"Well we're glad you're here, Burns. Zhang Loo-wah-kee." Doggie seemed to have some trouble with the name. "Give us a few words."
"Sir yes sir!" This was the handsome young Assidic male, slanted eyes, pale brown flesh, classic high cheekbones and a black sheen on his shaven scalp. "My name is Zhang Lwoki." He sat at attention, almost like a biogen except biogens were normally a bit more relaxed. "I am from a military family. My father and mother and elder brother were in Fleetcom. I opted for the Legion. We believe it is our duty to serve the people of ConFree, sir!"
"Well I'm glad to hear that, Zhang. In looking through your file, I see very strong evidence that you should have applied direct to OCS rather than entering enlisted ranks. Why didn't you do that?"
"Sir! It is forbidden. In our family we are pledged to enter the military as enlisted, and work our way through the ranks, by merit, to officer status if we deserve it, sir!" I had very little doubt that he would deserve it, and that he would probably reach general rank, assuming he avoided death on the battlefield. I knew ConFree was fortunate to have allied itself with the ethnic remnants of the old Assidic Empire. They had been formidable foes and now they were formidable allies. Even a bit scary, I thought. I could just imagine him ordering me to follow him in a suicidal charge into a DefCorps crossfire.
"Good. Thanks. That leaves you, Fordwater. Go ahead." Fordwater was the little blonde angel that I had been admiring from a distance.
"My name is Celinia Fordwater," she said, in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "I'm from Magna 4." She was so petite and her pale face was so flawless she looked about fourteen but I knew she had to be at least seventeen. Her hair was so blonde it appeared almost white and her eyes, I could see now, were a startling icy grey. "Magna 4 was a difficult environment and the Legion gets a lot of volunteers there, but I liked it," she said. "I wanted to stay, but I refuse to be exploited. That's why I'm here."
At first Doggie looked like he was going to ask for more details, but he evidently decided against it. "Thank you, Fordwater. All right, take fifteen and don't leave the squadmod. We're going to go over tomorrow's activities." I knew Magna 4 was an extremely challenging iceworld with exceedingly valuable ore deposits. Fertile ground for exploitation, if nothing else.
Δ
"All right, is everyone ready? Got full canteens? Good!" Doggie faced us as we lined up outside the squadmod. We were wearing field hats and clad in khaki shorts and sleeveless tops and running shoes, canteens hooked to web belts. It was a fresh clear morning, a cloudless sky. Veltros's rising sun was blood red on the horizon. "Go easy on the water, as there'll be no refills. There's only one rule: Finish the run. If you drop out, you'll be dropped from the squad. And no helping – we all make it on our own. Keep that in mind. Now, follow me. Double time!" And he set out, down the road.
We followed, through morning mists, jogging through the massive base. From time to time we spotted other squads also up and running. I felt great. I had enjoyed a dreamless sleep before being shocked awake by Doggie clanging a huge metal bell. Ten marks in the head, then out into the morning with no breakfast. Fine – we'll have a little run. I could do that.
We headed roughly south, I could tell from the position of the sun, past a massive aircar base, past a military hospital, then into undeveloped land along a footpath towards a big, irregularly-shaped mountain ridge that was cast into shadow. It looked as if our footpath would take us there.
"Think we're going up that hill?" I asked Overmar, who was jogging beside me.
"Yep."
"Think we'll go to the top?"
"Yep."
"Damn. How many K do you think it is?"
"Six and a half K to the top and maybe another six or so K to return, depending on what route we take."
"How do you know that?"
"It's in your Basic Field Manual. I was looking over the maps last night."
"How long do you think it will take?"
"Depends on how fast we go."
"Right. Thanks!"
"Sure." He wasn't even sweating. It looked like he was in good shape. I wasn't so sure about myself. I hadn't done any athletics in school, other than chasing girls around.
Δ
Half way up the hill, I was beginning to worry. I was getting tired, sweat was pouring off my brow, and a hot haze was swirling around my head. The foot trail was clear of vegetation, torn from the environment by generations of Legion recruits, winding around cliffs and ravines and boulders and trees, always upwards. Our pace had slowed but Doggie was always there to urge us on. It was hot as hell. The sun was beating straight down on us. Tree roots were tangled up all over the trail and it was easy to trip over them.
"Did I say to slow down?" Doggie asked. "Keep going. The girls can do it, can't you? Put that canteen away. You're going to need it later."
Overmar showed no sign of weariness. Surprisingly, neither did Fordwater, the little blonde honey. Zhang, the Assidic, appeared invulnerable to any discomfort. The rest of us were ready to drop – except, of course, Doggie.
Δ
"All right, we're here!" Doggie announced. "Take five, have some water." I collapsed to the ground, my shaking hands fumbling at my canteen. We were at the summit. It was evidently a terrific view, as Overmar and Fordwater and Zhang were standing together taking it in. A faint breeze touched my burning skin. Thank you, Lord. Doggie was looking us over curiously while sipping from his canteen. The rest of us, Burns, Oswego, Surinto and me, were flaked out prone, gasping for oxygen. All I wanted at that point was to retain consciousness until we arrived back at the squadmod.
"That's it, ladies. Up! Another squad is on the way! Get up! Heel! Follow me!"
It took everything I had, but I staggered to my feet and set off. At least it will be downhill, I thought.
And that was our first jog to the top of Mount Sweat, as some witty long-lost generation of recruits had named it. We were to do that little run just about every day for the whole course, and it didn't get any easier. It got harder, as Doggie stepped up the pace. It wasn't really a mountain, of course. It was more like a big nasty hill, or series of hills, but it sure seemed like a mountain when you were scaling it.
I had never done anything that strenuous before. It was hard; it was very hard, and yet I had done it without passing out or throwing up. I wondered if the nanoreds had anything to do with that.
When we arrived back at the squadmod Doggie gave us 15 marks in the heads to shower, ordered us into khaki fatigues, then marched us to the mess hall for lunch, which was also breakfast. For another 15 marks, it was just like being in Heaven. Again I looked around and again there was no sign of Arie.
From the mess hall we were marched to Dron Hall, an impressive giant two-story edifice of white stone that housed numerous large classrooms. Doggie showed us into one and we found ourselves joining the rest of our training company, a total of ten training squads or one hundred tortured souls. We fit neatly into a long rectangular room and took our places in assigned seating, comfortable airchairs behind shelves that featured darkened d-screens before every seat and plenty of room for the field manuals, handouts and media aids that were already stacked there for our convenience. Our civilian names glowed on a little tab for the instructors: mine read RAINS, R. Several Legion troopers looked us over from a dais up front that featured a lectern and plenty of fancy electronic aids. A huge d-screen covered the wall behind the dais. It showed a spectacular aerial overview of Providence Training Center.
"Welcome to the Fourth Training Company of Class 379 of the Providence Basic Training Center of Veltros Training Command," one of the troopers greeted us. "This is where much of your learning will occur. Don't worry about my name. Your instructors are all interchangeable. During the first part of this course, you will be engaged in physical training about half the time and intellectual training the other half. You will often be physically exhausted when you arrive here. But you'll recover. Just don't doze off. You'll be sorry if you do. Th
at said, what you will learn here is absolutely vital to your future. Your instructional staff will do all in their power to ensure you understand what we teach. However, we do not encourage questions. Just open your mind and all will become clear."
Some of the instructors were lounging against the walls, looking us over. "You will first learn all that a good citizen should know," the speaker continued. "Some of this will duplicate what you learned in midschool, assuming you went to a reasonably good school. You will learn about history – the human diaspora into the galaxy, the origins of the United System Alliance, the Age of Chaos, Assidic expansion under Saka the Invincible, the Yellow War, the Popex, the foundation and growth of ConFree, the Race Wars, the appearance of the Omnis, the Plague War, the Outvac Wars, and a lot more. You will learn about the conflict with the Systies, the System political philosophy and the collapse of the System. You will learn ConFree political philosophy and the differences between slavery and freedom and why free peoples often choose slavery when given a choice." I noticed that his black uniform had only one insignia on it, a little silver device over his left breast. The others also had it, but no other insignia.
"You are also to be familiarized with all the science you can absorb, starting with the basics and working up to everything that will keep you alive in combat – antimats, wormholes and stargates, cloaking, E-sims, holo science, hyperspace, quantum commo, and a whole lot more. You will become intimately familiar with all Fleetcom, Legion, DefCorps and Omni weapons systems. You will memorize everything relating to Legion, DefCorps and Omni infantry weapons, and will become experts in…" From time to time I snuck looks around at the assembled troopers. I didn't dare look directly behind me, for fear of attracting attention, but there was no sign of Arie. Where was he? He should be in this group! Surely he hadn't been dropped already? There was no way to find out. We had no access to any base directory or means of communication – not even a comset.
Δ
Mornings, it was exercise. Almost always we did the run to Mount Sweat and back. I was no longer afraid of it, although that didn't make it any easier. I figured I had done it the first time, so I could do it again and again. As many times as they wanted – fine. And sometimes it was just the calisthenics, out in front of the squadmod – lots of them. Pushups, sit ups, pull ups, crunches, squats, jumping jacks, lunges. I was not initially in the best of shape, but I could do most of those exercises except the pull ups. I could do pull ups too, with great difficulty, but I hated every frac. The pushups and sit ups and crunches were pretty easy for me. I didn't much like the squats, either, but I endured. Sometimes we would do the calisthenics, and then set off for Mount Sweat, too. Fun fun fun! We were getting harder, and stronger. And all the time we were outdoors, we could hear the song of the Legion – lots and lots of firing, single and autofire, way off in the distance. Sharp explosions, cutting through our routine. Sometimes aircars would whistle over the base, and the horizon would erupt in flames, ugly roaring black clouds ripping up into the sky.
It seemed to me that there was no set schedule, but of course there was. The problem was that we the victims did not know what it was. The only thing we could depend on was that every moment of every day was occupied by our schedule – even sleep time. There was no free time at all.
Nights, I would lie in my bunk exhausted, knowing that I would be asleep in moments. But sometimes, in my feverish state, I would hear a strange low chant, just barely audible. I was always too tired to investigate it, and it wouldn’t last long, but it was a puzzle for awhile. Finally I realized what it was. It was Oswego, the Cyrillian girl, a few bunks away, mumbling to herself. I decided to ignore it. I was just too tired to deal with it.
It wasn't until a few nights later that I realized that somebody was whispering in my ears. I opened my eyes and the mysterious voice stopped instantly. Nobody was there – and Oswego was clearly asleep. After I awoke in the morning, I examined the headboard. There was a tiny meshwork opening there that I had not noticed before. Sleep-ed! Of course! They didn't want to waste all those hours of sleep without continuing our education. I almost laughed. Fine, fine with me. Sleep and learn. Brilliant!
Δ
Even though we were together days and nights, we were kept so busy that we hardly had time to chat. I did not learn much more about my squadies than what they had said during the initial introduction session. That didn't help me much because nobody except maybe Surinto had told the truth, or at least the whole truth. I sure hadn't. Overmar had said nothing, Burns had explained where he came from, but nothing else. Oswego's statement had been sweet and convincing, but she was silent and sullen and pretty much unapproachable. The petite blonde, Fordwater, was cold as ice and seemingly suspicious and hostile. She was as tough as nails, excelled at the calisthenics, and never tired. Zhang's story was believable and convincing. People were already calling him 'Saka' after Saka the Invincible. He didn't seem to mind. I wanted to learn more about Overmar as I was convinced there was a lot more to learn. Also Surinto's tragedy did not explain why a professor had joined the Legion as a lowly enlisted man – tragedy or not.
I knew Doggie was learning more about his squad, as he would call individuals into his office in the rear of the squadmod for one-on-one conversations. He didn't seem interested in me, but he spent a lot of time with Overmar and Zhang.
From time to time, I would gain little insights into my squadies through random incidents that would briefly illuminate things like a lightning flash in the night. One day we were taking five during exercises in front of the squadmod. Doggie was lounging by the doorway, impatiently looking at his chron when two male Cyrillians clad in training fatigues sauntered past. One of them flashed a big smile and said something that I did not catch. Without a word, Oswego charged over to them instantly and delivered a tremendous right fist to the face of the one who had spoken. He staggered and almost fell, a dark welt rising on one cheek. Then he recovered, bared his sharpened teeth and stepped menacingly toward Oswego, who was shrieking at him in some unknown language, her face twisted with hate. I ran over to her and found that Overmar and Zhang were by my side. We got ahold of Oswego and pulled her away from the Cyrillian, whose own buddy was by then restraining him.
"What was that all about?" Zhang asked her.
"He insulted me!" she said. She was still livid, glaring at the two as they retreated. The one who had been injured shouted something at her, presumably in Cyrillian, and she shouted something back, furious, struggling to escape us.
"They're not human!" she said. "They're cockroaches! They should be exterminated!"
"Calm down, girl," Overmar said. "I don't think they're gonna mess with you again. That was a good right cross."
"All right, break's over," Doggie said. "Let's get back to work." He had witnessed the whole incident and had not intervened. He seemed…well, pleased.
I wondered what Oswego had against Cyrillians. She was a Cyrillian, after all. It was strange.
Δ
We had just been released from class in Dron Hall and were heading for the exit with a crowd of other recruits when I spotted Arie. He was near one wall with a couple of companions, fooling around with some heavy equipment that was enclosed in armorite cases. I broke off from my squad, overjoyed to see him.
"Take a look at this one," somebody said. The speaker was a very large recruit who had stopped, facing Arie. He had three buddies with him. "He looks just like a girl. Hey, you – are you a girl?" He laughed aloud.
Arie answered calmly, looking the giant over. "You're a little confused, aren't you?" he said. "Didn't your parents teach you about the birds and the bees?"
"Why you little runt, I'm gonna pound you into the pavement!" One arm went out towards Arie and the other was drawn back in a fist. I charged forward, enraged. That's my buddy!
Before I could even get there, the big guy's arms flew out by his sides and his head snapped back abruptly. Then he crashed down to the deck, the back of his head smashing on the marb
le floor. What the hell? His face was smashed and bleeding, his nose and mouth gushing blood. He tried to raise his head once, then collapsed. I had missed the action because the giant's body had hidden Arie from my view.
"Richard!" Arie appeared delighted to see me, ignoring the bleeding body on the deck. "How ya been, man?"
"Arie! Are you all right? What happened?"
"Ah, nothing – don't worry about him. Glad to see you, man!"
"Likewise. I thought he was going to stomp you into the ground. I was worried about you! What happened?" The big guy's buddies were trying to revive him.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I can handle creeps like him. I've got a pretty good front face kick."
"Front face kick? Wow!"
"Come on, Arie!" one of Arie's companions said. "We've got to get moving."
"All right, I'm coming. Richard, we'll catch up later. I've got to go." He wrestled one of the armorite cases off the floor.
"What unit are you with?" I asked.
"Can't tell you right now – they're keeping me busy. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'll be back in touch soon as I can. How are you?"
"Uh, I'm fine."
"Aw right, hang in there. I'll see you soon! Isn't it fun? Got to go!" And he took off.
Isn't it fun? I thought about that one for awhile.
Chapter 4
Monsoon Sweat
After rainy season started, I doubt that even Arie found our activities to be fun. Rainy season announced its arrival one day with a sky full of dark clouds, some elemental thundering, and then a heavy downpour of icy rain that more resembled a combination vertical flash flood and tsunami than a rainstorm. When the Veltros monsoon arrives, it really rains. And it would go on for hours. Then it would taper off, pause for an hour or two over the new lake, and then resume with full fury. Doggie told us it would be this way for six months straight.
Prophet of ConFree (The Prophet of ConFree) Page 7