Battle On The Marathon

by John Thornton

  Before long we left Colby behind, and that vehicle just kept going. I wondered if we were going to the other end of everything, and tried to remember that other town’s name up there. I know now it is Olathe, but on that day, I could hardly think. Talking to dad helped somewhat, but I still had no idea what a militia was, or what I was to do. But, some things about that first ride are crystal clear to me, even right now as I think back. Well, we got across some river bridge and then we left that paved road. We drove through a pretty meadow, and followed along next to the river. I was really lost. No cornfields, no beans, no rye, no barley. No pens for cattle, emus, lamas, or pigs. Just a big meadow that was not plowed or anything. The grass stuck up as high as the doors on the vehicle, as it passed over. I looked behind, and there was hardly any trail at all, well, at least to my twelve-year old’s eyes.

  “Raven Academy was built just two years ago,” Mister Fisher said.

  I guess he thought that explained it, but I was more confused than ever. No farms anywhere to be seen, well, it just seemed so strange for me. I was also watching for ravens, since we were going to Raven Academy, but I only saw songbirds, and sparrows. Oh, there were some barbets which flew by, right in front of us. I saw just a flash of their yellow, red, and black colors. There were also some ducks on the river, and they hardly noticed us at all. That vehicle was quiet and smooth, and as I looked ahead of us, I thought about why someone would use a vehicle to cross the land and not follow the road or ride a horse.

  At a place where a bunch of trees made a forest, I could see what looked like a cattle trail. The trees were pretty thick and dense, and I wondered if here I would see some ravens. But all I saw were the regular kinds of birds, and a squirrel who scampered up a tree and chattered at us. His fluffy red tail was bobbing as he gave us a stern lecture about invading his forest. Mister Fisher took the vehicle onto that path, but I guess it was not made by cattle. We went into the woods, past that guardian squirrel. A few minutes later, up ahead, I got my first view of Raven Academy.

  A huge wooden plank was mounted on poles. “Raven Academy” was burned into the front of that plank. The vehicle easily passed under that sign. That was when I noticed there was a wooden split-rail fence which stretched off in both directions, but the trees blocked me from seeing where that fence went.

  “Welcome to your new home,” Mister Fisher stated with a touch of a smile.

  I kept looking, and saw there was a glen where some big wooden building stood. The trees were gone from all around that building. Frolicking out in front was a dog. I had seen dogs like that on some of the cattle ranches we sometimes traded goods with. They were called blue heelers, but were not blue colored. I do not understand why they had that name. Most all of them, the few I had ever seen, were white and black. This dog was just like that. A speckled mix of white and black, giving it an overall grayish sort-of color. This dog sat back on its rear legs and tipped its head to the side just a bit. It had alert eyes, and watched us as we got there. Its ears were upright, and perked forward. The face was mostly black, with a white blaze down the nose, sort-of dividing the halves of the face, but not equally so. The dog was muscular, and compact. She was a bit longer than she was tall with a curved, hanging tail. In a way, that dog looked happy and eager to see us. It was not Elav, as that new dog was bigger and more muscular, but it was a dog, and that was a comfort to me.

  “That my friend is Marie, our mascot,” Mister Fisher said. “You will get to know Marie very well in your time here.”

  “Do you have cattle here?” I asked. I was still wondering where the ravens were, but knew that the kind of dog I had seen was used for herding cattle.

  “There are wild bovines in the area, but no domestic cattle. Marie is here for many reasons, but not for herding domestic cattle,” Mister Fisher answered. He nodded at the building.

  The sky tube’s light shined down on that lodge, but its brown sides just stayed that finished dull wooden look. Kind of like the furniture dad made. The light did reflect off the lodge’s big sloping roof. The ground all around it was just bare, brown dirt. Lighter colored than the building, but just bare ground. I saw that the lodge building had a place jutting out over or into the river which I could see flowed behind it. So, on three sides were the forest, and the other side was the river. The building sat closer to the river than it did to the gate with the big plank sign.

  That Raven Academy building was three stories high, not the wharf, the building, and had a bunch of square windows all along each floor. Actually, it was six windows along each floor, but it struck me as a bunch, considering our farmhouse only had four windows in the whole place. That lodge building was far bigger than our farmhouse. At the end was that place where the bottom floor stuck out over the river. I would learn that they called that a wharf, oh, I think I told you that, but for me it was a surprise. Some boats were tied to it. The river there was so much bigger than the creek which was by our farm. I was sort-of surprised to see boats.

  Then an even bigger surprise happened. The vehicle stopped, and the ground right in front of it rose up. Yes, the ground just opened up in a vertical wedge show a door which sprang open. A big door, so big that the ramp under it was wide enough for the vehicle to just drive down. It was like a giant wedge just lifted up out of the ground. Once down inside there, the ramp lowered back into the ground, and lights came on. There were about a half dozen other vehicles parked down there underground.

  “You will not see the garage again for some time, so pull your eyes back inside your head,” Mister Fisher said. He was not mocking me, but I must have looked pretty surprised.

  As I got out, I looked for where the ramp was, and saw that the floor was painted with series of diagonal yellow stripes with the words, ‘Danger Ramp’ in bold letters. That was the only thing which showed where the ramp would raise up. Otherwise it looked just like the rest of the permalloy floor. We must have been at least ten meters underground. Over my head were all kinds of pipes, ducts, vents, and other stuff. I thought that kind of stuff was only outside of the natural areas, in the shell, and I guess I was outside, in a way.

  “Son, you will be seeing far more than utilities, so come with me.” His voice was not harsh, but almost rather calm. He was much more relaxed than I felt.

  Everything was so different than I had expected. No ravens, no picking my own job, and no birthday cake. It was a weird day.

  Mister Fisher had already gotten out and that security automacube had also left. I guess I was too busy looking at that garage to notice. Back then I hardly noticed anything around me, even when I was staring at stuff. I wish it could be like that now.

  Well, that was how I arrived at Raven Academy with Mister Fisher. We walked up to the main floor of the building, taking a spiral stairway made from permalloy. The lodge’s construction was from permalloy—mostly below ground—and natural materials above ground. Mostly. Unlike our farm house. How many times did dad and mom complain about not being about to cut into the walls or open up new spaces because permalloy was too hard?

  Well, by that time I was getting rather anxious and more than a little scared. It was my birthday, and nothing had gone as expected.

  “Son, how about we talk to your folks again now?” Mister Fisher said and laid a hand on my shoulder.

  “They are here too?”

  “Not here physically, no. However, we did say you could speak to them later. Now, it is later,” Mister Fisher said and walked me through the main room. There was a big square table with chairs all around it. I did not really look at that big room much then.

  He tapped one of the control pads on the wall, and a door slid open. Inside was his office. He sat me down, and touched his palm to his desk. A display turned on and lit up a screen on the wall.

  “Mom!” I shrieked with released emotions. Her face looked so good to me, even though I had seen her just that morning.

  “Kalju,” mom said. She was standing outside the farmhouse, and at the time, I did no
t wonder how I was seeing her. I was just so thrilled. She was holding her hands together. Her dark hair had some strands which had come out of her hairband, and had fallen across her face. “I am so proud of you.”

  “Mom! I am at some place I have never been before. I am in…” I was stymied and did not know how to explain it, because I did not know what it was about anyway. “I am in a militia.” The word felt alien on my tongue.

  Dad walked over from where the farmhouse was and into view. He wrapped one arm around mom. “They told us. That new school you will be attending sounds amazing. Only a few children get to go there.” His eyes were moist and he rubbed at them, “Yes, we are so proud of you.”

  “I made your birthday cake, but I guess it will have to wait until you come home to visit.” Mom started crying. Dad hugged her tightly. She then straightened her back and spoke without a quaver in her voice. “This is quite the honor for you, my young man. I am proud of you. Now, you be sure to eat right, get enough sleep, and learn all your lessons. They told us you will be getting the best education of anyone in all of Kansas.”

  “Actually dear, they said the education would be as good as anywhere on the whole Marathon, so it is right up there with the flight crew and their descendants.” Dad kept wiping his eyes, but he looked right at me.

  “Oh, yes. They did say your education would be equal to that of the cognatic succession heirs. Just as good as those dynasties which run everything,” mom replied. “You will be on par with those children of the captain, and flight crew, and their other descendants.”

  I blurted out, “That sounds good.” I had no idea to what she was referring. Well, at least then I did not. “I am not sure how long I will be here before someone takes me home. I guess we will have to fix up rides to get back and forth for school.”

  “Your new school is where you will live,” Mom continued, but her voice caught. She coughed a bit and then spoke again. “You will stay there until your training is done. So, Kalju, you are very lucky and blessed to be where you are. Make us all proud of you.”

  “I will mom. I love you. I love you too dad!” I nearly yelled at the display screen. I reached up my hand to the display, as it was so clear I thought I could step through and give them each a hug. The cool permalloy of the interior wall stopped me from doing that.

  “Kalju, study hard, work hard, and I guess they are going to be doing physical training as well. That is far more than you would have gotten staying here and being a farmer, or even your dream of being an engineer.”

  “You knew?” I was shocked.

  “You are my son. Of course, I knew you wanted to be an engineer. That new school is far superior to the technological institute in Colby. You would have been a great engineer, but now you have this. I am happy, if you are happy.” He looked at mom. “Yes, we are all so happy for you.”

  Mister Fisher stepped over to me. “Kalju, you need to say goodbye to your parents now. You will be allowed to speak with them on occasion, but we still have a lot of processing to do.”

  “Mister Fisher said I need to go now.” I swallowed hard. “I love you both.”

  “Happy birthday Kalju!” They both said in unison.

  The display went blank and the wall looked just like the other permalloy walls. I blinked, as my eyes were wet for some reason. Everything was blurry and I was afraid to look at Mister Fisher. He just handed me some tissue and never said a word about it.

  He then took me to the office next to his. The door there also responded to his commands. A white automacube was waiting inside there. That was the whitest room I have ever seen. The walls were white, the ceiling and floor were white, and the treatment table was white. The only colored thing I ever saw in there was blood, but that was later on. Well, I guess it was not totally all white, but that was my first impression.

  “Hello, I am Doctor 12B. Do not be afraid,” the white automacube said to me. “Please sit on the treatment table.”

  I had now seen a red automacube and a white one all in the same day. Of course, I knew white ones were at the hospital there in Colby, but I had never been up close to one before. Unless, it was back when I was born, and I do not remember that far back. Well, I swung up on that table and sat. I glanced at Mister Fisher and he just nodded. The machine’s triple-jointed arm reached out and that grabber at the end clutched my hand.

  “This is to help you be as healthy as possible,” Doctor 12B said in its mechanical voice. “You might feel some slight pain, like a pin prick.”

  Before I could pull away, the whole back of my hand was numb and tingly. I never did feel some poke, or stick, or maybe it was supposed to be sticky. I was not listening as well as I could, what with seeing mom and dad and all. I was wishing I had asked to talk to you, Ryan, or at least asked about you. My hand was all goofy for a few hours after that.

  “That is all we have for you, Inductee Kalju. If you ever feel ill, or suffer some injury, I am here to help you,” Doctor 12B stated. Those words would haunt me.

  Four loud bells sounded.

  “Excellent,” Mister Fisher said. “The others will be coming in for supper, and I can make introductions.”

  I was rubbing my hand as we walked out of the medical office. That was when I first met the others inductees. I always think of them as my fellow students, well, I do when I think of that first year at Raven Academy.

  Marie the dog came bounding in. She just sat down right in front of me, and I reached out to pet her head. She allowed that for a moment, and then turned sideways and rubbed against my legs. As soon as I began to stroke her back, and up on her rear hips, she wiggled and moved in joy. I scratched harder, and she rubbed her head from side to side and sort-of made cooing noises. I knew she liked that. It reminded me of Elav.

  The boys came in next: Pilliroog, Brett, Everett, Timofei, and Kulm. Mister Fisher introduced me to them. They were all about my age, but a little older maybe. I was pelted with questions and comments.

  “Where in Kansas did you live?”

  “Glad you are here.”

  “Do you like our dog?”

  “Now we have the same number of boys and girls.”

  “Are you a good swimmer?”

  “Can you swing a hammer?”

  I did not know what all to say. All the boys were dressed in the same color, khaki, and the same style clothing. They wore short-sleeved shirts and pants with rugged shoes. My clothes from home were pretty shabby compared to those machine-made clothes.

  “Mister Fisher, you need to introduce us as well,” a girl said from behind where I was standing.

  The dog rushed over and gave a single woof, and moved amongst the girls.

  “Yes, Bartlet, you are absolutely correct.” Mister Fisher replied. He made the introductions.

  Bartlet was shorter than any of the others, and her hair was very blonde. The other girls were named Jane, Carol, Matkaja, Tudeng, and Radha. Although, at that time I could not repeat their names at all. They were wearing machine-made clothing too, just tailored a bit differently for girls. I hardly got a good look at anyone’s face, as they all milled around me. I had seen too many new things, and it was all whirling around in my brain like water pouring down the drains into the cisterns on the farm. I was trying to sort it all out, but thinking just made the ideas and feelings get further jumbled up in my head.

  “So, I do not get a room all my own,” Brett said and lightly slapped my shoulder. Brett too had blond hair, but not as light as Bartlet’s. I noted that the others’ hair colors were mixes of browns and blacks, but no one had reddish hair like mine. “You are I will be sharing the room, but I still get the top bunk.”

  I nodded some vague agreement, and Brett smiled back. “Now we eat. What duty did you pull for today?”

  “Huh?”

  Mister Fisher came to my rescue. “Kalju had no duties today, only testing. He has not been informed of the roster. I assume at supper you all can elucidate him on the workings of our fine establishment. Tomorrow’s
roster will be posted at the appropriate time.” He then turned to me. “There will be a package on your bunk. If you have any concerns, please bring them up in the morning. Your fellow inductees will assist, but remember, you are part of a team now, and none of them is better or worse then you. They may have different skills, but you are all inductees. We will win this together. Enjoy the supper tonight, as it will be the last one the automacube will prepare.”

  A couple of the youth groaned. I flinched. I wondered how Mister Fisher would take disrespect like that, or even if it was disrespect, but I was not sure why. I thought I had heard Mister Fisher wrong. It sounded like he said the automacube made food. Maybe the others were moaning about some tired old joke, which I did not know. Or maybe it was about something like machine-made food. I almost let out a chuckle at the thought. I am sure glad I held my tongue then.