Freshman year flew by. Most of the classes were large lectures or taught on individual workstations. The cadets were regularly quizzed and often had to turn in lengthy research papers. They were intensely busy from the time they awoke to the time they crashed with their head on the pillow. Rachel and Reuben joined a co-ed club basketball team. Their team finished the season one shy of dead last. Wendy joined the volleyball team and did reasonably well. Faye Anne joined the swim team and specialized in longer distances. David joined the swim team as a diver with a less than spectacular record. Rashi joined the baseball team as a catcher and ended the season in second place.
This is not to say that everything went smoothly. David settled a few arguments with his fists. Rachel and Wendy found that merely scratching the backs of their necks would quickly calm down most situations. Faye Anne became adept at talking her way out of conflicts. Reuben found that a wide-eyed innocent appearance worked wonders for diffusing tensions. Only Rashi managed to stay completely out of trouble and even he had no idea how he did it. While they knew that many eyes were watching for their mistakes, they managed to get through their freshman year without disciplinary action taken against them.
By the end of the first year, the six had started to diversify their skills, Rachel was clearly the leader, the strategist and tactician. Wendy applied the reality check that verified Rachel’s strategies. She would think through the parts of Rachel’s plans that might have been missed and determine if what Rachel intended to do would work. Reuben got into the engineering even more that he admitted. He did immensely better than he had in high school with tougher, more challenging material. He specialized in spaceflight engineering and quickly moved to the top of this class in those subjects. Rashi found a home in nuclear power and in munitions. He understood the principles better than any of the others could even hope to do. Faye Anne’s specialty was information. She could find information that no one else could find. She had information that continually amazed and astounded the others.
After his battle with the Swordsmen, David had become quiet. Combat had changed him. Instead of being the loud, obnoxious, arrogant person that he had been, he became as quiet as he had been loud before. He became more studious. His writing style changed. His writing was short, concise, to the point. He could get an idea across coherently in less time than any of the others. History and law appealed to him. He did well in his writing courses. His ability to analyze and see through the ideas in the written word improved dramatically during that first year at the academy. When they received the results of the final exams at the end of the first year, they were in the top quarter of their class. They were not in the top ten percent as they would have liked but solidly in the first quarter and while they knew that was nothing to be ashamed of, they looked to do better next year and even more looked forward to spending their summer training with the Marines.
Six tired cadets caught a military jet from the airfield at the Academy and slept through the flight to Parris Island. They arrived in the middle of the night and were escorted to the visiting officer’s quarters. As Rachel and Wendy’s parents, Greg and Avi, did a generation earlier, they requested to spend their summer break from the Academy at the Federation Marine training center on Parris Island. They looked forward to the idea of their training focusing exclusively on their bodies and not on their minds. After the rigorous training at the Academy, boot camp with the Marines seemed like a vacation.
At 0700 they reported as instructed to the training battalion commander’s office wearing their fatigues. They were escorted into an empty office and instructed to wait for the Colonel. A well muscled black Marine exactly Greg’s height, weight and build entered the room. His expertly tailored uniform proudly displayed every muscle in his powerful back and shoulders. Much of his hair had gone gray, but there was no doubt that this was a man in prime physical condition. They immediately snapped to attention and saluted.
Colonel Connors returned the salute. “Stand at ease.” He walked the line they had formed in front of his desk and addressed each of them by name and rank in turn. He walked behind his desk and looked them over one more time. “Welcome to Parris Island. My official mission is to turn you into the best officers the Space Force has ever seen. My unofficial mission is to kick the living shit out of you for the entire summer. We will do both. I am Colonel Reginald Connors and I will be responsible for your training while you are here. In a few minutes you will meet your sparring partners. For the duration of your stay you will not be Space Force officers, you will be treated as Marine enlisted personnel. Do not even think of going to the Officers’ Club. Your sparring partners must go everywhere you go, therefore, you can’t go anywhere they can’t go.”
“Your training supervisor will be Gunnery Sergeant Gabriel Alexander. He has been training cadets in our summer program for ten years. He will challenge you and push you as far as you can go. If you don’t hurt at the end of each day, he has not done his job. If you have trouble sleeping at night, it won’t be his fault. Before we start, I need to have a word privately with both of the Cadets Solomon. Through that door to your left is a conference room. Go in there and have a seat. I will join you shortly. The rest of you please have a seat here. We will return for you in a few minutes.”
After Colonel Connors was settled in his seat at the head of the table and the girls had taken theirs he said, “I have taken the liberty of inviting Lt. Colonel Latisha Strong to join us. What we are about to discuss is extremely sensitive. You are not to discuss it even among yourselves except in my presence. Do I make myself clear?”
“Sir! Yes, Sir!” they chorused.
Lt. Colonel Strong entered the room and the cadets jumped to their feet. Latisha Strong was as black as Colonel Connors and as solidly built. Her uniform was as well tailored as his and left no doubt that she could be as much a force to contend with as he was. She was exactly Avi’s height and stature. The girls were looking at a black version of their mother.
“As you were.” She closed the door behind her.
“We need to deal with some misconceptions.” The Colonel steepled his fingers. “I was your father’s sparring partner. He is responsible for my getting into Officer Candidate School.”
Lt. Colonel Strong said, “I was your mother’s sparring partner, and she made my life a living hell until I passed the Officer School entrance exam. We owe your parents a great deal.”
Rachel and Wendy shot a quick smile and glance.
“Some things never change, I see,” she continued. “Growing up with those two for parents must have been an adventure.”
“That’s a good word,” Rachel said.
The two senior Marines chuckled.
Colonel Connors picked up. “Your parents had the most incredible ability to draw trouble to themselves. I don’t know how they did it, but they would be quietly sitting with us at a bar somewhere and they would get attacked. Never could figure it out. There is one incident that I need to tell you about. You need to understand what happened because it impacts your own self-images. I am talking about the death of Daniel Esperanza.”
Lt. Colonel Strong ignored Rachel and Wendy’s sharp gasp and picked up the story. “It was the end of our last summer together. Your parents were headed back to the Academy for their senior year. We had been assigned to duty in the South China Sea and were to meet our ship in Seattle. As much firepower as we owned between us, we decided that it would be safer to drive across country than try to pass that many weapons through airport security. The four of us alternated driving. Do not let your father drive on a major highway! He is a hazard on the road. It’s a good thing he doesn’t fly like he drives. We were in Alabama when we decided to get off the highway and find somewhere to eat. Your mother spotted this little bar that was about the only thing open in the town. It was crowded for a weeknight. We ate at a corner booth and got up to leave. Your father got up first, and this guy blocked his way. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was Daniel Esperanza. H
e taunted your dad calling him ‘nigger lover’ and pushing him back away from the door. His buddies made a ring around them and kept us away from helping him. It was like they were setting him up for a fight. The buddies came at us with knives and broken bottles. It was turning into a free-for-all.”
She paused a moment before continuing. “The guy drew a knife on your dad, and your dad grabbed the knife hand. The scar he has on his wrist, that’s when he got it. Your mother saw the blood and freaked out. She screamed like a raving maniac. She grabbed the two guys in front of her and smashed their heads together fracturing their skulls. They passed out on the floor but they lived to tell the story. She jumped over them and leaped onto Esperanza’s back. She wrapped her legs around his middle. She beat him on the head with her fists screaming the whole time. When he didn’t let go, she pulled her knife out from under her collar and put it to his neck. I don’t know what she was thinking or even if she was thinking, but she took her knife with its six inch blade and started at one jugular vein and worked around to the other. She held that knife just under his chin like we showed her in combat training, and she sliced that man’s throat like she’d done it all her life. Blood was shooting everywhere. She could have left it at that, but she didn’t. She made another stroke with the knife and took the head completely off. Our Bowie knives are big knives, even bigger than those throwing knives you keep in your collars, but I doubt I could take man’s head off in two strokes like she did. I have never seen so much blood. Then she started waving the severed head around the room threatening people with it. There was a look in her eyes I have never seen before or since. It frightened me.”
Wendy nodded. “We’ve seen that look.”
Colonel Connors picked up the story. “There were two guys blocking the door. Your dad knifed both of them. He grabbed your mother and they ran. We covered their exit before we left. Apparently there aren’t a lot of police in that area because we got away. I think if we had been in a more populated area that would not have happened. My point is, Daniel Esperanza did not have to die. We could have subdued him and his buddies with non-lethal force. Second, your dad loves your mother very much because he has covered for her all these years. Third, there are people who will seek vengeance for these deaths against you. You need to be prepared. We are training you in the use of lethal force, but it is important that you make the decision to use lethal force only when non-lethal force will not work.”
“This was the beginning of the troubles between them,” Lt. Colonel Strong said. “The incident so traumatized your mother she almost flunked out of the Academy. She couldn’t go to anyone for help because if she did she would be tried for murder. Your dad was afraid of her. He had seen what her anger could do and feared for his own life. He helped her some during their last year at the academy, but it was not the same. They tried to reconcile while they were assigned to the same fleet after graduation, but it did not work. You need to understand the power you have and use it wisely. There are alternatives to killing.”
Silence filled the room.
“That explains many things,” Wendy said quietly.
Rachel said, “He is still afraid of her.”
“Now know why,” Wendy added. “I think I would be afraid too. Their fights are so intense.”
“They fight a lot, but they keep their distance from each other for days after a fight. They really are afraid of each other,” Rachel said. “They love each other, but there is this tension that never goes away, and you want to see that the same thing does not happen to us?”
“Yes, but there’s more,” Colonel Connors said after a pause. “I have listened to Andersen’s unofficial account of the incident with Anthony LaMarche, and he has the details correct.”
“I wasn’t there for that one,” Lt. Col Strong interrupted.
“Were you the mysterious Shore Patrol Marine?” Rachel asked incredulously.
Colonel Connors face split in a huge grin. “I wonder if Andersen still has the pistols.”
“He does. He visited us during Winter Break at the Academy. He is waiting for someone to claim them,” Rachel offered.
Colonel Connors’ laugh was deep, rolling and warm. His whole body shook as he laughed. “That little weasel. I never did understand why your dad thought of him as a friend, but those days are gone. On to the business at hand, let’s go meet your sparring partners.”
They picked up the four who were waiting in the outer office on their way to the parade field. Once there, they joined over a hundred other cadets and a like number of Marines. Cadets had come from the Air Force, Navy and Space Force Academies. The Marines were recent graduates of the Marines’ Special Forces programs and were in top physical shape.
Gunnery Sergeant Gabriel Alexander stood on top of small platform. “Fall IN! Make four lines in order by height! Line 1! Female Marines! Line 2! Female cadets! Line 3! Male Marines! Line 4! Male cadets!” Two straight lines, and two ragged lines formed on the field.
“Eyes LEFT! When I say four lines I mean four STRAIGHT lines!” The two ragged lines of cadets straightened out somewhat.
When the movement stopped, Sergeant Alexander commanded, “Marines! About face!” The Marines sharply spun around to face the cadets. “Marines! You should be facing your assigned sparring partner. If you are not facing your assigned partner swap places until you are.”
“Marines! Introduce yourself to your partner for the next eight weeks!”
Rachel’s partner was Lance Corporal Suwanee Baxter. Wendy’s partner was Lance Corporal Patricia Hefner. Faye Anne’s partner was Lance Corporal Janet Rivers. Reuben’s partner was Lance Corporal Darius Black. Rashi’s partner was Lance Corporal Lionel Sanford. David’s partner was Lance Corporal Luther Townsend. All were perfectly matched for height and weight. However, the Marines were in much better physical condition, and as pale as the cadets were from having spent so much time in the classroom, the Marines were black. The Marines on the parade field represented most of the races that made up the Federation, but the six Jewish cadets all had black partners. Faye Anne was the first to notice and rationalized that this arrangement could not have been an accident, and it must have been for their own good.
“Cadets! Introduce yourself to your partner for the next eight weeks!”
When the voices had stopped, Sergeant Alexander commanded, “Marines! About FACE!”
The Marines quickly executed the order. “Marines! Count off by six!”
Starting on their left, the Marines counted off loudly and clearly. “Marine Number One and Cadet partners! Forward March!”
When the four moving lines had cleared the remaining lines standing on the field, Sergeant Alexander commanded, “Halt! You are now Platoon One! Platoon One! Left face! Forward march. Close ranks march!”
After a few beats he commanded, “Column left! March!” He marched Platoon One around so it was standing behind the four lines still in place. In similar fashion, he separated and positioned the six platoons on the parade field. The six cadets from Eretz were separated, one in each of the platoons.
“Listen up! Effective immediately and for the duration of this training you will have the rights and privileges of a Lance Corporal in the Federation Marine Corps. The fact that some of you have the rank of officer in some other military service means nothing! For the next eight weeks you are all Lance Corporals! Do I make myself clear?”
“Sir! Yes! Sir!”
“Do I make myself clear?”
“Sir! Yes! Sir!”
“In a few minutes I will release you to move from your temporary billets to your barracks. Marines! You will assist your sparring partner with the move. Your sparring partner will be your roommate for the summer. The women will be in barracks two to a room. The men will be in open bay barracks. This is the only part of your training where the women will be treated differently from the men. Marines will take the top bunks. You will return here and form up in your platoons in exactly one hour. At that time you will determine unit
commanders. Each unit will have a Marine commander and a cadet commander. For today, that commander will the be the oldest Marine and the oldest cadet in the platoon. Do I make myself clear?”
“Sir! Yes! Sir!”
“Do I make myself clear?”
“Sir! Yes! Sir!”
“Company! Fall Out!”
ACADEMY - CHAPTER TWO
RACHEL LOOKED AT HER PARTNER and decided to find out exactly how evenly matched they were. She grinned and said, “Race you to the V O Q!” Lance Corporal Suwanee Baxter grinned back and took off. She ran in long even strides that ate up the distance. Rachel’s strides were shorter, but more powerful, and they stayed together as they left the field and headed down the road.
Colonel Connors and Lt. Colonel Strong saw the two break away from the pack and barrel across the field. “It’s going to be an interesting summer,” he said. “I think you were right about Corporal Baxter. Who do you think challenged whom?”
“My guess is Cadet Solomon issued the challenge and Corporal Baxter rose to it. Corporal Baxter will rise to whatever challenge she chooses to rise to. Let’s hope Cadet Solomon can make the connection and do for Corporal Baxter what her mother did for me.”
“And visa versa I trust.”
“I didn’t do that much for Avi. She was her own woman.”
“You are too modest.”
“What about you and Greg?”
“We learned from each other, just as we hope they learn from each other.”
Suwanee beat Rachel to the V O Q, but not by as much of a lead as Suwanee would have expected. Breathing heavily from the run, she turned to greet Rachel as she arrived. Suwanee held her hand out. “You are one sharp cookie!”
Solomon Family Warriors II Page 45
