Chapter 2

I was frightened when we headed toward Fort Cambell. I had no idea about what would happen and feared failing the initiation. L'nne and I kept together as much as possible. L'nne asked, "What happens if we fail? Will they really kill us?" I didn't know what to tell him.

Silently I wondered if I would have been better off to have just gone to M'rstown and tried to escape from the work crew there. I'm sure others in the group headed toward Fort Cambell also had their doubts but no one voiced them. Finally we arrived at at the location where we were to become either members of the cult of M'ltre or die.

We were joined by other new initiates at Fort Cambell, about 200 people who were there for training in the cult of M'ltre. Most were men but about a third of the people were women. We were forced to disrobe after we arrived and everything was taken from us. All of us had our heads shaved and we were issued new clothing, practice weapons and armor.

"You're now in the M'ltre! You worthless excuses for human beings! Move when I tell you! Otherwise I don't want you to move from the place you're at! Everyone drop and give me twenty push ups for being stupid!", screamed the priest in charge of us.

During this time we were screamed at constantly by the priests of M'ltre. They were never satisfied at any answer they were given to the constant questions they asked us. We spent much of the day doing something they called push ups to appease their dissatisfaction with our answers. We were forced to run everywhere and in between the places we ran to, we were made to do push ups if not carrying a load.

Finally at the end of the longest day I had ever lived through, we were permitted to set the items that we had been issued down on the ground. All of the initiates were ready to drop by this time but anyone who relaxed was soon standing in front of the others being screamed at by the priests. "No one said you could stop moving!" the priest in charge of our group screamed at one unfortunate man who sat when he put his burden down.

I found we had at least two more tasks to do before we were to be allowed to eat or sleep. We had to set up our tents and sleeping area. The priests showed us a tent and then separated us into groups of twenty people. We were given a tent and the blankets for a bed and told to set them up in a marked off area they indicated to us. My group consisted of 8 women and 12 men, including myself and L'nne, and ranged in height from the diminutive S'se's 5 foot to L'nne's 6 foot plus.

The group I was in had to set our tent up several times until it met the approval of one of the priests. The first time it was too loose, then it was too near one edge of the marked area, then it was sagging in one corner, then. You understand.

After that we were allowed to go to an area where we were given a large meal of an unidentified meat stew and half a loaf of bread and were told to get all we wanted to eat but eat everything we took. Ten minutes later: "Leave the area now. Move it! Move! Move! You're too damned slow!" the priests screamed as they hurried everyone away from the table. L'nne and I had finished our meal in five minutes, as we were accustomed to having food taken away from us if we didn't eat it quickly enough. Some of the group had food left over. They were forced to do push ups for every piece of food that they had left on their plate.

We returned to the tent where we were shown how the priest wanted the bedding to look. Then we were given 5 minutes to do it. None of us managed to do it correctly and the priest then went through the tent throwing the bedding around. "God forsaken idiots! How hard can it be to make a bed! Drop and give me twenty push ups for being idiots!" All of the initiates were tired and it took several tries until we finally managed to get the bedding done to the priest's satisfaction. Those who took the longest were made to run around the area until the priest decided they could stop. I thought that we were done, but I soon found out otherwise.

I and the others were made to run back to the area from where we had received our uniform and equipment. There we were given an armor stand and a small chest with another uniform in it. We carried these back to the tent and were shown how to hang the armor and fold the uniform to the priest's satisfaction. Finally we were allowed to sit down. One girl made the mistake of lying down and the priest forced her to run around the area until she dropped from exhaustion.

L'nne and another initiate, named M'kel, were sent to pick her up. They brought her back to the tent where she was held up in a sitting position between them. We sat for about an hour and then were permitted to eat one more time and ordered to go to bed. None of the initiates argued with the priest about that command. I don't think I had ever been as tired before or since. We had a mixed tent as almost everyone else did, but we were so tired none of us had any interest in anything other than sleeping.

It seemed like only minutes had gone by when I was woken before dawn by members of the cult whom we had not seen before, "Out of bed and get dressed! Move it!" They used small whips to wake up those who did not rise quickly enough with small flicks that stung but did no other damage. One initiate tried to hit the soldier who had flicked him awake. He was knocked to the ground with contemptuous ease and later soundly whipped for his attempt. These were older soldiers who wore armor like they had been made for it, bearing scars on their faces and other exposed parts of their bodies from the battles they had been in. They were different from the priests. Where the priests had seemed to take delight in tormenting us, the new soldiers seemed to regard us with little interest, other than that of a craftsman looking at raw material.

The soldier who came in to wake us, hurried us to get dressed and make up the bedding. She then chased us out of the tent where we huddled together for mutual support in the pre-dawn darkness. We whispered together until she looked at us and growled in a voice that demanded obedience, "Silence!" She looked at us as if we were something she would rather have stepped on and walked around us looking at each of us like we were pieces of meat she was considering buying. She forcibly placed us in a spot and growled, "Stay here until I tell you to move!" From the tone of her voice we got the idea that we had better not even breathe too loudly. She was a short, stocky black woman, who looked like she could have broken any one of us in half with no problem.

Finally she walked in front of us and turned around facing us, "I am Sergeant Em'le," she said in a voice that could be heard for some distance. "You are here to learn what it means to be a member of M'ltre. When you are woken up you are to dress as you are now and make up your bedding. You are to be in these spots ready for the day's activities. You will have ten minutes to do this after I or someone else wakes you up. You will then be allowed to eat breakfast if I decide that you have done everything correctly. If not you will remain here until it is done to my satisfaction or the time for eating is done. Do I make myself clear? Answer, 'Yes Sergeant Em'le!'" We did so and she roared, "Louder!" She cupped her hand to her ear and made us repeat the answer four times before she was satisfied with the volume of noise we made answering her.

Sergeant Em'le then went into the tent and we could hear things being thrown to the the ground and torn apart. She came out with an evil smile on her face, " This place looks like a pig pen. You have ten minutes to clean the area properly." She waited and we stood in the positions she had placed us in. "What are you waiting for?", she growled when we didn't move. "Get moving!" she yelled at the top of her voice. We rushed back into the tent where we found most of the beds unmade and several of the sets of armor thrown on the ground.

Most of the people stood around unsure of what they were to do. I spoke up as I was accustomed to do in the slave pen. I pointed to M'kel and told him "You help them make up the beds.", pointing at several of the people standing around. I turned and looked at three others whose beds had not been torn apart, "You show these people how to make the beds." Turning to the rest I chose two people whose armor remained on the racks and had them show the rest of us how to place the armor on the armor stands.

We were hurrying to finish everything when I heard the sergeant outside, "You have two minutes to be in your places." Looking around I saw that there was one bed and two sets of armor remaining to be done. I chased everyone out to the spots except three people to fix the armor and two people to finish the bedding. Again I heard the sergeant's voice, "You have one minute." Looking around I sent everyone out and gave the area a final look. I hurried and just as she turned around, I managed to reach my spot. I hoped she didn't see the occasional crooked corners on the bedding or the last set of armor that was just slightly askew but was resigned to having her throw it to the ground again and having to redo it.

The sergeant walked around the formation and using her hands and the small whip she carried moved with her everywhere, placed the members of my group into the position of attention. She then went back into the tent and we waited for the sound of armor being thrown to the ground or beds being torn apart. We waited, not daring to move, for what seemed hours but couldn't have been more than a few minutes before she returned, "It is not good enough, but I will let you eat anyway", she told us. "You will do better every morning until I find that you can do it correctly."

We were marched to where we had eaten yesterday. There we were given a loaf of bread, a small cut of cheese and some meat and told to place it in a bag that we were given. After that we were given a loaf that had been split, with eggs, meat and some sort of gravy placed between them. This was to be the normal routine for breakfast and lunch for the next several weeks. At dinner we were given a hot meal, although we never had longer than 10 minutes in which to eat it. We learned to take whatever was given us, rush to our tables and finish quickly.

After we had eaten, we were then marched to an area where we were given shovels, metal bars and several wheelbarrows. Then we were led out and began to build our training area. We built walls, hurdles, targets, ditches and small tunnels for an obstacle course. After a week we were finished and then we began to use the things we had built in our training. I managed most of the obstacle course easily except for the beam over the pit...

I stood at the end of the narrow beam looking at the ditch below it. The beam had been replaced again. Instead of 12 inches it was now 8 inches wide. The ditch was 20 feet deep and a fall meant that I would be lucky if I didn't break something. I looked at it and the ditch seemed to get deeper and the beam narrower the longer I stood. Suddenly I felt the sting of Sergeant E'mle's whip hitting my back, "Are you listening? Move it!" Hating her and fearing the sting of the whip more than the chance of a fall, I began to walk over the deep pit on the narrow plank.

Every morning we learned to march in formation and also the methods of moving around in a manner to please our sergeants. Those who were slow to learn felt the whips on their backs to encourage them to learn faster. Everyone felt the sting of their dissatisfaction when we failed to move fast enough. We grew to hate the sergeants who never seemed satisfied with anything that we did. All of us wore stripes from the whips they used freely at any excuse. I was whipped along with everyone else. Even worse was having to watch as someone else was punished in front of the formations.