A Strong Foundation, Can Birth Legends - Part 2

{0530 Hours, September 24, 2517 / Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach, Unnamed Military Complex}

"Wake up, trainee!"

I rolled over in my cot and went back to sleep. I was dimly aware that this wasn't my room, and that there were other people here.

A shock jolted me - from my bare feet to the base of my spine. I yelled in surprise and fell off the cot. I shook off the disorientation from being nearly asleep and got up.

"I said up, boot! You know which way up is?"

A man in a camouflage uniform stood over me. His hair was shorn and gray at his temples. His dark eyes didn't look human - too big and black and they didn't blink. He held a silver baton in one hand' he flicked it toward John and it sparked.

I backed away. I wasn't afraid of anything. Only little kids were afraid . . . but my body instinctively moved as far away from the instrument as possible.

Dozens of other men roused the rest of the children. Seventy-four boys and girls screamed and jumped out of their cots.

"I am Cheif Petty Officer Mendez," the uniformed man next to me shouted. "The rest of these men are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times."

Mendez pointed to the far end of the cinderblock barracks. "Showers are aft. You will all wash and then return here to dress." He opened a trunk at the foot of John's cot and pulled out a matching set of grey sweats. I leaned closer and saw his name stenciled on the chest: JOHN - 117.

"No lacking, On the double!"

"Sir, yes sir!" A young voice yelled. I turned around and saw a young girl. She had white hair that came down to the bottom of her shoulder. Her body was slim, with no trace of fat on her body. Her turquoise eyes swiveled across the room, before landing on me for a second. Then she turned around and marched towards the shower. I recognized her. She was the girl who was next to the woman who gave her the coin.

A baton tapped me between my shoulder blades, sending lightning through my chest. I sprawled on the floor and gasped for breath.

"I mean it! Go, Go, GO!"

I moved. I couldn't breathe - but I ran anyway, clutching at my chest. I managed to draw in a ragged breath by the time I got to the showers. The girl had already taken off her clothes and stepped onto the conveyor belt by the time I got there. I followed suit, as did the other kids. They looked scared and disoriented, but they all followed her. Lukewarm soapy water was dripped onto us before it was rinsed by an icy cold spray.

I ran back to my bunk, got into the underwear, thick socks, pulled on the sweats, and a pair of combat boots that fit my feet perfectly.

"Outside, trainees," Mendez announced. "Triple time . . . march!"

The others and I stampeded out of the barracks and onto a strip of grass. The sun hadn't risen yet, and the edge of the sky was colored indigo. The grass was wet with dew. Looking around, I saw a dozen other barracks, all in straight rows, but no one else was up and out. A pair of jets roared overhead and arced up into the sky. Far away, I could hear a metallic crackle.

Chief Petty Officer Mendez barked, "You will make five equal-length rows Fifteen trainees in each."

I looked around. The other kids were mulling around, trying to get in position. I saw the white-haired girl. She was already front and center.

"Straighten those rows. Do you know how to count to fifteen, trainees? Take three steps back."

I stepped into the second row, behind the girl. I breathed in the cold air and began to wake up. I started to remember. They had taken me in the middle of the night. They injected me with something and I slept for a long time. Then the woman who had given me the coin told me I couldn't go back. That I wouldn't see my mother or father -

"Jumping jacks!" Mendez shouted. "Count off to one hundred. Ready, go!" The officers started the exercise and I followed.

One boy refused - for a split-second. An instructor was on him instantly. The baton whipped into the boy's stomach. The kid doubled over.

"Get with the program, boot" the trainer snarled. The boy uncurled and started jumping.

I had never done so many jumping jacks in my life. My arms, stomach, and legs burned. Sweat trickled down my back.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred." Mendez paused. He drew in a deep breath. "Sit-ups!" He dropped onto the grass. "Count off to one hundred. No slacking."

I threw myself onto the ground.

"The first crewmen who quits," Mendez said, "get to run around the compound twice - and then comes back here and does two hundred sit-ups. Ready . . . count off! One . . . two . . . three . . ."

Deep squats followed. Then knee bends.

I there up, but that didn't buy me any respite. A trainer descended on him after a few seconds. John rolled back over and continued.

"Leg lifts." Mendez continued like he was a machine. As if they were all machines.

I couldn't go on - but I knew I'd get the baton again if I stopped. I tried; I had to move. My legs trembled and only sluggishly responded.

"Rest," Mendez finally called. "Trainers: get the water"

The trainers wheeled out carts laden with water bottles. I grabbed one and gulped down the liquid. It was warm and slightly salty. I didn't care. It was the best water I'd ever had.

I flopped onto my back and lied on the grass, panting. The sun was up now. It was warm. I rolled up to my knees and let the sweat drip off me like a heavy shower. I slowly got up and glanced at the other children. They crouched on the ground, holding their sides, and no one talked. Their clothes were soaked through with perspiration. I didn't recognize her anymore. I turned around, towards Mendez and saw the white-haired girl. She was standing, her sweats only slightly soaked. She noticed me staring at her. She smiled.

The smile reminded me of my mother. I wondered where she was, and what -

"A good start, trainees," Mendez told us. "Now we run. On your feet!"

The trainers brandished their batons and herded the trainees along. We jogged down a gravel path through the compound, past more cinderblock barracks. The run seemed to go on forever - we ran alongside a river, over a bridge, then by the edge of a runway where jets took off straight into the air. Once past the runway, Mendez led us on a zigzagging path of stone.

I tried to think about what had happened, how I had got here, and what was going to happen next - but I couldn't think straight. All I could feel was the blood pounding through me, the ache in my muscles, and hunger.

We ran into a courtyard of smooth flagstones. A pole in the center flew the colors of the UNSC, a blue field of stars with the Earth in the corner. At the far end of the yard was a building with a scalloped dome and white columns and doesn't wide steps leading to the entrance. The words, NAVAL OFFICERS ACADEMY were chiseled into the arch over the entrance.