The Commander

by Kevin Groh

  »Quite right. It gets even more difficult. If running and a little shooting were all you had to do as a soldier, we could also import monkeys from Earth. And some of them ...«, he said and looked at Billy, »... would probably even be smarter than you. From now on there will be more lessons. We start playing hardball. It’s time you learned the most important virtue of a soldier and warrior. What is that, Tenno?«

  By that he meant Nambur and he replied: »Endurance, sir!«

  »Endurance may be an important factor, but it is useless without the right answer. Fields?«

  Jimbo flinched: »Uh ...«

  »With an ›Uh‹ you’ll get shot out there! And that’s by me if you keep standing there so miserably! Stand up straight! Do none of you losers know the most important virtue of the warrior?«

  Carter said out loud: »Discipline, sir!«

  Banes crossed his arms: »Sanders! You like to shine the spotlight and make the others look stupid, don’t you? But you’re right. The most important virtue is discipline. First and foremost, this includes the exact execution of commands, without any ifs or buts. The chain of command is clear and without it, the order would collapse. Do you understand that?«

  All but Leena shouted: »Sir, yes, sir!«

  »I asked if that got into your thick skull, Whittaker!«

  She looked directly at him and asked: »If a leader should act irrationally and strategically unwise due to lack of information or personal feelings, then one must not blindly follow him. That weakens us as a whole.«

  They were all tense because Leena had questioned Banes directly. She had already shown conspicuous behavior in the past. He slowly approached her. Each of his footsteps echoed loudly in the dorm. »And what makes you think that you have the necessary foresight and wisdom to question your superiors? You do not! Especially not after three months in which you have made the least progress of all those present here! Palmer included. Even Kennedy has more positive results than you. So you better drop this defiant behavior of yours, or you’ll find this place can truly be hell.«

  Banes bawled her out so mercilessly that most recruits would have burst into tears. But Leena stood there unaffected and looked him in the eye. His pulsating vein seemed to leave her completely cold and Carter was impressed by her thick skin. The Major stepped next to Clemm again, who seemed disappointed that she wasn’t being punished.

  »Today your discipline training begins. Every second day you will have such an exercise in the morning. You will remain exactly as you are standing right now until lunch. Nobody moves. There will be no talking. Nobody gets dressed. Breakfast is canceled today. Clemm will sit down here and read his magazine. If he hears or sees something, the recruit in question will run around the entire base for a lap. That’s twenty laps on the drill ground.«

  »I’d have to go to the toilet first ...«, it came from Tom.

  Banes went around a corner and placed a metal bucket in front of him.

  »Knock yourself out.«, he said and left the room.

  Clemm sat down on a chair and opened his magazine. At first, they stood there for a while looking at each other in disbelief. It was just after six a. m. and they were supposed to remain motionless until noon? In a not very well heated room, in underwear, no toilet, no breakfast or water. Something like this was called torture and Carter was pretty sure that this was not legal, even with the loosened laws of the military on Utopia.

  After a while, he noticed that Tom, Gina, and Henry began to shift their weight restlessly from one foot to the other. He suspected that they had to go to the toilet urgently. Occasionally Clemm looked up and checked if they were all standing still. Carter got quite hungry when it was about eight a.m. He saw Tom gently take a few tiny steps forward to have the bucket between his legs. Just when he was about to have to do something embarrassing, Clemm closed his magazine and said:

  »Okay, you can freshen up and get back here.«

  They rushed into the washrooms and hurried back dressed after they all went to the toilet. Clemm stood in front of them and said:

  »This exercise was meant to train your discipline. Banes ordered you to remain motionless for six hours completely unprepared. Your job is to obey this order and trust that your supervisor has made the right decision for you and Utopia. Six hours would have been an inhuman challenge, but you still have to fulfill it if it is really required. Some recruits have pissed themselves or worse in this exercise. If that is necessary to accomplish the task, then so be it.

  Dignity and comfort do not exist in an emergency. That’s why you have to learn that and put it into practice. Sometimes you have to trust blindly because you will not be told all the details. Sometimes an order is meaningless in your eyes, but nevertheless, you are obliged to carry it out. In bad cases, you may even be sacrificed, but you must make this sacrifice because you will achieve something more important. That is the soldier’s fate. He is a weapon. And a weapon obeys the one who carries it.«

  The group understood what the drill sergeant meant, but they weren’t really convinced. It wouldn’t have been the last exercise of its kind.

  Two days later, after melee lessons with Jazzir and lunch, they approached the shooting range where Major Dunn was talking to an alien. It was a man-sized creature with crooked narrow legs, a thin torso surrounded by ribs, four scrawny arms and three claws on each hand. The head was that of an insect, hence the antennae and grinding jaws that met beneath the ›chin‹. Two large greenish eyes protruded from the skeletal skull. Altogether the creature looked like an oversized grasshopper or ant, but without the long rear part. As they approached, they saw individual hairs on his arms and legs and the four semi-transparent thin wings he had folded on his back. Roderick grumbled: »A Salvani. Unusual to see one here.«

  Arriving at the scene, they noticed that the Salvani was talking with a synthetic voice because the alien’s jaws could not form words. It had three weapons in its claws and they only heard:

  »... not so easy to get to that stuff. The Lorgans are experienced looters and have really good salvage teams.«

  Dunn replied: »Yes, it’s all right, you old crook! You get your fucking units. But next time I expect something extra, okay? After all, I got you something, too.«

  »That’s probably true ... I’ll see that next time I bring you something special. Just for you. I already have an idea ...«

  Dunn noticed them and the Salvani let his gaze wander over the crowd.

  She said: »Ah, the recruits are here. Guys, this is my buddy Kwax. He’s a piece-of-shit crook and a real bad cheater at poker, but he’s also the best arms dealer on this side of the khaki line. He provides us with weapons, vehicles, ammunition and everything in between. Play nice with him and you’ll have an important ally later.«

  Kwax just looked at the group. He walked a few steps to a canopy where several boxes piled up. »What is the khaki line?«, Urma asked.

  The Salvani placed one of the boxes in front of them and his synthetic voice sounded:

  »It is an elongated space nebula that coincidentally also marks the dividing line into enemy territory. But I don’t want to anticipate your lessons. Besides, my knowledge of it costs extra.«

  »Save your breath, insect! You won’t get a dime more than agreed. The greenhorns learn the stuff when the time is right. And now get lost, but don’t forget to come by later for a little game.«

  »I’m not going to miss out on taking a few credits from you.«, he said and then headed for the hangar.

  She looked at the group and said: »He looks more disgusting than he is, believe me, and he is the best smuggler I know. He gets us weapons, material, and information from all over the galaxy. I’m sure you won’t see him here for the last time.«

  Then she opened the box and took out a weapon. It was a little bigger and longer than a pistol. The long magazine was placed between the handle and the barrel. The model looked slim and less dangerous than the previous weapon types.

  »This one, youngsters, is
a submachine gun. The big sister of the normal gun looks skinny and flat, but she is a viciously dangerous bitch. The darling fires up to ten times per second. That has advantages and disadvantages. Similar to the MPs of earlier times, the magazine is longer. But not because more bullets fit into it, but because a cooling system is built into the energy storage so that the gun and the magazine itself don’t overheat as quickly. Nevertheless, with such a thing a continuous fire of approximately five seconds is possible at most, then it must cool down, and that can take up to half a minute. If you don’t aim properly, the enemy will rip your ass open before you can reload. In addition, the recoil is much stronger here because it feels like a continuous vibration. But don’t get silly thoughts, girls, those aren’t the pleasant vibrations.«

  The men had to smile and the women behaved innocently. Dunn grinned dirty and put an MP in everyone’s hand.

  »These pieces are called submachine guns and can also be fired with one hand in combat, but only with armor with built-in recoil dampening and stabilizers. You will definitely use both hands, understood?«

  As usual, they shot at targets for practice. Carter found the whole thing quite complicated since an MP was not designed for two hands. Still, they enjoyed shooting wildly. They also practiced changing the magazine quickly, because sometimes it was faster than waiting for the cool down. Afterward, they trained with the pistols again, but in the meantime, they were already at moving targets. Carter had excellent scores because he was good at predicting the position of moving objects due to his bow practice. »You could become a sniper, Sanders. You’re still a bloody beginner, but you have talent. Keep going!«

  Over time, everyone developed preferences and strengths. Henry, Gina, and Jimbo were good with computers and everything related. Roderick, Kelly, and Urma were natural talents in close combat. Leena and Billy learned in an exemplary way in normal lessons and absorbed the knowledge. Carter, Jane, and Nambur had a natural gift for weapons, while Tim and Tom demonstrated faster progress in regular training, as did the others. But Carter, Kelly, and Roderick were the only ones who, despite occasional difficulties, had no serious problems in any area.

  Only discipline training was a problem for all of them. The second exercise required them to take turns holding four wooden boards at their height by supporting them from below with their strength. No one lasted more than five minutes, so they kept switching. The purpose was not obvious, but Carter suspected it was exactly that. They should learn to no longer seek meaning in a task. They just had to do it and trust the superiors to act right.

  This was very difficult for Leena, but most of the time Carter’s encouraging gaze was enough for her to do what she was told. All in all, the two got along better every day. Their friendship grew stronger and stronger and they trusted each other. Kelly also spent more and more time with the two in their room before they went to sleep.

  After fourteen days they wanted to use the Saturday to visit Magnus at the company. The week before an appointment had prevented their visit and Carter had stayed at the base with Leena. The family shuttle pilot picked them up in the morning and took them to the city limits of New Denver. Most major corporations had built their skyscrapers in the center of the city, but Syntech wanted its employees to be able to work in peace. The less distraction there was, the more effective the results were, especially in the company’s development areas. For this reason, the headquarters of the research department was located on the outskirts of the city and towered up into the sky. With sixty-two floors, it was one of the tallest towers in the area. Most of New Denver’s buildings were dark and had mirrored black windows. Syntech, however, built its sites in white or light gray with dark blue-tinted windows. As a result, the skyscraper looked completely out of place like a bright light in the otherwise gloomy surroundings. The shuttle did not land on the helipad near the roof but on one of the landing areas on the road. The two got out and strolled through the small park towards the main entrance. Pretty green areas and trees were not to be found in the city. The air was not as pleasant as in the base, but far less heavy and musty than in the city center. Above the glass gate of the main entrance was Syntech’s corporate logo, a half gearwheel that was transformed into a digital structure. The doors moved to the side and Carter and Leena entered the lobby of the corporate building. Behind the huge blue-gray counter there were three receptionists, two of whom were on the phone. The third woman smiled at them and asked for their request.

  Carter answered her and she looked at him curiously.

  »You’re the son of Mr. Sanders? Yes ... at a closer look I recognize it. You are a really handsome young man. Your father has announced you, he is waiting for you in his office on the top floor. Just take the management elevator over there!«

  Carter smiled at her, thanked her and strolled with Leena to the elevator. There were no buttons in it, but a black plate on which the floors were visible in illuminated symbols.

  The elevator asked: »What floor?«

  Carter was irritated and Leena amused, and she said »Management«. The elevator repeated this and added the number sixty-two. Thereupon it jerked briefly and went upwards. The elevators were in transparent tubes on the side of the building, which is why the floor became smaller and smaller during the ride. The many shuttles that were traveling in the city partially covered the whole sky when standing on the street. Like a huge swarm of bees, they hummed from one place to another. On one of the dark skyscrapers, they saw the red Magnacorp logo. This was a technology company responsible for most of the advances in cyber technology. Computer technology and communication. And further back was Dimcod Industries, the company of Kelly’s father. The elevator stopped and they entered the executive premises. The floor was dark red and black, the walls dark gray, but everything was well lit, so it didn’t look gloomy, it looked classy. Many glass walls enclosed meeting rooms and frosted glass walls guaranteed privacy for the managers. A wooden bar stood in the middle of the central corridor, where you could get drinks or snacks. In front of several offices, there were desks with assistants.

  Leena said: » I have rarely felt so uncomfortable in such a place. I’m really out of place here.«

  Carter just grumbled: »I feel the same way. I’ve been here before, but this intimidating aura never really goes away. I don’t know how people put up with it. As if the pressure to perform was in the air. You can really feel the stress and fear.«

  She knew exactly what he meant. It seemed impossible to describe this distressing, oppressive feeling, but it came out of every crack and lay directly on your soul like a weight. It was comparable to the premonition one felt shortly before an impending danger. One of the secretaries came to them and waved them with her. She smiled friendly and her voice was warm and hearty. Her name tag said ›Kelly‹, which Leena thought was an amusing coincidence. She led them through a silver double door, behind which there was a spacious office, which did not look like the typical workplace of a manager. Although there was a large, dark, oiled wooden table overlooking the lighter side of Utopia, there was much more. They saw a fridge and a flat-screen TV, a round table with six armchairs and a holophone, a holographic projector for telephoning, several framed certificates, and some tasteful lamps. On the other side, it was mercilessly brightly lit. The floor and walls were made of metal and you could see workbenches, grid shelves, a perforated wall with tools, several computers, blueprints, and building plans as well as drawings, either on a pinboard or rolled up on a worktable. Everything was covered with electronic components and wires. Amid this chaos, Magnus Sanders was bent over a device and tampered with it. He looked up and smiled delightedly.

  »Ah! Carter! I had almost forgotten you. It’s a good thing Kelly is improving my memory while I’m here.«, he said, giggling a little guilty.

  He shook hands with Leena. »You must be Leena. Carter told me that he made a good friend. He also mentioned that you shared the room I organized. It’s a pleasure to meet you!« She was delighted with the ni
ce greeting.

  Carter looked at the device in his father’s hand. »What is that? I don’t think I know it yet.«

  Magnus seemed enthusiastic: »Yes! This is something completely new and it is also groundbreaking, if I may say so. Ever since I designed the first synthium prostheses and upgrades, they have been refined. However, synthium is an extremely strong material. Once it’s brought into shape, it’s almost impossible to make changes to it without completely remodeling it. And you need big machines in the production because it takes an incredible amount of heat, humidity and time. It’s like tanning leather and making wood flexible at the same time. If a prosthesis didn’t fit properly, you had to use precise measurements to make it new. This is expensive and time-consuming. The same applies to upgrades with integrated weapons. If one of them has a problem or there is an improved version, the old upgrade becomes useless.«

  Leena commented: »That sounds highly inefficient. Why do you put up with such costs?«

  Magnus replied: »The military is almost one hundred percent the only buyer. And nothing is too expensive for them. They already have a stake in the company. That’s exactly why this small device is so groundbreaking. I found out that vibration creates a resonance within the synthium. I’m still working on the exact frequencies, but with the right intensity, you can transform the material into any shape without much effort. If the vibration is provided with the right programming and technology, synthium could be changed in a flash. This would reduce or eliminate the entire production process.

  But as always, I’m worried about the purposes for which this technology would be used. A command soldier with a perfectly convertible weapon ... that would be extremely dangerous. I think it would be wise to publish only part of the discovery.«

  Carter absolutely agreed with his father. Even Leena, who didn’t trust the government anyway, seemed to agree.

  »But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, children! I have recently made some fascinating discoveries that I haven’t even recorded anywhere. I don’t want anyone to stumble across my mind games by accident and do their own experiments. I have a few things I can show you here, Carter. Please forgive me, Leena, for not being able to tell you, but I’ve only known you for a few minutes.«