War and Money Page 7

  I’m relieved the price I have to pay isn’t what I thought, but I don’t want Jarmella in our squad. I’m happy the way we are, although if it means keeping us all together for another seven days with extra food and training, plus getting me in a ship, then I’ll have to make sacrifices. “Okay, deal.”

  He nods and wipes his face. “I’ll get the Commander to make the transfer to your squad.”

  “Out of curiosity, Tablon, how are you going to do that? The Commander hates me and my squad.”

  “I know. That’s why he’ll do it. I already told him that it’ll look so much better if your whole squad is deployed together and gets killed together. Adding one more female recruit to your pathetic squad will be even better. One more recruit means one more death.” He shrugs and almost looks sympathetic.

  “Nice, Tablon, real nice. What about the extra training? Why is he agreeing to that?” I can’t figure that part out. Viteri didn’t want me trained at all, so why give us all seven days of training?

  Tablon looks down and seems a bit apologetic, or what I assume is apologetic for him. “I said your deaths will be more dramatic if you can actually fight a little. He’s going to record your battle scene and broadcast it when you die. He wants gore and blood.” He glances at me and says softly, “Did you know he wants to show the world your death?”

  “Yes, I did. He made a point of telling me that already. If this all comes together, we’ve got a deal and I won’t say a word about you-know-what.”

  “Good. I’ll tell Jarmer. Get back to your dorm and act like everything’s normal.”

  “Sure.” I wait until Tablon jogs away before I leave.

  I take my time because I have a lot to think about. Deep down I know it’s a foolish thing to hope seven days of training will give my squad a chance against the Katarga fighters, but it’s all I have. Hope is a strong motivator.

  Chapter Seven

  I walk extra slowly to my dorm to give myself time to absorb everything that Tablon’s done. I pass by several squads on their way to the mess hall and thankfully they don’t sneer or make fun of me. By the time I get to my dorm, the projected clock on Viteri’s office says it’s a few minutes after 0700. Briett is sitting on his bunk, tapping his foot, but when he sees me, he jumps up.

  He smiles. “Breakfast?”

  I give him a nod. “Yes. Single file, like we’re real soldiers, and no talking in line.” I smile. “If I start to open my mouth, somebody shove a dirty sock in there.”

  They all laugh and exit the dorm. I’m glad everyone’s in a good mood, even though Kova still thinks she’s shipping out. I can’t wait to tell them the news. Briett’s the first in the mess hall line and I bring up the rear. We file in, but our table’s gone. I go to the kitchen counter and ask the chubby kid who’s serving food where we’re supposed to sit.

  He puts his finger to his lips. “Shhh. Your table’s outside. Senior Lead Neemiss said it’s so nobody will know you get extra food. They’ll think you’re outside because you’re the AFGFs and nobody wants to sit near you. But you get whatever you want. Tell me and I’ll bring it to you.”

  I’m stunned. It’ll look like we’re being punished, but in reality, the loser squadron is getting preferential treatment. When I turn around, I see quite a few kids pointing and laughing. Everyone else is already stuffing food into their mouths. I turn back and keep my voice low, “Thanks. Can we get an extra helping of everything? And give Briett an extra-extra helping.”

  “Briett? A new recruit? There’s no one here named Briett. I get a roster and I’ve never seen that name.” The kid looks around.

  I motion to Briett. “Big Pig.” Can’t they even put his real name on the damn roster?

  “Oh, sure, Big Pig. His name’s Briett?” The kid begins scooping food onto plates. “He’s Big Pig on the roster.” He winks. “I like you AFGFs. If I hadn’t broken my ankle first day of training, I’d be an AFGF like you.”

  “Well, we’d be happy to have you.” I smile.

  I go and tell my squad what’s happening and we leave through the back door where our table is. It’s half in the shade of the mess hall, so it won’t be too bad. After everyone sits, I stay standing and smile.

  Viga frowns at me. “Why are you smiling? Kova’s getting shipped out. That’s not funny.”

  I sit down. “I have good news, that’s why I’m smiling. Really good news.”

  Before I can tell them, the chubby kitchen boy limps out of the kitchen with a tray piled high with food and pitchers of light purple fruit juice. “Here you go. I got another tray coming.” He slides the tray onto the table as another boy comes out with the second tray.

  There’s so much food. I glance at Briett and see he’s crying, really crying. When the kitchen boys leave, we all dive in and scoop mounds of scrambled eggs and potatoes onto our plates.

  I say softly, “Okay, here’s the news. None of us are getting shipped out for seven days. And we get training for those seven days, more than two hours each day.”

  “What?” Kova drops her fork. “I’m not…”

  I continue, “You’re not shipping out, Kova. We also get as much food as we want.”

  That last one gets to Briett. “As much food as we want? You’re not teasing, are you?” He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “Please say you’re not teasing.”

  I shake my head. “No, no joke. I had a talk with Tablon and he got the Commander to approve it all. But, we only have seven days, so we’d better make good use of that time.”

  Viga nods. “Definitely. Maybe Tablon’s not so decayed after all.”

  “No, he is,” I say in a whisper. “This is all for his benefit. Trust me.”

  “How does he benefit from us getting treated better?” Kova asks.

  I said too much as usual. “Well, he looks like a better Lead if he’s fair to all of the recruits. Like why Lenora didn’t force us to clean the other dorms. They’re all trying to impress the Commander.” That sounded good.

  Viga nods again. “That makes sense. Now we might actually learn how to shoot.”

  “Not me.” Briett stuffs a huge forkful of eggs into his mouth. “I’m pathetic.” Egg pieces spit out over the table. “But at least I’ll die with a full belly!” He chuckles.

  I don’t think it’s funny, but when everyone around the table giggles, I force a smile so Briett won’t feel bad. My stomach is so empty that I gobble down two plates of food and three glasses of juice. I thought it was grape juice, but it’s not. It has a sweet, exotic flavor that I’ve never had before. It’s probably from a local fruit, a delicious local fruit. I know nothing about the world and won’t have the chance to learn anything other than how to shoot at aliens.

  We nibble on the scraps for a while before we notice the other squads are walking through the camp, heading off to their training. That reminds me, I don’t have any idea where we go for training. “Viga, who’s our instructor?”

  Viga wipes her mouth with a cloth napkin. “I’m so full. We have a woman instructor. She’s not so bad. All she does is hand out the laser guns, but she’s not mean. We’re on our own after that.”

  That doesn’t sound much like training to me. “How can we learn how to aim or shoot if she doesn’t show us?”

  Briett finally stops eating. “We don’t really need to know. Remember? Laser fodder.”

  “I can’t accept that. None of us are laser fodder. And I don’t plan on dying after seven days.” I get up. “And I won’t let you either. We’re going to learn to shoot and stay alive.” Regardless of what Viteri wants.

  Viga leads the way through a path in the jungle where there’s a large clearing with a rope strung across the whole width at the far end, and a curtain hanging over it. Viga points to the curtain. “That’s where the aliens are hiding.”

  “Aliens?” My heart’s thumping.

  She laughs. “Not real aliens. Holograms, projections. The instructor pulls the curtain and we shoot.”

  “Do they sh
oot back?”

  “Dax, they’re holograms. They just kind of float there and we try to shoot at them. If we get a direct hit, it registers on the instructor’s computer.” Viga looks around. “Instructor Milo, we’re ready.”

  From behind the curtain, a tall woman with the blackest hair I’ve ever seen strolls out. She looks bored or tired or maybe a combination of both. “I was told you have the entire day to practice. Except for whoever Dax is. She has specialized training or something at midday.” She goes to a shed behind a shrub and drags out a couple of crates. “Come and get your guns.”

  Kova nudges me. “What specialized training?”

  “Oh.” What should I say? “It’s because I’m the RIC. Tablon said he’s changing things so the RICs get special training.”

  “That’s not fair.” Viga stomps her foot. “I didn’t get any special training when I was RIC. None of us did.”

  “It’s a new rule I guess.” I shrug and head to the crate of guns. I stand at attention in front of Instructor Milo. “Could we please get more directed training? Can you show us how to aim?”

  Instructor Milo stares at me. “Directed training? Aim? You’re AFGF. You don’t need to know how to do anything but fire and die. What’s the point?”

  I maintain my stance. “At least you’ll be doing something instead of standing around sweating and watching us make fools of ourselves.”

  She sighs. “I suppose that’s right. Okay, why not. But I’ve got to tell you, there’s no hope for Big Pig. His fingers are too pudgy to hit the trigger button accurately, so he misfires all the time. He won’t last more than a second after he exits the lunar transport. The Katarga are merciless. They know how to hit a target.”

  “Then teach us accuracy. I’ll work with Briett myself. Please give us a fighting chance.” I relax my stance a bit. “Please.”

  She looks at me for a moment. “I’ll do what I can for you. You have seven days, I was told. Not much I can do with you in a week.” She reaches into a crate and takes out a laser gun, hands it to me and gets another one for herself. “Recruits! Pay attention.”

  My squad gathers around her and everyone looks eager to learn, even Briett. Instructor Milo gives us an in-depth lesson about the weapon, how it recharges, how it fires and how it’s best to shoot for the head or heart. After that, she tells us a little about the Katarga.

  They’re big, about two meters tall, with an armored skin of overlapping scales. That makes it hard to kill them, unless you hit them directly in the heart or head. The scales are thinner on their chest and head. Other than that, they’re pretty much like us, except they have a different language that nobody on Earth seems to understand.

  After the lesson, we get down to shooting. Instructor Milo gives us tips on how to hold the guns, which like Kova said, are really big and heavy. She agrees with me that Kova and Briett should lie on their stomachs to fire, while the rest of us can manage holding the gun from a standing position. Instructor Milo raises the curtain and a line of Katarga holograms, which look just like how she described them, weave back and forth. After I shoot at them for a while, my shoulder and arm start to ache terribly. We continue for a while longer until everyone is struggling.

  “Can we take a break?” I ask.

  Instructor Milo shrugs. “Sure. Not one of you is any good, so I wouldn’t rest for long. You really need the practice.”

  I motion for my squad to put their guns down and follow me under a tree. “We’ll rest for a few minutes and then get back to it.”

  Viga stretches out on her back. “I’m getting the hang of firing at the target. Did you see how close I got to one of the Katargas? Almost got him in the brain.”

  With a sigh, Briett lies down next to Viga. “I missed every one of them by a million kilometers.”

  “We’ve only been at it for a couple of hours.” I rub my shoulder and move it around. “We’ll all get better.”

  After a little while, Instructor Milo comes over. “Back to practice. I’ve set the Katarga holograms to attack mode.”

  “What does that mean?” I look over at the curtained area and see that the curtain is once again closed. How can a hologram attack?

  With a smirk, Instructor Milo winks. “You’ll see. Be alert and do your best to aim straight.” She wanders away toward the curtain. “Recruits! Arm yourselves!”

  I jump up. “You heard her. We’re in battle!” I run to my gun and wait until the rest of my squad is armed before I shout ‘ready’.

  The curtain opens and right away the holograms rush at as, firing bursts of lasers that explode into the trees behind us. How can they do that? I thought the lasers weren’t real. I duck and roll on the ground to avoid being hit. The holograms disappear before they reach us and start over again from the curtain area.

  Everyone has avoided getting hit, but Briett is shaking so hard, he can’t hold his gun steady. I hurry to him, drop down, lie beside him, and reach over to help him keep his gun from jiggling all over the place. He wipes his brow and presses the trigger button. One shot actually hits a Katarga!

  “Whoo!” he shouts. The next second, he gets a shot to the head. “Ow!”

  “Are you all right?” I check him out and he already has a bruise forming on his forehead. What exactly are the Katarga holograms firing? Obviously not lethal lasers. “Keep low, Briett. Take a deep breath and hold it before you press the trigger!”

  I roll away and get to my feet in time to fire a couple of shots before getting a hit to my left arm and right thigh. It stings, like a bolt of electricity. I press the trigger button but my laser gun doesn’t fire.

  Instructor Milo shouts, “When you get hit, you’re out! Your weapon won’t shoot! Lie prone on the ground and put your weapon down and the Katarga won’t shoot at you!”

  I do what she says and lie face down with my gun at my side. Briett is quick to do the same. All I can do is watch as my entire squad gets out in less than a minute. The Katarga go back to the starting position and float.

  I’m already exhausted and my clothes are drenched in sweat, but I know we have to keep going. “AFGFs! Are we ready?”

  Everyone shouts ‘yes’, except Briett, who mumbles, ‘I guess’. Kova and Briett stay on the ground while the rest of us stand and aim our guns. The Katarga rush as us, firing continuously. We don’t stand a chance and I’m hit first, in the stomach. It knocks the wind out of me. Viga falls next, then Mick, Brinna and Parna. Only Kova and Briett are left. They seem to have worked out a strategy. One of them fires until all of the Katarga aim at them, then the other takes over and draws the Katargas’ attention. It works, for a while, until the Katarga realize and split their shooting, and aim at Kova and Briett. That’s gets them both out.

  We practice and practice, but don’t seem to get much better. We need to develop a strategy like what Kova and Briett figured out. Before I can collect my squad together for a strategy meeting, Tablon walks right onto the playing field and points at me. The game halts.

  “Smudge, come with me.” He turns and strides off the field.

  I stand up and address my squad. “Keep going without me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Viga runs over to me. “Are you getting disciplined for something? I’ll come with you if you want.”

  “No, it’s all right. I think it’s that RIC training.” My heart’s beating fast. This is my first flight training session. “I’ll be back soon, Viga.” I have to run to catch up to Tablon because he doesn’t slow down at all.

  I hurry behind him as he goes to the fighter ship area. There’s only one ship still on the ground with a boy, dressed in a snug-fitting black one-piece uniform, standing beside it. He’s wearing a helmet with a clear faceplate, and carrying another.

  Tablon stops and motions to the boy. “That’s Jarmer. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, smudge. Go.” He glances around and hurries away.

  Jarmer waves me over. “Hurry up, dwarf star!”

  Great, another stupid nickname. W
hen I get to the ship, Jarmer shoves the helmet at me. “What am I supposed to do, sir?”

  “You don’t call me sir for one thing. You’ll sit in the co-pilot seat. This is free flying time so I don’t have an instructor co-pilot. I’m doing you this favor and risking discipline because Tablon says my sister will be safe for at least the next seven days by going to your squad. She’s better than any of you AFGFs, so don’t think you can treat her like she’s decayed or stupid.” He points to the ship. “You enter through the cockpit hatch under the belly. Co-pilot’s seat is on the right.”

  I nod and squeeze the helmet over my head and instantly feel like I’m suffocating. “I can’t breathe in here.” My head tingles, like something is tickling my scalp.

  With the ship hovering off the ground, Jarmer ducks, goes underneath and slides open the hatch where the ladder descends. “When you’re inside, there’s an oxygen delivery system that attaches to the helmet. Don’t panic, there’s plenty of oxygen in your helmet until you’re seated. Leave the helmet on because it has to acclimate to you before we fly.” He climbs up the ladder and vanishes into the ship.

  I can’t believe I’m about to go inside a real fighter ship. Unfortunately, I’ve fogged up my helmet with my rapid breathing and have to feel my way to the ladder. I manage to climb up the four rungs completely blind, but have to pull off my helmet so I can see where to go next. What I see makes me gasp. The cockpit is beautiful, even though it’s small with only the two seats. There’s an array of colorful buttons on a panel in front of the pilot’s seat and several switches on the right side of the panel. The front window is black, I can’t see out of it at all. How can I ever learn what all the buttons are for? My plan was to learn to fly so I could escape from camp and go home. Now I’m thinking it was a dumb plan.

  I put the helmet back on before Jarmer yells at me. Maybe I am being a dwarf star, a small-minded person with no sense. Did I honestly think I could go home? Even if I did, they’d come and take me back and send me straight to the front lines.