"Line up here," Doggie said. We formed a line about chest deep.
"All right, this is simple," Doggie said. "You are all full of nanoreds – millions of artificial red blood cells, which give you extra endurance on the run and which also allow you to survive underwater without breathing. Or, that is, without breathing outside air. Your body now has plenty of oxygen and will allow you to continue functioning underwater, for hours if necessary. Does everyone understand?"
He paused briefly. "Good. So we're going to go underwater and stay there until I give the word. First, put on those nose plugs."
They were hanging around our necks with a little cord. I put mine over my nose and it squeezed very tightly, cutting off my ability to breathe through my nose.
"Now you don't have to worry about the nose. All you have to do is go underwater and do not open your mouth to take a breath. Put your swim goggles on."
We did so – the goggles fit neatly over our eyes. "Now I guarantee you will not drown as long as you do not take in a mouthful of water. This is purely a psychological problem. Your body will command you to take a breath, but you must overcome that. Let's do a demo. Rains, we'll start with you. Don’t even bother taking a breath. Just sit down quietly underwater and keep your mouth closed."
I did it and sat down gently underwater, pressing my lips tightly closed. It worked for awhile but then I was overwhelmed by an instinctive desire to take a breath. It was overwhelming. I surfaced abruptly, gasping for air.
"Try it again, that's all right. You can do it. Go."
I tried again. This time I realized that I was in charge, not my body. I kept my lips tightened and sat there underwater not moving. Got you, you bastard! Feels like my lungs are still going. I'm all right! Who the hell needs air? I've got it inside me! I just stayed there, looking around happily. The others were trying it now, going under, trying it out, some of them resurfacing quickly, others succeeding. I saw Zhang quietly sitting on the bottom like a statue. I waved to him and he waved back.
Everybody did it. Later we tried it without the nose plugs. Drownproofed! What a kick!
Δ
"Greetings, all. Today we look at the current galactic situation." The lecturer was clad in Legion black and had that little silver insignia at his left breast. By that time I knew it was a combat cross, meaning he had seen combat. The arena darkened, and a whole glowing galaxy of stars appeared, hanging in the air all around us like multicolored jewels against black velvet. Stars, star clusters, molecular clouds, nebulae and political groupings were labeled in several different colors. "The Confederation of Free Worlds is in a very favorable situation at present because we are aware of the realities of historical change, and have embraced those realities to strengthen ConFree. Our enemies continue to ignore history and to embrace deadly lies that have inevitably poisoned and weakened their societies."
The combat cross! I'm a little slow sometimes but sitting in that lecture I finally realized something about Doggie. When he wore his black dress uniform, he did not display that little silver insignia, the combat cross. Just about all the other instructors wore it. So my initial speculation about him was right – he was a new guy; he had been through Basic and was now teaching it, but he had not seen combat. From then on I would sometimes fantasize about asking him, in front of the whole class, what was that little silver insignia that most of the instructors wore. But I never did it. I may be stupid, but I'm not crazy.
"Here we have the Outvac," the instructor continued, "a huge empty bubble in spacetime, which is the result of some ancient cosmic catastrophe." A thin red laser track flashed over to the Outvac and the huge target area pulsed red briefly. "And, of course, this is the homeland of the Confederation of Free Worlds. It is separated from the rest of the inhabited galaxy by the Outmark Border, which will lead us to the Gassies, the Gulf, and the Inners." The border region, a titanic, bowl-shaped slice of infinity, pulsed briefly in green.
"The primary ConFree worlds are scattered along the edges of the Outvac. The Crista Cluster – here – is where our Outworlder ancestors first settled, after discovering scores of habitable worlds in this distant star cluster. It is some 1,400 light years from the heart of the System, and it represented freedom from persecution to the settlers. Here, of course, are all the major star systems of ConFree – Veltros, Lotus, Sarana, Augusta, Quaba, Guarados and so forth." A little blue box labeled YOU ARE HERE popped up by the CRISTA CLUSTER text and prompted a burst of laughter from the recruits.
"On the other rim of the Outvac, each roughly 750 light years away, lie Dindabai and Andrion, widely separated in spacetime from each other as you can see." The two star systems lit up briefly. "These are now important ConFree settlements and Legion and Fleetcom bases. They were both attacked as primary targets by the Omni swarm during the last Omni expansion, but the O's were turned away during the Battle of Andrion Deep and these important star systems survived. Now we move closer to the Outmark border to a series of outlying Outvac stars under ConFree control. Augusta was briefly occupied by the O's. Marala 5 was a prosperous ConFree settlement when it was seized by the O's. It is now a blackened cinder as we induced a nova in the star, killing everyone in the system, O's and humans alike. Plenty has been written about that decision, but I mention it here only as a historical fact. Camelora 7 was also attacked by the O's, and resulted in the first successful field use of the attack holo weapons system and recovery of the planet. Veda, seen here, was not targeted by the O's.
"That's it for the Outvac. Now a quick summary. For 300 years ConFree was battling the United System Alliance, first as rebelling stellar colonies and later as a strong rival force to counter the System slave state's effort to control all humanity under its rule. After ConFree declared independence and chased the System from the Outvac, we were the only serious opposition left. The people of ConFree took up the crusade to end galactic slavery, and we grappled with the System to do so wherever possible. We were successful, due in part to weaknesses in the System itself. The System was an empire, governed by blind force, ruling over billions of people divided into hundreds of nationalities, races, cultures and language groups. Control was maintained by encouraging resentment, hatred and division between the citizens while pretending to sponsor equality by redistributing wealth. All empires expand, collapse and die, especially if their foundation is based on a lie – for example, that diversity is a strength rather than a weakness.
"So the System collapsed, fragmenting into many separate entities, which we will discuss shortly. But why didn't ConFree collapse? We were expanding, battling the System's evil empire. Didn't that make us an empire, too? For awhile it looked like we might become one. But then things changed. We're immortals, you see. Many of us have seen all this before. The ConFree Council does not want to repeat history. When the System began disintegrating, we changed our strategy. By then, we had realized that many System citizens were so ignorant they did not even know what slavery was, and were unaware that they were slaves. We didn't want our brave soldiers dying for them. We pulled our forces from the Inners, the Gulf and the Gassies and returned to the Outvac.
"So, no more empire. We remain strong, and free, and don't have to please anyone except our own nationals. And our nationals are also strong and free – Outworlders and Assidics, fiercely individualistic but strongly united against System slavery. This is superb raw material for a constitutional republic. As long as we keep it this way, we will remain the strongest, most vigorous and most prosperous entity in the galaxy. That's the reason our immigration laws are so strict. And we found a wonderful new method to counter slavery and attract qualified new settlers to ConFree. The Reunification Project allows us to locate, interview and sponsor promising Outworlder and Assidic immigrants to ConFree."
That's how we got Burns, I remembered. His family had been reunification refugees from Katag.
"Now, let's look at the Inners, the Gulf and the Gassies. We'll start with the Inners, farthest from ConFree." The stars tilte
d and floated past us by the billions as one section lit up in red, labeled UNITED MOCAIN COALITION. "This was the heart of the United System Alliance, but the heart is no longer beating. The United Mocain Coalition has succeeded the United System Alliance. The Mocain race, which was the dominant ruling class of the System, has now discarded all pretense of being benevolent, disinterested do-gooders and is ruling for itself, shrinking the empire greatly while casting off troublesome worlds. They rule over billions on Sol, Centauri, Sirius, Proxima, Luyten, Alphard, Orm and many other worlds. They claim to be reformers seeking a contrast to dictatorship and slavery. That remains to be seen.
"Next, we have the remnants of the Hyadfed, around 150 light years from Sol. The Hyades Federation still relies on the old System formula of dictatorship, slavery and class hatred. The Hyades Cluster has been split apart politically with Hyadfed humans ruling most of the Cluster plus two major outlying systems, Elidos and Eiros. Within the Cluster itself, however, the Biogen People's Solidarity Accord on Zequord 3 has won independence as a galactic homeland for biogens. They have forged a strong alliance with ConFree. They have proven to be more dependable allies than any of the human worlds."
I had heard a lot about biogens but had never seen one. Eugarat was a frontier world and lacked many modern conveniences, including biogens. Biogens were artificial humans but they were now more human than before and had recently been granted ConFree national status by the ConFree Council. I knew the biogens had helped us fight the O's after their independence, and we had helped the biogens when they were later threatened by the System.
"Moving a little further away, 400 light years from Sol, we find the Pleiades Association. They broke away from the System and also claim to be reformers. We have an Embassy there and relations are improving.
"Another success is the Dark Cloud Alliance, which is strengthening the relationship with ConFree, including military cooperation." The stars flickered orange to light up a section labeled DARK CLOUD ALLIANCE and the individual star systems Berichros and Picos. "All this was distressing to both the former United System Alliance and all the slave states that succeeded it. But the new governments in the Pleiades and the Dark Cloud Alliance appear impressed by what can happen if a government accepts input from the people and acts on their behalf. This is a new concept for ex-Systie states.
"A relatively new entry feasting on the System's corpse is the People's Progressive Democratic Distributive. This is located midway in the Inners and includes some worlds that were cast off by the Mocains: primarily Calgoran and Spartos. The government appears primarily interested in satisfying their population's desire for money without work. Their solutions will not work, and we can expect chaos and anarchy in the near future.
"Now, moving into the Gassies, we are again approaching the Outmark Border. The strongest political entity in this area is the Pherdan Federation, which includes Coldmark, Katag and Pherdos. Although they broke away from the System, they retained many instruments of System rule. We beat them up in a war not too long ago and they emerged from it a bit more polite and not anxious for a rematch. Still, they resent ConFree, and we have to keep an eye on them for more mischief.
"Another relatively new creation is the Gassies Coalition, which borders the Pherdan Federation, and includes Alshana, Galgos and Monaro. The Gassies Coalition shows some signs of common sense, and our Embassy there is hopeful about the future.
"There is an independent star system close to the Gassies Coalition that is now known as the Santos Freestate. They are strongly allied with ConFree. They are a united government of Outworlders and Transgens that had earlier revolted against an Orman slave state, the Santos Newhuman Socialrevolutionary Diversegalitarian Demo-cooperative. That one was thankfully short-lived.
"And now we enter the Gulf. There's nothing but trouble here. There are three major Gulf political entities that oppress and terrorize their subject populations with such intensity and malevolence that there is no serious opposition. The Asumara Holy Commune rules from Asumara, the Gulf Union dictatorship includes Nimbos and Yidah, and the Pegal Stelcom oppresses Angaroth and Kotazh. All are run by insane religious and political psychopaths who cannot be reasoned with. ConFree does not formally recognize any of these three regimes. We hit Asumara very hard when they raided a ConFree planet, but their government does not change. We're not into nation-building and if their population can't solve their problems, I don't know why we should. But if they hit us, we hit them back a lot harder, then leave. That's our Gulf policy. Last word on the Gulf, it is a chaotic, lawless area and harbors whole fleets of pirates. All our active war zones are currently in the Gulf. Chances are high you'll all serve there."
He looked at his chron, then continued. "All right, what about the Omni swarm? These terrifying creatures were humanity's most dangerous enemies for many years. They killed two billion of us before the Legion discovered how to counter their psyprobes and penetrate their mag fields. These aliens are very powerful psychers, but we no longer fear them. Following the last battle of Andrion Deep, the O's retreated into a genetic migration, which may last for several Omni generations. Despite the severity of the last conflict, we are hopeful that the O's will not resume their attacks into human vac. We don't have time to explain why that is, so let’s leave it there. Bottom line, we know where the O's are in our galaxy – a considerable distance away – and we do not plan to bother them.
"Now, one more interesting note. As you all know, the Assidic Empire originated on the Algenib-Pandaravos system, and it was from there that Saka the Invincible plundered the rest of the galaxy for whatever he needed. Once the Empire disintegrated, Pandaravos became a quiet backwater world, quite off the beaten track, of interest primarily to archaeologists, historians and adventure tourism companies. The Assidic race had spread throughout the galaxy in Saka's footsteps, and they eventually became loyal allies to ConFree against the System and its successor slave states. Now, however, a remarkable renaissance is underway on Pandaravos. The current government is rebuilding some of the historic sites, reconstructing the ancient capital, and even raising an army and constructing starships. They are welcoming all Assidics to return to the ancestral home, where they are promised meaningful employment – and they're not talking about the tourism industry.
"Interesting, no? We're not worried – our peoples are one. But we're certainly looking into this development. That's it! There will be a graded exam this evening."
Δ
"You know that pix frame that Doggie has on his office desk?" I asked Arie. We were in the squadmod with the others, organizing our stuff in preparation for lights out.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's one of those frames that blacks out whenever anyone else comes into the room – so only Doggie can view it, and only when he's alone. Unless he activates it so visitors can see it."
"So?"
"He doesn't ever let anyone else see it," I said.
"So what? Isn't he entitled to a little privacy?"
"No. Not when he's running our asses off like he does. I'd like to see what's in that frame. I'd like to see what makes him tick."
"And how do you propose to do that?"
"He's in his office right now and the lights are on. His office window is always set to transparent – which means anyone lurking around outside in the dark can see in. And the pix will be on 'cause he's alone in the office. All we've got to do is look in."
"We?"
"Well, I wouldn't want you to miss the fun."
"Man. You're getting carried away. It's probably a wife or a daughter or something. What will that tell you?"
"Come on, we've got about 20 before lights out. We can do it right now."
"You maniac. All right, let's go."
We snuck out the squadmod door and hustled around to the rear. Sure enough, Doggie's window was full of light. We low-crawled over to it, and I took a cautious look inside. Doggie was seated at his desk, his back was to us, and the frame was active! I strained
to make out the picture. At first I couldn't make sense of it, then the patterns of light came together. I was amazed. I could hardly believe it. I looked over at Arie and it was clear from his stunned demeanor that he had seen it, too.
We scuttled back to the front of the squadmod and paused outside to sort out our thoughts.
"Why does he have a portrait of a dog on his desk?" I asked.
"That dog was beautiful," Arie replied. "The fur was almost white – and it had blue eyes! Did you see that?"
"Yeah. Blue eyes. It looked like some kind of attack dog. But friendly."
"Wow. Well that explains his vocabulary. He did work with dogs!"
"He's an old softy." I smiled. "No wonder he acts so tough. He doesn't want anybody to know what a sensitive wimp he really is."
"We better get inside. It's almost lights out."
I thought about it a lot, later, lying on my bed in the dark. Is that all he's got in his life to love – a dog? And is the dog even alive? It made me see him in a whole new light. This was getting confusing. I thought he was a kick-ass martinet whose specialty was making people miserable. And there he is, in his quiet moments, worshipping that beautiful dog. Good lord!
Δ
"Attention on the firing range! The range is now HOT! Range officers, proceed."
At last! Our whole squad was prone in the firing lanes, under a rising sun. It was a huge outdoor range, and the entire training platoon was there, all facing the targets. We had been learning the E Mark 10 for close to a week, studying it, disassembling and reassembling it until we could do it blindfolded. Of course there wasn't much sense in doing that, for it was self-cleaning and had no moving parts. Despite that, we did what we were told. And now we get to fire it! Field training has begun!
The E Mark 10 was the latest update to the E battle rifle, a nasty compact black, shoulder-fired, tube-fed, general purpose battlefield superiority rifle, equipped with a zoom scope, laser sights, combat laser, darksight and flash, multiple barrels and ordnance, and a whole lot more. It was integrated with our tacmods and gave us one-round hits on all designated hostile targets. But this was our first session on the range, and all the fancy software had been deactivated. We were using iron sights. They wanted to create marksmen without any electronic help.
Prophet of ConFree (The Prophet of ConFree) Page 9