Chapter 2

Training (TY10-month 111)

Our training progressed reasonably well. Capo Humphreys had been in the Army back on Earth. She’d come to Tara as a concubine to one of the Marines who came here for R&R and made the choice to join the planetary Militia. Her sponsor wasn’t happy. The first six months of the program was especially difficult. The first class was trained by the Marines on the Marine base at Sunnybrook. The capo didn’t get much freedom from her former sponsor.

After the first class was trained, the base at Drovers Run was opened and those who had been trained took over training the next class. They organized themselves under Director Kotter, appointed by the governor from her own concubines. With fewer than two hundred in the active Militia, the director also filled in for the non-existent chief—the structural top of the Militia pyramid. There was one deputy and one officer. Foremen had been appointed by the deputy and finally, as the Militia grew, capos were promoted to lead cohorts and conduct training. None of them had held that rank for a full year yet. It was a pretty flat organization with only four levels of management and three of labor plus recruit trainees.

If I tallied that correctly, I would become only the fourth manager in the Militia. I thought that was hysterically funny. I read up on Militias thanks to an extra session in the sleep trainer facilitated by Cricket back on the farm. Up until the announcement of the Sa’arm invasion, American Militias were marked by an abundance of egoists who called themselves ‘colonels’ in their state Militia. They could field only about ten to twenty Militia members and half of those claimed to be officers. Over the past four years, we’d heard of Earth Defense, Einherjar, Maquis, and half a dozen rising Militias preparing for an Earth invasion by the Swarm.

There was even one Earth Militia calling itself the Pussy Pirates, but it was mostly just a new game people were playing. I’d seen it listed in our entertainment guide, but Amos and the bitches were all too conservative to allow it in their home. You’d think Mom and Christine hadn’t fucked their way into the pickup in front of an entire county fair. Anne just didn’t care enough to take either my side or theirs. Amos decided if I had time to play a game, I had time to take on another chore. I never mentioned it again.

Over the next few weeks in the Tara Militia, I found out a lot about our little planet that I didn’t know. They teach that kind of thing in school. Most of the others in our morning classes were concubines whose owners wanted them better educated, or younger kids on the concubine track. We didn’t have any classes with sponsors or the sponsor track kids.

Tara, when discovered, was a green planet. It was pretty much covered with a layer of water and algae. It had a breathable atmosphere, slightly higher in oxygen and lower in nitrogen than Earth’s. We had mountain ranges that broke up the air currents so between the mountains and the angle of the rotational axis, we had seasons and polar areas. There were two large land masses generally considered eastern and western on the planet with a third unsettled island continent in the south. The eastern continent, called Erehwon, was the largest and most populated, though not the first settled. Five of our eight established townships were on that continent: Twelve Oaks (where I was from), Sunnybrook (the Marine territory), Green Acres, Cold Comfort, and Oasis. The western continent was called Elysium and had three townships: Drovers Run, Lleifior, and Drylanders. Finally, the smallest continent in the south was called Eldorado. So far, no one lived on Eldorado and it was said to have been seeded with more tropical plants and animals.

Of course, there was a variety of islands scattered through the oceans. The oceans were slightly shallower than Earth’s oceans, but overall, the climate on the planet was temperate compared to Earth’s. We had less tilt on our axis than Earth and our orbit was marginally closer to the sun than Earth. A single small moon, where our ship repair facility was, created tidal action in the large bodies of water as did the somewhat closer sun.

The total population of Tara was about three-quarters of a million, including sponsors, concubines, dependents, and Militia. The smallest and newest township, Drylanders, had just over 20,000 souls, total. When the planet was first settled, people clustered in the cities, but we were organized as an agricultural planet. People moved farther out into the wilderness as soon as plots of land were organized and surveyed. The scattering of the farms and ranches meant that each needed its own independent infrastructure. As a result, household AIs had a much bigger responsibility on the farms than in the city. They had to provide power for the farm, replicator and recycling, communications, transport, and education. Eventually the township infrastructures would connect to the farms, but no one knew when that would be finished.

Taken as an independent measurement, our day was shorter than an Earth-day. Our year was longer. Still, we maintained a twenty-four-hour clock system. It just meant our clocks ran faster than Earth clocks did. Tara mimicked Earth in having its 387-day year divided into twelve months—nine had thirty-two days and three had thirty-three days. We didn’t even try to translate it to Earth time. The sixty years I’d serve active and reserve in the Militia were measured on our time, not Earth time. This was where we lived and we pretty much ignored Earth. As it happened, we had a math problem that had us figure out the difference between Earth and Tara. Earth had a shorter year than Tara by about twenty-two days. But our day was shorter, even though it was divided into twenty-four ‘hours.’ It ended up not being enough to make a significant difference in the time we served—less than six days’ difference a year. In sixty Tara years, Earth will have progressed sixty-one years.

I got up each morning at 0430, about the same time we started on the farm. It was half an hour earlier than reveille so I could step outside the barracks and do my forms. By 0530 I was in the mess hall for morning rations. At 0600 we were on the field for PT. After we’d been on base about a month, I was told to lead basic forms during PT and everyone was supposed to follow me. They didn’t do badly. It wasn’t enough, but it gave me an hour a day to work on my technique. We had fifteen minutes at 0800 to clean up and change clothes for school and were in class from 0830 until 1130. We got back for mess at 1200 and were in classroom A at 1300. We were in sleep trainers until 1700 and had an hour of recovery and rest before mess at 1800. At 1900 we had two hours of ‘special interest’ training. At 2100 we had an hour free before lights-out at 2200. A lot of people were asleep in bed long before the lights were out.

Promotion (TY10-month 111)

I’d been on base for nearly four months when our class was ordered to the parade ground instead of afternoon classes. We’d graduated from Classroom C for Cunts and were now assigned to Classroom D for Dickwads. Everyone looked at me but all I could do was shrug. The AI was silent when I queried it. The base AI was not as friendly as the farm AI, Cricket, was. To the family, the farm AI was as interesting as the rest of them. It plodded along, never offering anything, but doing as it was told and nothing more. But when I challenged it to a chess match, things changed. He—yes, I’d definitely decided my AI friend was a he—budded a shell to handle its routine household duties and separately taught me. We played chess. He instructed me in my forms. He suggested all kinds of things for me to learn. He was my best friend—well, my only friend—and I still missed him here at the base.

We arrived on the parade ground and snapped into our formation when we saw Capo Humphreys lead a huge Marine toward us. Other classes and cadres were arriving and taking up their positions as well. It didn’t look like anyone knew what was happening.

“Outfit, attention!” snapped Capo as she approached the field. We all received her order as if she was talking directly in our ears and came immediately to attention. Two new classes of trainees had arrived over the past months and I was proud of the way they fell in behind our class in proper form and position. “Cho! Front and center!”

Uh-oh. I suddenly had a feeling I knew what this was all about. As I got closer to her and the Marine, I could see he was Asian, even though he was huge. I was considered tall for a Korean at six-two. This guy had me by half a foot. I snapped to attention before my capo and the sergeant.

“Sergeant Wu, this is trainee Cho. He has advanced independently in the study of Taekwondo and, according to his family AI, has shown competence at a black belt level. He has not, however, been tested beyond yellow belt on Earth. Will you do us the honor of testing this recruit?”

“Thank you, Capo Humphreys. Trainee Cho, will you accept me as your master and sifu for testing?” Chinese. I wondered how the testing for Kung Fu differed from that for Taekwondo.

I shifted at once from military posture to martial arts posture, clasping my hands and bowing to the sergeant.

“It will be a great honor to be tested by one so proven, Sabomnim,” I said.

“Very well, we will begin.”

I followed Sergeant Wu’s lead in removing my boots, but when he took off his shirt, I realized my uniform was one piece. Oh well. I stripped and stood naked as Rika gathered my clothes and boots. Wu grinned and stripped naked as well. My god! That’s what Marines are always bragging about! I focused on his eyes and we faced off. Bill Campbell rushed up to take the sifu’s uniform and boots.

That began a long and grueling afternoon. Sifu Wu did not just jump in and test me for a black belt. He was meticulous in testing me first for my green belt and then each of the six levels after that. He awarded me the belt for the level after each test. By the time we finished the black belt test, the entire outfit was late for mess. They’d been required to watch every step of the testing process, right up to and including my three five-minute sparring rounds against the sifu. When it was completed, I was told to dress and Rika brought me my uniform and boots, brushing me off carefully before letting me put it on. Bill performed the same service for Sergeant Wu. I could have used a shower, but as I zipped up the coverall uniform, Rika knelt and made sure my shoes were shiny. I fell in line next to my class and watched the consultation among Sergeant Wu, Capo Humphreys, and Deputy Kramer. I didn’t know when he’d arrived. I guess people had been arriving all afternoon. It looked like the whole unit was on the parade ground. I saw Director Kotter arrive and stride across the grounds to join the consultation.

Sifu Wu and I had sparred in every test, though the first two were non-contact. I’d broken over a dozen three-inch boards with my hands and feet, sometimes two thick. Surprisingly, I still felt good and energetic. Probably better than those who had stood to watch for five hours.

“Niall Cho, I have tested you according to the standards of Taekwondo and have found you worthy of a black belt in the fourth dan.” He reached around me and pulled a black belt with four yellow stripes on it around my waist and tied it. “According to Taekwondo Federation standards, you are now to be titled Sabum, Instructor in the Martial Arts.” There was applause from the officers in front of me, joined by the Militia members around me. I bowed to my instructor and stepped back at attention to salute the senior officers. The director returned my salute and stepped forward.

“Trainee Niall Cho, in recognition of your achievement and of your diligent work during training, it is my pleasure to announce your promotion to Officer Niall Cho and award you this symbol of your new rank.” She attached a vertical bar to my sleeve with a single black square in the center. As soon as she stepped away, Capo Humphreys stepped up and snapped to attention with a crisp salute. I returned her salute, my first as a manager. She stepped back and Deputy Kramer stepped up.

“In recognition of your accomplishments and new responsibilities, I award you this badge as an expert and trainer of the martial arts for the Tara Militia.” The badge was simple, just a tied black belt. It was pressed onto my uniform shirt just above my name badge.

“This has been a long afternoon on the parade grounds and I’m sure you are all a little peeved at Officer Cho for having kept you out here for over five hours,” Director Kotter said to the assembled cadres. “In order to mitigate your anger, all evening duties have been cancelled for today, including both training and post responsibilities. The mess hall will also be serving beer this evening. You can all enjoy a couple of brews and congratulate Officer Cho. Capo, the field is yours.”

“Militia Unit One, Attention! Salute!” The entire unit snapped to attention and saluted. The AI informed me it was my responsibility to return the salute. I did and they dropped theirs. “Unit dis-missed!” For the first time in the afternoon, there was a cheer from the group. I found myself surrounded by my class and those that followed us, being congratulated and slapped on the back as we all headed for the mess hall and a dinner far better than what we’d been having for evening mess.