Chapter 4: Getting Into the Swim of Things

I was up early and learned that the rest of the house was already up and about. I cleaned up and went into the kitchen for the buffet on the countertops, choosing from fruits, fresh bread, and jam spreads that looked homemade.

“Well, sleepy head,” Poppa smiled broadly at the American girl, “not quite ready to keep Danubian farmer hours yet?”

“Sorry, Poppa,” I used to be familiar with Ivan knowing that as a guest, she was considered one of his children, “I must still be shaking off jet lag. “In the states, this time of the morning I would have been in the pool for two hours, stretching and doing laps,” I said.

Kaleen offered, “Well, the pool is just out back.”

Martina countered, “She needs a real pool, silly, the kind that the military and the National Police have at their academies, not a tiny family backyard affair.”

Kaleen almost whispered, “I forgot” the enthusiasm and happiness drained from her voice.

“About that, Marcia,” Ursula offered, “we can arrange for Ivanka to take you on your first day and introduce you to the academy instructors at the Military Academy of Danubia. Unfortunately, the academy is just outside the yellow line, beyond which Ivanka may not travel.

Poppa and I have other commitments and cannot go, but we have written directions for you with the trolleys to take and the stops to transfer if you do not mind going by yourself. Poppa has also written a letter of introduction for you to show the guards at the gate. The look she gave was sorrow that her daughter’s actions had again impacted the life of her American guest.

I looked at Kivar and the twins, then at Ursula Siminov, and offered, “Momma, is there any reason why Kivar and the girls cannot escort me today? I would be glad if the company keeps me from getting lost knowing of a pastry shop where I could buy a nice dessert for tonight’s dinner.” Ivanka looked at me and explained that the twins were too young to venture into the; outer reaches of the city during their period of public penance. “For them, it is home, school, temple activities, and play within the neighborhood unless a parent is escorting them,” Ivanka concluded.

She then continued, “Kivar, on the other hand, has passed his fourteenth birthday and is considered a pre-adult under Danubian law. He has slightly more freedom of movement than the twins. If you desire an escort, I’m sure Kivar would be willing.” Ivanka suggested in a way that Kivar had no wiggle room in the matter; he would smile, volunteer his services, and make no fuss. I wondered what the older sister held over her brother’s head to gain such compliance.

“So, what do you say, Kivar?” I asked cheerfully. “Would you do that for me, at least for today until I get to know the routes to take?” Giving a look that suggested he’d rather have a root canal done without anesthesia, Kivar muttered, “Sure, fine, whatever.”

‘Yep,’ I thought, ‘He is one moody teenage brother with this passive-aggressive attitude.” I asked him, “Do you have a friend you would like to come along with, Kivar?”

“None whom I wish to see me dressed the way I am,” Kivar admitted ruefully, “Particularly not Lydia.” Kaleen risked her life to mutter, “Kivar likes Lydia, and she is in his class at school and is quite the curviest girl in his grade level. She did not see the sweet roll Kivar launched at her. Martina said, “Duck,” and she did so instinctively.

Momma decided to let the punishment fit the crime, “Kaleen, please do call over to Lydia’s and see if she is free to help our guest find her way in the city.” Kivar was stuck, two females to escort, both of whom stirred teenage yearnings in his loins and nothing to hide his reactions behind. “Ah, too bad, well maybe another time,” Kaleen spoke into the phone and hung up.

“She cannot go with you, Kivar” her family is doing an outing at the lake north of the city today. She was going to invite you to go, but I told her you were busy with family duties.” If Kivar did not retaliate against Kaleen in the future it would only be because she never left herself alone long enough for him to get his hands on her.

It took almost ninety minutes to get from the Siminov home to the National Military Academy of the Danubian Republic. Kivar handed the letter of introduction to the guard at the gate. The officer came to the gate he asked, “You are the American swimming athlete, Marcia Shevat?”

“Yes, sir, I am.” I responded and then went on, “The son of my host family, Kivar Siminov, was kind enough to escort me on the unfamiliar public transportation system. May he be allowed to wait for me while I train?”

“Of course, though I’m afraid the pool is not set up for athletic spectators in your homeland.” The young lieutenant, Drakov, as I read the name badge correctly, escorted them about seventy-five meters inside the perimeter fence to a building that looked, from its exterior, like a former palace. A marble entryway with names and dates etched into the floor clearly showed that ’Fallen Defenders of Danubia Memorial Hall’ had a reason for its existence. “Come,” Lt. Drakov directed, “the natatorium is one level down.”

They arrived at the pool level in time to witness the final moments of a defensive combat training exercise. Male and female cadets struggled in shallow water to apply and break various hand-to-hand combat holds on one another. Lt. Drakov remarked that as the cadets became more proficient. The class would move into deeper water and wouldn’t be able to touch the bottom as they fought.

The Danubian budget for combat simulation training in the pool and had not been used for recreation or athletics. For that reason, the cadets were in the water in their battle dress uniforms.

Combat training and the mandatory nudity for swimmers were for them. Only I would swim laps, as an athlete swimmer would do so in the nude. Two lanes of the pool had been roped off for me. The one closest to the wall, where the most turbulence existed, would be empty. I would swim one lane in the five spots in most Olympic-size pools. Kivar found a post out of the draft and was relatively dry to sit.

He watched me stretch on the starter block provided. I stood upon it and crouched into my starting position. When I launched myself torpedo-like from it, dolphin kicking beneath the surface to rise in a steady freestyle stroke a third of the distance down the pool, I did not realize that all activity in the cadet class had ceased. All eyes in the natatorium were on me as she cut through the water, perfectly timing myself at the end of each length of the pool to flip and turn back the way I had just come, my breathing coming rhythmically with every third stroke.

I repeated the processed lap after lap until I had done my requisite three kilometers. I then pulled myself out of the water at the deep end. I shook my body to get the excess water as a wet dog might. Then walked from the deep end to the shallow, barely breathing hard. I neither expected nor knew what to do with the applause that broke out; nor why the chant, “Doc-Doc Marcia,” echoed loudly from the pool.

While she was swimming her laps, Lieutenant Drakov had spoken to the training officer and the class about who I was and her reason for using the pool. Later, Lt. Drakov explained to me that while all Danubians expected to swim. There were no competitive sports venues in Danubia where one could train to be a swimmer such as me. He was sure that many cadets and instructors would be asking questions in the coming months, looking to improve individual performance and perhaps even challenging me to informal competition.

I responded that it was always better for a swimmer to have others against whom to pace. I would be happy to spend time in the water with those who wished to learn how to breathe, turn and time themselves as repayment for the favor of the use of Danubia’s fine aquatic center.

“We will see you tomorrow at about this time, then, Marcia Shevat?” Lt. Dracovv asked. “If that is convenient with you, Sir, then yes,” I responded. “You respond as one who has served in the military, Marcia Shevat,” Lt. Drakov stated, “Are you a veteran of your armed services?”