The rest of my day seemed to be on fast forward. I had been completely mesmerized by the Technology and Surveillance class. Everything was new and exciting to me, though I could tell most of the information was old hat for the rest of the class. The instructor must have caught on to my enthusiasm and had called on me several times to help demonstrate some of the devices he was showing the class.
I certainly didn’t argue. I enjoyed getting an up close and personal presentation of devices that could do things I could only dream about on Earth. It certainly put my little drone project that I’d been working on my last weeks on Earth to shame, and expanded my mind in major ways in stealth and surveillance. All too soon that class was over, and I headed to Close Combat.
Master Benoni spent a lot more time lecturing about proper safety when sparing with a partner than actually teaching us anything, but with it being a first class, I was willing to give him a benefit of a doubt. Maybe his next class would be more interesting, if I happened to be around that long.
Lunch was a quick affair. I did managed to finally talk to Hotoe between bites. I broke the bad news that my free time would be split up so I could get remedial training for Mind Bending. He gave his condolences and said that two people in his Advanced Endurance class had to have remedial too. I appreciated his attempts to make me feel better, even though I was getting excited to hang out with Master Kiev. I found that even though I liked not being treated like someone who was untouchable and unapproachable, I missed actually being able to just be myself.
After lunch, Hotoe and I were back at the auditorium for Etiquette and Protocol, which turned out to be a total snooze fest, because super surprise, Dur-rele had already gone over how to properly treat and address high borns with me in our lessons. I actually was the one falling asleep this time with Hotoe having to give me the elbow.
Next up, Strategic Maneuvers. We didn’t even have to go anywhere since Lieutenant Havlor taught both classes. He did give us a fifteen minute break between the classes for those who needed to “take care of business”, and then jumped right into a bunch of history lessons. He said the best way to learn strategy was to learn how the greats had done it.
Much of this information was new to me, even though Dur-rele had briefly touched on some of what he was talking about, because many of the strategic geniuses had come from the Zahn family, especially those who had the Perception Dome-ni like myself. Lieutenant Havlor had my full attention when he talked about my ancestors and some of the seemingly brilliant solutions they had come up with everything from stopping all out wars (or winning them) to the subtle manipulation of entire populaces to help enhance their living conditions or convince them to relocate to avoid a natural disaster.
He explained that even though many of these solutions were created by those with a Dome-ni no one present could hope to duplicated in kind, he shared these examples to show the limitless nature of creative thinking. He encouraged us all to spend some time developing this side of ourselves, because in a life and death situation, it was often a persons wits and ability to think outside the box that saved them.
I was disappointed when this class finally came to an end. I found myself wanting to hear more. I was curious about the Perception Dome-ni and what could be done with it. Mostly though, I enjoyed the creative thinking exercises he had us do. I had no illusions about matching any of my ancestors in their abilities, especially since I hadn’t even begun my education in that Dome-ni yet, but I always did like having a good puzzle to solve.
After exiting the auditorium, Hotoe and I, and many of the people we had class with, made our way to the assembly area. It was special assignment time, and I had to admit I was nervous and excited all at once. We had heard that Chief Winters had sent those from last night on special assignment to thoroughly search the Hall of Renowned and the surrounding desert. Many speculated on what today’s task would be.
I lined up with the others in the assembly area. There looked to be maybe close to a hundred of us. We only made up about four short rows, and Hotoe and I were in the second. All conversation ceased as we watched Winters cross the field to stand in the center with a mix of Disciples and Pledges trailing behind him.
I braced myself for his booming voice, but was surprised when he began to talk to us normally. I guess he figured there weren’t enough of us present to whip out his yelling voice.
“Alright, Cadets. Today’s special assignment will be a search of the College’s old bunkers. They’ve been out of use for years and some of them aren’t safe to inhabit, but Command wants them searched anyways. There are ten of them. We will break into groups of eight. Six Cadets, a Disciple, and a Pledge team leader. Each team will be assigned a bunker or surrounding area in which to search.
“Let me clear about this. You are to be eyes and ears only. The Pledge and Disciple in your team will take care of any confrontation or threats if they arise. If there is any sign whatsoever that there is someone in the area of your search, you are to inform your Pledge leader immediately. If you see any signs that look suspicious or concerning, you are to inform your Pledge leader immediately.
“You will be supplied with stun batons for your own personal protection and to provide backup only if absolutely necessary. But the chances that anyone is occupying the bunkers are low. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be sending you. If you do happen to see any action, focus on delaying, not incapacitating. Give your Pledge and Disciple leaders the time they need to act.
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“Also, I’m sure most of you have seen the recent holo casts of the Returned Prince, but in case you need a refresher, images of Prince Adar have been sent to your unity rings. Take a moment to view it, while the Pledges break you into teams. If you have any questions or concerns, you will address your Pledge or Disciple team members.”
I glanced down to my unity ring to see the small display flash green to let me know I had received a new message. I noticed everyone else around me was checking their rings, so I decided to do the same, even though I already knew what I looked like, or had looked like before my little makeover.
I tapped the display and a head and torso image was projected from the ring. It hovered in the air before me at eye level, and I had to admit that it was more than a little weird to be looking at a picture of myself, especially when I wasn’t myself.
It was complete with the shoulder length hair that I no longer possessed and the blue environmental sensitive long coat that I was sorely missing in this oppressive heat. My bright blue eyes seemed to bore right into me as if in accusation of the lie that I was currently living, which evaporated any excitement that I was having in learning more about Ethia and not having to be treated like the most important person in the Empire.
I reminded myself that I was doing all this for a reason. That my life might very well depend on how well I played the role of Jasper Ruloc. So I pushed aside the guilt I was feeling as I tapped the ring again to close down the image.
While I had been distracted, the Pledges had been busy rapidly calling out Cadets to fill up their teams. Cadets moved quickly out of line to step in behind the Pledges that now stood in the center of the assembly field where Chief Winters had stood only moments before.
“Jasper Ruloc!”
It took a moment and a jostle from Hotoe for me to register that my name had been called. I felt my cheeks flush as I walked across the field toward a familiar looking Pledge. He had one other Cadet behind him so far and I stepped up behind that dude. I couldn’t help but notice that the Cadet and I were the exact same height.
After a few minutes, four more Cadets lined up with us, and one of them was Kenri Wesz who didn’t even respond to the little wave I gave him. So I just turned my attention to watching the other teams line up. It seemed Hotoe got called to be on a team on the far side of the field. Once we were all gathered, our Pledge team leader motioned for us to follow him.
As we moved out of line, it finally dawned on me why the Pledge looked familiar. He was the same one who had checked all the new recruits in at the entrance of the residence hall yesterday. He led us away from the others to a spot to the left of the assembly field that had a small black crate just sitting there as if waiting for us. A Disciple stepped up to join us. Our Pledge team leader and the one I remembered from registration spoke.
“I am Pledge Pezeri. I will be the team leader for the duration of this assignment. This is Disciple Wu–yin who will be my co-lead.” Pezeri pointed to the tall and brawny man that had just joined us.
“As the Chief said. You are mostly here as extra eyes and ears to make sure nothing gets overlooked. We are looking for any signs that the bunkers either currently has residents or has had activity in them recently. I’m not expecting much, because before I was given this assignment, I didn’t even know there were bunkers at the College and I’ve been here almost nine years. So their existence isn’t common knowledge. But with a high status client going missing, Command wants to be make sure every single space inside the College is searched.
“We are assigned to bunker three. It’s one of the six that haven’t collapsed yet. It’s also the smallest bunker, so only one team is assigned to search inside, while a second team will be checking out the surrounding area. Be warned that cool dark spaces are a welcoming space for the local insects and lizards. Most of them shy away from light, so use your luminary rods to scare them off. Are there any questions?”
The Cadet, the one that matched my height and build, and stood beside me cleared his throat and spoke, looking embarrassed. “I’ve never handled a stun baton before.”
Pledge Pezeri nodded to Wu-yin who had the small crate at his feet. Wu-yin reached down and pulled out a black stick looking thing that was about the size of a forearm and the width of a shower curtain rod. He activated the stick and a blue arc of light danced around the top end.
An involuntary shiver coursed through me to see the exact type of weapon that Markus had used to subdue Master Kiev, and then myself. Just looking at the arc of light made me remember the feel of the intense electrical charge that had rendered me unconscious. I sincerely hoped I wouldn’t get the end of one of those things anytime soon. It had not been a pleasant experience.
“Just hit the button in the middle and aim it at your target,” Disciple Wu-yin explained. “All of these are locked to the lowest setting, so you won’t be knocking anyone unconscious, but they will send a full grown man to his knees. You can use them up to three times on an adult man or woman in a fifteen minute window without causing enough damage for a Remaker. If you find yourself needing to use them today, aim to delay so that Pledge Pezeri, or I can intercede.”
After the explanation, Wu-yin gave a baton to each of us. He then pulled short white rods from the bottom of the crate and handed them to us as well. I assumed it was the luminary rod we were told about by Pezeri. No one asked for an explanation on how to use this. But it seemed simple enough with a thumb switch at the base of what I realized was more of a clear cylinder than white.
Once all six of us were loaded up with a baton and luminary rod, we marched from the field in the wake of our Pledge and Disciple leaders. Our team made a sharp left toward the northerner section of the College and it didn’t take long for me to figure out that we were moving in the direction of the bunker Markus had brought me to after his “abduction”. Sure enough, Pezeri led us toward the staff depot and a side alley, which contained a stairwell leading underground near the backend.
My heart thudded as I walked down the stairs I remembered following Markus up only just yesterday, and I reminded myself that no one here had any idea who I was, or that I had ever been down this way. So I made sure to keep my face as neutral as possible and to calm down the instinct to runaway as fast as possible. I breathed out a long breath. I could do this.