Theirs Not To Reason Why: A Soldier's Duty (28 page)
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Authors: Jean Johnson
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What she could do, however, was choose to misinterpret. Technically, it wasn’t the truth he wanted . . . but neither was it a lie. Technically, it didn’t invoke Fatality Forty-Three.
“I told you,” Ia said, gazing up at him. “I wasn’t going to let you win. Somewhere along the way, it feels like you took my heavyworlder strengths and my willingness to strive to be a model soldier as some sort of personal affront. I am here to
serve
, and
you
don’t have the right to hate that about me, Sergeant. I will not screw up just because
you
expect me to.”
serve
, and
you
don’t have the right to hate that about me, Sergeant. I will not screw up just because
you
expect me to.”
Bracing his hands on the edge of her bed, Tae leaned over her. “I wasn’t
expecting
you to screw up. I was
fearing
that you wouldn’t
know
when you screwed up! There is no room for a starry-eyed real-estater in the Corps. If you act out of arrogance, you can and
will
get your teammates
killed
. You can go out and buy yourself a star all you want—hell, you can splatter yourself from here to Zubeneschamali, just so long as you do it on your lonesome—but you
do not
endanger your fellow soldiers!”
expecting
you to screw up. I was
fearing
that you wouldn’t
know
when you screwed up! There is no room for a starry-eyed real-estater in the Corps. If you act out of arrogance, you can and
will
get your teammates
killed
. You can go out and buy yourself a star all you want—hell, you can splatter yourself from here to Zubeneschamali, just so long as you do it on your lonesome—but you
do not
endanger your fellow soldiers!”
Ia waited in silence, knowing he had one more thing to say. He confessed it after a long, hard pause.
“And
I
do not endanger my Recruits.” He looked down and away as he said it, half muttering to himself. “Not if I can help it.”
I
do not endanger my Recruits.” He looked down and away as he said it, half muttering to himself. “Not if I can help it.”
“I do know that, Sergeant. I was too tired at the time, and I didn’t think clearly. If I had, I’d have realized that there was no way you could court-martial me for failing to obey an impossible task . . . impossible merely because the brake was set,” Ia acknowledged lightly. “I
also
know, Sergeant, that it is your
job
to test us, so that we don’t fail under real-world conditions. Our enemies won’t be softhearted. They won’t rescind orders. There’s nothing you could do to us that will be as dangerous as the real risks of combat and war. Yet it is still your job to prepare us to the best of your ability. I know. And I don’t hold it against you.”
also
know, Sergeant, that it is your
job
to test us, so that we don’t fail under real-world conditions. Our enemies won’t be softhearted. They won’t rescind orders. There’s nothing you could do to us that will be as dangerous as the real risks of combat and war. Yet it is still your job to prepare us to the best of your ability. I know. And I don’t hold it against you.”
Tae studied her. “Just how
much
preparing and studying did you do, before joining the Corps, Recruit?”
much
preparing and studying did you do, before joining the Corps, Recruit?”
“Once I knew where my talents were best suited? Quite a lot, Sergeant. Living on a brand-new colonyworld teaches you that survival requires preparation. The more prepared you are, the more likely you’ll survive, and maybe even thrive.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “And no, there
aren’t
a hundred more like me back home. We can’t afford to spare that many colonists just yet.”
aren’t
a hundred more like me back home. We can’t afford to spare that many colonists just yet.”
“So you keep saying—you’re already a full day behind the rest of your class, Recruit,” Tae warned her, straightening and changing the subject. “Doctor Silverstone says it’ll take you two or three more days of recovery before you’ll be fit enough to go back to duty. In the meantime, you’ll be missing out on basic mechsuit instruction, which you and fourteen of your fellow recruits qualified for. The rest will be focusing on life-suit drills and career path classes. Or did you already study mechsuit mechanics, too, in your rush to get prepared for the SF-MC?”
“Oh, I studied it, Sergeant . . . but it’s all still just
theory
,” Ia temporized, giving him another lopsided smile. “Until I actually try it, I won’t know how well I can shift from theory to practical application.”
theory
,” Ia temporized, giving him another lopsided smile. “Until I actually try it, I won’t know how well I can shift from theory to practical application.”
Sgt. Tae grunted. “Just don’t overdo it. You can kill yourself by doing
too
much, just as you can by not doing enough. Learn to strike the balance, and you
might
just make a good soldier. Screw it up, and both you and a whole lot of others will die.”
too
much, just as you can by not doing enough. Learn to strike the balance, and you
might
just make a good soldier. Screw it up, and both you and a whole lot of others will die.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. Believe me, I am aware of that.” Tired, she watched as he gave her a curt nod and left. The man with the grey coat and the grey eyes returned. Ia quirked an eyebrow at him. “Dr. Silverstone, I presume?”
“Indeed. I’m going to get you sitting upright in a few minutes, run a couple tests of your muscle density, range of motion, and reflexes, and then hopefully clear you for real food, instead of this drip-fed junk,” he agreed, bending over her bed frame so he could poke at the controls. (
I can also hear you laughing mentally over the name. It wasn’t my choice. My insertion point came via a bush doctor named James Silverstone who died from a hovercar crash a thousand kilometers east of here, three and a half years ago. I discovered him, assumed his identity, and walked out of the bush as him.
)
I can also hear you laughing mentally over the name. It wasn’t my choice. My insertion point came via a bush doctor named James Silverstone who died from a hovercar crash a thousand kilometers east of here, three and a half years ago. I discovered him, assumed his identity, and walked out of the bush as him.
)
(
With amnesia?
) Ia asked, adjusting her position on the bed as he levered the upper half higher. (
Isn’t that a bit cliché?
)
With amnesia?
) Ia asked, adjusting her position on the bed as he levered the upper half higher. (
Isn’t that a bit cliché?
)
(
He wasn’t dead when I found him . . . and don’t think those thoughts. I didn’t kill him. His neural injuries were too severe even for me to heal. Since I couldn’t stop his death, I scanned his mind just before he died, and assumed his identity.
) Running a palm scanner down her body, he stopped it over some of her worst bruises and
tutted
. “I’ll have to do some deep-tissue biokinesis here . . . and here. And over there, I think. That’ll take place after you eat, so your body has the biomatter it needs to replace what I’ll be psychically encouraging your own tissues to hurry up and use.”
He wasn’t dead when I found him . . . and don’t think those thoughts. I didn’t kill him. His neural injuries were too severe even for me to heal. Since I couldn’t stop his death, I scanned his mind just before he died, and assumed his identity.
) Running a palm scanner down her body, he stopped it over some of her worst bruises and
tutted
. “I’ll have to do some deep-tissue biokinesis here . . . and here. And over there, I think. That’ll take place after you eat, so your body has the biomatter it needs to replace what I’ll be psychically encouraging your own tissues to hurry up and use.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” (
How many of you use dead or dying people as your “insertion points” anyway?
)
How many of you use dead or dying people as your “insertion points” anyway?
)
(
For a Right of Breeding? Not as often as you’d think. At least not when we’re male. Like your father undoubtedly did, it’s usually just a case of finding a suitable candidate, shifting shape into the appropriate type of male, swooping in, seducing, impregnating, and flying off again, to observe from afar to make sure the implantation isn’t rejected, one way or another. If we’re female . . . modern identity tracking methods make it harder to establish an identity long enough to stay in matter form and carry the progeny to term. Still, Belini likes being female, so “she” does it fairly often—that is, often by our terms. We do live for thousands of your years.
)
For a Right of Breeding? Not as often as you’d think. At least not when we’re male. Like your father undoubtedly did, it’s usually just a case of finding a suitable candidate, shifting shape into the appropriate type of male, swooping in, seducing, impregnating, and flying off again, to observe from afar to make sure the implantation isn’t rejected, one way or another. If we’re female . . . modern identity tracking methods make it harder to establish an identity long enough to stay in matter form and carry the progeny to term. Still, Belini likes being female, so “she” does it fairly often—that is, often by our terms. We do live for thousands of your years.
)
(
You should try Parker’s World.
) At his sharp look, Ia smiled. Faintly, but she smiled. (
Twenty years from now, lawlessness and laziness will start pervading and perverting their original organization and bureaucracy. Bribes will become accepted practice, and false idents not too difficult to purchase. Not to mention, you’ll be able to buy a new identity outright with feeble documentation in about fifty years, then you can go just about anywhere as a Terran citizen. So long as you can play the part of a heavyworlder, of course.
)
You should try Parker’s World.
) At his sharp look, Ia smiled. Faintly, but she smiled. (
Twenty years from now, lawlessness and laziness will start pervading and perverting their original organization and bureaucracy. Bribes will become accepted practice, and false idents not too difficult to purchase. Not to mention, you’ll be able to buy a new identity outright with feeble documentation in about fifty years, then you can go just about anywhere as a Terran citizen. So long as you can play the part of a heavyworlder, of course.
)
(
You insult our acting skills,
) he quipped, tapping on her knees to gauge her reflex points.
You insult our acting skills,
) he quipped, tapping on her knees to gauge her reflex points.
Her legs twitched. (
As the Gatsugi put it, “actor” and “liar” are one and the same thing.
)
As the Gatsugi put it, “actor” and “liar” are one and the same thing.
)
(
And you insult us once again, little one. Perhaps I should jab you with an old-fashioned hypodermic needle, instead of a nice, numbing spraystick?
)
And you insult us once again, little one. Perhaps I should jab you with an old-fashioned hypodermic needle, instead of a nice, numbing spraystick?
)
She could tell from the brightening of the silver sphere in her mind that he was joking. Mostly. (
You know what they say, a soldier just calls a comet a comet. Which means I’m a half-breed, so I’m only half the liar . . . excuse me, actor . . . that you are.
)
You know what they say, a soldier just calls a comet a comet. Which means I’m a half-breed, so I’m only half the liar . . . excuse me, actor . . . that you are.
)
(
Careful. Everything you say and do can and will be shared with my fellow Feyori.
)
Careful. Everything you say and do can and will be shared with my fellow Feyori.
)
(
Bring ’em on. Just don’t violate my Right of Simmering. Even a half-breed is allowed that much leeway in the Game.
)
Bring ’em on. Just don’t violate my Right of Simmering. Even a half-breed is allowed that much leeway in the Game.
)
(
Only when the pieces are aware of it.
) Finished with his cursory exam, Dr. Silverstone straightened. “. . . I’ll bet you’re hungry after all that exertion, particularly with that extra heavyworlder appetite of yours. I’ll have the cafeteria bring up something right away.”
Only when the pieces are aware of it.
) Finished with his cursory exam, Dr. Silverstone straightened. “. . . I’ll bet you’re hungry after all that exertion, particularly with that extra heavyworlder appetite of yours. I’ll have the cafeteria bring up something right away.”
“I’m
so
glad you could finally join us, Recruit Ia,” Sgt. Tae drawled two mornings later. He pointed at a bulky brown packing crate as big as an extra-wide coffin, which sat in solitary splendor in a corner of the gymnasium-sized classroom. “There’s your mechsuit. Since you seem to be such a good little student, so quick on the spot and so eager to study things in advance, I’m going to give you
one
chance to get into that suit, without any help . . . and if you can get at least seventy percent of it right, you
won’t
have to do any push-ups today. You don’t have to do it in a p-suit today, but you
will
learn tomorrow.”
so
glad you could finally join us, Recruit Ia,” Sgt. Tae drawled two mornings later. He pointed at a bulky brown packing crate as big as an extra-wide coffin, which sat in solitary splendor in a corner of the gymnasium-sized classroom. “There’s your mechsuit. Since you seem to be such a good little student, so quick on the spot and so eager to study things in advance, I’m going to give you
one
chance to get into that suit, without any help . . . and if you can get at least seventy percent of it right, you
won’t
have to do any push-ups today. You don’t have to do it in a p-suit today, but you
will
learn tomorrow.”
Ia nodded and crossed to the case. Hauling it out on its wheels, she opened the case door. The suit inside looked like a humanoid robot, silvery and silent. Opening the lid of her military ident, she powered up the suit with a few coded taps of her fingers. Powered it up, and opened it up. Since she didn’t have to wear the weight suit for this drill—the mechsuit itself would become her resistance training, in a way—all she had to do was take off her boots and set them to one side, then make sure her pants were tucked into her socks so they wouldn’t catch on anything.
An examination of the various parts proved they were inspection ready, freshly minted in a military manufactory. Turning around, Ia stepped back and up into the case, slotting her feet one at a time into the balance receptors, which were fitted to accommodate her feet. The pelvic joints felt like they rode a little high, but she knew she would get used to them. Closing the lid of her arm unit, Ia slotted her arms into the half-open flexor gloves, leaned back into the thoracic cavity, and flexed her fingers in the glove controls.
Hissing faintly, the legs, arms, pelvis and torso plates snapped shut, sealing themselves with a low
thrum
. A pull freed her arms from the padding. That gave her the leverage to haul her upper body partway out of the close-fitted foam, then her legs, and lastly her hips as the center-point of her balance. Stepping down and free, she tested the suit with a few steps. The floor was slightly uneven in spots, since while it was designed to accept the two hundred or more extra kilos in weight each mechsuit added to a recruit, even plexcrete could only withstand the machine-augmented force of a mechsuited soldier for so long before cracking and crumbling. Mindful of the patches underfoot, she tested her balance carefully.
thrum
. A pull freed her arms from the padding. That gave her the leverage to haul her upper body partway out of the close-fitted foam, then her legs, and lastly her hips as the center-point of her balance. Stepping down and free, she tested the suit with a few steps. The floor was slightly uneven in spots, since while it was designed to accept the two hundred or more extra kilos in weight each mechsuit added to a recruit, even plexcrete could only withstand the machine-augmented force of a mechsuited soldier for so long before cracking and crumbling. Mindful of the patches underfoot, she tested her balance carefully.
“Twenty
sit-ups
for neglecting to also don your helm in a timely manner, Recruit,” Tae chastised her. At her quick look, he smirked. “I only said you wouldn’t have to do
push-ups
. Put on your helmet, and do your demerits
in
your suit, Recruit. Count off through your suit speakers at Volume 2 . . . assuming Hell Week didn’t burn away the memory of your mechsuit theory classes.”
sit-ups
for neglecting to also don your helm in a timely manner, Recruit,” Tae chastised her. At her quick look, he smirked. “I only said you wouldn’t have to do
push-ups
. Put on your helmet, and do your demerits
in
your suit, Recruit. Count off through your suit speakers at Volume 2 . . . assuming Hell Week didn’t burn away the memory of your mechsuit theory classes.”
“Sergeant, yes, Sergeant; no, they didn’t, Sergeant,” Ia agreed. She knew why he was picking on her again. Nobody else had needed two days to recover, and he wasn’t about to retard the rest of Class 7157’s advancement through their training program.
“And
don’t
gouge any chunks out of the floor,” Tae added briskly as she reached into the packing case for the helmet. “Fire up your helmet and run a level 1 diagnostics before your demerits, then a level 3 afterward. And
pay attention
to the rest of the class. We will not slow down just so you can bore us in the attempt to catch up.”
don’t
gouge any chunks out of the floor,” Tae added briskly as she reached into the packing case for the helmet. “Fire up your helmet and run a level 1 diagnostics before your demerits, then a level 3 afterward. And
pay attention
to the rest of the class. We will not slow down just so you can bore us in the attempt to catch up.”
“Sergeant, yes, Sergeant.” Pulling the helm into place, she lined up the self-sealing neck flanges which would turn the mechsuit from a simple exoframe into a self-contained spacesuit, once the faceplate was sealed and a portable oxy-pack was hooked into her back. They didn’t need to be that tightly self-contained just yet, and both she and Tae knew it. She just didn’t want to give him any other reasons to nitpick her performance right now.
“Recruit Ia!” he barked, recapturing her attention. “One last thing. Try to remember that your own strength will
amplify
whatever you do with your mechsuit servos. That’s why you’re training in half-mech and not full-mech. That, and your heavyworlder reflexes. You may no longer need to train all day in your weight suit, but you will still do so for your morning and evening regimens. That means you will still be stronger than the rest, forces which will be amplified by your suit. Don’t break anything. Or anyone.”
amplify
whatever you do with your mechsuit servos. That’s why you’re training in half-mech and not full-mech. That, and your heavyworlder reflexes. You may no longer need to train all day in your weight suit, but you will still do so for your morning and evening regimens. That means you will still be stronger than the rest, forces which will be amplified by your suit. Don’t break anything. Or anyone.”
“Sergeant, yes, Sergeant.”
CHAPTER 9
. . . Did I ever use any civilian or familial connections to advance my career in the military? That’s a fair question. And I’ll give you a fair answer.Yes.But that yes comes with a caveat. I never asked for any help from my family—mainly because they had zero influence on the Terran military, for obvious reasons. The only time I had a particular civilian help me, it was because he asked me what he could do. And the only reason why I told him what he could do is because I knew he’d try something anyway. Mayhem, to quote a rather long-distance friend of mine, should always be directed and purposeful. Which meant I had to guide him, or risk his interference destroying everything.~Ia
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