Even with the new plan in place, it still caused me to have to retire to the bunker and sleep in a room full of other people for another night. I wasn’t so lucky as the previous evening when I had zonked out in exhaustion almost immediately. This time, I ended up laying awake for hours because of the disturbing sounds all around me.
For a bunker full men and women who had been running from one class to another all day in the stifling heat, many of them seemed not tired in the least. The lights have been turned out precisely at 23:00 by our barrack leader, but shortly after that, carnal noises echoed through the room as many of the Cadets decided to bunk together and let off some steam.
It was like many porn movies all going at once, but with only the audio, which I suppose was a small comfort. The lights could have been on, which would have made it much worse. So I lay in my bed with the pillow clutched tightly to my head and tried to think about anything else but what was going on around me. Not such an easy task to do, especially when I heard Hotoe going at it with wild abandon with the lady Cadet in the bed opposite me. Guess she liked the way he looked at her ass.
Blessedly, even the freakiest Cadet eventually gave up in exhaustion, and at some point in the small hours, I finally drifted off to sleep. And far sooner than I liked, the barracks alarm starting blaring and I pulled my dead tired self out of bed to hit the shower. I could hear Hotoe whistling in the stall next to me before my water had even heated up to a nice comfortable warmth, and I had to admit that I was more than a little jealous. And it made me feel a strong pang of loneliness as I longed for the girlfriend I’d left on Earth.
The rest of the shower I spent in a dark mood as I realized that it’d been four weeks almost exactly since I had left. More than enough time for Anna to learn about where I had gone and that I most likely wouldn’t be coming back. She’d mourn for while, but eventually, she’d get over me and move on to someone else, which I had encouraged in the completely unacceptable short goodbye text I’d manage to send off to her before I’d been beamed up by Vang’s ship. I supposed at some point, I would need to move on too.
After my shower, Hotoe and a large group from our barracks leisurely walked the short distance to the cantina with some boasting quite loudly about their night time conquests while their partners grinned and seemed pleased at the very public announcements. There were also propositions being hurriedly arranged for the upcoming night.
I received one from a lanky man who had a bed at the front of our barracks, and who I had noticed eyeing me last night as I came out of the bathroom right before lights out. And to my great surprise, the other from the lady Cadet opposite my bed, the one Hotoe had been cavorting with until the small hours of the night. The best I could do was to say I’d think about it and try not to look like I was a ruby red ripe tomato ready to be plucked. Dear lord, this was going to take some getting used to.
Breakfast was a rushed affair because of the lallygagging and we all wanted to make sure we weren’t late for our physical activity session with Pledge Tau-mine. After half an hour of lung busting exercises, we had to stand in straight lines sweating in the already rising heat to have Chief Winters blasting our ears for another half hour of lecture and dire warnings of latrine duty for a host of potential infractions.
Afterward, would have been Advanced Mind Bending for me, but now it was my split free time. I had a whole hour to kill, so I decided to go straight back to bed, set an alarm on my unity ring, and catch up on some of the sleep I hadn’t gotten last night, and probably wouldn’t be getting this coming night either.
My next two classes passed as if in fast forward. I had another edge of my seat interesting class in Technology and Surveillance that left my head spinning with all the new-to-me technical gadgets, and then Basic Weapons with Chief Winters. I found the weapons class just as interesting as the tech class, because the Chief started with the basics of Ethian weapons, which included the commonly used blaster pistol.
I was glad to see I hadn’t been the only one who had never handled a blaster in my class, and I spent the whole hour drinking up how to properly take care of the fuel cell, which the blasters used for power, and a step by step demonstration of how the weapon worked, and how to aim it effectively. By the end of the class, I was holding and practice aiming my own fully loaded blaster. Very cool indeed.
Lunch was another quick affair, and then Hotoe and I were off to the auditorium for another round of Etiquette and Protocol, which I dozed through again, and Strategic Maneuvers, which I drooled over and was left wanting for more. And then it was time for our special assignment, which I had to admit, I had been dreading.
I had been on the look out all day for anyone following me, or giving me more attention than they should, but as close as I could tell, no one seemed to be the wiser of who I was. Perhaps, my assignment to search the bunker Markus had used in my kidnapping really had been an odd coincidence. I certainly hadn’t seen or heard anything since then that would suggest I should implement my exit strategy, but I was cautious just the same.
As as I stood in the assembly field waiting for all of us scheduled for special assignment to gather and Chief Winters to tell us what that might be, I wondered if maybe I should have found a way to bail out before another surprise assignment left me in a position that I couldn’t fake my way out of again. Too late now. I spotted Winters marching across the field toward us.
“You okay. You seem nervous?” Hotoe asked, his voice full of concern.
I glanced at him, trying to keep my face as neutral as possible. “I’m fine. I guess I’m just tired. Didn’t sleep much last night.”
That put a grin on Hotoe’s face. “Ah, you were admiring our prowess weren’t you? Admit it Jasper, you wish it had been a threesome. The beds really aren’t that accommodating, but we can make it work. You should see what we do for three or more in those tiny little bed chambers many of the haulers have.”
I coughed as I stalled for time to come up with an answer. Thankfully, that was about the time Winters blew his annoying whistle, saving me from at least having to reply to my friend.
“Cadets, thank you for your hard work yesterday. As some of you know, this assignment team was able to find the place that the Heir was taken to after his abduction. It certainly has helped move our investigation forward, and giving us more evidence damming the man responsible, but the Heir is still missing.
“The man who abducted him isn’t talking and we have no idea where the Heir went from the bunker. There is no evidence that the Heir has left the planet or that he is still at the College, so we are taking you all out to the desert today. There are some caverns there that could be used for short term occupation, and Command wants them searched.
“This could take longer than our time allowed for this special assignment, so I have arranged for you all to carry small packs with plenty of water and a small dinner. You each will also be outfitted with stun batons and blaster pistols. As you probably already heard, the desert wildlife can make the wasteland around us a dangerous place. Use caution and your heads, and don’t be afraid to use your weapons.
“I know some of you are just getting used to using a blaster pistol, but it’s too dangerous to send you out there without one. So please, for all that is holy in this universe, don’t shoot anything but the aggressive wildlife. Or I’ll shoot you myself, and then kick you out of the College. Understood?”
“YES, CHIEF WINTERS,” the hundred or so of us gathered yelled out at once.
Winters kept going like he didn’t even hear us. “See this as an opportunity to prove you belong here and that it wasn’t a colossal mistake that you enrolled in the Protectorate. The wildlife can get aggressive out there, but it’s not more than a determined person with a weapon can’t handle. Protect yourself, protect the members in your team, and keep an eye out for anyone squatting in the caverns.
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“I sincerely doubt we will find the Heir out there, it’s too dangerous for more than a day or two at a time between the extreme heat and the local animals and insects, especially alone and without extreme environment training, which I seriously doubt the Heir has had. But we have to be sure.”
I saw the man in the line before us look around, and then tentatively raise his hand. He looked a little pale, but he seemed committed to his cause of asking a question.
Winters saw it too. He paused, gave the man a hard glower, but then replied with a clipped, “What is it Cadet?”
The man slowly dropped his hand, and I could hear him stutter like he maybe he’d made a mistake after all, but was too afraid not to continue.
“Out with it, Cadet. We don’t have all day!” Winters said impatiently.
“Yes, C-C-Chief. I just wondered how you know the Heir is alone exactly? Could he not have others with him? I mean if he was alone, w-wouldn’t he have come back by now? M-m-maybe there’s a whole group of people out there j-just waiting with blasters for anyone who tries to t-take him b-b-back.”
“Or maybe he’s already dead! And what they aren’t telling us is that we are really being sent out to find his body!” One of the other Cadet’s shouted out. Someone from the back. I craned my neck along with many others to see who it was that had spoken, but I, at least, couldn’t tell.
That’s when the whistle screamed in our ears, and all of us abruptly turned back to the front to find the red faced Winters, holding his right hand high in the air and looking like he might fry the lot of us with just the glower from his eyes.
“ENOUGH! Orders are orders. We go out to search. I wasn’t told what to find. Just to search. And since they are sending a bunch of newbies, I doubt they are expecting a major fire fight. But be prepared for anything. If you do find evidence of someone or many someones out there, inform your Pledge leader immediately. Do not engage anyone if you can help it, but back up your leaders if they demand it. You will form into the same groups you were in yesterday. Dismissed!”
I was among quite a few of us who just stood there looking around nervously wondering if maybe this was a prank or something. We were being sent out to the desert. With blasters. And no idea what we were walking into. None of us were trained for this kind of thing, at least not yet. But then Gayle and Markus had alluded that the College used every situation as a training opportunity. Maybe this was why the drop out rate was so freaking high the first year.
I, at the very least, knew we weren’t going to find me squatting in a cavern out there, dead or alive. And most definitely, not a large group of kidnappers looking to keep their prize. But I still felt a feeling of discomfort. I didn’t much like the idea of going into the desert, especially after what had happened after yesterday’s special assignment. Anything could happen once we were outside of the College, and I would be much further from my protection team.
My mind fumbled with what to do. How in the world would I be able to excuse myself from this? I mentally kicked myself for not following my intuition and implementing my exit plan before I had showed up to the assembly field. It would be mighty suspicious if I walked off now, but then I would at least still be surrounded by a College full of people.
Yeah, at least until I got on a shuttle off world, then I would sure to be followed. I shivered at the sudden imagination of unknown eyes watching me. My god, I was turning completely paranoid, or was there a real reason to be concerned?
“Jasper, you coming?”
Hotoe had been saying my name a couple of times, and I was finally able to pull myself from the brink of full on hysteria and glanced at him. “What?” I asked dumbly.
“Our teams are gathering. Are you coming?”
I looked over to were Pledge Pezeri and Disciple Wy-lin stood with the other five Cadets from my group yesterday. Pezeri was looking around like he was searching for his missing Cadet, and I knew I only had moments to decide what to do, which made me want to panic even more.
“I can’t go,” I breathed in a whisper. It was like I was trying to convince myself on the decision to make, and yet, I felt myself paralyzed. If I didn’t go and someone was now watching me, they’d know who I was as soon as I walked off this field without my team. If I did go, then this could be a trap to get me anyways. Or maybe I was just paranoid as hell and going would be the best way to keep my cover.
“Why not?” Hotoe said.
He must have heard me.
Shit.
I blinked at the other man. I didn’t have words to respond. Shit. Shit. Shit. Dammit. I really needed to pull myself together. I took a long breath in, and then an extra long exhale to steady my nerves and hopefully commit to a decision already.
And then a thought came to me. What would dad do if he was here? Would he walk away, or keep his cover? And instantly, I knew the answer, because how many times had I heard him say to me and others over the years that you had to go with your gut, and let the rest fall as it may.
My gut was telling me that I was, in fact, better off not going into the desert. That danger was surely awaiting me there. But it was waiting for me here too. I could feel that as well. The best I could do was stall. Create some sort of distraction that could allow me to slip away unnoticed, at least for the time being.
And it was like the gods of this galaxy had heard my silent frantic prayer, because a Cadet who had gathered in a group a little more than twenty yards down the field dropped like a sack of potatoes. Several shouts went up to bring attention to the fallen Cadet, and Winters jogged over to check the downed man.
I had seen the same thing happen three times yesterday and once right after lunch today. The heat had gotten too much for some of the Cadets. There was always the constant reminder at the end of each class about the possibility of heat exhaustion or dehydration and that everyone should be drinking more water than usual, especially those not used to hot and dry climates. Though, it seemed, not everyone listened to that advice.
I had taken that warning to heart and opted to carry a water bottle everywhere I went like many others I’d seen and refilled it every chance I got. But it seemed like there were several who had still to learn the limits of what their body was capable of, or they were just plain stupid.
“Heat exhaustion!” Winters exclaimed after a quick examination. He motioned to two Cadets closely. “Get him to the Repository immediately.”
I then decided on my course of action. Certainly, the hot sun overhead was in a cooperating mood as it felt like it was baking the scalp right off my head. Being overheated wasn’t that far of a gap for me to travel, but I needed to time this right or it would look like I was a copy-cat, trying to ditch my assignment. So I strolled past Hotoe toward my waiting group as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
Hotoe jogged to catch up. He gave me another concerned look. “Are you okay, Jasper? You didn’t look so well there for a minute. Have you been drinking enough water?”
I waved him off. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just hot, and I have been drinking plenty of water, but it never seems like enough, you know?” I continued over to Pledge Pezeri glad that I was already effectively setting the mood for my hopefully well-timed ditch. Hotote hesitated a moment more, but then he moved off a short distance down the field to his own team.
As I joined my group, I wiped my brow in an obvious attempt to alleviate some of the sweat. Pezeri nodded at me to acknowledge my presence and that the team was now complete. He then went right into the speech I was sure he had prepared just for our benefit.
“Good to see you all again. I wanted to take the time to thank you all for a successful search yesterday. We were the ones who found solid evidence on the man responsible for the Heir’s abduction. That’s going to go in your permanent records, so good for you. Maybe we’ll get another one out there in the desert today, but the Chief is right, it’s dangerous, so I want to go over a few things before we march out to our assigned search area.”
While Pezeri had been talking, I had been rubbing the back of my neck with what I hoped was a look of discomfort on my face. I even placed my water bottle, that had long gone hot almost as soon as I had filled it right after lunch, up to my forehead. But it was the effect I was going for more than any coldness that might be left in the bottle from the ice water I’d filled it up with.
I caught some of the Cadets in my group giving me side looks, but more importantly, Pezeri stopped his presentation to address me directly. “Cadet Ruloc, are you alright?”
I gave him a nod and a thumbs up with my free hand. “Just fine, sir. I’m ready to go whenever you are.” But once my thumbs up was done, I went to rubbing the back of my neck and I squinted my eyes like I might be in physical pain.
“How much water have you had today, Cadet?”
I looked at Pezeri and took longer than I needed to to respond. “At least three bottles, sir. This is my fourth. I’m sure it’s enough. It was yesterday.”
Pezeri narrowed his eyes. “You don’t look so well. Maybe you should see a Caretaker before we leave?”
“I’m sure that isn’t necessary,” and then I chose that moment to lock my knees and let myself fall.
Several pairs of hands automatically reached out for me, including Pezeri’s and a Cadet I’d met yesterday in our group Otti Cedi. I was caught before I hit the ground, which I hadn’t expected, but certainly appreciated.
“Cadet Mohlor, why don’t you see Cadet Ruloc to the Repository. Then come right back.”
This Cadet was almost as large as Hotoe, and probably why he’d been chosen in case I passed out or something. I heard a low bass voice reply, “Yes, sir,” and then one of his large arms supported me and we turned to make our way across the field. Mission accomplished. And I tried my best not to grin.