“I am convinced. We have discovered something here, the others simply want to let it die, but I am sure that there is more to be learned.” - From the journal of Benjamin Hargrave, January 6, 2232.
As soon as the room emptied, Alec started talking at the speed of a man in full panic. “What the hell just happened back there?” he began. “I mean, for real, the dude’s eyes glowed. How many people can make their eyes glow?”
“Alec, you need to take a breath, buddy,” Dave began. “There has got to be a reasonable explanation for what we saw.”
“To top it off, what are you going to do about it now? You already signed up; you belong to them now, literally,” Jack said, adding to the conversation.
“Wait, what? Who says I belong to them?” the small man replied, still panicking.
“You did… Just now when you signed those documents,” Jack replied flatly. “Did you not realize that?”
“No, I didn’t realize that!” Alec nearly shouted. “Do you think I would have joined if I realized I would be giving away my… me!”
“Alec, we went over this back home,” Dave said. “We knew for a fact we didn’t have all the information here. You’re going into space for the military. Did you not think you would belong to them?”
“Obviously not! I mean, I am still human.”
“And they return those rights to you once you are no longer the property of the AHF,” Jack added as they continued trying to help Alec come to grips with the life he was about to live.
Being some of the last to arrive, the three men were among the last group of future soldiers to shuffle out of the door and onto the runway. The night was a rare one. The relative clarity of the sky allowed the stars to be seen, if only just. As always, the ever-present layer of pollution obscured the view.
A tall man stood at the top of a set of stairs leading into the shuttle. He wore a mottled gray and black uniform with a yellow symbol of a coiled rope on the shoulder. A round hat with a dramatic downward tilt completed the ensemble. The angle was so overly pronounced that if he bothered to address you, it would be while actively looking down at you.
“Who is that?” Jack asked, turning his head and speaking over his shoulder briefly.
“I am going to guess he is someone you do not want to piss off,” Alec replied.
“Not helpful.”
“I would say,” Dave said, “that he’s more than likely the guy Spear told us about.”
“Again, obvious,” Jack replied flatly.
“He is one of our trainers,” said a female with an Irish accent from behind Alec. “Now stay quiet so that he has no reason to make an example out of us.”
“And how would you know that?”
“You can see it clearly; the man has rank and carries himself like he owns the world. Now shut your hole before I shut it for ya.”
Jack took the woman’s threat to heart and fell silent. That did not, however, stop Alec from continuing to rant as they drew closer to the man.
“I mean, come on, guys, how long can it take to walk up and tell him your damn name? We have been in this stupid line for nearly an hour now,” Alec complained to those who ignored him. “Look at him. He hasn’t once typed anything into a tablet or ever written anything down. How could he possibly be recording the names in the first place?”
The surrounding recruits refused to acknowledge Alec because of their ever-increasing closeness to the man on the stairs. It wasn’t until he was on the stairway that Jack finally got a good look at him.
The eyes below the edge of the hat were hard in a way that Jack had never seen. His feet were perfectly shoulder-width apart and his hands tucked firmly behind him. His mouth was drawn tight in a look of scorn. He looked more akin to a statue rather than a man, considering just how little he moved.
His eyes flicked back and forth, following each recruit as they entered the craft. Otherwise, no part of him moved as he stood sentry. Dave was the first of the group to reach the platform and stand before their instructor.
“Uh, David West.” He said. Instead of moving on, he stood there as if waiting for something. “Uh, Whats next?”
In an incredibly soft voice that still sounded menacing, he said, “Recruit? I know you did not just ask me a damned question. If you did, that would mean my Ensign did not do his job. I know very well that he did his job.”
Fully intimidated, Dave moved forward and into the craft. Moving Jack to the head of the line.
“Jack Monroe.” He said, looking directly into the man’s cold eyes as he proceeded to the hatch. Before crossing the threshold, he turned back for one last glance at the Atlanta skyline. A view that had been a constant in his life since childhood.
Jack expected to see an airlock, like those he had seen in movies. From what he understood, it was the only foolproof way to ensure a safe connection to the ship they were docking with.
That was not what he saw. In fact, the interior of the shuttle seemed to match that of an airplane. To his left was what he assumed to be the cockpit, or whatever they were called on a spacecraft. To his right was a long alleyway with rows of five on either side of the aisle.
Turning right, he noticed a blinking light guiding them down the aisle. On-the-fly seating instruction, he thought to himself as he walked. When it reached the last row, it stopped in front of a seat and waited for him to catch up.
Each flight chair was independent of the others in its row and large enough that a recruit could sit comfortably without issue. The stylized logo of the AHF was stamped into the white leather headrest of each seat. If he was being honest with himself, it seemed to be more like what you would find at the desk of a businessman.
“Well, this isn’t what I expected at all,” Alec said, examining his own chair before him. “I thought it would be another sardine can situation all the way to wherever we are going. This… is now my throne!”
“For the love of the saints, does this man ever shut his trap?” asked the same female voice from the other side of Alec. “He hasn’t shut his mouth since we stepped out of the bloody hall.”
“Be glad,” Dave said, looking over at the redheaded woman. “If you only started hearing him there, you haven’t been behind us long.”
“No, I haven’t. Does he always act like a child with a new toy?”
“Well, from my limited exposure to the man, yes. But he will eventually stop talking and those five minutes will be pure bliss,” Jack said with a smile. Extending his hand, he said, “I’m Jack.”
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“Nessa,” she began. “And the quiet one next to me is Warren.”
“Warren, I want to apologize already, man. It looks like you are being dragged into this as well,” Dave said.
“Don’t let him fool ya. He is just watching until he knows ya well enough. Once he opens up, he’s the crassest person I’ve ever met,” Nessa said.
“Then how is a wonderful lady like you friends with a jackass like that?” Alec asked, his goofy grin plastered to his face.
“First of all, I like crass,” she said. “Second of all, this man is the single most loyal person I have ever met. Once he calls you friend, that is.”
Jack stood, making his way in front of the man in question, and stuck out his hand. Hesitantly, Warren took the hand and shook. Before he had time to react, Jack had pulled the man in for a hug.
Before letting go of the man, he whispered, “You have the look of someone who’s fought and lost. You don’t have to fight alone anymore; I’ll be your brother.” Separating from the man, Jack turned and took his seat once again.
“So, what the hell is the problem here? Why did they make the seats on this bucket so big? I mean, I feel like I’m drowning, for one, but they could have easily fit another fifty or so onto this thing with smaller chairs,” Alec complained yet again.
“Alec, now even I can tell that the point is to calm us down. Packing us in more tightly wouldn’t do anything but cause more anxiety. Frankly, we are two hundred kids in a tin can about to get blasted off to who knows where without ever having left our home before. A little extra room in the boat is a small price to pay to prevent people from panicking,” Dave said, looking over at him.
“I don’t buy it.”
“It is simple physics,” said Warren from the end of the row. “On top of what he just said, the seat is more than likely able to compensate for the gravity that will be on us while we break out of the atmosphere.”
“That seems reasonable,” Jack replied.
“Also, I don’t converse with people that do not even tell me their names. So, unless you are willing to part with it, I will back out of this conversation now,” Warren said, a look of consternation on his face.
“Whoa now, look at the quiet one speaking up. I’m Alec.”
“Dave,” he said with a wave. “Nice to meet you. To be fair, with Alec’s mouth, I don’t know how any of us ever speak. He never has much to say that is actually worth it, though, so don’t you mind him.”
“Hey, without my comments, how would poor old Jack here learn what nuts to butts means?” Alec said with a hurt look.
“I think, just maybe, I could have figured it out,” Jack replied.
“Alright, shut your hole. He’s coming,” Nessa said, cutting the conversation off.
Her words proved true. The man from the stairway entered the cabin and stared at the recruits as if waiting for something. As time passed, his face became more and more displeased.
Most of the recruits ignored him and simply continued talking as though he was not there. In fact, had it not been for Nessa, Jack knew they would be one of those groups. It was at least three full minutes before enough people recognized his presence and fell silent.
“Alright, recruits, listen up and listen up well. What just happened will not happen again. That was your one and only warning.” Glaring out at the sea of now silent recruits, he pointed to one at random. Voice remaining cold and calm, he said, “You, what the hell did you do wrong?”
The newly minted recruit sat in his seat, a look of shock on his face from being called out. One look and it was obvious that he had no clue what the “right” answer was, although it was also obvious that the man standing in front of them had no patience when people gave no response.
“We don’t have all night, recruit. I may not have enough room on this boat to smoke you now, but I promise, soon we will be on a ship with plenty of room. Plenty room and plenty time, time in which I will have the freedom to begin your physical conditioning. So, recruit, I say again. What in the hell did you all do wrong?”
Gathering his courage, the recruit spat, “I don’t know, man, I’m not in the military yet so I have no clue what the hell to do, you blown-up prick.”
Jack watched as a dark smile spread across the tall man’s face. It was a look that he would learn meant the near future would not be pleasant.
“It’s been a long, long time since a recruit dared to speak to me like that, boy. I think that’ll be your new name. How about it, boy? You have just joined an organization where, for all intents and purposes, I am your mama. A mama who you just talked back to. I have now burned your face into my memory, recruit. I promise that is an honor only a few receive, and even fewer enjoy. So, boy, I hope the jab was worth it because I have now made it my personal mission in life to break you down and turn you inside out. If I were allowed, I would rip off your head and shit down your neck. Since I don’t have that honor, yet, I will just have to make sure that you stay in my memory.” He spoke every word of the monologue with the same cold, detached voice he’d used all night.
“Now, to the rest of you, I want to introduce myself. For some, my calm and collected voice will bring the more masochistic of you joy. For most of you, I suspect it will be a sign that life is about to suck. What I just said to Boy over here is true. I am your mama now. You may call me Drill Sergeant Roberts.” He paused for a moment, looking out over the crowd of faces before yelling, “Do you understand?”
If Jack would have seen the reaction from outside, it may have been almost comical. Instead, the sergeant’s monologue simply shook him in a way that made it near impossible to look away. Around him, the recruits nodded, showing that they did indeed understand what he said.
“I don’t get the warm and fuzzy’s from nods, recruits! They come from a testicle-infused yell of ‘Yes, Drill Sergeant.’ I ask again, do you knuckle-dragging lowlifes understand?”
A scattered response echoed around the cabin, but at the very least, it was the phrase that Roberts was looking for. Ensuring that he still held the attention of every recruit, he continued.
“Now, for those of you who do not know, that is to say, all of you, when anyone of higher rank enters a room, the first of you to notice will call out in a crisp and loud voice, AT EASE!” Pausing here for a second to see if any would catch on, he was not surprised when nobody stood. “At that command, you will all get to your feet as quick as humanly possible. If you could be on your way up before they entered, that would be even better. But since none of you can see the future, I will just have to settle with perfection. Once you are on your feet, you will spread them shoulder-width apart and tuck your hands behind your back. You will hold your right hand with your left, and you will keep your hands open. Observe.”
At that, he turned on his heel and assumed the position he had described. “I will wait for each and every one of you to hold the position perfectly before we do anything else, even if it takes all night. AT EASE!”
Pausing again, DS Roberts was pleasantly surprised when five people in the very back row jumped to their feet and assumed the position. “Well, it looks like only a few of you caught that. Let’s try again. AT EASE!” This time, the entire cabin erupted into movement as two hundred recruits assumed their first military stance.
“Good job. You have now accomplished something that any child of five could accomplish with the right guidance. Does that make you feel good? It most definitely should not. This is the most basic command I could teach you.” DS Roberts continued his tirade. “Do not fear, recruits, I am known for being willing to let you try over and over again to perfect your posture. I will wait for your perfection, and once I have it, I will gladly stare at it until I am bored at which point you will hear me say ‘as you were.’ Once I have uttered those words, only then may you break from your perfection and return to whatever dumb idiocy you were doing prior. Does that sound like fun to you?”
“Yes, Drill Sergeant!” came a staggered response from the recruits.
“I am well aware that each and every one of you is full of crap right now, but it warms my icy heart to think that you will at least try to make me happy. However, I want you each to know now that nothing you do will ever make me happy,” Roberts continued in the same cold, hard voice.
“Each of you is here for one reason and one reason only. We need recruits out there, warm bodies to put on the line. Until you have proven your worth, that is all you will be to me. Your existence in this organization tells me that somewhere, a better man or woman has fallen in battle. Unfortunately, I cannot print up new copies of those soldiers, so you will have to do.”
Pacing the alley, he again continued, “I want to touch on failures and quitters. Failing out is simple. You will be recycled. That means that you get to redo basic training over and over again until you come up with the testicular fortitude to push through. That being said, finishing training quickly is the best option for you, as failures are not looked at warmly. For quitters, the punishment is much more severe and can take one of two forms. What are those forms? I am glad you asked. They are as follows: one, we will transfer those of you with a modicum of sense, and didn’t have the testicular fortitude to complete training, to a department that needs gophers. Two, those of you with no sense at all will become gophers on a ship's maintenance crew. More specifically, you handle waste reclamation on that vessel. Simply put, we do not throw away tools in the AHF.”
He paused again as he allowed that to sink in among the recruits. Quitters were seen as the lowest of the low, and they would be treated that way. Roberts hoped with everything he had that none of these recruits would fall to this fate.
“I hope each of you realizes this is not a job you want. If you had the heart to get up here and join in the first place, you better have the balls to keep going. There is nothing more that I hate than a quitter. I can fix a failure; I can mold them into a soldier worth my time. Some people are not cut out for the front lines, and frankly, that is ok. That is exactly why they make eggheads. Do you understand?”
The group responded accordingly.