First Colony: Books 1 - 3

by Ken Lozito

  “Why did you pick such a remote location to train us, sir?” Frost asked.

  “You were in the military before?” Connor asked.

  “Yes, sir, same kind of job. Different location, sir.”

  “Then you already know the answer to that question,” Connor said.

  “Joe and I . . . uh, Bones and I have served before. We understand the discipline you’re trying to instill, but some of the others have no idea, sir,” Frost said.

  “They’ll learn or they’ll go back to the compound,” Connor said.

  “This is done, sir,” Frost said and gestured toward the power generator.

  Connor thought it would have taken another half hour to put it together, but he looked it over and everything seemed to be in order. Frost engaged the generator’s startup sequence and it went through several self-diagnostics before returning the ready status.

  “Good work,” Connor said.

  “Thank you, sir. You wanted the best, sir,” Frost said.

  She wasn’t lacking in confidence. “That remains to be seen. Lay out the wiring for the fence and then rejoin the others,” Connor said.

  Connor left his engineer and headed toward the others. The fully constructed fence sections were over twelve feet tall, but inside the crate they were folded over and only half that height. Most of the recruits carried the sections together except for Randle and Compton, who each took a section of their own. The progress they were making was painstakingly slow. At the rate they were going, the fence wouldn’t be complete until well after nightfall, which was unacceptable.

  “I think we have ourselves a competition going on here,” Connor said. “Randle, you’re strong as a bull. In fact, that’s your name now. And Compton is like a bear.”

  “A grizzly bear, sir,” Diaz said.

  “Grizzly, I like that. Do you like it, Compton?” Connor asked.

  “Yes, sir,” he answered.

  “Well, see how many sections Bull and Grizzly can handle on their own. Let’s see how many they can lift up together. Any bets?” Connor asked.

  “I say six sections, sir,” said Henry “Hot Rod” Deacon.

  “Whatever it is, I know I can equal it, sir,” Bones said.

  Connor laughed with the rest of them. “The gauntlet has been thrown. Show us what you can do.”

  Bull went inside the large crate and came out with two sections of fencing. Each section was ten feet in length. He laid the sections on the ground, one atop the other. Grizzly continued stacking until they had eight sections in a neat pile. Each section weighed about fifty pounds. Neal “Grizzly” Compton and Wayne “Bull” Randle squatted down and easily lifted them up. They carried the fencing a hundred meters from the storage container toward the end of the fence that was already up. By the time they reached the end, both men were gasping and drenched in sweat. They set the sections down and hunched over with their hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath.

  “Alright, Bones, you’re up. Eight sections,” Connor said.

  “No problem, sir,” Bones said.

  “This should be interesting,” Connor said and glanced over to see Boone and Nate beginning to offload a section of fencing. “Hold off on that a second. I want everyone to watch how Bones is going to pull this off.”

  Bones smiled widely. “I’ll need one volunteer to help me.”

  “Now wait a minute,” Bull said. “You said you could beat us alone.”

  “That’s not what I said. I said I could equal it,” Bones replied.

  Bull looked at Connor. “Sir?”

  “Let’s see what he does,” Connor said.

  They went back to the storage crate, and Bones stood in the entrance. “Sir, I need one volunteer.”

  “Me, sir, I’ll do it,” Blake “Babyface” Allison said and ran forward before anyone could stop her.

  Bones frowned for a moment, then shrugged and gestured for her to follow him inside.

  The two of them carried out eight more sections of fencing one section at a time and stacked them together. The rest of the recruits looked on with slightly bemused expressions. If Bull and Grizzly—who were both six feet, six inches tall and close to three hundred pounds of solid muscle—had trouble, they assumed that the team of Bones and Babyface certainly couldn’t do it.

  Bones went back into the storage container and pulled out the straps from inside. The engineer got down on his hands and knees and weaved the cord through the slats at the bottom section of fencing. Babyface helped him and after a few minutes they had multiple crisscross sections weaved throughout. Bones cut the remaining cords into smaller sections and weaved those in, leaving enough slack at the end to make a harness.

  Bones called Babyface over and gave her some instructions. She nodded and knelt on the ground. Bones looped the cords around her middle and then crossed them behind her neck, then ran to the other side and got himself set up with a makeshift harness.

  “Okay, Blake . . . I mean Babyface, on three we lift together,” Bones said.

  Bones counted down and then pushed up from a squat to a standing position. Babyface did the same and, much to the recruits’ surprise, the stack of fencing rose off the ground, entirely stable.

  “Good job!” Boone shouted and clapped.

  Bull and Grizzly just stood with their mouths hanging open.

  “Okay, one step at a time. Just a walk in the park,” Bones said.

  Connor watched as the two recruits carried eight fence sections over a hundred meters and set their stack down near the other stack. Both of them were sweating and slightly winded from the effort.

  Connor grinned. “You see, brains and brawn can work just fine apart, but together you can accomplish so much more.”

  Bull went over to Bones. “You’ve got to show us how you did that.”

  “It’s easy. I can show you,” Bones said and led some of the others back toward the storage crate.

  Connor saw Babyface watching him, so he gave an approving nod. She beamed at the acknowledgment.

  The recruits broke themselves up into two teams. One team carried the fencing sections out from the storage crate while the others set them up and connected the sections together. They progressed much quicker because of it, but Connor knew there was no way they were going to finish in the time he’d given them. They did manage to get well past the midpoint using Bones’ new method of carrying. Connor looked around and saw that they were now leaving stacks of fence sections along the perimeter of their new camp. Neither he nor Diaz yelled at them to move faster. They’d achieved each objective he’d set for them, which was to set up the perimeter fence and work quickly and efficiently as a team. To the casual onlooker, what Connor was about to do would seem cruel, but anyone who’d trained soldiers would know it was necessary.

  The sun was getting lower in the sky, and his team of recruits lined up. They were grimy and sweaty and starting to smell pretty ripe.

  “Recruits, we have a temporary addition to our team. Recruit Bling, get up here and face the squad,” Connor said.

  Sean Quinn was covered in dirt from the trench he’d dug to serve as their latrine. He stood at attention.

  “I see that some of you recognize Recruit Bling, but for those of you who don’t know him, his name is Sean Quinn. His father, Tobias, is the governor of our colony and his mother, Ashley, is chief of medicine on the Ark. Bling decided it would be a good idea to store himself in one of the crates, and I didn’t find him until after we’d gotten here,” Connor said and circled around Sean while addressing the other recruits. “He complained that the other people at the compound give him too much preferential treatment. He wants to join Search and Rescue to be part of something important. He says he’s committed to us and to you. Over the next few days, before our next shipment of supplies comes in, I’ll need to decide what his level of commitment is. The reason I’m telling you this is because I didn’t want anyone to give this young man any preferential treatment, but now I’m not sure I agree with
that. He’s used to getting special treatment, so I’m going to hold with that tradition. For every mistake Recruit Bling makes, you all will join him in his punishment. For every mistake, lapse in judgment, trip, fall, complaint, or anything else the rest of you do that Sergeant Diaz and myself don’t like, Recruit Bling here will do double your punishment,” Connor said and turned toward Sean Quinn. “How’s that sound to you, Bling?”

  “Sir, it sounds outstanding, sir,” Sean replied.

  “Get back in line,” Connor said.

  Sean scurried back to his place and stumbled into Bull. He whispered a hasty apology and took his place.

  “Recruit Bling, come back here,” Connor snapped.

  Sean ran back to the front.

  “Did you understand my order, recruit?” Connor asked.

  Sean frowned. “Yes, sir.”

  “Repeat the order for me,” Connor said.

  “Sir, you said to get back in line, sir,” Sean said.

  “That’s right. Then why did you assault Recruit Bull?”

  Sean’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, sir. It just sort of happened.”

  “Just sort of happened?” Connor asked and looked at Diaz. “Sergeant Diaz, do you believe in magic?”

  “No, sir.”

  Connor glared at Sean. “I assume you know how to walk straight, is that right?”

  “Yes, sir, it won’t—”

  “Recruit!” Diaz bellowed. “The commander didn’t ask for an excuse.”

  “Sergeant Diaz, what’s our standard punishment for this kind of infraction?”

  “Fifty pushups, sir,” Diaz said.

  Connor stood in front of Sean. “That means you get to do a hundred pushups and the rest of you get to do fifty. Count them off right now.”

  “But, sir—”

  “I’m not interested in your opinion!” Connor bellowed. “If I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.”

  Sean immediately dropped to the ground and started counting off pushups. The rest of the team dropped and began their pushups.

  Connor paced in front of them. “I know you’ve become accustomed to voicing your opinions the moment they become a thought in your brain, but during training we’re not interested in your opinions. When you make a mistake, don’t offer up excuses and try to tell Sergeant Diaz or myself that it won’t happen again. Words are cheap.” Connor paused and watched as Recruit Allison struggled with her pushups. She glanced at Connor’s feet as he stood by her and doubled her efforts.

  “Sergeant Diaz, do you know what an excuse is?” Connor asked.

  “I’m sure I do, sir, but I never get tired of hearing you say it,” Diaz replied.

  “An excuse is another word for failure. No amount of words will erase the failure. Now, you say it,” Connor ordered the recruits.

  The recruits repeated it, and Connor had them do it again. They finished their pushups, with the exception of Bling.

  “The rest of you have a hundred and twenty seconds to use the latrine and return here or you’ll join Recruit Bling for more pushups,” Connor said.

  Half the recruits immediately ran toward the trench at the far side of the camp.

  “Excuse me, sir,” Owens said.

  “Einstein, I don’t recall giving you permission to ask me anything. You have your orders,” Connor said.

  “But, sir, I don’t think I can in front of everybody, sir,” Owens said.

  “Hold on. Recruits, get back here,” Connor shouted.

  Diaz yelled at the other recruits to get back. Several stumbled back, pulling up their pants and looking annoyed.

  “Line up!” Diaz said.

  Several glared ahead and refused to look at him.

  “The reason you were called back was because Recruit Einstein didn’t think she could handle the pressure of relieving herself in front of all of you. Apparently she’s pee-pee shy. So now we get to do a little bit of running. Thirty laps, following the fence. You will stay in formation. Recruit Bling, that will be sixty laps for you,” Connor said.

  Sean turned around and started running.

  “Recruits, you heard the man. Fall out!” Diaz said.

  Connor led them along the perimeter of the fence and heard the footfalls of the recruits behind him.

  “Hey, Bones, how far is thirty laps?” Compton asked.

  “Six miles,” Bones answered, and several recruits started groaning.

  Connor turned around and jogged backwards. “There is no talking on this run, recruits.”

  The first two miles passed without anyone complaining. The third mile brought on a few groans and the fourth mile added to that.

  Diaz pulled out a shock stick from his belt. “If any of you lag behind, you’ll get to feel the love from my stunner.”

  The recruits immediately shut their mouths. At six miles, Connor brought them to a halt. He told Diaz to get them lined up and ran with Sean Quinn.

  “Ready to call it quits?” Connor asked.

  “No, sir.”

  “Why not? All you have to do is get to a comlink and make that call. Mommy and Daddy will come and take you home. Acknowledge this was all a big mistake and promise never to do it again,” Connor said.

  “I won’t quit, sir,” Sean said.

  “Are you sure? I can get communications up in no time,” Connor said.

  “I’m not gonna quit, sir.”

  “We’ll see, Bling. We’ll see,” Connor said and stopped running. “If you finish the rest of the run in forty-five minutes, you get to stay for another hour. Otherwise, I’m going to make the call.”

  Connor watched as Sean quickened his pace.

  Connor returned to the others and regarded his recruits for a moment. There were already a few soldiers in the bunch, but by the time he was done, they’d all be much closer to being soldiers than they were right now.

  “Let’s try this again. You have one hundred and twenty seconds to use the latrine and return here,” Connor said.

  Diaz repeated the order, and this time the recruits hastened toward the latrine without comment. Diaz walked over to his side.

  “Going to be a long night,” Diaz said.

  “I thought you liked to stay up all night,” Connor chided.

  “I do, but we don’t all have those fancy implants and nanites that let us get by on two hours of sleep,” Diaz said.

  “I think it’s time for a water ration. Would you get the canteens and bring them back here? Take Boone and Einstein to do the heavy lifting,” Connor said.

  Diaz grinned. “At once, sir. Right away, sir.”

  Diaz jogged away and called the recruits over to him while Connor made a show of checking his PDA for the time. He had a timer showing on his internal heads-up display, but the recruits couldn’t see that. Connor watched as Deacon shouted that their time was running out. The warning was repeated by several of the others. The recruits finished their business and sprinted back toward Connor, lining up in two rows.

  “Congratulations, you just made it and have proficiently demonstrated your ability to follow simple commands,” Connor said.

  Relief shone on most of their faces. Elyse Winters had no reaction and neither had Joe Ramirez nor Nate Poe. The three were in the best physical shape of the bunch. Wayne Randle and Neal Compton didn’t look that much worse for wear, but during the run Connor had heard them huffing and puffing quite a bit. Connor glanced at Allison Blake, who wore a determined expression.

  Diaz returned with Boone and Einstein.

  “Go get your water ration and get back in line,” Connor said.

  The recruits quickly retrieved their canteens, and Wayne Randle drank from it greedily. Joe Ramirez did the same, but none of the other recruits did.

  “Bull, do you have trouble hearing? I didn’t read in your file that you had issues with hearing,” Connor said.

  Randle looked guiltily at the canteen in his hands and closed his eyes for a moment. “No, sir,” he said.

  “What about you, Bones?
Is there something wrong with your hearing that I’m not aware of?” Connor asked.

  “No, sir,” Ramirez said.

  “Come out here and stand in the front. Both of you,” Connor said. “The rest of you may drink since you know how to follow orders.

  “It seems that both of you need a lesson in following orders again, so we’re going to do a little exercise to drive that point home,” Connor said.

  “Yes, sir,” both recruits said in unison.

  “Do either of you know what burpees are?” Connor asked.

  “No, sir,” Ramirez said.

  “Yes, sir. It’s hands to the ground by your feet, jump your feet back, then do a pushup, bring your feet back in, then jump into the air, sir,” Randle said.

  Connor smiled and gave an approving nod to Diaz. “Outstanding. Do forty now.”

  Both men immediately started doing the burpees. Ramirez followed along, awkwardly at first, but then easily got the hang of it. By the time they both reached twenty-five, each man was breathing heavily and had spit up the water they’d drunk.

  “As entertaining as this is, we have more work to do,” Connor said.

  There were several soft groans.

  “But if you would like to join Bull and Bones, that can easily be arranged,” Connor said.

  All groans ceased immediately and there was silence but for the footfalls of Sean Quinn running along the perimeter fence nearby.

  “We have four tents to set up. There’ll be two cots in one tent. The remaining tents will be divided among you. One tent will have five cots since we’re now a team of lucky thirteen. You have one hour to complete this task,” Connor said.

  There were no comments or questions. The recruits simply followed Diaz to the supply crate that held the tents. Exactly thirty minutes later, Sean Quinn finished his run early. He panted, and Connor regarded him for a minute. To Sean it seemed that Connor was staring at him as a form of intimidation, but what Connor was really doing was giving the young recruit some recovery time.

  “That canteen of water contains your water ration,” Connor said.

  “Yes, sir,” Sean said but didn’t move. He immediately began doing burpees and counting them off.

  Connor watched as Sean used every ounce of his remaining strength toward completing the exercise.