CHAPTER 2:

"Wake Up, Trainee!"

A large voice roared in Margaret Brookmere's ear, she only became aware that the cot she was in was not her bed, and that all that had been said was reality. A large man in a camouflaged uniform yelled for her to get out of bed. She felt the cold press of a metal device, then a jolt of electricity though her body, going through her feet to the back of her skull, she jumped and screamed in surprise and began to shake off the dreamed feeling of almost being asleep. And scrambled forward out of the cot.

A tall, strongly built man at the center of the room roared out, "I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez, I am your Chief Naval Instructor, you will do exactly what I say! When I say! How I say! Am I clear trainees?"

The children all responded in unison, "sir, yes sir!"

Mendez extended a pointed finger to the aft of the barracks. "You will all wash and return to dress" Margaret followed suit with the other children, some panting as they ran across the barracks to the showers, undressing their nightshirts and entering the shower cubicles. Warm, soapy water, poured through her body. After she rushed out, and began to dress, finishing with socks and gray slacks, all tagged with her name and a number, "Margaret 53".

"Outside Trainees!" Mendez said, "Triple Time!"Jogging out onto the grass field, the sun had not risen above the sky and the sky a light shade of indigo. The glass was wet with moisture, the noise of a metallic crackle of aircraft launching off through the air.Mendez turned to the trainees, "you will make five equal length rows, fifteen trainees in each, he observed as they filed into the rows, only talking to a specific trainee who didn't quite fit into the row, the cold air seemed to wake up, and restore her memory of how she got here, men had taken her from her bed at the middle of the night from her bed, injected her with something which made her sleep for a while. Then, a woman had told her and the rest of the children they could not go back. "Jumping jacks!" Mendez had shouted "counting off from one hundred! Go!"

One boy, with "Otto 31" scattered across his gray training slacks, spoke up, "I'm ain't doing that many jumpin' jacks!" in a native texan accent. a trainer snarled and struck him with a baton into his gut, "get with the program, trainee!" he yelled, the boy stood back up with a choke, "yes, sir" he fell in line with the seventy four others including herself. After Mendez counted to 100, he shouted again, "Sit-Ups, to 100!" He dropped onto the grass and the others followed "No Slacking!" Margaret felt her bones ache, her muscles pull and tense, "the first crewman who gives up, gets to run around the compound twice, and then comes back here and does 200 sit-ups."

squats came after, then grueling knee-bending. Her legs burned with aching pain.

"Leg lifts!" Mendez came again. As if he was automated, like a video or a machine.

Margaret groaned, her limbs ached and she could barely feel them, and she didn't want to take the force of that baton from the trainers.

Mendez finally came to stop "Rest" he turned to the other trainers, "get the water". They did so, pulling over carts laden with water bottles, Margaret scrambled onto her feet and plucked out the nearest one she could find, and gulped down its contents in seconds, it was the best water she ever had.

The Sun was up and she stood back up soaked in sweat She couldn't find the faces of those from her school, everyone, like her, soaked in perspiration, clutching their sides, breathing heavily.

Margaret looked and saw the sun rising out from beneath the clouds, she fell down on her back and felt the warmth of the sun wrap around her.

"A good start, Trainees!" Mendez began again, Now we run. On your feet!"

The trainers herded the trainees along, with their brandished batons. Jogging down a gravel path through the compound and past more buildings. It went onto a runway where the jets had screamed off into the air, then past the zigzag stone path, and up into a courtyard of smooth flagstones. Poles in the center flew the flag of the United Nations Space Command. (UNSC) the colours of blue field, stars, and Earth.

At the end of the courtyard was a domed shaped building, with wide stairs which lead to the building entrance, A woman, not the same as Margaret had seen before, called to them, The woman wore a toga, and stars danced around her form, she was an A.I, Margaret had never seen an A.I before, she stared at it with a combination of awe and curiosity.

"Excellent Work, Chief Petty Officer Mendez" She said, in a smooth silk-like voice. She turned to the children, smiling. "Welcome, my name is Deja and I will be your teacher. Please come in, class is about to start.

Several other children, including Otto 31, groaned and grumbled, Deja spoke again, "of course, if you prefer to skip your lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics."

The children rushed up the stairs, in order,

It was cooler inside. A tray with crackers and a carton of milk, like the other children around her, Margaret sat onto one of the many seats, milk and crackers had been placed for them, she took the milk and took it all down in a single swig, taking a cracker and eating it, the A.I Deja appeared in the classroom, as the holographic display lit up. Margaret wanted to fall asleep onto the desk, her bones ached and her eyes felt heavy, until the display transformed into a holographic battle which spread out amongst the entire room. As Margaret and the other children explored the miniscule hills and plains, she let the illusionary sea lap at her feet, like how she would at her countryside home at the beach.

Toy sized ancient soldiers, thousands of them, marched towards what Deja had said was "Thermopylae".

At Thermopylae, Three hundred heavily armored hoplites which Deja called "Spartans" marched towards the Thousands strong "Persians". As they met, shields splintered, swords and spears clashed and spilled blood.

Deja said that the Spartans were the best soldiers who had ever lived, trained to fight from their childhood, they were "unbeatable".

Margaret watched in awe, how the Spartans ran blades and spears through the mass of Persian Spearmen. A boy had taken Margarets other crackers. She was too interested in the holographic show to even care.

The battle concluded, the Persians broke form and retreated out of Thermopylae, the Spartans stood victorious.

Margaret Cheered, she wanted to see more.

Deja smiled "That's all for today. We'll continue tomorrow and I'll tell you more about Wolves. Now it's time for you to go to the playground.

Mendez entered the classroom "Time for the playground, he waved them to him, "it'll be a short run, fall in!"

What was a "short run" ended up being an entire jog through the facility, one or two miles. At the "playground" was a playground nothing like Margaret had seen, or imagined.

Wooden Poles, Cargo Nets, and tight unstable bridges between them, rope pulleys and suspended platforms,

"Trainees" Mendez barked "form three lines!"

She and the other 74 children did so.

"The first person in each row will be team number one, the second person in each row will be team number two, and so on. If you do not understand this, speak up now".

"There are many ways to get to the bell. I'll leave it up to each team to find their own way." Mendez stated

No one said a word, but one boy raised his hand, the same boy who had taken her crackers from the classroom, his "number" was 117.

"A question, trainee?" Mendez asked, like a robot, he stood unmoving, even his eyes never blinked.

"What do we win, Sir?" 117 asked

"You win dinner, 117. Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mash potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies and ice cream".

Margaret approved, it sounded like the best thing she would ever have, considering how hard she worked. The other children agreed and murmured with each other.

"But" Mendez came again "for there to be winners, there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without dinner."

Everyone looked at each other warily.

Margaret looked at three others that were near her two boys, the boy on her left being the same boy who had stood up to the trainee during the morning exercise, "hey, I'm Otto. What's yours?" Margaret gave a polite smile, "it's Margaret"Otto smiled, "nice to meet you, Margaret." a girl to Otto folded in, 143 blazened on her slacks, "I'm Roma" she said, in a natural south african accent, her hair blond and her eyes ice blue. Another boy, with dark skin and even darker hair also joined in, Victor furthest down from the group "Victor, nice to meet you"."You too"

"Make ready!" Mendez barked

"Go!"Children dashed and scrambled all over the course. Margaret, Otto, Roma and Victor dashed across to the platform, where the boy numbered 117 had taken the lead, the majority of his team had all fallen behind. The four rushed up the cargo net and flung past onto the platform, they rushed across a turning bridge as Margaret almost fell off. Two others fell and added to the five others in the water. They dashed to a rope tied to a basket, running through the pulley and back down, it had been knotted into a climbing rope as they scrambled upwards, nearing the bell. Margaret felt nervous, it seemed a long way down and she herself had been scared of heights. She pushed further up the makeshift ladder, pulling Roma up top with a grunt.

Otto was ahead, he cried out "no fair!" as 117 rushed down the pole with the bell. Margaret nudged him "c'mon, Otto!"

They rushed and flew down the set, some children, including 117 stood first, panting. Stating he had been first to Chief Mendez, Otto stared at him with fiery green eyes "he cheated!"

Finally they all made it down the bell, the last two being Sam 035 and Kelly 087 as they came down.

Mendez beamed "Good work trainees, let's head to the mess and chow down!"

The children, caked in mud and sweat, cheered.

before turning to John 117, "except team three"

"But I won!" John protested, "I came first!"

"Yes you were first, but your team came in last! Remember this: You don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the whole group means you all lose"

Margaret herself had heeded Mendez's words, she now had friends, who if she looked out for, would look after her. She liked the logic of a "team".

The four children ran back to the barracks alongside what she thought were the losers. Team Two and One., she laughed and giggled with her new friends as they munched down turkey, mash potatoes with gravy, corn. And piled mountains of Ice Cream with brownies. They all left the mess with chocolate all over their mouths,