While we waited for the wood to burn down to coals, Roger hauled a portable cooler-box out of the Land Rover and placed it on a table handy to the braai. “Steak, chops or wors?” he asked me.
“Chops and wors please.”
“OK”
“Can you tell me more now?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Well... everything I suppose.”
Roger laughed. “OK, I can understand that. I will tell you a bit more about what is happening here, but most of if I am afraid you will have to learn once we are through the gate.”
“OK, can I help with that?”
“Sure. You can put the grid on. It looks as if the coals are ready. I'll grab some drinks. Another Coke?”
“Yes please.”
I put the grid onto the braai and accepted the Coke gratefully from Roger as he returned.
Roger busied himself with putting the meat on the braai and opening his beer, while I waited fairly patiently. I could see that he was gathering his thoughts and, I guessed, deciding what to tell me.
Eventually, he started “I have been doing this a long time. I was already old when I got recruited. I had just turned 82 and was suffering tremendously from arthritis and had all the early indicators from Parkinsons. I was approached in a similar way by someone else and made the same choice that you have. War World sorted out all my medical issues and I have done quite well there. Those of us who do well are allowed to recruit other people to join us. I chose you because you seem to meet the criteria that I figured would do well on War World. I am what you would call a Platoon Commander, but I hope to get my own Company in the near future, and I need to have people I think will be able to advance and be a valuable part of my company.
“Just by the way, we don't call them platoons and companies on War World, I am just using the closest terms that you will be familiar with.
“You will find that things are really different on War World from what you know, but just remember to keep your eyes open and your mouth shut in the beginning and listen to everything that you are told. It is all-important. More than that, listen to what the veterans have to say but make up your own mind. A lot of them are doomed to repeating their mistakes and never progress.
“If you do well, then you will find that there are also a lot of things that will feel familiar to you. It turns out that being a soldier involves concepts that are pretty universal.
“What would you say that the most important skills are for a new soldier to master?”
I knew that this was a test, but I had no hesitation in saying “Sleep whenever you get a chance, eat everything you can lay your hands on and look after your feet and rifle.”
Roger laughed. “You just confirmed my choice. That's it exactly. You have no idea how many 'soldiers' never learn those lessons?”
I kept quiet because I thought it was a rhetorical question, but when Roger gave me an interrogatory look, I ventured to guess “All the ones who don't survive?”
Roger just nodded, but he had a satisfied look on his face, so I figured he liked that answer too. While we were talking he had thrown my chops and his piece of steak on the grill. Now he added a big roll of boerewors. The smell of the meat braaing was starting to drive me crazy, as I realised I hadn't eaten at all the whole day.
“Could you take a look in the fridge and grab the potato salad there?” Roger asked me.
“Sure.” I went into the small kitchen and fished the salad out of the fridge and grabbed some forks at the same time. While I was there, I heard the sound of some cars arriving. I carried the stuff outside to the picnic table near the braai, and watched as Roger greeted the new arrivals.
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It was clear to me that the six people who had arrived had exactly the same relationship to each other as that between Roger and I; each pair was a combination of one person who had been to the War World and one who was newly recruited.
I watched for a while to see if I could justify that thought with something more concrete than a 'gut feeling' and eventually decided that it had something to do with the situational awareness that I had noted in Roger the first time I laid eyes on him. These people were aware of what was going on around them all the time. I decided wryly that sneaking up behind one of them and shouting 'BOO' would not be a good idea.
Roger turned to me and said “Cy, let me introduce you to some people. This is Ben, Gill and Rob. The people with them are John, Steven and Desrae. They will be going to War World with us in the morning.”
I was surprised to see that there were women in the group. I don't know why, there had been no barrier to their entry to the army for at least ten years, but I suppose I was still a product of my experience. The three that Roger had introduced first, were the three that I had guessed had been to War World before. All three had a similar look; they were lean and wiry with an underlying strength. Ben was tall; six foot 4 at a guess, Rob was around six foot; just slightly taller than me and Gill was about 5 foot 5. I couldn't judge their ages any closer than I had Roger's, and I already knew how unreliable that was. The other three were different. They felt like ordinary people I might have met anywhere..John was young. I guessed around 23 or so. He was also tall but pretty seriously over-weight. Steven looked about my age, with a bit of a pot-belly and Desrae was a stereotypical grey-haired granny.
I greeted each of them with a handshake.
Roger called me to fetch my meat from the braai. While I helped myself, the others all dumped their things in the Rondavel.
“What's up with this lot?” I asked Roger.
“The same as you,” he replied.
“But the Granny?”
“Will be sorted out like I was. I told you the medical technology is pretty amazing.”
“Ok.” I accepted what Roger told me, but I could see that I still hadn't quite grasped what I was getting into.
When everyone had settled down and most had their cooked meat from the braai, Roger called for everyone's attention.
“Alright, now that we are all together, let's go over the ground rules. Thank you all for making the decision to join us on War World. I know that you have been given only the barest amount of information, but that will be rectified rapidly once we arrive there. We will be going through the gate at dawn. I will wake those of you who are asleep at zero four-thirty so that we can be ready by zero five hundred. Each of your sponsors will check the stuff you have brought with you and anything that is not permitted will be placed in the safe for you to collect on your return. That includes any technology and any metal. Weapons are specifically forbidden as is all jewelry. In fact, metal, and particularly iron, cannot travel through the gateway and will prevent the gateway from working. Once we get through the gateway the new recruits will be received by the reception cadre and start processing before continuing to basic training. Once you have completed your training, we will have first option on your service as we recruited you, so we should be seeing all of you again.
“Please remember what your sponsors have told you, especially that it is vitally important to pay close attention to your training as everything you learn there is vital for your success on War World.
“For now just relax, have something to eat and drink and then I suggest you get a few hour's sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day for you.”
I found that I was incredibly drowsy and decided to go straight to bed. It didn't occur to me to wonder why I was sleepy after sleeping for almost six hours during our journey here.
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“Wake up Cy!”
It was Roger. I groaned and rolled off the bunk I had claimed the night before. When I checked my watch it was just approaching zero four-thirty.
“OK. Time to get ready. Give me your watch and cell phone and any jewelry you have please” Roger requested.
I handed over my watch and cell-phone and then looked at the wedding ring on my left hand. I was really reluctant to part with it. It had only been a year since I had lost my wife to a car-hijacker and taking the ring off seemed to be a betrayal of my memory of her.
Roger gave me a sympathetic look, but held his hand out anyway, and I removed the ring and gave it to him. He placed everything into an envelope and put it into the safe.
The rest were going through the same exercise with their sponsors, and in short order, we were all standing outside with the remainder of our belongings.
Roger led the way as we walked through the dew-covered grass and climbed a small kopjie behind the trees. When we got to the top, Roger led us to a huge black rock..
“This is what is called the 'Memory Stone',” he told us. “It anchors the gateway.”
He directed us to stand on the west side of the rock while we waited for the sunrise. As the sun appeared, I saw Roger start to sub-vocalise what looked like some sort of chant, and as the first rays of sun struck the rock, he clapped his hands. As he did so, it seemed to me that the sound echoed for far longer than it should have. I felt a strange pulling sensation, but before I could figure out what it was, everything went grey for a long moment. The next thing I knew was Roger saying “We're here” and I opened my eyes to see that I was inside a building and there were some people standing in front of me where there had been a rock only moments before.