Merkiaari Wars: 02 - What Price Honour (34 page)

Gina hoped not. Striving to become better, to gain rank in her chosen profession, was what had always driven her… and getting her people home alive of course.

“I’ll take that under advisement, sir. I prefer to think otherwise.”

“We all did at first,” Penleigh said, and that was all he would say on the subject of rank from then on. He led the way to one of the many classrooms set aside for training viper recruits.

Gina’s entire platoon was being taught how to use their internal sensors and targeting displays. Roscoe was teaching the class. Gina was pleased to note that not only was Kate Richmond in her squad, but that both Martin Cragg and Ian Hiller were also. Seeing them made her feel half way toward having a new family. She nodded to Selinia Takeri and sat next to her, while Penleigh had a quiet word with Sergeant Roscoe.

“It’s good to see you up and around,” Takeri said quietly.

“Thanks, Selin.” Gina looked around noting faces. “Where’s Jamie? Don’t tell me they assigned him to another platoon.”

Takeri’s eyes darkened. “He didn’t make it.”

“But…” she said in confusion. Jamie had been fine when Gina went for enhancement. He had already undergone the process and couldn’t wait to start practicing his new abilities. “What happened?”

“Officially he died in a training accident, but you know what that means.”

Gina swallowed sickly. The regiment always used the fiction of a training accident to cover a whigout. “Who else?” She prayed that no more of her friends were numbered among the washouts.

“You’ve been gone a long time, Gina. We’ve had a few… problems,” Takeri said, and frowned as she remembered. “Jamie shot himself in the head with his V2. No one knows why he did it. The others,” she shrugged. “They were in their bunks at lights out, but the next morning they were gone, and their names were deleted from the duty roster. MJ was one of them. You remember her?”

Gina nodded remembering a tall Anglo woman with dark brown hair and grey eyes. Her name was Mary Jane Ferguson, and she was recruited by the Colonel from Garnet’s militia. Gina had only spoken to her once or twice. MJ was quiet, but she had seemed to know her business where soldiering was concerned.

“Who else?”

“Compton, Middleton, and… and Kent. They were all missing that morning. We asked about them, but were told they had died in a training accident like the others.”

Gina groaned. Kent was a friend of hers. She couldn’t believe he was gone. She could still see that cheeky grin of his when he followed her into the showers, and offered to give her a massage. Roscoe had taken them on a cross country run that morning, and had pushed his unenhanced charges to their limit. Gina had returned to the barracks, exhausted in mind and body, but Kent still had enough energy to try wooing her. She wished she had let him now.

“I’m sorry, Gina,” Takeri said, and rubbed Gina’s back in an attempt to comfort her. “I know you liked Kent.”

“It’s not just him, Selin. How many have we lost now? Ten? Twenty?”

Takeri shook her head. “Sixteen I think.”

“That’s almost eight percent, Selin. And we aren’t all enhanced yet.”

Takeri nodded solemnly.

Gina turned her attention to the front of the classroom. She couldn’t hear what Eric was saying to Roscoe; it probably had nothing to do with her in any case. A short time later, Roscoe left the room leaving Penleigh to continue the class.

Penleigh surveyed the recruits and found Gina. “Takeri, help Fuentez connect to her consol.”

“Yes, sir,” Takeri said.

Takeri placed her right hand flat down in the palm shaped recess in the desk, and punched a sequence of numbers and letters into the keyboard. “Password,” she said to Gina’s questioning look. “Our processors have their own unique identities on the net. That’s important for a number of things. In battle, your processor can make reports to your squad leader about your physical status, or you might ask it to uplink to the net and download the current tacsit. Whatever, there are many things it can do on its own, but that means it has to have its own identity or else we risk confusion. Your net password will be encoded within your processor for quicker access, but to use these consols you have to input it manually. Roscoe says they were designed that way back when the base was just a research facility. Something about wanting the viper prototypes to be physically present to use the equipment.”

“Yeah?” Gina said. “I thought the General founded Snakeholme.”

Takeri shook her head. “Roscoe says vipers were developed here in secret.”

She didn’t have time to think about that now. “How do I get my password?”

“The default is always
admin
, but you’ll have to change it first thing. It’s easy. Just put your weapon hand in the recess and follow the prompts. If you close your eyes it’s easier.”

Gina closed her eyes and put her hand in the recess.

 Password Required: >_

The words seemed to hover before her. She opened her eyes again, but they remained at arm’s length waiting for her input. She typed the word admin as she had been told, and the prompt was replaced by more instructions.

First logon detected.

Please change your password, Recruit Fuentez.

Enter your old password: >_

Enter your new password: >_

Gina chose something she would never forget for her password. Something ingrained upon her soul and that of every Marine since the Corps’ inception on November 10
^th
1775.
Semper Fidelis
. She was no longer a Marine, but in her heart, she would always be one—always faithful to what the Corps stood for.

Password accepted… Connection achieved.

 “Have you got it?”

“Yeah,” Gina said. “Thanks, Selin.”

“You’re most welcome, Gina,” Takeri said with a warm smile.

“Now then,” Captain Penleigh said. “With Fuentez in mind, I will recap what you know about your systems. I want you to follow along. A refresher won’t hurt.”

He placed his hand into the recess in his desk and typed rapidly. Before Gina’s eyes, an amazing amount of information appeared. She waved a hand in front of her face and blushed at the laughter from the others.

“We all did that the first day,” Takeri whispered.

Gina nodded. She could see the room through the clutter of icons and indicators, but it was distracting. If she wanted to use the data, she had to focus on one part of her display and read it. The display was similar to that of the HUD used in Marine mechs (powered armour). She had always used mechs without a problem, and was sure she would get used to it.

“I’m sending you all a Merki trooper as a target. Seeing as we haven’t got a real one for you all to play with, he should appear as an animated character.”

A few chuckles sounded through the room.

“For those who know how, target the male. Fuentez, look at your top left indicator. You will see a range to target icon, focus on that and instruct your processor as follows.
Target: Range five hundred metres
.”

Gina did that, and noted her range finder indicated the cartoon was five hundred metres away. She watched the targeting diamond swing in and lock on. It pulsed redly once and revolved to show it was locked on.

“If you have a revolving diamond locked onto the trooper, you have performed correctly. Now, I want you to disengage target lock by telling your processor. Fuentez, how do you think that’s accomplished?”

Gina finished disengaging. “Sir, the system seems intuitive, very much like my old mech armour. I disengaged using this command: Disengage target lock.”

“Very good. If you ever need to use a function that you’re unsure of, it’s simply a matter of either doing it the way you would in armour, or telling your processor to do it. If you use the wrong command, your processor will tell you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The lesson progressed with various simulations passing before her eyes. At first she doubted she would remember it all, but Takeri said a viper never forgets. During a spare moment, she reviewed what she knew. Takeri was right. Everything she needed was in her memory waiting to be tapped and used. She practiced every function her display had at least once, and then began learning how to use them in conjunction with each other. She enjoyed the lessons and was a fast learner. Takeri said they were moving much faster with Captain Penleigh as their instructor.

“Have I caught up yet?”

“Not quite,” Takeri said. “You still have communications and the net, and then there’s the range. We began weapons training just last week.”

“How long have you been attending these classes?”

“Almost three weeks.”

Gina couldn’t discuss it further; the captain had noticed her inattention. She bent her head and performed the simulation. She had to target a series of Merki troopers at the same time, and keep another group in range of her sensors. It was hard work, but she managed. Two hours later, her display cleared. She looked up to find the others sighing and working tired shoulders. When she removed her hand from the recess, her display winked out. She tried to reactivate it, but a voice for her alone told her off.

“Access denied. No access to cybernetic enhancements will be granted. Warning: attempting to bypass this order will result in disciplinary action.”

“Okay already,” Gina said in embarrassment.

Richmond looked over and grinned. “Naughty, naughty.”

“How did you know?”

“I tried that my first day. Nasty critter that processor.”

Gina nodded. “It sounded like my dad.”

“Yeah? Mine sounds like Whitby. I’m going to change it as soon as I figure out how.”

Gina grinned and followed her friend out of the classroom.

“Glad you’re back,
Major
,” Richmond said.

“Thank you,
Captain
. It’s good to be here.”

“Amen to that,” Cragg said as he dodged passed them.

Gina exchanged glances with Richmond and they laughed. It was good to be back.

* * *

Alpha Company’s barracks, Petruso Base

Kate squared away her kit, and frowned at the wrinkle that had materialised as if by magic on the blanket covering her rack. She tugged at it, and tucked it in again. Looking at her rack with narrowed eyes, she dared the wrinkle to reappear.

It didn’t.

Fuentez snorted behind her back. “I love it when you do that. That glare can strip paint. You do know that don’t you?”

Kate grinned. “It comes in handy on occasion.”

“You should be ashamed of yourself.” Fuentez laughed. “That poor boy.”

Kate growled under her breath. Jacobs was not a boy, but he did act like one. He was still in the queue for enhancement, yet he was already trying to lord it over everyone in sight including one Kate Richmond. That was a mistake. She had never responded well to people who thought themselves better than her. If Jacobs didn’t watch his step, he would find himself wearing his face on backwards.

“He annoys me.” She shrugged. “I don’t like his kind. Hiller doesn’t like him either.”

“Yeah. Hiller isn’t the only one. Where the hell did Stanbridge dredge him up from?”

“He’s from Bethany as you well know. I heard a rumour that he scored in the low nineties.”

Fuentez raised an eyebrow at that. “Yeah? You could have fooled me.”

Kate snorted and opened her locker. Checking her appearance in the mirror attached to the door, she fluffed her hair a little before pulling on her beret. She tried to get the edge perfectly horizontal, with the viper badge in line and directly above her left eye, but it refused to co-operate. She was about to pull it off and try again, when Fuentez intervened.

“Here, gimme.”

“It always gives me trouble,” Kate said sheepishly.

“That’s because you have no patience.” Fuentez lowered the beret onto Kate’s head in the perfect position, and flattened it down on the right side. “There.”

“I’ll get the hang of it eventually. At least I can put my helmet on without help.”

“It would certainly be something to see if you couldn’t.”

Kate grinned and said in a silly voice, “Please General, I can’t come to the war until I get my helmet on straight. Will you help me please?”

Fuentez cracked up.

“Atten-
hut!
”

Fuentez jumped and dashed to stand at the base of her rack. Kate was closer to hers—one pace sufficed. Everyone snapped to attention as the General himself stepped passed Roscoe and into the barracks. This was a very high honour. General Burgton rarely mixed with the recruits. They only saw him when he held a lecture. Those lectures had standing room only. Everyone wanted to learn from him.