Chapter 31: Intersectional Rivalries?

I waited for the door to close and then released a massive sigh. Tatyana immediately put her arms around me. “That was hard on you,” she observed.

I feel like I’m the only sheep in a room filled with hungry wolves. There are quite a few members of the crew that would do their best to replace me if they thought I’d fail,” I replied as I stood up.

“Never let them see you sweat?” Tatyana said.

“Basically,” I agreed as I stood up. “AI, you can power down this room until the next training session.”

“When will that be?” the AI asked as I walked to the door.

The door opened. “I’ll try to provide a new schedule in the morning. Will this room be used by Captain Prescott?”

“He has not mentioned an interest in any kind of simulated training,” the AI said. “You will always have priority for the use of the simulators.”

Tatyana grabbed my arm as we headed out of the simulation room. “Wow,” she said enthusiastically. “The AI likes you.”

“I think its going to like anyone who tries to establish order,” I said as we started to walk down the hallway.

“You try too hard to be humble,” Tatyana said. She rushed ahead of me and then turned around to walk backwards while smirking at me. She made the walk seem effortless as she stared at me.

“Do you have a purpose?” I asked carefully.

“Besides having your babies?” Tatyana asked in a playful voice she had to have learned from Ashley.

“I think I need to spank a blond tonight,” I muttered.

“She’d like that,” Tatyana said. “She thinks you are mad at her.”

“I love her,” I said firmly. Tatyana just smiled larger.

“We all know. And you can’t imagine just how much she loves you,” Tatyana said.

“She disobeys me constantly. I really am feeling the love,” I said as I shook my head. As I did I caught the sound of someone shouting in the distance. It appeared to be in the direction we were walking through the passageway.

“Mark,” Tatyana caroled out. She seemed oblivious to the shouting. “Ashley knows you like your women confident and happy. She’s afraid that she’ll be too passive for you.”

“Passive?” I asked. “She’s the one wearing short skirts, no panties and twerking right in front of me.”

Tatyana giggled. “And yet, that hasn’t gotten her fucked like she wants.”

“I haven’t had much time. Ever since the AI announced that I’m the captain of Corsica, I’ve been worried about impressing a bunch of men and women who are a lot older than me. You saw the trouble I had in that training meeting,” I replied.

“That’s,” Tatyana started to say.

The rest of her sentence did not come out as the shouting ahead of us grew louder. “Keep your asses down! This isn’t some stroll. Those laser lines will cut you if you touch them. Heads down as you crawl,” a grizzled voice shouted.

“What?” Tatyana asked as we heard someone yip in surprise and pain.

“What? Do you need a bandaid? Is that light pain too much for you? You signed up to be in the military! I will mold you into a fighting machine. Now keep moving and keep down,” the voice continued.

Tatyana and I walked around a corner and discovered that the hallway leading to our pod was being used to for training. A series of posts had been spread out across the floor. Visible red lines of light stretched between the poles. A man wearing some kind of garment colored in mottled greys and greens stood at once end of the light web shouting as several men and women wearing tank-tops and shorts tried to crawl under the light.

“Faster!” the man shouted as we walked up. “I’ve seen boys do this in less time.”

“I think the boys get mud to crawl over, not a hard ship’s deck,” I observed as I stopped next to the shouting man.

“Who are you?” the man said. I noticed that the sleeve of his outfit had several chevrons attached to the fabric near the shoulder.

“Mark Parker. Supposedly I’m training to command Corsica. Based on what I’m watching, I’m guessing you are Sergeant Griffith and you are in charge of training some marine cadre for Crucibleat,” I replied.

The man looked at me. “You mean to tell me that the AI put a boy in charge of a corvette?” He then turned to look at the people still crawling across the deck of the passageway. “Move it! Once you clear the web I want you to run down the main corridor to the next intersection and come back. And the AI will tell me if you turn back early.”

Two men crawled free of the web. They stood up and took off running. I noticed that both men held rifles in their hands.

“Isn’t allowing them to carry weapons dangerous?” I asked.

“Simple scale replicas,” the Sergeant replied. “Correct shape and weight, but can’t fire. They need to get used to moving with them.”

I nodded. “Wise. Oh, you should be getting two new transfers. I threw a couple of men off my crew earlier today.”

“I heard,” the Sergeant said as he turned to look at me. “Do you need help with them? I can’t imagine why you had to throw them out so quickly.”

I tilted my head and glared at the man. “Now I know you are being deliberately insulting. I am not going to pretend that I’m not young. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to lead or when its worthless to fight with someone. The two men I sent were both going to be problems I didn’t need.”

“Do you expect replacements?” was the Sergeant’s response before he turned to look at the web and the trainees still trying to crawl under it. “I didn’t say you could take a break. Keep moving! This is the last obstacle and then you can go home for a meal and some time with your concubines.”

“I’m not sure I want any more random replacements,” I said. “Yes, right now I’m short two people, but I’d rather have to get others to spread their duties out than take someone who will be a problem.”

“Wise beyond your years,” the Sergeant said. “And I can see you already plan on using my marines as a dumping ground for your problems.”

“Only because I have no choice,” I countered. “I’m dealing with a lot of adult males who have been the top dogs in their social circles thanks to their CAP scores. Many will give me a chance to prove myself, but the ones that look at my age and immediately attack me aren’t useful to me right now. And I can’t risk a mutiny.”

The Sergeant snorted as two more men emerged from the light web and started to run down the hallway.

“Mark?” Tatyana asked me. “What is this?”

“Training,” I said. “For marines. I have to admire the setup. We don’t have the ability to have an outdoor confidence course, so Sergeant Griffith had one set up in the hallways. Of course, this one blocks the route to our home.”

“We’ll be out of your way as soon as this squad finishes,” Sergeant Griffith said. He turned to the hallway where four more people continued to crawl under the web.

“Put some effort in! The whole reason you are here is the failure of this squad. You showed no effort in learning melee combat so now you get to show me real effort. Do you want to go again?” the Sergeant shouted.

A young woman emerged from under the laser web. She stood quickly, but stumbled as she started to run and her left leg swung behind her. A harsh buzzing sound cut off all conversation as she fell to the deck with a scream.

“Not again!” Sergeant Griffith shouted. “How can you be so fucking clumsy!”

I dropped down to look at the woman’s injured leg. The laser had left a nasty looking burn just above her ankle. She was reaching back for it, but I gripped her hand.

“Don’t,” I commanded. “It needs treatment. Tatyana, find a replicator in this hallway and see if you can get some aloe burn ointment and a rolled bandage.”

“What are you doing?” Sergeant Griffith shouted at me. He put a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m treating this young soldier for a burn on her leg,” I replied.

“Why? She can just use the sleep trainer in her room to heal that damage. It’s the same technology,” Sergeant Griffith said. “And I don’t know why you are interfering with how I train my soldiers.”

“I haven’t interfered,” I said. “I’m treating an injured soldier, that’s all.”

“A soldier who keeps getting hurt, or failing to overcome simple obstacles,” Sergeant Griffith growled. “I’d throw her out an airlock, but the AI insists she has a qualifying CAP.”

I looked at the Sergeant and then found my gaze rising to look at the ceiling. “AI, am I allowed to ask for a bit more detail about this young marine?”

“Yes,” the AI responded.

I waited for the AI to expand on the answer. As the silence extended Tatyana ran up and handed me a very small container. I could see some pale gel inside.

“Burn ointment,” Tatyana told me.

I took the container and carefully put a couple of fingers into the container. The gel felt a bit greasy, but soothing. I used my other hand to grip the young woman’s foot and started to spread the gel around her wound.