It could mean surprise if it is both eye brows and amazement if it is one."
As we talked we made it around the rim and caught up with the others. I reached Two-three and he complained as he noticed me." While I don't have muscles that could get tired, ita lot of concentration to keep the legs moving that fast."
" What do you mean by concentrating?"
"I don't really have legs you know. I must visualize every movement, be it a finger move or a leg and then put some of my energy in that visualized shape and then change the shape to mimic muscle movement. What you do sub consciously takes an awful lot of thinking on my part. Especially since the instructors turned off the Computronic module that normally does that for me." He actually stumbled and I caught him." You see I get distracted and I mix up my legs."
"I bet you do just fine floating in a sun and I would not know what to do!"
"I would show you of course, but I think Potsema our Garbini friend is in worst shape." I looked behind us remembering passing the Methane breather. The Garbini struggled visibly on his six walking tentacles. One of the instructors mocked him." Come on you slow invertebrate you
got six legs. Moving slower than a Shaill without a Grav Sled."
To me the instructor yelled." Don't slow down Olafson. Don't let those slow misfits keep you. You're fast! Show them how it´s done!"
I still slowed down and fell next to the Garbini and said." Are you alright?"
He had a distressed sound in his voice." The Instructor said he fails me if I don't make it all the way around at least once. It is hard for me to stay on my tentacles walking on a flat surface when I walk! I can't run that far, we live in trees. We are not meant to run, you see I don't have bones, just muscle and without the Exo-skeleton that we use normally to walk, I am screwed. I wanted to be an Officer so badly."
"That reminds me of an old friend of mine and many stairs. He had only bones and no muscles. How much do you weigh?"
The Garbini's tentacles shivered." I think about 95 kilos under one Gee."
To the instructor I said." You won't fail him if he makes it once around right?"
"If he completes at least one round he will pass."
"Potsema you got lots of Tentacles to hold on, let me carry you! He didn't specify how you going to get around the circle."
The Garbini stopped." Are you serious?"
"Don't argue I don't have that much breath to spare!"
It was a weird feeling to have his tentacles worm around me, but I simply ignored it, thought about the stairs of Hasvik and told myself at least I could see an end here and it was not cold as I was back then when I had to climb those narrow icy stairs. I ran with the Garbini on my back trying to fall in an energy saving rhythm as much as possible. He did not feel heavier then that sack of Soak stones I had dragged up the mountain side of Muspelheim, but then I had grown since then and that episode felt like it happened a life time ago. I was drenched with sweat but we made it once around , twelve kilometers with a Garbini on my back wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. The physical training instructor who had mocked the Garbini awaited us and said." Well the Garbini made it but your Non Corp Buddy hasn't. Well maybe there is another Non Corp in the next class."
I tried to catch my breath and stemmed both my hands against my knees. I saw Two-Three about a 1000 meters ahead, struggling keeping his legs moving." How long does he have?"
"I give him two hours to but he never going to make it at that pace."
"I wonder why you doing this. He has no legs you know!" Then I ran to get the Non Corp.
After I reached him and I explained to Two-Three that I wanted to carry him he said." But why would you do that for me?"
"Odin's beard! " I yelled." Get on my back and don't argue! I simply hate unfair situations!"
The Non Corp was surprisingly light and not more than perhaps twenty kilos and half way round Pure caught up with me." I can help too, let me take Two-Three for the rest of the way!"
We made it in good time and I grinned at the Instructor, who was a human and said." I guess you don't have to wait for the next class. This one still has a Non Corp!"
"We see if we have a Neo Viking after the next exercise!" He responded and led us to a large framework of interlocking metal bars about ten meters of the ground and 20 meters long. Looking much like a horizontal metal ladder attached to horizontal ones at each end. " I think the next station is self explanatory. You see those sand bags, there are ten for each of you, get them over to the other side, without touching the ground. It doesn't matter how you do it."
The Non Corp said. "If we had some conveyor system that be the ticket."
"That's a good idea, Two Three, that is how we going to do it .I grinned and the Garbini waved his tentacles." Of course we do the same as we did with the water sleeve in the queue!"
The other cadets easily grasped the idea and with a cadet sitting in equal spaced intervals on the scaffold we formed a chain and simply passed the bags along and the Garbini showed his skills at the end carrying four bags at a time and a cadet who was afraid of heights all at once.
They gave us similar tasks all day long without a lunch break. At the end of the day I had cramps all over and felt sore in muscles I didn't even know I had.
The Nogoll instructor gathered us together and said. "Each of you has strengths and weaknesses and you all are only as strong as the weakest of you. Today you learned and demonstrated that by working together all obstacles can be mastered. I am proud of you all, you showed some great team work. Now you have exactly 12 minutes to shower and get into formal uniform and meet me at the Dinner hall."
"No matter how tired or exhausted you are, I don't want to see you yawn or nod off." The Nogoll said from his Hover disc." Imagine you are all at a state dinner and you are guests of honor. Present are the leaders of a potential new member species. There will be an officer or two at each table and you will make polite small talk. Follow the instructions and again, if I see someone yawn or sleep you will fail this exercise and test."
I whispered to Two Three. "Lucky you, you have no eyes to fall shut or yawn. Do you actually get tired?"
"Yes we do get tired, not in a physical sense like Corporals do, but in a mental one and rest periods are very much necessary to keep a good mental balance. Believe me I am as tired as can be today, but I can help you if you want."
"Help me? How?"
"I can boost your neural energies, it won't be like sleeping and you still need nourishment from bio chemical processes, but the electro chemical energies I can increase. Manipulating energies is something we Non Corps do all the time after all."
He touched my hand and it was as if I had just finished twenty cups of coffee and taken a cold shower. I felt as fresh and alert as jumping naked into a snow drift." Thor's thunder! "
"Be careful though it is only a neural stimulus, and won't last long. You still need sleep soon."
"Who needs sleep?" I checked out the Officer that was sitting on our table. It was a female human and I said." Hello Guest of Honor, how is your planet today?" My mind was racing! I could not stop talking or really sit still! I said things before I could stop myself.
She said with a smile." I am from Simula Cadet and I would assume everything is fine with it."
"Oh no, that can't be true! Your planet is poorer and in miserable shape. For you are not gracing it with your lovely presence!" I didn't just say that or did I? " I wonder how you managed to get in to that Uniform Lieutenant, or is it painted on? It appears two sizes to small!"
The only time I felt that way was when I accidentally drank one of Egill's Cola Vodka mixes and was drunk as a Nubhir Herder." How can I make small talk with someone so well endowed? It should be big talk, if you ask me!"
She blinked and said." Are you alright Cadet Olafson?"
"Alright? Of course I am alright. I feel great and not the least bit tired. I can even calculate and add sums in my mind while we talk. It is amazing, I could never do that before!"
Two-Three said." Oh my I think I overdosed you a little. "Try to drink some water and eat and be quiet!"
The Nogoll said." Cadet Olafson. Small talk does not mean you have to entertain the entire table. An officer is always tactful and distinct. If I would not know better I say you are drunk!"
"Sir! I had a some water today. What do you call a Nogoll beard by the way? Is it a goatee?"
"Mr. Olafson since you are so fresh and still have so much energy, I think there are lawns to mow!"
"Thank you so much! I couldn't sit still another minute. How do you mow a lawn? We don't have those on Nilfeheim."
An hour later I knew how a lawn was mowed at the academy, with hand scissors and on my knees.
It was late at night, whatever Two-Three had done to me, the effects were long gone and I was all alone on the lawn segment with a pair of scissors clipping green grass with a pair of long handled scissor clippers. The Sun simulator at the top of the dome was off and light was provided by individual lamps lining the applicant roads. The cone shaped Academy administration building was mostly dark only a few windows had lights behind them. In the distance up at the
rim I saw a pair of Cadets in Dark green dress uniforms complete with duck bill caps and shock batons walking perimeter patrol.
It was actually only 50 meters till the little groomed tree, that marked the end of the area I had to clip, but clipping grass the way I was, it would take all night. Since the strange energy boost had worn off I could feel the soreness of my muscles and my eyes were sandy and I was as tired as I never had been before, at least that is how I felt. I was tempted to simply lay down and sleep right here. The grass was nice and soft , but I would clip that grass! I also promised myself to not to accept Two-Three's offers for help unless I knew what he meant to do.
From the building came Potsema, carrying a four clipper tools at once." I thought I help you Eric. I got lots of arms and it will go faster."
"I sure hope you don't get into trouble, for being out here after lights out."
"No I asked and volunteered that's how I got these clippers, the others of our section are coming too. Except two of the humans who didn't want to lose sleep."
He started clipping and I got a warm feeling as I saw Two-Three, the Elly , Pure, Fectiv and two of the humans of our group coming out all carrying clippers.
We were done in short time and the Nogoll instructor used a metal ruler checked the length of the grass and nodded." Well done Cadets, now get cleaned up and go to sleep."
The next day they issued us Pressure suits and made us sweep the landing fields. Working in a pressure suit was exhausting and the fine powdery sulphuric dust resisted sweeping quite stubbornly, of course the Instructors were only then satisfied after the landing field was clean. I wondered what this exercise was for. The Nogoll answered my question by saying: " It isn't an exercise. The Commandant likes the landing field clean and here at the Academy we don't need to use expensive robots. We always have plenty of Cadets."
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 241