Chapter 2: New Assignment

Eliana awoke precisely at sunrise, the first rays of the local morning shining into her eyes from her bedroom's eastern windows. She glanced at the clock, 8:58 PM. "Ah," she thought to herself. "It's one thing to have the dry geographic knowledge, to know that Judah's cathedral has its solar noon 8:25 hours earlier than the capital's. It's another matter entirely to expect a date change three hours after sunrise! I wonder if phrases like tomorrow and later today might have different meanings here."

Eliana rose from the bed and checked her communications log before her shower. She was very surprised to see that her scheduled orders to report in had been postponed for 24 hours. For the first time in many months, Eliana had a completely free day ahead of her.

She decided to go to the beach. Her living complex was only a few hundred meters from the north shore of Judah, and the views of the sand and the surf from her windows reminded her of her childhood and looked just too good to pass up. So she put on a bikini and headed out shortly after eating breakfast, reminding herself to be sure to pick up some sunscreen lotion on the way.

The beach was delightful, fine white sand gently sloping to a warm and pristine tropical ocean. The local beach was a family beach, and there were a number of preschool children playing nearby at the surf's edge. Eliana read a sign which told her that ten kilometers further west was a beach meant for CL1's seeking dates, and then a similar beach for adults, and beyond that a beach where public copulation was permitted. The sign finished by informing Eliana that nudity was permitted on the family beach, but people were asked to refrain from all sexual behavior while naked, including simple petting.

The rules suited Eliana just fine. She felt no immediate need for male companionship. She jogged the beach eastward for more than an hour, an easy loping gait of three-minute kilometers. After a while the township was far behind her and she ran admiring the undisturbed wild shore. At the end of her jog, she spent some time practicing Tai Chi in a deserted cove, and then sprinted back to town at full power, finishing her morning exercise with an energetic swim in the warm ocean. Afterwards she chatted with several of the parents at the beach, mostly mothers with a few fathers, and spent the rest of the time before lunch helping a group of small and mostly unclothed children build a sand castle.

By the time January 2 arrived, the sun was at an altitude of about 40 degrees and Eliana guessed its azimuth about 13 degrees south of due east. The island of Judah was close to 21 degrees south of the equator, but this close to the southern summer solstice, the sun was even further south and would be almost directly overhead at 3:39 AM later this new morning. After six years of living with the much less potent sunlight of Bandar Arenas, Eliana decided not to push her luck with the sunscreen and headed back to her living complex. She spent the rest of the easy day touring the city while keeping in the shade, and meeting a few of her new neighbors. She posted a few notes to her family in the local evening and sacked out early, feeling more relaxed than she had been in a very long time.

At 11 PM UCT on January 2, Eliana finally reported to her military superior at Judah's primary cathedral complex. She was startled to find her placement interview had been redirected to a Governor, a CL-16 Priest named Zaafir, someone with much higher rank than she was expecting. After a formal but friendly exchange of introductions in his spacious office, Zaafir began the placement interview with a totally unexpected question.

"Commander, have you ever considered applying for Conservation Ranger?"

Eliana blinked. "Sir? No sir, not for years." She thought about saying more, but then decided to let Zaafir take the lead.

"You've met all the academic requirements, excellent marks too. Why such a concentration?"

"Yes sir, thank you sir. Ecological studies were a childhood passion for me."

Zaafir nodded quickly. "And your military survival courses are acceptable substitutes for Ranger field requirements. Your qualification is almost complete. Did you know the six-month journey-test is the only credential you lack for permanent Ranger certification?"

"Uh, dimly I guess." Eliana finally forced herself to smile. "Sir, may I ask where these questions portend?"

He didn't answer directly. "Ever heard of a place called Treraksroset?"

"Treraksroset?" Eliana paused for a moment. "No. I'm guessing from the sound, ancient Scandinavia?"

"Wow, you are good! Yes, the name refers to the location where three ancient countries used to meet, Sweden, Norway, and Finland."

"Uh huh. And what's there now sir?"

"Well, the environment is still there of course. Plus a new two-person Ranger station. The Animal Conservation Guild at Cairo has been asking the military for months if we had any volunteers to join a Ranger cadet applying for full certification. What do you think of the idea?"

"Not what I was expecting sir, that's for sure. But I don't want to reject the idea outright. Let me think for a moment." Eliana paused and considered what the assignment would mean, six months of isolation in an arctic wilderness area. The assignment would not be particularly physically difficult or dangerous. Modern Ranger stations were state-of-the-art facilities. The six-month field assignment was in large part of psychological test, determining the candidate's ability to handle the isolation and the relationship with their single partner.

"What's the Citizen Level of the other candidate sir? Can you tell me how old she is?"

"A high achiever I think, like you. Wait. I take that back. You're in a class by yourself." Zaafir typed at his terminal. "Made CL-6 just two years ago, Judgment of 9568. So you'd be in command of the station." More typing... "Thirty-six years old now." Zaafir paused for a moment and then finished with, "His name is Basel."

Eliana stared at him. "A man sir?! You're asking me to live isolated with a man I don't know for six months?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"I might." Eliana took a deep breath. "I guess I was being presumptuous, but aren't Rangers almost always female?"

"Well, not always..." More typing... "Worldwide there are currently 983 certified Rangers... about 96% female... almost 4% male."

"And aren't the male Rangers the husbands of female Rangers?"

Zaafir paused for a moment. "I'd have to query personnel files to answer that, and I'm reluctant to do that without a real need. But I'll concede your point. It's very rare for a man not married to a Ranger to apply for the job."

He sighed and then looked Eliana in the eyes. "But don't you think it's unfair that Basel is having trouble with his certification just because he's a guy?"

Eliana felt bewildered. This placement interview was going in a totally unexpected direction. "Well... Yeah, probably. Sir, I support full gender equality, I really do. But why is this particular issue a military concern?"