War and Money Page 5

  “Hey, Dax!” calls Viga. “How’s the laundry?”

  I point to the bedding gently blowing in the light breeze. “Almost dry already.”

  She comes closer. “Looks good. We’ve got the dormitory really clean.” She shakes her head. “Big Pig stepped in a bucket and spilled dirty water all over the place, so we had to clean that up, too. But it’s good now.” She sits next to me.

  “Listen,” I whisper.

  “To what?”

  I motion around us. “The world.”

  A sweet scent drifts by. The perfume of flowers. Why didn’t I smell that before?

  Viga sniffs the air. “Oh, I love this time of day. That’s when the jungle flowers come out. Did you have a flower garden at home, Dax?”

  I shake my head. “No. The ground’s too hard where we live. Nothing much grows there, except for a few wild flowers. I live in Village 77.”

  “Really?” She smiles. “I’m from Village 82. We’re neighbors! Sort of.”

  I give her a smile back. “Yeah. Have you ever been to Jewel?”

  “No. You?”

  “No. I’d like to visit it, or any other city, but I don’t think I’d like to live in a city. Too many people.” I sigh.

  “And no flowers!”

  We giggle and enjoy the flowery perfume until it’s time to take down the laundry. Viga helps me and we make up the bunks just in time, a minute before the Lead Squadron arrives from training. They collect in a group near the doorway. Thankfully Tablon isn’t with them. My squad stands straight, not at attention, but proudly with their heads high and shoulders back.

  Lenora steps forward. She looks around and checks the bunks, even underneath them. “Big Pig, did you really lead your squad?”

  He nods. “I sure did.”

  “Well, Big Pig,” Lenora says, “your squad did an acceptable job. Your discipline is hereby lifted, you don’t have to clean any other dormitories. I can’t be bothered with you AFGFs anymore. Go to your dorm and wash up. Meal time is in less than ten minutes. Your uniforms are already back in your dorm.”

  Briett licks his lips. “Meal time.”

  After taking a couple of steps toward the door, Lenora turns around. “And don’t forget to tell the Commander and instructors that Lead Lenora Averlowes is fair and one of the best Leads in camp.”

  Briett glances at me for a second and then back at Lenora. “Oh, okay, I can do that.”

  “Good. Well done, recruits.” She spins and strides from the dorm.

  A compliment from Lenora? Did I really hear that? Although it’s really a self-serving move, but still, we don’t have to do any more cleaning. We hurry to our dorm and find our uniforms, which are in one big pile. Briett runs outside and comes right back with a wet towel for us to use to wash the dirt from our hands and faces, although I’m still quite clean from my brief wash with the suds. Kova passes around the only comb for our dormitory and helps me untangle the knots from my hair. For the first time since arriving, I feel good, and hungry. I’m tired, but not tired enough to miss a meal.

  When the dinner buzzer rings, we check each other to make sure our uniforms are neat and clean, then head out to the mess hall where Tablon is standing outside the entrance. Of course, he orders us to wait until everyone else goes in and is seated.

  We start to move forward and the closer I get, the strong smell of food wafts by. There are so many aromas, I can’t separate them. Potatoes, maybe? Roasted meat, probably. And bread, definitely. I haven’t had anything to eat all day and my stomach’s grumbling in anticipation.

  Briett’s in front of me and rubs his hands together. “I think that’s roast chicken I smell. My mouth’s watering.”

  “No talking in line!” screams Tablon. He stomps right to Briett. “Big Pig, of course it’s you.” He prods Briett in the stomach. “You could skip a few meals, you know. Shed a couple of pounds before the aliens splatter your fat carcass all over the lunar surface!” He laughs and pokes Briett again. “Go back to your dormitory, recruit.”

  “But I’m really hungry.” Briett shuffles his feet in the dirt.

  “You’re a fat oaf and a disgrace to the Global Forces. Go to your dormitory!” Tablon balls up his fists.

  I can’t take it. “Leave him alone, Tablon. We all worked hard to complete Lenora’s discipline and we deserve food.” I push Briett forward as the line moves.

  Tablon turns his fury on me now. “You address your superiors as Lead or Senior Lead!” He pokes me in the chest. “So, the smudge speaks in defense of an AFGF moron? I guess you don’t want any food either. Both of you, go to your dormitory. Now.” His eyes are burning into mine.

  I know I shouldn’t say anything, but I can’t stop myself. “Lead Averlowes forced us to miss training and we did every single thing she told us to do. We deserve food.”

  Tablon threatens me with his fist. “You don’t deserve anything, smudge. The Commander’s right, you do poison people. Because of you, Big Pig misses that delicious, juicy chicken and seasoned potatoes in there. Now, both of you go to your dorm or I’ll multiply your punishment by ten. You want that, smudge?”

  There’s no one around to help, not that they would. Nobody in camp seems to care what happens to me or my squad. I keep my eyes on Tablon. “I’m sorry, Briett. I’ll make a formal complaint with the Commander.”

  “You’ll do nothing, smudge!” Tablon unhooks what looks like an old-fashioned riding crop from his belt and whips me on the thigh. “You don’t speak to the Commander!”

  It stings and I yelp. My squad all turn around and without a word, run to get in front of me. Tablon swings the riding crop and manages to strike Mick and Parna before Briett snatches the crop out of Tablon’s hands and starts whipping him! Tablon shouts and backs away, but trips and falls. Briett keeps whipping, over and over, ignoring me screaming for him to stop. Finally, Viteri arrives and pulls him off.

  Viteri tosses Briett aside and helps Tablon to his feet. “How did this happen, Senior Lead Neemiss?”

  Tablon’s teeth are clenched and he has welts and cuts on his arms and neck. “He jumped me, Commander. No provocation. Just threw his lard ass at me and attacked me. Orwan told him to do it.” He points at me.

  Viteri turns and motions me forward. “Orwan? Why am I not surprised? Why did you make this porky recruit attack a superior? You’d better have a good answer.”

  I step forward and salute crisply. “I did not make Briett do anything, sir. He was defending me against an assault by Senior Lead Neemiss. Senior Lead Neemiss struck me on the leg, sir, because I objected to his command that Briett and I go without food simply for talking in line.”

  Viteri turns back to Tablon. “Is this true? You were going to deny them food for talking?”

  “They attacked me, sir, and now they’re lying.” Tablon rubs a nasty welt on his neck.

  “They?” Viteri shakes his head. “You said the fat recruit attacked. Now you say they? Which is it?”

  Tablon is fuming. “I mean he attacked me. They both collaborated, that’s what I meant.”

  Viteri nods. “Well, they deserve punishment and you are well within your right as Lead to deal punishment as you see fit, but we cannot starve recruits. A dead recruit isn’t able to fight against the Katarga. Issue them a ration of bread and soup, but restrict them to their dormitory. I’d better not hear about any further incidents, Senior Lead Neemiss. Control these recruits and use whatever force you need. I’d suggest you administer an extra discipline for the recruit’s assault on you.” He glares at Briett and me and walks away.

  I see that Briett is about to speak and probably get us in more trouble, so I open my mouth instead, “Senior Lead Neemiss, we apologize for any infraction and accept our punishment.” The words are hard to get out, but they’re only words. If it means protecting Briett from further punishment, then it’s worth saying a few worthless words.

  Tablon eyes me carefully. “Good. Seems like you’re learning your place, smudge. Wait here and I’
ll fetch you a ration.” He shoves his way inside.

  Viga puts her arm around my shoulder. “You have to be careful, Dax. Lead Neemiss is out to get you and it’s like you’re not even trying to fit in and be a good soldier.”

  I’m not. I don’t want to be a soldier and I certainly don’t want to give in to Tablon. “Oh, don’t forget, it’s Senior Lead Neemiss, Viga. I’ll be more careful, I promise. I’d never do anything on purpose to hurt any of you.”

  She steps back. “I know.”

  “Dax,” Briett whispers. “I’m scared. I shouldn’t have hit Lead Senior Neemo. Now he’s going to kill me.”

  “No he won’t.” I give him a pat on the shoulder. “And it’s Neemis. Senior Lead Neemis. You heard the Commander. They need us alive.” I wish I had something more positive to say, but I don’t.

  Lenora walks toward the mess hall but stops when Tablon comes out with one plate in his hand.

  He glances at Lenora. “Where were you? You weren’t in your dorm.”

  She shrugs. “I was waiting for the Commander. He just told me that you were disciplining the AFGFs with a reduced food ration. One plate? You can’t starve them.”

  Tablon looks confused. “It’s none of your business.” He hands me the plate with a smirk. “Here.” It contains one thin slice of bread and a small puddle of watery soup in a little cup with one spoon poking out. “Take it and get out of my sight. Big Pig gets nothing.”

  Briett groans. “But…”

  I watch Lenora straighten and jut her chin out a bit, like she’s trying to look authoritative. “Senior Lead Neemiss, the Commander said they both get a ration. Are you going against the Commander’s orders? I would never do that. I give fair discipline. Don’t I, Big Pig?”

  Briett is completely confused. “I don’t know. I mean, yes, I mean, I think so.”

  “Big Pig gets nothing!” Tablon shouts and stomps into the mess hall without looking back.

  Instead of doing anything, Lenora shrugs and follows him with a smug look on her face.

  I motion to Briett to follow me to our dorm. With his lower lip quivering, he shuffles along behind me and once inside, I put the plate on his bunk. “Go ahead and eat, Briett. I had a big birthday breakfast this morning at home. I don’t need it.” I hope my lie sounds reasonable, although my growling stomach tells the truth. I didn’t even get a piece of birthday cake because of Viteri.

  Briett shakes his head. “No, we’ll share. I can afford to lose a bit of weight, but you can’t.”

  “Well, I’ll have half of the bread. You take the rest.” I tear the bread down the middle and go to my bunk before he can object.

  The day is winding down, which means I only have thirteen more training days in the camp before I’m sent to the moon to fight the enemy. How do they expect any of us to kill without understanding the Katarga’s motives for attacking us in the first place? I can’t just kill on command. If the Katarga planned to invade Earth, shouldn’t we find out why instead of trying to obliterate them? And what about the other aliens?

  I gobble down my bread, which isn’t that bad. Ma could only afford bread every couple of weeks, so it’s a treat. I wonder what she’s doing right now and if she misses me. I really miss her and would give anything for just one more hug.

  Chapter Six

  I’m about to drift off to sleep when the rest of my squad comes in from their meal, chatting. Viga runs right to me and hands me a small package wrapped in a paper napkin. Without unwrapping, I know what it is.

  She sits on the edge of my bunk. “I hope you don’t mind, but we all ate some of our food and saved the rest for you and Big Pig. It wasn’t easy sneaking it out in front of Lead Tablon and Lead Lenora!” She giggled. “They were watching us the whole time.”

  I look over at Briett and see that Mick has handed him a package as well. Briett doesn’t wait and downs the food as fast as he can. I carefully open the napkin and see two chunks of chicken, three tiny potatoes, two carrot sticks and several small pieces of bread. It’s the most wonderful sight.

  I sit up and wave a carrot in the air for everyone to see. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means.” These kids are true friends, my friends. “Victory to the AFGFs!”

  Viga gives me a smile and hops off my bunk. “The Commander made an announcement in the mess hall about the training times for tomorrow. We’ve got 0900. That’s nine in the morning.”

  I nod. “I know.” We learned about military time in school.

  She continues, “Breakfast is at 0700. Oh, I almost forgot. Who wants to be the RIC tomorrow?”

  Almost in unison, my squad says Dax. I suppose that since I’m the newest, it makes sense because everyone has already had a chance. But being in charge of other people isn’t something I’ve ever done before. I learned about it in Leadership class, but this is real life. What if I let them all down and open my big mouth like I’ve already done a hundred times? I might get everyone disciplined, again.

  Briett wipes his mouth on the back of his hand and crumples the napkin. “What do you say, Dax?”

  I shrug. “I suppose I can do it. What’s involved?”

  Viga takes a deep breath. “You have to report to Commander Viteri first thing in the morning with an update on your recruits. You know, if anyone is sick or hurt. Then you have to go to the mess hall a few minutes before 0700 to set your squad’s table. After breakfast, you take your squad back to the dorm to clean up for training. We don’t do this part because we don’t have bathroom facilities. Like Big Pig said before, most of us try to use the hose at night. Um, I think that’s about it.”

  That doesn’t sound so bad. At least it’ll be better than sitting around staring at the walls. “Okay, I’ll do it, but if I mess up, you have to tell me.”

  “You won’t mess up, it’s easy. Hey, if you want to wash, you should go out now while it’s somewhat dark.” Viga jumps on her bunk. “Who wants to play War and Money?”

  I don’t want to play or bathe so I curl up under the ratty blanket and close my eyes, imagining that I’m back home in my bed listening to Ma and Da in the living room softly talking about their jobs and how the only way our outlier stays solvent is because of the weapons factories up north.

  The factories run 24 hours, seven days a week and produce crates full of supplies each day. The Global Forces own the factories and the families who lease them are super rich. So rich that their children never have to be assigned or advanced, and they have dishes without any cracks and new furniture, or so I’m told.

  With constant wars and soldiers dying each day, the factories will never close down because they have to constantly crank out uniforms, armor, weapons and fighter ships to keep up with the demand. That means the families will stay rich and maybe even get richer if more aliens attack us. They never have to worry about anything.

  I hear Briett whoop when he wins at War and Money. I want to ask when he’ll graduate and be sent to the front lines, but I’m not sure I really want to know. And I don’t want to upset him. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like in a war, and I don’t want him to start thinking about it. How am I going to feel pressing a trigger and blasting a hole into another living thing? One second a Katarga is alive, the next, dead. Do they have feelings like we do? Do they send their children into battle to die? Do they have nasty people like Tablon and Lenora? Maybe the Katarga are vicious and unthinking and deserve to die. Maybe.

  I’d love to sleep, but I’m not tired and my mind’s churning.

  “Dax, are you asleep?” It’s Kova.

  I open my eyes. “No, I’m too wound up to sleep.”

  “Can I ask you something?” She kneels by my bunk.

  “Sure.”

  She bites her lip and keeps her voice quiet, “I’m scared. I’m graduating in four days. I don’t want to die. I know I’m supposed to accept it, but I’m so scared. And I won’t have you with me.”

  My heart is breaking. “Kova, you’ll be all right. Remember what I said about ho
lding the gun and you’ll do all right. We can practice that tomorrow in training. Can we ask for more training time?”

  She shakes her head and wipes her eyes. “They don’t waste much instructor time on us.” She leans close to me. “I’m really ashamed of feeling like this. I’m supposed to be a brave soldier, but I’m not. I’m thinking of running away.”

  “What? You can’t do that. Where would you go? There’s a jungle all around the camp and then there’s the security fence as well, not to mention dangerous animals. I’ve heard horrible creatures still live in jungles.” I put my hand on her thin shoulder. “Running away isn’t the answer.” If it was, I’d be the first one to escape. “Don’t be embarrassed, I’m scared, too.”

  “You are?” She looks directly into my eyes. “But you’re so brave and not afraid to speak up.”

  “That’s not bravery, Kova, that’s stupidity. If I thought before I spoke, I wouldn’t get into so much trouble.”

  Kova wipes her eyes again. “Well, I still say you’re brave. I’m always scared. I don’t even like sleeping by myself.”

  “Do you want to sleep in my bed with me tonight?” I shift over so she can have some room. I hope she will because I don’t want to be alone either.

  She nods and climbs under my blanket. Her body is so small, there’s enough room for her and me without either of us hanging over the sides. Even though we’re the same age, I feel like an older sister. One day I’ll probably have a sister, although I’ll never get to meet her.

  I listen to Kova’s breathing as she settles down and falls asleep. After a while, Viga comes over and I place my finger on my lips. She smiles and pulls the blanket up to Kova’s chin.

  Viga bends down and whispers, “Big Pig ships out the day after tomorrow. He doesn’t remember and I don’t want to tell him tonight. Let him have one last night of peace. Get some sleep.” She tries to force a smile, but her lips can’t quite turn up and sort of quiver.