Darwin

by Amanda Bridgeman

“No time like the present!” Harris yelled.

  With that, the first team walked over and grabbed a couple of cushions and began to square up against each other. McKinley vs Doc and Smith vs Colt. The latter in each pair were throwing punches and kicks, while the others were dodging them with the aid of the protective cushions. Harris watched them carefully. In particular, he paid attention to his two senior soldiers. They were a good match, he thought. McKinley was bigger and stronger, but Doc was faster. They each had what the other one lacked, so it did them good to sharpen their weaknesses.

  Harris turned his eyes to Smith and Colt. Smith looked downright awkward, but Colt was not shying away, giving him what she could. Unfortunately, that’s what concerned Harris. Colt looked to be the strongest of the women, yet as he darted his eyes between her effort and that of McKinley and Doc, he wasn’t left feeling confident about any of the women’s hand-to-hand combat abilities. Hardwiring skills, flying ships, and shooting well were good qualities to have, but at the end of the day, as a soldier, they meant nothing if you couldn’t handle yourself in a fight.

  He exhaled his disappointment, gritting his teeth as he watched on.

  *

  Carrie was not enjoying this part as much as the last. Fueled on by the laughter of Carter and Louis below, and despite her awkward movement, she finally reached the top of the climbing wall. She quickly reached out and touched the roof, wanting to end this, but as she did so her foot slipped. Thankfully Brown had a good grip on her rope to stop her falling, and even though she quickly grabbed a handhold to steady herself, it was too late, they’d seen the slip. She glanced down over her shoulder, and saw Carter and Louis curling over with laughter.

  “Jeez, I’m out of here! We’ll be here all day otherwise!” Carter called out as he took off to start taking laps of the facility.

  Carrie saw Brown shake his head as Louis. “You heard the captain. We all gotta finish this before we do the laps. You know what he’s like.”

  Louis waved him off like he was crazy and took off after Carter, as Brown glanced up at her again.

  Carrie was glad Carter and Louis had gone. Her performance on the climb was clearly not quite as adept as her shooting, so the fewer witnesses the better. But it also made her dread moving over to the mats when they were done. She’d been watching the other team while she’d waited for her turn on the rock climb, and it wasn’t pretty.

  Carter had done his best to rib Smith, who’d been paired up with Colt. The private looked a little awkward, not sure what he was allowed to do. Colt gave him what she could, but it was having little effect. On the other side of them, Doc and McKinley, provided a vast contrast. McKinley threw the cushion at Doc and started punching and kicking it straight away, but Doc’s reflexes were pretty sharp, like he’d been expecting it. Regardless, she could hear the pounding sound of McKinley punching that cushion, and it was a far cry from the tapping Colt gave hers.

  As soon as Carrie made it down from the climb, unhooked her harness and turned around, she saw Brown taking off. He’d waited for her, but the second her foot touched the ground, he was off. She started jogging after him, and as she did, she passed Carter who was on his way back to the rock climb.

  “Made it down then, did you?” he smiled patronisingly, looking at his watch.

  Before long, Harris called for the two teams to swap. Carter and Louis immediately paired up and faced off on the mats, leaving Brown to square off against Carrie. Brown grabbed the cushion reluctantly and waved her forward to start.

  She hadn’t really realized just how big Brown was until she was standing in front of him about to throw a punch. The cushion did little to hide him as he packed his body up against it. She moved forward and threw a few punches. He didn’t budge an inch, not even his hands moved. It felt like a wall of concrete behind there. She tried a few kicks, same thing. This was going to be a futile exercise, that at best, would make her look quite pathetic. It didn’t help things when she heard McKinley chuckling to himself. She looked over and saw him standing there, arms crossed, shaking his head, watching her.

  She heard Louis exhaling heavily as he pummeled the cushion that Carter held. His muscles were bulging and the impact was moving Carter, yet Carter managed to contain the movement, simply jostling up and down on the spot. She tried to hit Brown harder, pummeling to the best of her ability, but knew she was making little impact. She was glad when Harris called for them to swap over.

  This is going to be interesting, she thought. She tried to hold the cushion the way he had, tucking her body hard up against it, hoping that the cushion would be protection enough. Brown threw a punch. It was clearly not as hard as he could’ve done, but it moved her backward nonetheless. She tucked herself against the cushion tighter, trying to wedge her feet against the floor. He threw another, again not too hard, but she moved backward once more. She saw him glancing over at Harris, who nodded for him to continue. He threw another two in quick succession, again moving her backward. She figured as long as she didn’t lose her balance she was doing fine.

  She thought she heard more quiet laughter from somewhere. Brown came at her again, and this time she clenched her teeth and decided to ram herself and the cushion against the punch. She bounced up a little, but didn’t move backward this time. Brown gave an approving half smile, as if to say, Yeah, that’s it.

  He threw more punches for a few minutes, then motioned for Carrie to return the cushion to him. She did.

  “C’mon,” he said, holding up the cushion, ready for her to take a swing.

  She started up again, trying to mimic the body movements that Brown had just used; head down, shoulders hunched, arms in front of the ribcage, hands in front of the face. She threw a couple of lefts and jabbed with her right. She’d resigned herself to the fact that there was no way she was going to move Brown, but gave it her best anyway.

  7

  Red Flags

  Harris had seen enough. Watching Brown and Welles facing off on the mats made him cringe internally. Again, with Louis and Carter as a reference, giving each other everything they had, Welles wouldn’t stand a chance. The smallest of the women, she was a mere fraction of Brown’s size. If she met an opponent in the field of his caliber, she would be dead within minutes. Seconds, maybe.

  Her only redeeming quality, he thought, was that she was an ace fucking shot. The fact that she beat McKinley was something. He hadn’t seen anyone beat McKinley before. Regardless, it was a cold hard fact that if a soldier loses their weapon, they had better know how to fight. And watching her now, she did not.

  He was starting to understand why Command didn’t want the women to board the Darwin. They obviously excelled in their fields and they’d make great poster women for UNF Recruitment, but it would hurt their PR campaign if they got … damaged. And if the Aurora did have “unfriendlies” waiting for them on the Darwin, that is exactly what would happen to them, he had no doubt.

  He sighed, decided to end Brown’s boredom, and called everyone back over to the mats.

  “Alright, soldiers,” Harris bellowed. “You’ve got 45 minutes of gym time before we break for lunch. I will be coming around and watching each of you, so don’t think about slacking off or I’ll make your life even worse than it already is! Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Alright,” Harris continued, “Carter and Louis, before you do your gym time, you will give me ten laps of this facility for ignoring my orders on the climb. You did not wait for the rest of your team to complete the climb before you started your laps,” he told them.

  Carter and Louis exchanged a look. Harris stared hard at them, hands on hips, not budging.

  “I told you,” Brown shrugged at Carter and Louis.

  Carter gave Brown a blank stare then turned and headed off for his laps. Louis followed sulkily.

  Harris saw the other men watching him. He decided it was an opportune time to leave the team alone for a while, and see what
took place.

  He locked eyes with Doc, then left.

  *

  Carrie wasn’t sure if she was happy with the punishment Carter and Louis received. The last thing she wanted was the captain to fight her battles for her; she could do just fine on her own.

  She and Colt wandered over to the gym equipment, found some free weights and stood in front of the mirror that ran along the wall for a couple of meters.

  “That was some great shooting earlier,” Colt said.

  Carrie smiled. “Yeah, I sucked on the climb, though. I should take some lessons from you. You worked it.”

  “Yeah? I missed that. You mean there’s something you’re not good at,” Colt teased. “You can run and you can shoot.”

  Carrie was about to answer, but locked eyes with McKinley in the mirror. He was sitting at some equipment about to pull a heavy weight over his head, his blue eyes piercing as they sized her up.

  “What’ve you got there, girls? One pound weights?” he asked patronisingly, his eyes twinkling at hers in amusement.

  Colt eyed him in the mirror now, too, but they both chose to ignore him.

  “That the best you can do?” he continued, chuckling.

  Again they ignored him, but the rest of the team began glancing over at them now.

  “Just make sure you don’t overdo it now, you hear,” he continued. “You don’t want to go and wipe yourself out for the rest of the mission.”

  Carrie locked eyes with him again in the mirror. He stood and slowly walked over, watching them both lift their weights.

  “Is there a problem, lieutenant?” Carrie couldn’t resist the temptation to bite.

  McKinley smiled smugly, folding his arms.

  Colt looked over at her. “I believe his problem is that you whopped his ass on the firing range,” she said dryly, shooting McKinley a challenging look.

  This drew some oohs from the other men. McKinley looked over at Colt and then back at Carrie.

  “You’re an okay shot,” he shrugged.

  Carrie put down her free weights and turned around to face him. “No, I’m a fuckin’ great shot!” she said defiantly. “Beat you, didn’t I?”

  Again this drew some comments from the men, as Colt laughed, tucked a weight under her arm and held out her hand for Carrie to slap, which she did, happy for the support. Carter and Louis pulled up to join the throng and see what was going on, as the rest of the team had now stopped what they were doing and were watching.

  “Is that so?” McKinley said smiling, stepping closer to her. “So what happens when you lose your gun, corporal?”

  “I never lose my gun,” Carrie told him.

  “But what if you do?” He stepped closer.

  “I told you I never lose my gun.”

  “What if I take it from you?” He continued to smile condescendingly. “What do you do then?”

  “You’d have to take it from me first, and as you so eloquently told Brown earlier, your fist can’t hurt me if my gun kills you first.”

  McKinley smiled and nodded. “Alright. But let’s say that I do get to you and remove your gun. What then?”

  Carrie looked at him and shrugged. “What answer are you looking for here, McKinley?”

  “What answer? I want you to admit that you wouldn’t have a clue what to do without your gun. That there’s nothing you can do without your gun. That you’re shit without it.”

  “Well, I disagree.”

  “But you are. So is she.” He motioned to Colt. “So is Packham. Being a soldier is more than just shooting a gun, corporal. It requires many talents, not just one. I saw you on the mats. Pathetic. I think you’re all a liability to the team and I don’t care to put my life at risk when we go into the field, to save your ass because you can’t cope without your gun.”

  “What makes you so sure we’re a liability?” Carrie put her hands on her hips, trying to keep her cool, aware the rest of the team was watching. “You haven’t seen us in the field yet.”

  “Then humor me, corporal. Let’s say I take your gun and throw it away. What are you going to do about it?” He stepped closer again, now standing right in front of her, towering over her.

  Colt slowly placed her free weights on the ground and moved closer to Carrie.

  McKinley looked over at her, amused, then turned back to Carrie. “I can take on the two of you. Can you take on two, Welles? Huh? Tell me, what are you going to do to me, to save yourself and her? And don’t think about the groin, I’m one step ahead of you. Although I must say, I wouldn’t normally discourage a woman from thinking about my groin.”

  This drew sniggers from some of the men. Carrie noticed Doc get up from his equipment out of the corner of her eye.

  “What do you want, lieutenant? You want me to fight you? Is that what you’re saying?” Carrie’s heart was beating fast, but she kept her cool. She didn’t believe anything would happen with the rest of the team around, but she was nervous all the same. He was a big guy after all, and those piercing eyes of his scared her a little.

  “No, I’m saying that you can’t fight, period. We just saw proof of that when you squared off against Brown. One punch from him …” He shook his head, “You’re weak, corporal. You’re a liability. And the kind of work we do, you’re only going to get in the way and slow us down.”

  “Enough, McKinley,” Doc stepped up to them now.

  “We’re just having a conversation, Doc,” McKinley said calmly, not taking his piercing stare off Carrie.

  “You normally stand over people when you’re just talking to them?” Doc asked.

  McKinley stopped staring Carrie down for a moment and glanced over at Doc. “I can’t help it if she’s short, Doc.” He shrugged. “I’m simply standing here making a very valid point.” He looked her up and down, then back at Doc, motioning to her as he said, “This is supposed to cover my ass out there in the field? Give me a break!” He turned to eye Carrie again. “C’mon, Welles, give me your best shot. Prove me wrong. Show me how tough you can be.” He pointed to his chin.

  “Stand down, McKinley. That’s an order!” Doc said firmly, but coolly.

  McKinley looked over at Doc, then stared back at her.

  “As your senior officer, lieutenant, I’m ordering you to stand down, so stand down. Now!” Doc said with a harder edge to his voice.

  McKinley’s eyes darted over to Doc’s, then he gave a short laugh, smiled and turned away, shaking his head. “Let’s hope Doc’s out there in the field next time you girls get into trouble,” he said over his shoulder, as he walked back over to his weights.

  “Back to your training, soldiers,” Doc called firmly, then returned to the equipment he’d been working on, like nothing happened. The others started working out again, but they were stealing glances over at Carrie. She noticed that Carter and Louis were still standing there. When she locked eyes with them, they glanced at each other then took off jogging again.

  “Forget about it,” Colt said quietly, pumping her free weights again.

  Carrie went back to her weights also, cheeks burning with anger. She started pumping the weights fast and hard. She refused to look in the mirrors in case she saw the others staring at her. She tried very hard to act like it didn’t bother her, but knew her cheeks were giving her away.

  It felt like hours had passed by the time Harris returned to the facility, and now she was grateful for the intervention. The captain moved around and took a good look at everyone working out, studying them.

  “Put your back into it, Carter!” he teased, as Carter struggled to lift a very heavy weight over his head.

  He moved over to McKinley, then, who was resting between sets. “Have we tired you out already, lieutenant?”

  “No, you don’t have to worry about me, captain,” McKinley answered, lifting his weights again. The comment was directed at her, she knew it. She refused to make eye contact or let it show on her face, though.

 
Over the next few excruciating minutes, Carrie pretended to be heavily involved in her free weights, all the while staring at her feet. Finally, Harris told the team to head for the mess hall. She took her time finishing up, wanting to make sure the others were gone before she turned around. Colt hung by and waited for her.

  “Corporal Welles!” Harris called. “Are you hungry or not?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said quietly, stalking past Harris and Doc with a clenched jaw, looking dead ahead, avoiding eye contact.

  Even so, she couldn’t help but feel their eyes burning into the back of her head.

  *

  Harris watched Welles and Colt walk out of the training room, then looked over at Doc. “What’s that about? Why does Welles look so pissed?”

  “It’s nothing. We just had a little clash of wills between her and McKinley.” They turned and started walking slowly after the rest of the group.

  “What exactly were their wills clashing about?” Harris inquired.

  “McKinley was just flexing his muscles. It’s fine. I handled it.” Doc was clearly not wanting to create a fuss about this, but it only made Harris more intrigued.

  “What exactly was he flexing for?” he persisted.

  Doc glanced at him, “He was trying to save face from losing the shootout is all.”

  Harris continued to look at Doc. “By doing what exactly?”

  Doc sighed, stopped walking and turned to face him. He knew Harris wasn’t going to drop it. “He was just trying to prove a point to the rest of the guys. He was arguing that the women were weak and therefore a liability to the rest of the team. He was pretending to challenge her physically to a fight to see how she’d react.”

  “And how did she react?” Harris arched his eyebrow.

  Doc shrugged his shoulders. “She kept her cool and stood her ground, but it was pretty clear she wasn’t happy about it. McKinley wasn’t actually going to do anything, captain. He was just testing her, being a prick, trying to prove a point.”

  Harris thought about this momentarily, recalling watching the women on the mats. “He does have a point, though. Brown would only have to sneeze to knock Welles over. They’re not the strongest female soldiers I’ve seen.”