Valor's Calling

by Kal Spriggs

  I wanted to scream all that at her, but instead I sat fuming. How dare she think she deserved anything from me? Less than a week earlier she and her Ogre section-mates had tried to attack me. If not for Commander Scarpetti, they would probably have succeeded. She'd literally shot me in the face. I had thought she was my friend and she'd betrayed me.

  Sitting there, only a few meters away from her was almost intolerable. I couldn't wait to get back out to my squad, as far away from her as I could be.

  ***

  “Welcome back, Armstrong,” Cadet Third Class Trask said as I rushed to my position. “Have a nice nap?”

  “Negative, sir,” I replied. “It won't happen again, sir.”

  “Don't make promises you can't keep,” Trask replied. “The opposition force takes all of us out, at one time or another. That's their job. Our job is to make it harder on them.”

  “Aye, aye, sir,” I said, even as I took up my position.

  They'd sounded the reset and the medics had sent me back out. Things remained quiet as I sat there, waiting. “Is this usual?” I heard Ryan Zahler ask.

  “Oh, yeah,” Cadet Petty Officer Trask said. “Some days we'll be out here for hours and nothing will happen. Other days they'll hit us with one thing after another. Long periods of boredom interspersed with brief moments of terror. But don't worry, it's all part of the training.”

  Great, I thought to myself. I kept my eyes open and kept scanning my area. I wanted to learn. I wanted to be more capable, but it was hard to think of this as being educational. Still, there was a part of me that enjoyed it. It was frustrating and at times boring, but at the same time, here I was, armed, wearing armor, and training to fight those who would harm my world.

  I couldn't help a glance at the sky. The Admiral had fought the Dalite Hegemony, fellow humans who'd sought to conquer our world. Before that, the Century Planetary Militia had fought the Culmor on two occasions. Century had been invaded three times, twice we had faced extinction. There'd been smaller encounters with pirates, single or multiple small actions in our star system and against some of our merchant or missionary ships.

  Over the course of almost three hundred years, Century had only ever faced three major attacks. Odds were that I'd face another one in my lifetime. Granted, things had been peaceful since my mother was a child, but things could change. This drill had shown that I might not even see the person who killed me... yet I didn't feel fear. I almost felt serene about it. My presence might be enough to save the life of Ashiri Takenata or Alexander Karmazin. Me serving in uniform might be enough to tip the scales, to protect my family and friends.

  For that, I'd gladly put myself in a bit of danger.

  The recall sounded, followed a moment later by the announcement, “All hands, reset from drill. Assemble at your company areas for after action review.”

  ***

  The after action review was more than a little interesting. I'd expected a critique of our individual actions, but the one from our squad wasn't oriented at that at all. Cadet Lieutenant Artho led it, and he instead showed images from around the perimeter, including some from the opposition force as they'd moved up on us unseen in the dark. “As you can see,” Artho said, “there's some dead-zones near the bunker. In the future, it would behoove you to reposition some personnel to keep these areas under observation as well as to place anti-personnel mines.”

  Trask took the critique well, “Yes, sir.”

  “Let's move on to your casualties,” Artho went on, “Plebe Armstrong was hit in the shoulder, but you waited almost fifteen minutes before you requested ground evacuation.”

  “Yes, sir,” Trask nodded, “my concern was that our position is rather exposed. There's sections where anyone coming to evacuate our wounded could come under aimed fire from outside the perimeter. I didn't want to put first responders at risk for what wasn't an immediately life-threatening wound.”

  “Okay,” Cadet Lieutenant Artho nodded, “but during that time, observers adjudicated that Plebe Armstrong would have lost enough blood to be in life-threatening condition. When evacuation did arrive, they didn't have the equipment they might have needed to save her.”

  “Sir,” Trask nodded, “that's on me, I didn't take into consideration that our Plebes don't have full emergency responder training yet, so she didn't receive any on-site treatment.”

  “That's well and good to say. But if this were a real event, Plebe Armstrong would be dead. You would have to live with that for the rest of your life.” Artho's voice was somber. “Don't forget, you had some other options. After initial contact, you could have requested aerial support. One of our combat skimmers could provide air cover for ground evacuation. Any sniper would be stupid to stay in position and come under fire from a combat skimmer.”

  “Yes, sir, I hadn't considered that,” Trask nodded.

  “Something to keep in mind, particularly when we're on the defensive and we have plenty of resources at hand. Overall, as a squad, you did well. You didn't defeat the enemy snipers, but you only lost the one casualty and you held the perimeter. Well done by Sand Dragon, that's five points for your company. Of course, you also lose five points for losing one of your personnel who might have survived.”

  I saw Trask wince a bit at that. I wasn't sure how the points system worked for him as a squad leader, but for me during the Academy Prep School, I'd had an additional percentage based off what we earned as a squad. We hadn't lost any points this exercise, but we also hadn't gained any.

  At least I'm not really dead, I thought.

  ***

  “You know,” Ashiri said as we cleaned our gear in our room, “if someone really wanted to kill you, doing it at one of the drills would be the time.”

  “What?” I looked up from my wiping down my rifle. I hadn't had a chance to fire it yet, but it had dirt on it from when I'd been hit and fallen.

  “We have combat loads with real rounds,” Ashiri said. “If you'd been hit by a real round, none of us might have realized it wasn't part of the exercise.”

  I felt a chill at her words. “But they'd know who fired it, right? It doesn't seem like a good way to avoid getting caught.” That only works if the person trying to kill me really wants to avoid notice.

  “Maybe,” Ashiri nodded, “But maybe they could get around that somehow...”

  “Well, if I needed more incentive to avoid being shot, then I've got some.” I hadn't told her yet about my encounters with Sashi. I probably should, I knew. She was the one who'd shot Sashi after she'd shot me during the final exercise. If Sashi hated me, she probably hated Ashiri, too.

  At the same time, I didn't want to worry her. We already had the very real threat of someone trying to kill me. Ashiri was already involved in that. I didn't see the need to pull her into things if Sashi hadn't already.

  “So, how are things between you and Alexander?” I asked. I regretted the question as soon as I'd opened my mouth.

  “Oh, really great,” Ashiri gushed. I managed to keep control over my features, but I couldn't come up with much of anything to say in response.

  “That's good,” I said. I sound like a robot. Luckily, Ashiri didn't seem to notice.

  “Yeah, he really understands me and we spend a ton of time talking. We're taking things slow, though, you know, we don't want to rush it,” Ashiri's voice had changed. She sounded almost... bubbly. I had to fight a pang of jealousy. I wished that I was that happy about anything.

  “Well,” I said, “it's good you guys spend time together.”

  “Not as much as I'd like, but at least we don't have to worry about the fraternization policy,” Ashiri said. I wasn't sure about that. Really I hadn't finished reading the whole list of all the rules we had to obey. I have to make time for that.

  Ashiri must have noticed my silence and she clearly misinterpreted it as disapproval, “We're not doing anything wrong.” Her voice was nervous. “Fraternization only applies if there's some kind of favoritism or opportunity. We're the s
ame rank, we're both plebes, and he's in a different squad in our section. I mean, it'd be a whole different thing if he were a different class or something, you know, like with Cadet Instructor Hilton and Rakewood.”

  “Oh, yeah,” I replied. That made a lot of sense, actually. I remembered how I'd felt when I'd overheard the two of them discussion how they planned to falsely testify about another cadet candidate being injured. I guess fraternization is to prevent other unfair situations, I thought.

  “I mean, plebes aren't even allowed to associate with upperclassmen at all,” Ashiri said. “The only exception is sports teams, like with you joining the grav-shell team, and even then, only inside the accepted parameters of a team.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Yeah, Cadet Commander Mackenzie and I... that is, there's nothing going on there.” I found myself stumbling over words and Ashiri gave me an odd look. Oh, no, I thought to myself, I do not have a crush on our company commander.

  I didn't want to think about that just now. Even leaving aside the whole fact that it would violate one of the academy's main military regulations, there was no way he saw me that way. I mean, yeah, he did invite me to his team, to be his coxswain, but that's just because of my size... right?

  “Anyway,” I said quickly, “what do you think of classes so far?”

  Ashiri pursed her lips as she stared at me, almost as if she really wanted to ask me a question. She seemed to think better of it and then nodded, “Classes are good. I'm a little frustrated that we aren't going straight into our tracks. I mean, the medical people are already digging into their training, heavy on biology and anatomy classes... and everyone else is stuck in the general studies. I mean, most of us already know what our focus will be, I'd like to get started!”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “And we've got these stupid filler classes like the military ethics one...”

  “Oh, yeah, I heard about Commander Bonnadonna using you as an example, that must have been brutal,” Ashiri shook her head. “He used another plebe as an example for my class with him. I wouldn't say that's a waste, really, I mean I find it interesting...”

  “We're just talking, though,” I grumbled. “That and ten page papers about people who've been dead for over a thousand years.” I spent as little time as possible thinking about those subjects. I'd long since developed the ability to churn out a paper without much thought. Really I didn't even remember the subject of the last ethics paper, I'd simply thrown in a lot of quotes and some hand-waved interpretations and called it good. I still hadn't seen a paper back from him and I really doubted that he'd read all of the papers like he said he had.

  “Yeah, but it's a discussion meant to bring out what we really think... and to make us think.” Ashiri shook her head, “It's actually sort of refreshing, having a teacher who wants to hear what we think, you know?”

  I didn't respond directly, “Commander Scarpitti seems to care about her students,” I said. I'd enjoyed the engineering class I'd had with her. She'd kept us all engaged and I'd come away from the first week feeling as if I were actually learning something.

  “Yeah, that's true,” Ashiri nodded. “She's pretty personable. I like some of her teaching style, too. I just really want to get on with the space tactical track, which means flying, not just going over the theory.”

  “You're planning on tactical track?” I asked in surprise. I'd known she was space oriented, like me, but I'd thought...

  “What, you don't think I'm capable?” Ashiri demanded.

  “No, it's not that at all!” I protested. We'd filled out our initial preferences just before arrival. I had no way of knowing what she and Alexander had chosen, but I'd still made an assumption. “I just thought, well, I assumed that you'd go technical. I mean, that's what I did...”

  “Jiden!” Ashiri stared at me as if I'd grown a third limb, right out of my forehead. Or maybe as if I'd passed gas in front of a large crowd. “Please tell me you aren't serious. You did not select one of the technical tracks!?”

  “What?” I asked. “I've always been more interested in engineering...”

  “Jiden,” Ashiri shook her head. She grabbed her datapad and typed something in. “Don't... I can't even...”

  I opened my mouth to respond and she held up one hand, “No. Don't talk. Wait a second, okay?” I nodded, feeling both a bit humiliated and amused at the same time. I didn't see what the big deal was, anyway.

  A moment later, Alexander Karmazin stuck his head in, “What's up, Ash?”

  I flushed a bit as I heard what he called Ashiri. Oh, god, I thought, they're using pet names...

  “Jiden selected technical track as her preference,” Ashiri said.

  “Oh, she...” Alexander stared at her for a long moment. Then he looked at me and started laughing. “Oh, that's hilarious.... you totally got me. Her expression is so serious and...” he trailed off as neither of us laughed. “No.” Karmazin looked at me and his jaw dropped. “No, you can't be serious. Why?!”

  I flushed, “I'm more interested in engineering and research than...”

  “Are you stupid?” Alexander demanded.

  “Don't call me stupid!” I snapped back.

  “Okay, calm down, both of you,” Ashiri sighed. “Look, Alex, she just doesn't understand.”

  “Ash...” He put his hands over his face. “Nine Fates. This is more than a mess. I don't even know how to explain...” He shook his head. “Look, Jiden, you know that the technical track guys, they take them out of the normal chain of command, right? They're like the medical track. Inside their field, they'll have some authority, but outside that, anyone, even a lower enlisted-man can give them orders.”

  “Okay, yeah, I think I remember that,” I nodded. It hadn't seemed all that important of a detail to me. I just figured I'd be left alone to do what I enjoyed.

  “Okay, so in effect, it's like taking yourself out of the race before they blow a whistle,” Ashiri said. “Everyone else in a graduating class is fighting for points, trying to get a plum assignment... trying to get commands, since those are hard to get short of a war.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Command time is the only time that counts towards promotion when it comes time to select a tactical officer,” Ashiri said. “Staff time is there and if you get a bad evaluation, it can take you out of the running, but that's a pass or fail situation. When it comes time for a promotion board, the only evaluations they look at, the only thing in your packet beyond any certifications you have, will be evaluations from when you commanded a unit.”

  I frowned, “Okay, so why does that...”

  “Every cadet realizes that. They know that only the best officers are selected for commands. Promotions aren't required, the Planetary Militia will let you serve for fifty years as an ensign if you want. So the ones who want to move upwards, to get the good assignments, compete early on to get those chances to prove themselves.”

  “I still don't understand,” I said. “What's the big deal? I don't want to command.”

  “Yes, Jiden, you do,” Alexander snapped. “Because tell me honestly, if you go technical track as an engineer... would you really be happy? Turning a wrench, overseeing the drive on a ship, maybe eventually progressing up to the point where you're working in a military research lab? You'd be happy doing nothing more than that?”

  “Well,” I said, “it's an important job...”

  “Jiden,” Alexander said softly, “you've killed six people.”

  I swallowed. The words had caught me off guard. “Yes.”

  “Do you regret it?”

  I looked away. I owed him an honest response, but I hesitated because I didn't want to see a look of disappointment from him and Ashiri. I forced myself to meet his eyes and answer, “I regret that it was necessary. I don't regret doing it. They were trying to kill me.”

  “Good,” Alexander nodded. “That means you're a warrior. In your heart... and that's good Jiden. Our world needs warriors. People who will stand against evil
. I've taken a life. I know the burden it involves.” I remembered then, that he'd been attacked and that he'd killed one of his attackers, prior to his attendance at the Academy Prep School.

  “Now, what the people who run this school will think, knowing that you've fought for your life before, and knowing that you graduated number one during the Academy Prep School, is that you're on track to graduate at the top. You could have anything you wanted, right out of the gate. You could command a squadron of fighters or a platoon of infantry, you just have to keep working hard...”

  “But I don't want...”

  “Hold on, let me finish,” Alexander said. “In their eyes, seeing you take yourself out will make them think that you doubt yourself. It'll be on the record, a red flag that says they must have missed something. I bet they'll have a psychologist pouring over your file. They'll wonder if you'll crack under the pressure. If you stick with technical track, they'll curve your points downwards. They'll assume you're self-selecting out of any position of risk. They'll put you on a starting assignment of little or no importance. You'll never move on from there, or if you do, it'll be to something of less consequence. How would you like to manage inventory of engineering equipment for the next fifty years?”

  I stared at him, “That's not... that doesn't make any sense. I want to make a difference, I'm just more interested in engineering and science...”

  “That doesn't matter,” Ashiri shook her head. “They don't have a way to read our thoughts and subconscious minds. They have to guess based off your decisions and actions. If you go from having the choice of anything to selecting from a track that most people write off... then you don't have confidence in yourself.”

  “I don't think that's the way it'll work out,” I said stubbornly.

  Both Ashiri and Alexander winced. “Look, they may not have explained it to you that way, but that's the way it really works. Trust me,” Alexander said, “I did a lot of looking into this. Between us three, we're top graduates from the Prep School. We'll have targets painted on our backs with all the other plebes. We scored a major coup for Sand Dragon Company last year, even though we didn't know it, because our good performance helped last year's First Classmen graduate at the heads of their classes. I guarantee you that if any of them had gone technical track, they probably are kicking themselves right now.”