The Corps of Discovery Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3: A multiverse series of alternate history

by James S. Peet

  Bill looked up from his reading. The others were also engrossed in their tablets.

  “Training ought to prove interesting,” he said.

  The others nodded. Jordan said, “You ain’t kidding. I never figured I’d be in the military when I signed up for this gig. I mean, I know we’re all supposed to be in a militia, but I never figured it meant this much training.”

  “I reckon they’re pretty serious about having a strong militia,” Matt said. “Think about it, everyone who migrates to Hayek goes through this. I don’t know about you guys, but if I was a leader of a country thinking of invading Hayek, I’d think again. It’d be suicidal.”

  For the next week, Bill spent time exploring Sacajawea Base, Milton, and the surrounding areas. He also managed to get in some fly fishing on the nearby Naches River.

  On the morning that he tried to find out where to get a fishing license, Luke told him not to worry about it. “Don’t need one here,” the Explorer said. Bill assumed he was referring to the waters on base and left it at that.

  His friendship with his roommates grew, and he was surprised at how little friction existed between the four. Bill was used to at least one overbearing sonuvabitch trying to rule the roost, but that wasn’t the case here. He even got to enjoy mornings with Jordan, usually telling him something, and then an hour later, asking the Californian about what he had told him. Jordan would usually wind up giving him a blank stare, not even recalling the conversation.

  On Sunday morning he got an email from the gun store owner, telling him his ring had sold. That gave Bill a little more breathing room financially. That evening he treated his roommates, and the female companions who had joined them at the Cave Bear Cave, to a couple of rounds of drinks.

  Thinking about Jessica’s “contribution” to the event left Bill feeling more than a bit melancholy, so he left the gathering early. Walking back to the Jaskey Lane house by himself in the gathering dark, he wondered if he’d made the right choice.

  He still wasn’t certain when he went to bed, and that uncertainty kept him up long after the others had returned and the house was reverberating from the sound of their combined snoring.

  7

  Bill was awake by six o’clock the following morning, feeling nervous all over again. He always felt this way just before something major. It was the same feeling he had before he broke the news to "the Colonel" and before crossing the gate to Hayek.

  He hopped out of bed and went straight to the bathroom, finding the door closed. He knocked, and Matt called out, “Occupied!”

  “I figured that out myself, Sherlock,” Bill said. “How long until you’re done?”

  “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  Bill stood by, hoping his bladder wouldn’t explode.

  After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than a minute, Matt stepped out of the bathroom. “All yours.” Bill made a dash for the toilet, not even bothering to close the door.

  Thus relieved, Bill made his way downstairs and joined the others in coffee consumption.

  After taking his first sip, and feeling the warmth of the beverage and the jolt of the caffeine start to kick in, Bill asked the others, “You ready?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Matt said.

  Jordan, perhaps due to his Southern California upbringing, with all the movie industry there, looked up at Bill from his tablet and replied in his best John Wayne accent, “I was born ready.” Everyone chuckled.

  “Right. Well, we’ll see about that,” said Thep, rolling his eyes.

  When they arrived at the cafeteria a half hour later, they found it almost half full. It looked like many of the new arrivals had the same idea: be sure to eat before orientation. None of them knew what to expect from this point on. Bill suspected that Militia training would be similar to the stories he had heard of boot camp, with instructors yelling, tearing up made beds, and generally making life hell for the recruits. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

  After a quick meal, and not seeing Luke or any of the women from the day before, the four made their way to the auditorium, managing to secure seats near the front. Again, Bill was a bit worried, thinking that their location would make them a prime target for the dreaded drill instructors.

  On the stage stood a lone microphone stand in the center, with a large projection screen suspended from the ceiling behind it.

  The four chatted while awaiting the start of the orientation. As they did, the auditorium continued to fill up, until almost every seat was filled just before eight o’clock.

  Nicole appeared at the end of the aisle, and that’s when Bill noticed that Matt had saved a seat for her. She scooted past Bill, Thep, Jordan, on her way to her seat. Bill couldn’t hear what Nicole and Matt said, but it was obvious they were glad to see each other.

  Finally, a lean man with a shaggy head of red hair, obviously middle-aged, and dressed in the Corps field uniform, took the stage.

  He stood there, unmoving behind the microphone, until the chatter settled, and eventually ended. All eyes were upon him.

  “Welcome.” His voice boomed throughout the auditorium. “My name is Jack Lewis and I’m the Commandant of the Corps of Discovery.”

  A murmur went through the crowd.

  “First off, I’d like to officially welcome you to the Corps of Discovery,” he continued. “You’ve just entered what will probably be the most exciting phase of your life. But, before you can begin your duties as Explorers, you have to first begin your duties to Hayek, the most important being the protection of our freedom. This means that for the next eight weeks you’ll go through Basic Militia Training. If you don’t finish it, we send you back to Earth or give you a second chance. If you still don’t finish it, you definitely get sent back to Earth.”

  Lewis looked around the auditorium at the sea of attentive faces.

  “Now, for those of you who grew up hearing about boot camp and other horror stories of military indoctrination, I think you’ll be surprised by BMT. Our goal on Hayek isn’t to transform you into unthinking, order-following killers; our goal is to provide you with the basic training necessary to help keep Hayek free. In other words, to fight against any aggressor. So, one of the first things you’ll be learning about during your orientation is Hayek’s constitution, and exactly why every responsible adult is required to be a member of the militia.”

  For the next several minutes Lewis spoke about the Corps of Discovery and the duties each person was expected to perform. He also gave them some further information about what it was like to live on Hayek. Bill’s big take on that part was “with great freedom comes great responsibility.”

  The Corps orientation was brief, certainly not as long as Bill expected, and soon Lewis was bringing their attention back to BMT.

  “Now, I know you’d probably love to hear me ramble on for hours,” Lewis said with a smile, “but I do believe there are others more qualified to educate you than me.”

  He motioned to the side of the stage furthest from Bill, where a lean black woman with short-cropped hair and wearing what appeared to be a uniform was climbing the steps onto the stage. Her outfit consisted of an open-necked long-sleeved khaki shirt, with the sleeves rolled up above the elbows, khaki pants with cargo pockets on the leg, and brown leather boots. There were some ribbons above her left chest pocket that Bill couldn’t quite make out, along with what he presumed were rank insignia on her collar’s tips, and a badge on both her sleeves just beneath the shoulder. She also had a small carbine hanging across her back by a shoulder strap that went over her right shoulder. Bill wondered if that was one of the PDWs he had heard about.

  “This is Captain Rowe,” Lewis said. “She’s a member of Hayek’s Defense Force, and her job here is to educate you on our constitution, our defense force, and just about anything else you can think of that relates to the Militia.” Turning to Rowe he said, “Captain Rowe,” indicating that she should take his place at the microphone.

  Rowe app
roached Lewis, shook hands with him, and approached the microphone. Assuming the military position of “at ease,” her hands clasped behind the small of her back and her feet set apart to shoulders’ width, she began speaking to the assembled crowd.

  “Good morning ladies and gentlemen. As Commandant Lewis stated, I’m Captain Mykhala Rowe, a regular officer in the Hayek Defense Force. I, along with my training staff, who are also regular members of the HDF, will be providing you with the necessary skills to serve in Hayek’s militia in the event we’re ever invaded or anybody tries to take over our planet. Part of that training includes a basic understanding of our military structure and an in-depth look at Hayek’s constitution, both of which I’ll be covering this morning. We’ll be covering the material this morning in fifty-minutes blocks with ten-minute breaks, so if you need to use the toilet, I’d ask that you please hold off until the break.

  “Now, for those of you who think that an invasion by outsiders is out of the realm of possibility, let me disabuse you of that notion right here and now. We’ve already had two Earth governments try to take over the gate and our way of life—we didn’t let them do it then, and we sure won’t let them do it in the future.” This was a surprise to Bill, as he had never heard anything about an invasion of Hayek by any Earth armed forces. Then again, considering the reliability of the news in the United States.

  “We’ve also had to call out the Militia on the Gaia Liberation Front once when they tried to seize a gate. And trust me, they are not nice people.”

  Rowe reached into a pants pocket and pulled out a remote controller, then activated a projector suspended from the ceiling. The screen behind her lit up with the logo: a stylized porcupine with the words “Hayek Defense Force” above it and “Don’t Tread On Me” underneath.

  “For those of you from the US, you’ll probably recognize our logo from the Libertarian Party. That’s because our founders were libertarians, and felt that the best form of government was the one that governed least. As such, our government serves two basic purposes – to protect your individual rights and to protect the public good.”

  It seemed that Rowe looked into the eyes of every person in the auditorium as she spoke.

  “The HDF is charged with protecting the first purpose. Toward that end, we maintain a small, professional defense force designed to act independently as well as in conjunction with the Militia. We also have a reserve force, separate from the Militia, which can be called up in time of invasion or to assist with disasters. Our constitution makes it very clear that the HDF is for defensive purposes only, just like the Swiss on Earth.

  “Of course, it helps that Hayek is pretty much united and that those who don’t want to be here can leave anytime they like,” she said with a smile. “So, let’s look at the structure of the HDF and the Militia.”

  Rowe clicked the remote again and a slide comparing the two organizations was displayed.

  “As you can see, the HDF comes under the organization of the federal government, while the Militia is under the organization of the individual cantons. This means, for you, that the governor of Yakama Canton will be the one to determine if you need to be called up. This only happens, by the way, in the event of an invasion.”

  For the next forty-five minutes, Rowe described the Hayek Defense Force, focusing mainly on how the rank structure was designed, the table of organization, and what type of units existed. Bill was glad to hear that the rank structure was similar to that of the US Army, which made sense considering that most of the founders and initial settlers were former Americans. While the HDF had the typical combat branches of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and aviation, he was somewhat surprised to learn that there were no armor branches. Rowe never explained why, so Bill figured it was something he would have to research himself. The non-combat branches included engineers, intelligence, medical, logistics, and finance. Interestingly enough, there was no judicial branch.

  The Militia structure was somewhat similar in structure to the HDF but without many of the non-combat support roles. Most of the Militia were considered either light infantry or cavalry, with some specialized units consisting of artillery and aviation. The HDF handled medical, logistics, and engineering.

  Rowe pointed out that everyone, even conscientious objectors, was required to be in the Militia, but nobody who was opposed to killing for any reason was required to go through firearms training or were even issued a firearm. Mostly these were people in the medical field, so it was probably best for all that they focused on saving lives as opposed to taking them. Bill wondered if the Corps had any conscientious objectors.

  After fifty minutes, Rowe announced that everyone could take a ten-minute break. Apparently, a lot of people had had coffee with their breakfast, because there was a large movement to the restrooms.

  After the break, Rowe discussed Hayek’s constitution.

  “For those of you with a good knowledge of history, you’ll see that Hayek’s constitution was based upon the Swiss and American models—creating a republic form of government. We are most definitely not a democracy! Hayek is a federation of individual cantons. As I mentioned earlier, its purpose is to protect our rights and to protect the public good.”

  Rowe started another slide show. The first slide was one showing three branches of government. “The federal government consists of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The legislature is both elected and appointed. The governor of each canton appoints one representative, with the rest elected by voting citizens. The elected representatives are based on population and serve in the Elected Legislature, while the appointed representatives serve in the Appointed Legislature. The elected legislators serve for a term of three years and are limited to two terms in office, and the appointed legislators serve for six years and are limited to one term. An elected legislator can be appointed, but an appointed legislator can never run for an elected legislative position.

  “Our legislature operates quite similarly to the US Congress, with bills being introduced and voted on by the elected legislators, with the appointed legislators only passing or denying the bills. All bills must pass with a supermajority of a two-thirds vote, and any bill related to the budget must pass by a supermajority of three-fourths in both legislatures.”

  She clicked on the remote and another slide appeared. “As you can see, a ‘voting citizen’ is one who has served at least two years in a capacity in which he or she risked their life, or potentially risked their life, for the greater good of us all. This currently includes members of the HDF, peace officers, and, believe it or not, Corps of Discovery Explorers. This means that in two years you’ll be eligible to vote,” she said up with a dazzling smile.

  “There are a couple of exceptions, mostly involving HDF reservists and volunteer firefighters. For them, ten years of service will grant them the privilege to vote. One major exception is that any resident involved in defending Hayek from invasion is automatically granted the right to vote. Let me be clear about this. Voting is not a right on Hayek, it’s a privilege that one earns!”

  Bill learned that only voting citizens are allowed to hold office, including the judicial branch.

  “The executive branch is run by the president, who is not only the head of the government but also the head of state, much like the US president. The president also serves a three-year term and is elected by the legislature, much like the parliamentary method. Like the legislature, the president is limited to two terms.

  “Our judicial branch is actually pretty small and appointed by the executive branch during his or her term. The goal on Hayek is to limit the influence of any of the branches and to prevent long-timer’s disease from setting in” Rowe explained. “Actually, with very few laws, there isn’t much to quibble about, other than to ensure that the rights of citizens aren’t trampled.”

  Rowe went on to explain the basic rights that all citizens of Hayek had, including the right to self-ownership, self-defense, privacy, and private property o
wnership. Bill noticed that there were no special provisions for free speech, religion, and other things he was used to hearing from the US Constitution. Rowe went on to explain that the right of self-ownership basically included those aspects that other constitutions had to define. As the right of self-ownership meant that one had complete control over their body, one could do whatever they wanted as long as it did not interfere with another’s rights. Most of what Bill heard sounded very similar to that of the US Constitution, but it was obvious Hayek’s constitution was far more protective of the individual.

  Now Rowe got quite animated. “Probably the most important part of our constitution is the non-aggression principle that applies to government. As all of you have heard, Hayek is militarily limited to self-defense in the event of an invasion. That’s because the non-aggression principle limits Hayek’s governments to only responding with the force necessary to stop the unlawful force. This means, if we’re invaded, we kick the bastards off our planet, but we don’t go into their planet with a follow-up attack. This ain’t Earth with all its petty governments, including the US, attacking everyone willy-nilly. If we’re attacked, we defend ourselves. If we’re not attacked, so what? There’s nothing to fight about.”

  Rowe looked down at her watch, and announced, “Okay, looks like it’s time for another break, so be back in ten minutes.” Again, there was a dash for the restrooms, with Bill joining in this time. Two hours of sitting and listening had caused his butt to go numb. Several people headed outside, presumably for a cigarette. That was one thing Bill was glad he never picked up. Then again, when he was old enough to buy cigarettes, he was living in a state that basically prohibited cigarette smoking, but allowed people to buy and smoke marijuana. Quite confusing.

  After the break, Rowe announced that everyone would be assigned to a training platoon. As everyone was in a four-person living unit, that group would comprise a sub-squad, also known as a fire team, and that two fire teams would constitute a squad. Three squads made up the training platoon.