Sports time each day? And she got paid for it? She didn’t care what the lieutenants said. This made boot camp with the other fem-troopers seem like an easy-paced walk on a sand dune at night.
#
Bondo looked at the squat, ropy-muscled, bald cadet with the number ‘2’ stenciled on his shoulder and a red goatee beard. The fellow from Two Flight was hefting a load on the bar that made the other cadets watching him clap their hands in admiration.
He threw the bar to the ground once he brought it to the apex of his lift, roaring with a triumphant yell that made those around him cheer even louder.
Bondo stood still, watching as another cadet from Two Flight tapped the small computer station near the bar. The numbers on the station changed from two-hundred to two-fifty.
“Watch, and turn green with envy!” he shouted, as he took the stance with his knees bent and gripped the bar. The two metal panels on either side of the bar hummed as the magnets in the bar’s tips tried to keep the bar in place with even greater force than they had a minute ago.
“Lift!” chanted the dozen or so onlookers, “Lift! Lift! Lift! Lift!”
The weightlifter roared again at the top of his lungs, raising the bar above his head to the cheers of the crowd.
“Anyone here think they can lift more than me? Anyone think it, huh? Any-WAHGH!”
The lifter’s roar suddenly became a shriek as someone gripped him firmly under his armpits and lift him up into the air.
The group fell silent as Bondo gently lifted the red-goateed weightlifter and his weight bar even higher without any real apparent effort.
Bondo held him in the air for a full second. “I jus’ did,” he said, and slowly lowered him to the ground.
The lifter, angered, spun around and glared at Bondo. His eyes met Bondo square in the chest, and his eyes slowly traveled up, up to Bondo’s neck chin, and then met his straight-lipped mouth and dark eyes.
“You okay?” Bondo asked. He might have asked someone who’d tripped and needed to steady himself.
“Stay out’ve my way, Four-Flighter,” the lifter growled. He stomped off the weightlifting podium.
Two or three other cadets from Two-Flight followed him. The rest stayed and looked at Bondo.
Bondo took no notice, but nudged the weight-setting equipment with his toe.
“Anyone know how’set this for four-hundred?” he asked, looking around with a blank expression on his face.
#
Jada played until her team had scored its fifth goal, at which point a red light began blinking over the scoreboard to indicate victory. Jada’s team, made of mixed members of a number of the four flights, all raised their arms and cheered. The losing team lined up near the exit door as the sportsmaster screamed at them, making them do twenty push-ups for their failure.
Jada and the other players, drenched in sweat, unbuckled the helmets and shoulder pads and removed their knee and elbow pads as well, replacing them in the receptacles where they’d be presumably collected and washed out for the next day’s games.
Jada traded a few compliments with her teammates of the day, and was still basking in the glow of victory when she felt the tap on her shoulder.
“Yeah?” she turned around, smiling with the expectation of another praise for her performance. Her smile disappeared when the fist launched towards her face instead.
“What?” she yelled, bringing up her fists to defend herself.
The fist stopped bare inches from her face, then withdrew. Jada saw the person who’d come within a half-inch of breaking Jada’s nose was another female cadet.
The girl had pale skin, high cheekbones, narrow eyes and a slightly pointed nose and chin. Her dark hair was cut in the style they called a ‘cadet bob.’ What had once likely been long hair down to her shoulders had been trimmed until her hair stopped abruptly in a uniform level just above her earholes.
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The girl stared at Jada with a blank expression for a second, then smiled.
“What was that for?” Jada asked.
“Next time,” the girl said, “you watch who you’re shooting that ball at.”
“Next time,” Jada said back, “don’t be stupid and get in the way of a flying ball of metal.”
“Do you need me to make an example of you, cadet?”
Jada looked- the girl didn’t have any of the blue or red pips on her shirt that usually signified rank, only a number 1 on her shoulder showing which flight she was in.
“An example of what, cadet? “ Jada barked back. “Someone who knocked you on your backside at gravball without trying? Want to see what I can do when I am trying?”
Slowly and without conscious thought, Jada had gotten into the fighting stance she’d used time and again growing up: feet spread slightly apart, arms bent at her sides with balled fists ready to strike at the first sight of danger.
“Is there a problem?”
Lieutenant Hublin had appeared as if by magic behind the dark-haired girl.
“No, Lieutenant,” she said, still keeping her eyes on Jada and using a voice that was…it was as if she’d known the Lieutenant before. “”I think this girl from your flight didn’t understand that you’re not supposed to target players with the gravball.”
“I never...!”
“Cadet Sanddancer, you will silence yourself immediately!” Hublin’s voice silenced not only Jada, but everyone around them.
“Cadet Medea,” Hublin said, turning to the dark-haired girl, “do you realize that...come to attention, cadet! An officer is addressing you! Cadet Madea, you are accusing one of my flight cadets of assault. Do you realize how serious a charge this is?”
Hublin was standing behind Cadet Madea, now standing rigidly at attention and glaring at Jada as she answered Hublin. “I wasn’t accusing her of assault, Sir,” she answered with a bored voice.
Hublin’s expression went from businesslike to annoyed, and then full-blown angry in a matter of about a second and a half.
“I do not like your tone, Cadet Madea! Do you understand me?”
“Yes Sir!” screamed Madea, so loud that her dark hair bobbed n place.
“You will report immediately to the Grey room for corrective action!”
Madea’s skin, already fairly pale, suddenly went even whiter. Her eyes widened too, and Jada could see the ice-blue of Madea’s irises were wide with fright.
Jada suddenly felt sorry for Madea. Even though the girl had tried to intimidate Jada a second ago, she didn’t feel it was worth whatever was in the Grey room. Not if it could get that kind of reaction.
“Sir, I...” Medea began.
“Dismissed, cadet!” Hublin said in a clipped tone, not even looking at her as he walked away.Medea looked at him for a second, and then at Jada. Tears welled in her narrowed eyes as she ran from the field and towards one of the exits.
“Lieutenant, I...”
“Cadet Sandflea, over here, at attention, now!”
The group that had gathered to see a fight broke up and dispersed as if by magic. In five seconds, Jada was at attention and staring straight ahead.
“Cadet Sandflea, I want you to understand something. Are you listening?”
“Yes Sir!”
“Cadet Sandflea, I fully expect a pathetic creature like you to be in the first batch of washouts from my Four Flight. However, until then, if a cadet from another fight ever gets into an altercation with you, particularly if they are from One Flight, you are to invoke my name, and ensure I am part of the investigative and disciplinary process. Is that understood?”
“Sir? If I understand you, if I get into trouble, I should shout out your name?”
“No Cadet. They’ll accuse you of calling for mommy. Instead, if Cadet Medea or any other member of One Flight starts another fight you will retaliate. And if any other authority figure but me jumps in and demands an explanation, you will say: ‘I have been instructed to say nothing until my Flight Commander is present.’ I want to hear you say it, Cadet Sandflea!”
“I have been instructed to say nothing until my Flight Commander is present.”
“Good. Now, sports time is almost up. I strongly recommend you stay out of the public eye during free time, and especially out of sight of anyone from One Flight until tomorrow. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir!”
“On second thought, you will go directly to your bunk and remain there until lights out. Understood?”
“Understood, Sir!”
“Good choice, Cadet Sandflea. Dismissed.”
#
TO BE CONTINUED...