Chapter 1: Recruitment

Today Mark turned 18. In the eyes of the Federation he was now an adult. Capable of making his own way and thus no longer in need of the Federal orphanage where he spent the last 18 years of his life. The guidance computer in the house suggested that he sign up for Federal service. There would be no support for college unless he served a 10 year term of service in the Federation Armed Services. The only other choice was to find a job doing work a robot would not do. So there was damned little choice in what to do now.

Mark walked down the street with all of his belongings in a bag that was provided to him when he woke up. He admitted one thing to himself, that the Federation wasted no time making room for the next helpless kid that lost everything. He had two changes of clothes and 100 credits. It was just enough to get him through the next week without starving to death. But homeless and jobless, that was all it would last him if he did not try to rent a room.

Having very little choice in what to do next Mark decided that his best bet would be to join up. At least he would have a place to sleep, food to eat and clothes to wear. So he made up his mind to walk to the recruitment station and get it over with.

"What is the worst that can happen? I get killed in some damned war? A quick death beets starving to death on the streets of New York" Mark said to him self.

With that decided he turned for the FAS recruitment center. It was not that long of a walk from were he was. It seemed that the FAS had a recruitment center on every street corner. They were always in need of new recruits. Not because a great deal of FAS soldiers were dieing but the Federation was growing by leaps and bounds. With every new settlement a garrison of FAS troops was assigned to protect the settlers. Or at least that was what the settlement was told. The real reason was to avoid the mistakes that happened when PSI left and never returned.

Before long Mark found him self at the front door of the FAS recruitment center. With out thinking any further he pushed the door open and went in.

The walls of the office were bare. They looked to have just been painted a brilliant white. The only furniture that was there was an old wooden bench and a desk with an old man sitting behind it.

"What can I help you with sonny?" asked the old man.

"I want to join up. Am I in the right place?" Mark asked, not knowing what to expect as an answer. This place did not look like any recruitment office. He thought that at least there should be posters on the wall trying to tell him that he should join up. But there was not a thing on the walls but bright white paint.

"Well that depends on what you want to join up with sonny. If you are here looking to join a three ring butt fucking circus then I would have to say you are in the wrong place. But if you are looking to join the Federal Armed Services then I might be able to help you" the old man cracked.

"That is what I want to do, be a soldier in the FAS" Mark said.

"Well then that does make a difference. How old are you boy?" he asked.

"I am 18" Mark answered.

"Are you sure that you want to join, sonny? Once you do there is no going back. The Federation owns you and can do anything they feel the need to do with you. You could end up on the moon scrubbing rocks and making sure that they are all lined up and ready for inspection. I don't think that you would want to do that, would you sonny? So why don't you run home to mommy and suckle her tit for a few more years and then have daddy pay for a nice college some where" the old man snarled.

"I would if I could old man. But I seem to have a little problem with that. I have no idea who my mother is. I have never even met her as far as I know. And so long as we are talking about fathers, well the same goes for that bastard. I have spent my whole life in one orphanage or another. So it looks like I have no other place to go unless you want to be my daddy and send me to college?" Mark snapped back.

"Orphan eh? Well now that does change things a bit. The Federation always encourages orphans to enlist. That way there is no need to ship a dead body light years away so mommy can have her son berried next to her. No letters home to the next of kin explaining how you gave your life to save your comrades in arms. Yes sir, the FAS is always looking for orphans to do the dieing" the old man said smoothly.

"What do I have to do to enlist? Go and get my old house mother? I came here to join the FAS not get a line of shit from a grumpy old man!"

"Easy there tiger, I did not mean to ruffle your feathers. I am here to try to convince you not to join unless you really want to. So I can see that nothing that I am going to say is going to change your mind about joining. So lets get started on your processing shall we?" the old man asked.

"Ok what do I need to do?" Mark asked.

"Place your hand on the mark on the desk and the computer will do the rest"

Mark placed his hand on the hand print on the desk. A warm red glow appeared around his hand, scanning his genetic code as well as the identity chip imbedded in his palm, reading all the information that it held with in its memory banks. This device is a standard Federation identity card that gave the reader instant access to all his vital information, such as health records and criminal records.

"Identity, Mark Hamrick, Born Earth, September 19, 2267, New York City, age 18. Identities of parents are unknown. The subjects last known residence, Federation home for boys, 45243 west 45th Avenue, Old New York. No record of major health problems. No city or federal criminal background" said a pleasant disembodied voice.

"Well now it seems that you are fit to enlist in the FAS. But then again, the FAS don't turn away anybody hell bent on joining. We just need to know some background information to properly place recruits. This is your last chance to back out. Once you agree there are two ways out of the service. One is to complete your term of service or two in a body bag" the old man said.

"What do you mean by properly place recruits? I don't get to pick what I will do?" Mark asked. Not feeling so well at the moment.

"That is a fair question and I will answer it like this. You will be run through a battery of tests. There is no way to fail these. And most of the time you will not be aware that you are taking a test. You will be tested mostly on intelligence, mental and then on physical endurance. From there you will be given a few choices on jobs that will best suit you mentally and physically. But some people, like those that have been convicted of various crimes are given the more hazardous jobs like in-flight weapons repair, or ammo barer. The most degraded humans are used as test subjects for every thing from environment suit testing to medical experiments. The medical experiments get used to test out wonderful little chemical weapons and nasty viruses from the biological weapons department. Needless to say they do not last long being exposed to that kind of abuse every day. I am proud to say that not one of them has ever retired from the service. But don't worry about you becoming a lab rat. You have never been convicted of a crime. Only the worst get sent to that unit" the old man explained.

Mark was visibly shaken to hear this. All the blood in his face had drained out. The prospect of becoming a lab rat and being exposed to deadly toxins left him as white as a ghost.

Taking note of Marks reaction the old man smiled in knowing that his speech is getting the correct reaction. "He is thinking about it. Yes thinking hard about walking out of here and never coming back" he thought to him self.

"What am I going to do?" Mark thought furiously. "I have no where to go. No home, no job. I don't have enough credits to make it a week let alone the rest of my life. What was it I said as I was coming here 'better to die a quick death than to starve'. What he told me it sounded like I could die a very slow and painful death".

"Well sonny what is it going to be? Are you going to join or die of fright right here in the lobby?" the old man prodded.

"Ok I will join and take my chances" Mark said before he knew he had said it.

"Well no backing out now Mark" He told him self.

"Then we will start. Computer, begin processing this piece of fresh meat for the grinder. This is your very last chance sonny, run while you still can" the old man said.

Before Mark could do any thing the Computer spoke.

"Welcome to the Federal Armed Forces recruitment center. Do you wish to enter Federal service? Answer yes or no please" the computer said.

"Yes"

"Please place your right hand on the scanner. Be warned by doing so you agree to adhere to all federal regulations concerning the Federal Armed Services. Failure to comply with regulations can result in immediate termination of your life functions" The computer said in an ominous voice.

Mark set his hand down on the scanner. He saw the red glow as it scanned his hand once more. This time it felt different. It was like he could feel small electrical charges being directed in to his hand.

"Do not worry about the sensations that you are feeling right now. Your identity chip is being reprogrammed with your new FAS service ID. An account in the Federal Savings and loan has been created in your name. All pay will be deposited there. You are also required to turn over any cash that you are currently carrying on you. It will be credited to your account upon receipt" the computer stated.

"Is that it? Am I in the FAS? So what now?" Mark asked.

"Yep that's it. That is all there is to it. You are now in the Federal Armed Services. You will go from here to the testing center for a physical exam and to take the placement tests. You will then be shipped from there to basic training and then, providing that you survive the training, you will be shipped off to your advanced training. Fewer soldiers die in advanced training. Then it is off to your duty station." The old man stated.

Mark was looking even paler than when he first walked in the door. He was definitely thinking that he had made the mistake of his life.

"Don't worry to much there recruit, only 20 percent are killed or some what permanently injured during training. All you have to do to survive training is do what you are told and keep your mouth shut. Remember the best way to get killed is to do what you have been told not to do. It is a harsh way of training but very effective in teaching recruits to be soldiers. So you are now to be transported to the FAS in-processing center. A transport will be here in 5 minutes. At this moment you are to empty your pockets and set your bag on the desk" the old man ordered.

Mark hesitated a moment.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR YOU SLIMY MAGGOT? I GAVE YOU A FUCKING ORDER!" The old man bellowed.

Mark jumped about three feet in the air. With a look of complete terror on his face, Mark set his bag on the desk and reached in his pockets and placed his cash on the desk as well.

"I am sorry, god I am s s s sorry" mark stammered out, trembling in fear.

"I am going to give you two more pieces of free advice maggot. Never speak unless you are spoken to. And never say you are sorry. You are a soldier in the FAS. The FAS is never sorry for any thing. One other thing when you respond to any one not in a uniform with their rank displayed you should call them sir. Do I make my self clear?" the Old man said.

"Clear sir" Mark responded a little bit steadier than he was about two seconds ago.

"Good. You did that right, there may be hope for you yet sonny" the old man said gently.

The old man emptied his bag on the desk.

"You will have no need for any personal items in training. Every thing you will need will be provided to you. Since there is nothing to buy you will not need cash so it will be deposited in your account for you. I will reimburse you for the cost of the items in this bag" the old man said.

"As I figure it you have 100 credits in cash and 45 credits worth of clothing and other items in here. Computer, place 145 credits in this recruits bank account. Now with that done turn around and walk to the door that you came in through and stand there until the transport comes for you. Say nothing, do nothing, ask for nothing just stand there and wait." The old man ordered.

Mark turned around on his heal and went to the door and stood there. Not wanting to feel the wrath that he knew would be coming if he was slow to respond. As luck would have it the door opened and a FAS soldier walked in. He was tall and muscular. He had an arm band that had the letters MP printed on it. His face looked menacing. He appeared to be a very dangerous person. Mark decided right there and then he would do what this person told him no matter what.

"I am Corporal Donaldson of the FAS Military Police. I am here to pick up Recruit Hamrick. Are you him? Well if you are come with me and don't say a word. I am in a hurry and I don't have time for idle chitchat with some snot nosed recruit that wants to go back home to his mommy" Corporal Donaldson shot out.

Corporal Donaldson turned on his heal executing a perfect about face, and marched out of the door. Mark followed right after him not wanting to be left behind in the recruiting office.

Out side was parked a Black air transport. On the door it had the FAS emblem painted on it with the words Military Police just below.

"I want you to get in the car and again not say one word, or I will kick your ass out over the city. I will slow down just enough to hear you go splat on the pavement." He barked at Mark.

Corporal Donaldson knew that he would never do that but to watch the recruits think about the possibility of that happening was worth its weight in credits.

He opened the hatch just to the rear of the pilots door and motioned for Mark to enter. Mark saw 12 seats on either side of a narrow isle. He sat down in the first one on the right.

Mark felt a hand grab the front of his shirt and force him in to a standing position. He looked up into the very angry face of Corporal Donaldson.

"Did I tell you that you could sit down? No I didn't tell you that you could sit down. I believe I told you to get in and not to say a word. Nothing in there about sitting down at all. Now stand there unless I tell you to do differently. The seats are for real soldiers not maggot recruits just off the street." He told Mark as he turned and headed to the flight cabin.

Mark watched the door close to the cabin. He thought to him self "what have I gotten my self in to? I can't do one thing right. I think I will be lucky to make it through the day alive. It will be better for me if I do nothing and say nothing until I am told to do it."

A voice over the speakers came on and said "Ok maggot I want you to sit down in the seat on the left and stay there until I say to get up."

Mark sat down in the seat to his left. He felt the engines start up and the massive transport started to lift off.

The flight was not very long until he felt the ship start to descend and land.

"Ok maggot, stay put in your seat I will be right back" Corporal Donaldson said over the speakers.

Mark stayed in his seat for what seemed like an eternity when the door opened and heard the same words that were spoken to him when he first got on the transport. "I want you to get in the car and again not say one word, or I will kick your ass out over the city. I will slow down just enough to hear you go splat on the pavement."

He saw someone enter the transport and sit down in the seat next to him just like he had done. The same thing happen as before, Corporal Donaldson reached down and picked up the new arrival up by his shirt and said "Did I tell you that you could sit down? No I didn't tell you that you could sit down. I believe I told you to get in and not to say a word. Nothing in there about sitting down at all. Now stand there unless I tell you to do differently. The seats are for real soldiers not dirt bag recruits just off the street.

Now that you are here, Recruit maggot, meet Recruit dirtbag. You will remember that there will be no talking or sitting in the seats unless I tell you that you can." With that he went to the flight cabin.

Mark looked at the new arrival. He was about Marks age. He looked like he had just swallowed a goldfish.

The same seen repeated it self 10 more times over the next 2 hours. More recruits were loaded on board. Each was given unique names by Corporal Donaldson. Names like Asshole, fuck-face, shit-head, and many other personally descriptive names. It dawned on Mark that none of this was a personal attack. It was all part of the system that transformed him from civilian to soldier. After realizing this he was less apprehensive about the things that were yet to come.

The transport landed in Denver at an old federal building in the middle of town. A lot of history happened in the old building. It was legend that the 2 that bombed a federal building in Oklahoma were tried and sentenced there 300 years ago in what history teachers called a court room. Mark tried to imagine people getting all dressed up and going to see the King of the old United States of America who was also called the honorable judge. He made judgments with a jury of his peers of holy men. It was generally thought that a court prosecutor would present charges against the criminal and then the jury would go and pray about it and then returned with the truth so help them God. According to some of the records that were saved there were more innocent people found guilty than were actually guilty of any crime. The Federations justice system was more precise. If you committed a crime anywhere in the Federation it would all be captured on video records so all the Police needed to do is look at the records and then look up the penalty for the offence and then do what was required for the punishment, right there and then.

The Transport came to a complete stop. The engines powered down and the passenger door opened.

"Ok recruits, get off my transport and get inside. You will see a door marked entrance, go in there. You will be told what to do next" Corporal Donaldson said over the speakers.

Mark stood up and started for the door as quickly as he could go. About 10 meters away he saw the door. It was a set of sliding glass doors with mirrored glass. The glass read M.E.P.S. Military Entrance Processing Station, with a Federal Armed Services seal over it. The entrance sign was posted above the doors.

Mark and the rest of the recruits made there way to the door. For Mark time seemed to slow down as fast as he was moving it felt that he was running down an endless hallway. With every step that he took the destination seemed to get further away. Mark was wondering if he had fallen asleep on the transport. He seemed to be hyperaware of his surroundings he could feel the fear emanating from each and every recruit. The fear was almost like a taste. The more someone was afraid the stronger the taste. The strongest fear was coming from just to his left. Mark turned his head to look in the direction that it was coming from. He saw Recruit Dirt bag. The fear coming off him was streaming out of him like black smoke. Mark could make out the trails of it coming from him. It reminded him of an air show that he saw as a little boy. Smoke trails coming from the air craft so they could be tracked by the spectators on the ground while they performed the acrobatics.

Mark looked on in fascination he watched the black smoke come out of every hole in his head. Every time Dirt Bag exhaled a thick stream spewed from his mouth and nose.

Mark looked again at the door to the building and realized that he was two meters away. The glass slid smoothly away allowing them to enter. Mark then realized that he could no longer taste the fear any more. It was gone as fast as it had shown up.

Inside the doors were chairs lined up against the walls of a long hallway. There were wood framed doors beside every chair. The chairs them selves were made of wood with arm rests that arched around the back. Mark thought to him self that they did not look very comfortable.

"Welcome to the Federal Armed Services, Military Entrance Processing Center or MEPS for short. Find a chair and sit down in it. Some one will be out for you in a short while. While you are waiting here there will be no talking. You are not to get up from your seat for any reason except to go with who ever comes to get you. Failure to abide by these rules will result in severe punishment" said a voice over a loud speaker.

Mark went and sat down on the first chair that he could get to. He could not understand why he was not allowed to talk and get to know the people around him. He wanted to ask about the black smoke that he saw earlier. He wanted to know if this was a normal thing that happened to Recruit Dirt Bag. Could every body see fear? Could I do that again?

The world was spinning out of control for Mark. He was full of questions that he could not answer for him self.

"Can you hear me?" asked a voice in his head.

Mark was confused. He sat bolt upright like he was shot in the ass with ten thousand volts of electricity.

"Calm down bro you don't have to reply to me if you don't want to. I just wanted to see if you were like me.

"Let me introduce my self. You know me as Recruit Dirt Bag. My real name is Fred Lamb. I am a psychic. I can read your thoughts and talk to you by sending my thoughts to you. You have this gift too. I read your thoughts when you saw my emotions streaming out of me and I heard your questions. And I will try to answer as many as I can. But first you need to know that if we are caught we will be killed immediately. So we need to be as careful as possible" Fred said to Mark in his head.

"How could the Federation find out about us? Unless someone told them. I can't see how they would know" Mark thought back.

"They spot us at birth. They analyze our DNA. The only way around that is to mask the genes that they use as markers to spot us. My parents did it too for me the moment I was born. As well I am sure that yours did that for you" Fred explained.

"I have never met my parents. I have lived in an orphanage all of my life. So how are you able to talk to me through my head?" Mark asked.

"It is called telepathy. It is very easy to do. But first you have to know how to tune your mind in to other people's thoughts. That takes a lot of practice to get right. One Slip to the wrong person and you can kiss your ass goodbye. But mostly when it is time for you to start reading other peoples thoughts then you are ready to project your thoughts in to that persons mind. Each of our skills comes in at different times in our lives. There are even some of us that never develop telepathy. The one that you experienced today was a form of telepathy mixed with Aura reading. You picked up on the emotion and saw how my aura responded to how I was feeling. I would not be surprised if you told me that you could taste it. My mother could taste emotions. It made it very hard for me to lie to her. That skill is called empathy. She was a very skilled empath. She explained to me that every emotion has a distinct taste to it. That is a very rare skill" he explained.

Mark was feeling lost and overwhelmed. This day was getting a bit too weird for his liking. He longed for the simple days back in the orphanage where all he had to worry about was getting up in the morning and making sure that he completed his school work on time. To find out that he has to risk his life as a F.A.S. soldier is one thing but to be an illegal psychic as well was a bit more than Mark was able to handle at that moment. He could feel his hart rate start to go up. He felt hot and started to perspire. His head was spinning with questions and possible scenarios if he were caught. There had to be a way out of this with his skin.

"Relax man, I can teach you how to hide it. But you are going to really have to work at it. My parents survived because they were able to master hiding their skills. And you will master it too. The first thing that you have to do is to be able to block out stray thoughts from other people. Once you become more adept at reading minds it is like opening a flood gate. You will start hearing people's thoughts all the time. Unless you gain the ability to shut out those thoughts you will drown in a pool of random thought patterns. It's like reading 100 books at the same time. Information overload.

"To start you just need to imagine that you have a big black ball around your head. Once you have that, shrink the ball until it fits around your brain. Then strengthen the walls of the ball until no outside thoughts can come through. That defense can also work for stray thoughts that might want to escape from your head. Once that is in place and you can no longer hear any one else's thoughts all you have to do to hear a selected persons thoughts is to open a little hole in your ball and look out of it. Go a head and try that now "explained Fred.

Mark imagined a large black ball around his head. He could hear the murmur of voices. He then started to shrink the ball so it fit just around his brain shaping it to fit it like a glove. But he could still hear voices that were not his. He thickened the walls of his ball little by little until all the voices were gone.

Mark was amazed at this trick. For a moment he felt like that he might survive. Then he noticed a slight pressure, pushing at the side of his mental shield. It felt like someone was trying to poke a finger through a balloon. He reinforced the walls of the shield and the invisible finger was repelled for a moment.

Mark got an idea, what if he mentally created an electric fence around the shield, then if some one tried to get into his mind again then they might get a little shock.

He imagined an electric fence going up around his shield, and then it came, the probe. He just felt it for a split second and then it was gone. He heard a muffled yelp from down the hall were he was sitting.

Mark looked in the direction of Fred. He had a very pained look on his face like he had just had his head fried with an electric current.

Mark turned off his electric fence and created a very small hole in the side of his shield. He mentally called out to Fred.

"Bro are you all right? Did I hurt you?" asked Mark.

"How the hell did you do that trick? That hurt like hell, I thought my brain was going to explode. You are going to have to be careful with that someone could get hurt" Fred thought back to him.

"I felt someone trying to break through the shield that I put up and then tried to discourage them from doing it again. I am sorry that I did it now I should have figured that it was you that was trying to get through. All I did was to imagine that there was an electric fence surrounding my shield. I really sorry that I hurt you" explained Mark.

"Neat trick dude. I have never thought to try that before. It could be useful in countering a PSI attack. Don't worry I was not hurt that bad, although I am going to have a headache for the rest of the day. No harm done" said Fred.

"What is a PSI attack that you mentioned?" asked Mark.

"There are many rogue psychics around and every once in a while they will try to probe others around them to either get secrets from them or to start to reprogram them to do what they want. And before you ask, yes you can reprogram another person's will to do what you want them to do. You could have an army of slaves that could exist to do nothing but serve you. That is how we almost took over the world. But now a days it is all we can do to get off this world in one peace and try to make it to the world were the psychics went to" Fred explained.

"I remember the lessons in school about the rogue colonists that left after telling the Federation that they were a mining and planetary exploration interest. I don't remember any thing about them saying if they were psychic or not. It is why now there is a contingent of FAS soldiers stationed on each new planet colonized" Fred went on.

"So, where is this planet? What is its name? And how do I get there?" asked Mark.

"The name of the Planet is America. As to where it is, you got me there. I don't know if it is really true or just a story shared among the gifted people of the world" Fred said.

"So then you don't know how to get there. How are we going to get by not getting caught? I do not like this one bit. There are too many things that can go wrong" Mark said very concerned.

"Relax dude, like I said I will try to help you as much as I can. The only thing that you have to worry about is never letting a normal know that you have this power. I will show you how to reprogram someone's mind if you have to make them forget that they know any thing about you and your gift" Fred explained.

To Marks right a door opened up and a young woman stepped through. Mark looked around and it seemed as if every door opened up and some one stepped through. A metallic voice came on over the loud speakers.