The Ninth

by Benjamin Schramm

  “Enjoying the scenery?” a familiar voice called to him.

  “Owen? Where are we?” Brent turned to find Owen standing next to him.

  “Physically? Still in Medical, resting well.”

  “So we are dreaming?”

  “Not quite. At least I don’t think so.” Owen bashfully shrugged. “I’m not too familiar with these things myself. They are still pretty scarce on the rim.”

  “Psych Projection Plays?” Brent repeated the phrase Johnny had used.

  “Most people just call them plays or 3Ps for short,” Hiroko’s voice interrupted. “Only the most stuck up of the core worlders still use the full name.”

  “Maybe you can explain it better; I’d only confuse him more.” Owen grinned. “All I know is that my shoulder doesn’t hurt and that’s enough for me.”

  “Normally, one interprets the world around them through impulses sent to the brain from sense organs.” An overly loud voice rang in Brent’s ears. “Your eyes see the landscape and send that information to your brain, which decodes the information. The end result is you see colors and hues and realize you are in a meadow. A Psych Projection Play creates artificial impulses that the brain interprets as the real thing.”

  The voice seemed to come from every direction. Brent spun, looking for its source. He spotted the rest of his group and every other recruit off in the distance. They were all gathered under a tall, lush tree, gently wafting in the mild breeze. Dante waved the three over. In the center of the recruits was a woman in the uniform of an instructor.

  “Normally, Psych Projection Plays are used for personal relaxation or group entertainment, but today we’ve got something else in mind for them,” The instructor continued, her voice more tolerable now.

  “This is the next exam?” Owen sounded like a kid in a candy store.

  “Not even close.” The instructor’s voice was as soothing as the breeze. “Think of this as a waiting room. There are several recruits not linked up yet.”

  “If you can create any environment you want, why not use 3Ps for the rest of the exams?” Dante was twirling a leaf in his hands.

  “That is an excellent question.” The instructor smiled warmly. “There are two factors that make this a less than perfect environment for exams. The first is that every action you take here is an impulse intercepted from your brain. When you take a step you are only thinking that you are walking; your legs are perfectly still in the real world. As such, your stamina here is what you think your stamina is. And we all like to imagine we have greater endurance than we really do . . .”

  Several recruits interrupted her by starting to bolt around the tree as fast as they could, as if they had to test what she had just said. The instructor watched the recruits running laps, but didn’t scold them for interrupting. Brent couldn’t help but smile. Owen wasn’t the only one amazed by the 3P.

  “If we performed exams in here, the results would be exaggerations,” the instructor said sweetly. “Likewise, your strength, agility, and other physical characteristics are impossible to measure accurately. The second reason we don’t use them is that you all know this isn’t real. If you were to fall here you would scrape your knee, and it would hurt just like in the real world. However, when the exam is over, the Psych Projection Play will disengage, and you won’t have a scratch on you. Knowing there are no consequences, recruits would take actions they would never consider in the real world.” The instructor’s warm smile never faded once as she explained.

  “If they are so bad for testing recruits, then why use them at all?” Hiroko had taken a seat on the soft grass.

  “Normally we don’t, but today is a special case. If this were any other examination day, you’d all go through the standard exams. You’d jump through the hoops those who came before you jumped through.” The instructor giggled as she eyed the recruits through a hoop she made with her forefinger and thumb. “Some of you would do well; others would fail. However, today we are trying something different. Also, this is the command exam. Your personal performance is meaningless to us in this exam. Even if you could leap from skyscraper to skyscraper, it wouldn’t help you pass this exam.”

  “So, when do we start?” Erin rolled her eyes at the playful instructor.

  “The last few recruits have just been linked up. Guess it’s time to start.” The instructor’s voice boomed over the peaceful meadow. “This will be your final exam for the day. My name is Miss Coudert, and it is my privilege to be the one to determine your skills in the area of command. Every exam so far has tested you personally; now we will find out how you deal with commanding others.”

  “Wait a minute.” A tall female recruit interrupted the instructor. “Some of us have been commanding others all day. Is this exam really necessary?”

  “Well, normally the exams are done individually, so you wouldn’t have had the opportunity up until now. However, just because a few of you have already tried your hand at command doesn’t mean we can deprive everyone else of the experience.”

  The instructor smiled so warmly at the interrupting girl it was almost unsettling. Brent suddenly found himself wondering about the nature of how she had been commanding all day.

  “I have to admit, but I’m really looking forward to this exam,” the instructor continued with obvious delight. “I don’t have much freedom when it comes to exams. I have to follow the same playbook using the same situations and tests. Today, not only do I have the freedom to try something different, I have the Psych Projection Play as my canvas. As such, I’ve decided we’ll go all out on this exam.” The instructor was giddy with excitement.

  “I don’t like where this is going . . .” Erin grumbled.

  “Today, as your command examination we’ll be reenacting the final battle of the Great War!” The instructor was in her own world. “The battlefield will be the home world of the great enemy, deep beyond the Great Divide! Won’t this be exciting!”

  The recruits exchanged worried glances.

  “We are going to break into two teams; one will act as defense while the other will take offense. Naturally, we won’t be using the units of the great enemy, but this should be an experience nonetheless.”

  “Hold on!” Dante protested. “You mean half of us have to defend the home world of the greatest threat to the survival of humanity?”

  “Well, not half of you, just two groups,” the instructor responded warmly.

  The recruits started protesting. Some shouted while others shook their heads violently. Brent didn’t see what was bothering the recruits so badly – it was just another exam.

  “Now everyone calm down.” Despite the recruits’ complaints the instructor still sounded perky. “I thought a change of scenery would be appreciated. Plus, can any one of you think of a more epic place for your last exam to take place? I don’t know why you are all getting so worked up; it’s not like you’ll be fighting the great enemy again. The recruits on the ground will be the ones defending. Save for the interesting landscape, it will be like any other practice battle.”

  Some of the grumbling quieted but she still hadn’t convinced the majority.

  “I’ve been following your progress so far, and, as it turns out, groups B and C have the highest number of wins,” she continued undeterred by the discord. “So, to be fair groups B and C will be on defense duty while the rest will be on offense. Now, while I’ll be watching your individual performance and how you handle your squad, I’ll also be monitoring the battle as a whole. The objective for the invading team is to destroy the defending group’s Citadel. Of course, the goal for the defenders is to stop them. Now, if there are no further complains, let’s get this started!”

  As the instructor finished, she disappeared. The recruits vanished and the scenery disappeared.

  “I’m surprised Doctor Benedict gave in so easily to you,” Nathan said as he shook his head. “You’d think I’d asked her to cut off her own arm from her reaction whenever I ask her for something.” He pretended
to saw off his arm with his other hand.

  “It’s thanks to you that she gave in at all.” Jack settled into his chair.

  “How’s that?”

  “When you called me by my first name, she realized I wasn’t some monster.”

  “So this is all my fault then?” Nathan asked before sighing. “I should have kept my mouth shut.”

  “The complaints might receive will pale in comparison to what we are about to learn.”

  “As long as your happy. One seventeen-year old monster is more than enough for me.”

  “Very funny.”

  “I thought so,” Nathan said with a small smile. “Are you sure it was necessary for us to have this last exam?”

  “Absolutely. That seventeen-year old monster, as you call him, took the role of leader early on and has been doing a superb job of it. I want to see how he performs in an un-winnable situation.”

  “Why would you want to . . . oh, wait. This is one of those psychological things, isn’t it? See how he deals with life by exposing him to death or some such?”

  “Something like that. In each exam there was a path to victory. It might have been a narrow path or a well-hidden path, but there was one. Not this time. Defending a world already under invasion, out numbered three to two with the other defending squad unwilling to listen to him, and out teched. There is no way he can win this one.”

  “Pity, I was so looking forward to my wager paying off. Wait, out teched? I know I was paying attention. How did I miss that one?”

  “Because the instructor left out that detail at my behest. Brent and the others on the ground will be using units from the first half of the Great War. The tech we are giving to the invading recruits is several generations more advanced. It’s the equivalent of fighting off an armored division with a slingshot.”

  “You’ve got this figured out from every angle, haven’t you? You sure that using the Shard home world as the backdrop is a good idea? Couldn’t you just have used any random world? You know I’m not a superstitious man, but this seems in bad taste.”

  “That was the instructor’s idea. Julia is a bit of a history nut. Plus, she made the excellent point that no one would question the victory of the invading forces if it had already happened in the past. If we used a random world and the defending forces are completely wiped out, someone might notice.”

  “You really have thought this out. Oh, it is starting!”

  Nathan waved for Jack to be quiet. Every trooper in the observation room was hanging on instructor Coudert’s every word.

  “ . . .let’s get this started!” Julia’s last words started frenzy in the troopers.

  Suddenly the room went dark. The monitors went dead along with the rest of the lights. Terrified, Nathan groped around in the pitch-black space. Jack grabbed his hand.

  “It’s okay; I’m still here.” Jack said firmly.

  “What just happened?” Unnatural calm quickly entered Nathan’s voice. “Did I go blind?”

  “Unless we all went blind, I don’t think that’s it,” a trooper called out in the dark.

  “My pad’s dead, too!” another trooper called out from the shadows. “The entire energy grid must be down!”

  “The doors aren’t working either. I bet someone down in maintenance tripped over a cable or something.” A female trooper tried to joke.

  “Is it me or is it getting colder in here?” a trooper asked aloud.

  The room was, in fact, getting very cold. Nathan patted himself, trying to generate some heat. The sounds of panic and chaos were the only sounds in the room. The white noise of humming monitors and lights was absent. Nathan imagined his breath fogging before him in the pitch black.

  “This isn’t good,” Jack whispered so only Nathan could hear. “Life support must be down, too.”

  “That’s impossible!” Nathan caught himself mid-sentence and joined in whispering. “Life support has at least three redundancies and its own dedicated allocation in the mainframe. The only way we could lose life support is if the main reactor blew. And if that were the case . . .”

  “If that were the case, we’d all be eating vacuum. But if that’s not the problem, what else could it be?”

  “I don’t know, Jack. I used to be a researcher, not an engineer. All I do know is this has got to be one of the worst days of my life. Hang on . . . my pants are warm.”

  An odd sensation filled Nathan’s right side. A slight heat was emanating from his pocket. Reaching in, Nathan found his pad operational, a slight light and warmth oozing from it.

  “Well?” Jack asked, as he helped conceal the light from the troopers.

  “It’s a message from maintenance. They’ve lost control over the entire mainframe. They are getting vital systems back online manually.” Nathan hunched over his warm pad.

  “Manually? Is that even possible?”

  “Let’s hope so. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t bring my winter wardrobe with me.”

  After a few more minutes of shivering, the lights came back on and heat returned to the observation room. Everything sprang to life except the monitors. The huddled troopers cheered between chattering teeth.

  “Looks like they’ve regained control.” Jack stared happily at the lights overhead.

  “That’s not what they are telling me.” Nathan was still hunched over his pad.

  “What’s the situation?”

  “They lost complete control over the mainframe, reactor, and distribution network. All they’ve got is three percent of total processing power. The power grid is coming back online, but they don’t know what went wrong.”

  “What is eating the other ninety-seven percent of our processing power?”

  “Your exam. Do I get to say I told you so now?”

  “Impossible! I checked with maintenance as soon as the good doctor allowed the exam. Not all the recruits were linked up at the time but they estimated the total drain would only be an additional sixteen percent!”

  “Well it’s ninety-seven now. The warm sensation we are feeling is thanks to the boys in maintenance. They got most of the station running on manual now. Remind me to give them all a week off.”

  “Well, if the exam is using up so much processor power, where is it?”

  Nathan looked up at the monitors. Despite everything else having resumed its function, the monitors were still dead.

  “Maintenance says it’s still running, Jack.” Nathan was dumbfounded.

  “How do they know exactly?” Jack tried to sneak a peak at Nathan’s pad.

  “Let’s see, according to a Mr. Perkins they have a direct link to the exam through the mainframe.”

  “Well, tell them to patch it up here.”

  “He’s telling me they already did that. They are getting nothing, too. It’s eating processing power like there is no tomorrow but not showing anything for all its work . . .”

  A familiar hum interrupted Nathan. The monitors were slowly coming back to life. When fully operational, the monitors showed a massive planet. It was an unnatural dull gray with even grid work covering its entire surface. In orbit above the world were thousands upon thousands of ships, their bombardment lighting up the surface below them. Brilliant green streams of light erupted from the planet below. When the streams of light would cross a ship in orbit, the ship would burst into a crimson explosion.

  “Please tell me this is what you discussed with Miss Coudert,” Nathan pleaded, his eyes fixed on the image.

  “I don’t even want to guess what we are seeing.” Jack’s voice sounded distant.

  “Don’t tell me. This couldn’t be . . .”

  “A complete recreation of the final battle of the Great War.”

  Sirens blared, lights flashed, and inaudible announcements flooded the PA. Dante looked around, completely lost. The instructor had said his group would be on the ground, defending against the invasion. So why was he on an invasion ship readying his squad to drop from low orbit?

  “There you a
re!” Owen yelled at Dante from a descending lift. “Do you have a clue what we are doing up here?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Have you found anyone else?” Dante yelled back.

  “Not just anyone, everyone! From the looks of it, all of group C is on this ship. We’ve got communications from other ships that all the other groups were on invasion ships, too. As far as I can tell, there isn’t a single group on the ground. So much for defense. The others have already started dropping. We’ve got to get down there.” Owen rushed off the lift with ten strong looking troopers following closely.

  “Maybe our complaining got to the instructor,” Hiroko called to the two as she entered the drop bay with her group of ten. “Perhaps she is controlling the defending forces below while we all invade?”

  The ship violently lurched. Owen fell from the lift, his ten troopers dropping down behind him a bit more gracefully. Dante was thrown to the floor plating. The sounds of bending and twisting metal added a chorus to the flashing alarms.

  “If that’s the case, it looks like she is playing for keeps.” Dante struggled to get back on his feet.

  “Group B has already dropped!” Erin bolted through a hatchway, ten nimble troopers keeping step behind. “Groups E and D are still prepping. How are we looking?”

  The ship started to list to the right; the recruits had to stand at angles to keep from falling over.

  “Not too good, I’d say.” Hiroko was already ushering his group into a drop ship. “I think that last jolt was our starboard thruster assembly taking a direct hit. This ship is going down, and I’d rather not ride it the whole way.”

  Through transparent sections in the hull plating, the recruits watched as a nearby ship silently burst into crimson flames. Small fragments of metal and charred bodies shot out from the broken hull. As the flaming wreckage slowly fell to the planet below, another massive battleship descended to take its place, already unloading its warheads. The bombardment of the planet didn’t miss a single beat.