Valor's Calling

by Kal Spriggs

  We came to a broad gully and Cadet Lieutenant Webster stopped us. “Cadet Petty Officer Salter, take charge.”

  “Yes, sir,” She snapped off a salute. She was still smiling. So was Trask, I saw, and behind them I saw Cadet Commander Mackenzie with a broad grin on his face. Cadet Lieutenant Webster stalked away, his expression hard. Apparently he didn't approve of all this, I guess.

  “Plebes,” Salter snapped, “To get to this point, you have had to work together. Now you have to show us all that you can work together in the future.” She gestured at the deep gully, “You have to cross this obstacle, with just the resources behind you. If anyone falls, you have to start over. Other sections are completing their own obstacles and you're on the clock. This is a timed event and it counts towards your rating... is that clear?”

  “Ma'am, yes ma'am!” We all shouted.

  “See you on the other side,” Salter snapped, “Get to it.”

  ***

  The tools they gave us were a couple of two and a half meter long metal poles and a meter of thin rope. The rope didn't look strong enough to hold much weight, and the individual poles weren't long enough to reach across the four meter gap.

  “Do we jump?” Dawson asked, looking across the gap.

  “I can't jump that far,” I pointed out.

  “We could throw you,” Alexander Karmazin grinned.

  “Let's save that option, shall we?” I growled.

  “Okay,” Ashiri held up the poles. “These are thick enough to hold our weight, that's good, right?”

  “Let me see that,” Josephic said. He took the poles from her and then held them together, overlapping a bit, but extending out to either side. “Tie the rope around this, and it might work,” he said.

  “Better tie that really well,” I muttered. I watched as he and Alexander Karmazin tied the poles together, then extended it across the gap. It reached, with a bit on either side of the gully.

  “Someone should check it,” Dawson said. “Someone light.”

  Everyone looked at me. “Sure,” I said, “Why not?”

  “Someone stand by to catch her if she falls,” Ashiri snapped.

  Yeah, that's going to go well, I thought to myself. Yet I felt a bit of relief as Dawson and Karmazin got on either side of the pole.

  I started across, the pole surprisingly steady under my feet. Apparently they'd tied the rope better than I'd feared. I wobbled a bit near the middle, but then I found my balance again and covered the rest of the distance. “It works,” I couldn't help but laugh in relief.

  We worked the rest of the section across as quickly as we could. The gap was just short enough that we could reach out and help balance people across most of the distance, other than the very center gap. Karmazin was the last one across and we fell in to formation in front of a sour-faced Cadet Lieutenant Webster. “Left, face.” he snapped, then he ran us on to the next obstacle.

  The next event was a shooting event. We all had to take a shot at targets at different ranges. Between Mikuluk, Karmazin, and I, we picked people for each of the shots. We all had our full combat loads, but we all winced at the couple shots that missed. Somehow I had the feeling we'd need all the ammo we'd brought.

  After that they ran us over to a large metal frame. Up close we could see a laser net running through the frame. “This,” Cadet Third Class Trask said, adopting a smug smile, “is a laser net trap. Your goal is to get your entire group through the gaps. However, once you pass through a gap, the net will shift to close that gap. There are only twenty-one gaps. If anyone interrupts a laser, then you all fail this event.”

  I felt my stomach sink as I looked at it. There were some big gaps along the bottom, but there were also some smaller gaps near the top, including one well out of easy reach... and we had no tools to use. “Sir,” I asked impulsively, “will a gap close if we pass our gear through it?”

  Trask's eyes narrowed. “No, Plebe Armstrong, so long as no part of your body passes through, the gap won't consider the passage of equipment as counting towards a person.”

  “Drop gear,” I snapped to the others. Without our body armor and weapons, we'd be able to fit through those gaps much easier. I pointed at a narrow gap near the bottom, “Ashiri, you go through that and we'll pass our gear through to you through one of the other gaps.”

  “Roger,” she nodded. We moved as quickly as we could. For the medium height gaps, we braced one another and acted as ramps and stools. I tried to keep the biggest and lowest gaps for Dawson and Karmazin, as the two biggest guys in our section, but we were rapidly running out of gaps. In the end, there were only three left.

  I stared at the gap at the top, then looked over at Karmazin and Dawson. I sighed, “You're going to have to throw me.”

  Dawson gave me a goofy grin, “You sure?”

  “No,” I said, “but it's probably our best bet.” I nodded at the others on the other side, “Please ty to catch me, okay?”

  I saw Josephic and Mikuluk move opposite us. Dawson and Karmazin caught me under my arms and at my knees. I closed my eyes as they swung me back and forth for a minute. “Ready, Biohazard?” Dawson asked.

  “Just do it,” I snapped.

  I opened my eyes as they threw me upwards and forwards. For a moment, I thought they'd thrown me too hard, as the top bar of the frame came at me, but then I was diving through the gap, headfirst. I sucked in my stomach and tried to roll through... and the tips of my boots just barely passed over the top of the beam. I'd made it.

  They caught me on the other side, though I managed to elbow Mikuluk in the face in the process.

  We assembled on the far side and Lieutenant Webster looked positively disgusted with us. He ran us through the next three obstacles, seeming to grow more and more angry as we went on. I didn't know what we'd done to irritate him.

  We did another shooting event, then a buddy carry where I ended up having to carry Dawson for fifty meters. Here and there we came to an obstacle where another section was still at work, and Cadet Lieutenant Webster would run us in circles while we waited for them to pass or fail. It went on, and on, one obstacle after another after another until they all blurred together.

  The sun was just starting to come up when he led us to a halt in front of a tall sloped wall. The entire surface was covered in thick, slippery mud, and it was at a steep enough angle that I hated to even think of trying to climb it.

  “Plebes,” Webster snapped, “This is the final obstacle between you and Recognition! When you get to the top of that wall, you will have earned your place in the Regiment. You have shown the ability to learn, to be a part of the Cadet Reserve Regiment. All you have to do is reach the top.”

  He gave us a nasty smile, “Of course, anyone who doesn't reach the top is a washout. You give up, you go home.” He waved behind us, “Here comes Ogre Section. You better get moving, you're still on the clock.”

  He stepped out of the way and we ran at the wall. Even before I reached it, I found myself slipping and stumbling. I slid into the wall and scrabbled at it, barely finding purchase. It wasn't working, if anything, my tired arms were working against me, and I found myself sliding backwards on the slight slope at the base of the wall.

  “We have to work together,” I shouted. I pushed and shoved at my squad and I saw Karmazin and Mikuluk doing the same. “Form up,” I shouted. We leaned on each other and one by one, we started climbing over each other... but it still wasn't enough. I grunted in pain as someone's boot drove into my eye. I gasped in pain as Ashiri climbed over my back... but we were still too short. “First Squad,” I gasped, “Climb us, Third Squad, brace us.”

  I felt a pair of hands brace me in place and then more hands and feet on my back. Someone stepped on my head and nearly drove me to my knees. Sweat and mud stung my eyes and it was everything I could do not to collapse... but then I heard a shout as someone reached the top.

  “Third squad,” I gasped, “Climb, first squad, pull.”

  I slipped and nea
rly fell as Third Squad climbed across my back. Yet our human pyramid had reached the top, and they were pulling us up as much as the people climbing us were pushing us down. It was painful and I felt like I'd been beaten with a stick, but soon enough, Third Squad was at the top.

  It was our turn, now, and they leaned over, forming a human chain to help pull us up. I pushed Ashiri ahead of me and I was the last one, my feet finding no real purchase, my legs feeling like rubber and my arms aching, and my hands barely able to hold on.

  They pulled me over the top and I lay there gasping, too tired to move, too tired to think.

  “Congratulations,” Cadet Lieutenant Webster said, “you're at the top. Head down to the finish line and you're done. You can go back, shower, and change.”

  Behind me, I heard Ogre grunting and shouting as they tried to climb the wall. I could picture Sashi pawing at the wall below me, stuck under the weight of Bolander or Thorpe. I could picture Bolander's face peeled back in anger, anger that we'd finished ahead of her, anger that Sand Dragon had done better than Ogre.

  I saw a few of my section headed down the stairs. I didn't say anything, I just stood up and leaned over the wall. Just below me, I saw someone reaching upwards, face covered in mud and sweat, just a grimacing set of teeth and eyes. I reached out and caught the outstretched hand.

  The weight nearly pulled me over the side, but I braced my feet. A moment later, Ashiri reached down next to me and caught the plebe's other hand. Someone started climbing up the woman's back. A moment later, all the other Sand Dragons were reaching over the side, pulling up Ogre's plebes.

  I half expected to hear Cadet Lieutenant Webster shout at us, but as I had a moment to catch my breath, I saw him off to the side, watching us with a calm expression, arms crossed as he considered us. After what seemed like an eternity, the last of the Ogres had climbed up the human chain and Ashiri and I scrambled to pull the last over the top. The three of us collapsed in a pile on the far side, just as the sun rose over the horizon, shining on us.

  I recognized Bolander, then. She stared at me, looking miserable under the caked mud, her hair wild. I didn't want to think about what I looked like. “Thanks,” she growled.

  “Yeah,” I said back to her. I didn't know what else to say.

  I heard shouts and grunts on the far side of the wall. Someone else had arrived, it seemed. Despite my exhaustion, despite my aching body, I found myself laughing. To my surprise, Bolander started laughing, too.

  “Should we help them?” Bolander asked as she stumbled to her feet.

  “Might as well,” I said. She gave me a hand up and we went to work.

  ***

  A couple of hours later, assembled as a mass formation, we stood on the parade ground, dripping mud, aching, sweaty, and utterly exhausted. We had started the recognition run as separate sections. We had finished it as a group. One, long, staggering chain of muddy, dirty figures.

  I didn't know if our feeling of unity would remain. I didn't know if Bolander would try to pummel me the next time we ran across each other. I didn't know if Sashi would try to stab me in the back. I didn't really care. We had finished together and it gave me a feeling of exhilaration.

  “Class of Two-Ninety!” The Regimental Training Officer snapped. “Congratulations!”

  Behind his platform, the rest of the regiment had formed up. They watched us, their expressions stern. I wondered what they thought of the muddy, bedraggled group that stood in front of them.

  “Raise your right hand, and repeat after me,” Cadet Commander Trindale snapped. “I, state your name...”

  “I,” I said, “Jiden Armstrong, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend Century Colony against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will uphold the Colonial Charter, that I will bear true allegiance to the Colonial Charter and the Colony of Century.” I repeated the words, feeling a weight settle on my shoulders as I said them.

  “Class of Two-Ninety, you are hereby recognized as Cadets Fourth Class, with all the rights, duties, and obligations thereof... WELCOME TO THE REGIMENT!” The entire regiment shouted the last words with him, rocking us all back on our heels.

  “Dismissed!” He called out.

  We fell out of formation. Cadets came forward, shaking our hands in congratulations, offering towels, slapping us on the shoulders. Cadet Commander Mackenzie waved two of Sand Dragon Company forward armed with hoses and they rinsed us down as we formed up outside the barracks. The cold water was a shock, but it was the only way to get the caked mud off our skin, clothes, and hair.

  I looked back, over at where Ogre's newly minted Fourth Classmen were receiving the same treatment. I saw Bollander and Thorpe, at the center of their group, laughing and talking together. Bolander caught my eye and she gave me a slight nod. It wasn't much. It might not even mean anything... but then again, it might mean everything.

  Off to the side, I saw Sashi Drien. Cold and miserable, looking like a drowned rat, her hair hanging down in her face. I couldn't find it in me to hate her, not with how miserable she looked. If anything, I pitied her. She'd betrayed me... and it didn't look like it had made her life any better as a result. If she's willing to give up our feud, like Bolander seems to be, then so am I.

  ***

  I was cleaned up in time for chapel services and feeling a little lost. So much had changed in the past few hours and I didn't really know what to do with myself. The other cadets of Sand Dragon had been downright friendly to all of us. Cadet Lieutenant Webster was the only exception, of course. He still kept aloof and he looked as if he'd swallowed a lemon.

  He'd ran us through a quick briefing after we had time to clean up. We still were the lowest ranking cadets at the Academy. We still had to clean the bathrooms and common areas. We still had inspections. We still had far more restrictions than the other cadets. But we had far more freedom than we'd ever had before. It felt strange to walk around the campus without having to run and to not always feel like I had to watch over my shoulder.

  The chapel was mostly empty. It seemed as if most people were getting some rest. I'd come out of habit. There wasn't any training to avoid, it was simply a quiet place for me to think.

  The Chaplain went through his service and I listened with half an ear as he talked about the importance of coming together, of putting aside differences. I wondered if he was talking about the plebe class in general, about us being recognized, or if it were something aimed a bit more personally at me. Nah, I thought, he probably has no idea about my troubles.

  The unspoken truce between Sand Dragon and Ogre seemed to be holding. I had no idea whether it would last or not. While I didn't really hate them, I still didn't understand why they'd focused on me, which left me nervous that they might do so again. I'd have to keep up with my martial arts training, I figured.

  I wondered if Sashi Drien would continue her grudge against me. Part of me hoped that she did. At least then I knew one person who was out to get me. The real threat, the person who'd tried to kill me, I didn't have a face, a name... I had nothing to go on besides the suspicion that it was someone who wore the same uniform as me.

  That realization hit me hard. That was where my uncertainty came from. This felt like another betrayal. I had counted on Champion Enterprises and I'd been betrayed by Tony and Tony's father Isaac Champion. I'd decided to join the military and now someone from the military was trying to kill me, presumably over what had happened at Champion Enterprises.

  As the services wrapped up, I found myself wondering about that. If I survived, if I did find out who'd been trying to kill me, could I leave it behind? Could I trust the military after someone betrayed that trust?

  ***

  Chapter Fifteen: Family is the Worst

  The next week seemed to fly by. Family day was on the following Saturday after Recognition. I had exams in all of my classes that week, we had a formal inspection of our dress uniforms and rooms that Friday, and I had to go through an interview board for being a Cadet Ins
tructor.

  I managed to do well in my exams and the inspection was almost routine at this point. The Cadet Instructor selection board left me shaking and trembling mess of nerves. I couldn't even say why. They asked me questions about myself, what I wanted to do, what I would do in complicated situations. It wasn't much different from some of the questions I'd gone through as a server for the Regimental Staff or that I'd dealt with from Cadet Instructors. Somehow it felt far worse and I left feeling sweaty and barely made it back to my room before I collapsed.

  We did a formal parade, all of us marching in formation with the rest of our company. I felt proud, finally wearing the shoulder patch for the company on my uniform. I felt even prouder when they released us and my parents came up and gave me a hug. Of course, mom ruined that.

  “You look almost like a real soldier,” she said.

  “Militia,” I corrected automatically, “and I am in the Militia, I'm a Cadet Fourth Class, and--” I saw her face tense. I remembered how she'd lost her father when she was only a child. It wasn't worth the fight. “Nevermind.”

  “Well,” Dad said, “you look good.”

  “Thanks dad,” I replied. I looked over at Will, who looked like his head was on a swivel, trying to take everything in at once. He'd be fourteen next year, graduated with his classes... He's going to apply. Somehow, I knew it. He'd attend the Academy Prep School and then he'd go on to the Academy afterward.

  I didn't know if my parents realized it yet or not.

  Thinking about Will going through what I had gave me mixed feelings. If he did, then I'd do my best to get him ready for it. I didn't want him to go into it blind, like I had. I felt oddly protective of him... yet at the same time, I knew he'd be capable of doing it. He'll probably do better than me, I thought.