Chapter 11: Training

I woke up in the dark. I reached out for the alarm clock and fell out of bed. The alarm clock wasn't there. As I sat rubbing my head, I remembered that I wasn't at home anymore.

I looked around and saw the other members of the Finger stirring in their beds. I wasn't sure what had woken us up, but I figured that this was going to be just like the army I was used to where I would have to get out of bed at oh-dark-thirty.

"[Now that you are awake, you have half an hour to get ready, then meet outside.]"

I identified the voice in my head as being Finger Roberts. I decided to try something. I had been doing the concentration exercises constantly the previous afternoon and evening without knowing if they had helped me make any progress, so I concentrated hard and sent back "[On the way Finger-Leader.]"

There was a startled "[... ]" and then "[Was that Cy Peters?"] from him.

"[Yes Finger Leader]" I replied.

"[OK. Good!]"

I got up from the floor and grabbed my towel and soap. I scratched through my locker to see if I could find a razor, but there was nothing like that there. I decided that if I hadn't been provided with one then I would just have to go without shaving and ask the Finger-Leader about it later.

I had a fast wash in the stream. It was seriously cold and I started thinking about how I could arrange to warm the water for the future. I would have to see whether I could arrange some kind of fire-heated donkey.

I was a little reluctant to pull on the same outfit as the previous day, but when I inspected it, I was surprised to see that it was clean. I decided that this was either a technological marvel, or some sort of magic, but as usual when you had no idea what caused something then the two were functionally equivalent.

Washed and dressed, I waited for the others to join me. Finger Roberts was standing and waiting, but he had a distracted look to him and I guessed that he might be in the middle of a mental conversation with someone else.

Once we were all present, Finger Leader Roberts turned and started running with a "Follow me" tossed over his shoulder.

We ran for about two hours. Only the first few hundred meters was on a pathway, then we headed off into the jungle. We ran between trees, jumped over logs and rocks and waded through streams, all at what I would previously have thought of as a pace suitable for a 1500 meter race on the track. As we went Finger Leader Roberts kept up a constant mental commentary on the terrain that we were moving through as well as the flora that surrounded us. I was surprised at his encyclopedic knowledge, but soon realised that he was giving us very valuable information; information that could assist us to live off the bush if necessary.

At one point, he stopped and waited for us all to catch up, then pointed at the ground. "That's the spoor of the most dangerous predator other than man on War World. It is a large cat we call a Smilodean that is similar to a cross between a jaguar and tiger. Take note of the spoor. I would recommend that you make every possible effort to avoid tangling with them. They are very efficient hunters of humans whom they consider to be a delicacy." He looked at us with a wry smile on his face.

"[Finger Leader?]" I decided to try the mental contact again. As I did it, it felt slightly different and I saw Desrae and Lian jerk in surprise.

"Yes Cy?' Finger Roberts answered aloud. Then he noticed the reaction of the other two.

"Did you just hear Cy?" he asked them. Both Desrae and Lian nodded.

"Ok." Finger Roberts gave me a strange look as he asked "What is your question Cy?"