Recruit

Chapter 3

The craft landed heavily. The deck was filled with alarms and eruptions of gasses from vents high on the walls. One recruit further along the line started screaming as a jet of heated gas erupted from a fracture in the inner hull. Crippin raced toward the stricken, wailing recruit, yelling as she went. “Clear the deck, hayseeds. Form them up on the landing pad, Sergeant Hacker.”

Jack fell in line with the others as they marched off the transport onto the landing pad, where they were beaten into a straight line by Sergeant Hacker. The recruits fell silent as a stretcher was brought out of the passenger craft containing the pitiful, whimpering recruit, his skin burned and scalded so badly he was almost unrecognizable.

Jack’s attention was jerked away from the stretcher by a yelp of pain from one of the recruits. Jack looked back and saw Sergeant Hacker walking through the lines, a small tazer in his hand. He jabbed the glowing end into the gut of the next in line. The recruit doubled over with pain. The next recruit backed away as Hacker came close, the tazer held forward, a huge grin on the big sergeant’s face.

“Sergeant Hacker!” Crippin shouted. Hacker came to attention. “Are you tazering those recruits, Sergeant?”

Hacker held up the tazer for Crippin to see.

Crippin picked her way through the assembly to the two recruits lying and writhing on the ground.

“Did Sergeant Hacker tazer you, hayseed?” Crippin asked one of the recruits gently.

The recruit nodded.

“On your feet, hayseed, or Sergeant Hacker will taze you again.” Crippin took position in front of the recruits.

“Listen up,” Crippin shouted. “The training complex is ten kilometers in that direction. Sergeant Hacker will tazer every recruit not running. Demonstrate please, Sergeant Hacker.”

Hacker jabbed the tazer into the ribs of the recruit standing next to him. The recruit yelped, crumpled, and fell.

“And when you get to the complex,” Crippin went on, “I want to see you standing in two neat ranks, not this scruffy arrangement. If not, Sergeant Hacker will tazer you. Demonstrate please.”

Another recruit collapsed under the tazer’s sting.

Crippin climbed onto a small two-seat buggy and started the quiet motor. “Run, hayseeds,” she shouted and then sped off.

Ten kilometers was no distance for Jack and he set off at a jog. Others sprinted past, all glancing back over their shoulders, looking out for Sergeant Hacker and his busy little tazer. Gravity on the training moon was high for its size. The moon had formed around a neutron star fragment, creating a gravity field on the small moon just above one-G. The atmosphere was thin but breathable.

After what felt like an eight-kilometer run, Jack saw the training complex at the base of a small hill in the distance. The buildings looked to be around four kilometers away. The extra gravity and the thin air was making the run more difficult than Jack was used to. He glanced back and saw he was leading the field. The recruits were strung out over a distance of about a kilometer. Jack slowed to a jog. The runner coming up next was the recruit who’d taken Jack’s ration bar, Sam Torent. Behind Torent came a small bunch, jogging and puffing, red cheeks and sweating brows.

Torent fixed Jack with a stare as he pushed on. Jack could see Torent was struggling to keep the pace but he was ahead of all the others and closing in on Jack. The look was icy and hard with threat and menace. Jack guessed Torent was angry that a university reject was leading him in the race.

Jack focused on the buildings of the training complex. It was still a long distance, but Jack knew he had the energy left to make it comfortably, even given the slightly heavier gravity. It was too far out to sprint, but Jack knew how hard he could push himself. He ran hard.

Jack felt his lungs burn and his legs wobble as he ran the last few meters up the hill to a parade ground in front of the set of buildings. Lieutenant Crippin was waiting, sitting on her buggy. Jack smiled at Crippin and raised a hand in the air to claim victory in the race. He slowed to a walk and approached Crippin.

“Pleased with yourself?” Crippin asked.

“That was a bit slow for me,” Jack replied, smiling.

“Sir!” Crippin shouted.

Jack came to attention. “Sir, sorry, sir.”

“And will you always run and leave your squad behind, hayseed?”

“Sir?” Jack asked, confused.

“You have left a dozen of your squad-mates back there all getting tazered by Sergeant Hacker just so you could get here sooner. What did you expect to find here?” Crippin climbed off buggy and approached Jack. “A warm and friendly welcome? A nice soft bunk? A glass of lemonade?” Crippin jabbed Jack in the shoulder. “Run, hayseed. Go help the squad. And if you leave your team behind again, I’ll tazer you myself. Run.”

Jack turned and started jogging down the slope. Away in the distance, he could see the most distant recruits all panting for breath and keeping one step ahead of Hacker and his tazer. Jack paced himself carefully. This was turning into a longer run than he had first thought.

Up the hill came Torent. He’d fallen in with the small group that had been snapping at his heels. Torent grinned at Jack as they passed each other on the slope. Jack heard Lieutenant Crippin shout as Torent as his group came close.

“Fall in, hayseeds. Two neat ranks. Hands by your sides. Eyes front. Do you get me, hayseeds?”

And as Jack dug deep for his extra reserves, he heard the small group of recruits shout their reply.

“Sir, yes, sir.”