Chapter 4: Height-wise
Taz looked around the cavernous space. The new trainees were all huddled towards the middle of the room, their cool and collected personas slipping as they all tried to be nearest the centre of the group. Taz scoffed inwardly; there was no way she'd be standing with any of them. She made her way over to the far side of the room and looked around aimlessly, feigning boredom when in reality her heart was cartwheeling around her chest in anticipation.
When Up finally entered the room, Taz's heart seemed to stop altogether. However much she tried not to, Taz couldn't help but marvel at the sight of his muscles, which were even more visible as he had changed from his grey bodysuit into a white tank top, not dissimilar from her own. She couldn't make sense of what she was thinking, she'd never been one of the girls to gossip about boys. It wasn't that she didn't like them, she just didn't notice them in that way. No one was distinguishable.
Up had paused outside the door before entering the room. His hands were trembling as he fought to keep control of himself. He pulled off the top layer of his bodysuit revealing a tight tank top that clung to his muscles threateningly and ran one shaking hand through his silver hair. He pushed open the heavy door and walked into the room.
'Right! Every one of you, fall in! Height order from tallest to smallest, GO!' He tried to avoid the girls eye as she scowled across the room at him. She must have thought he'd said height order to humiliate her in front of everyone else. This hadn't actually crossed his mind, but he didn't think she's wait to ask questions before judging him.
People started to move around the room, measuring their heights against each other, a few arguments breaking out among people of similar statures. Taz was glaring daggers at Ups back, he had obviously done this to humiliate her.
'Well, we'll see won't we?' She thought to herself as she took her place at the far right of the line. She was the smallest by at least 4 inches. To her immediate right was a young woman of about 5'4 who despite being told to obey orders had her nose buried in a difficult equation on her calculator. Her small round glasses slipped down her nose as she muttered a stream of numbers and letters to herself. About halfway down the line, the man who had trodden on Taz's foot earlier was watching the other woman with a look of confusion on his face.
Taz shook her head. What the hell was wrong with these people? She may be the smallest by a mile, but she was pretty sure she could kick every single one of their butts when it came to physical training. She relished the idea of turning the joke about her height on some of these 6 and a half foot giants.
Up paced down the line, shouting orders at individual soldiers: 'Tuck your shirt in! Stand up straight!, You call THAT STRAIGHT? Chin up, looking at your feet isn't going to help you when your opponent is in front of you is it!'
Up requested that each new recruit state their name as he walked past them down the line. Taz learned that the goofy man who had trodden on her foot was called Krayonder, and the geek next to her was called Specs. A blonde bombshell who didn't look like she had two brain cells to run together was called February, 'like the month, but a person!' This response had got scathing looks from both Taz and Up, whilst most of the men in the group couldn't keep their eyes off her.
By the time they reached Taz, she was growing tired of the people already. Up stopped in front of her, looking slightly above her head to avoid eye contact.
'And what's your name, soldier?'
'Taz, Commander' she said in her slight Spanish accent.
This was the first time Up had heard her speak properly, and the force with which the words came out of her mouth did not suit her size at all. Under usual circumstances she would not be someone you wanted to mess with. Again he looked down at the muscles bulging in her arm, and felt her gaze track his face. He walked away quickly, a slight blush colouring his cheeks.
He explained the course that the rest of the day would follow. Taz zoned out as he explained the different activities and team building exercises that they would all undergo. She was imagining all the ways that she could prove herself to be tough enough to get the job done.
Up clapped his hands loudly and said 'right, I want all of you to get into teams of five. Go!'
Taz made no effort to go with any particular group, which may have been a mistake she though later that evening, because she ended up with the blonde bimbo February, Specs, Krayonder and some half-wit called 'Tootsie Noodles'. Sighing inwardly at the mishmash of people in her group, she looked at each of them in turn. Krayonder was peeping over Specs' shoulder as she read a complicated calculus problem. Urgh, Taz had never liked calculus. February was talking to four boys from different groups and flicking her hair in a most annoying manner, and her laugh had to be the most irritating thing Taz had ever heard. Tootsie was trying to get February's attention by explaining the origins of his name. 'You see where a' come from, Faaaarm planet, your first name's whatcha do, 'nd your second name is whatcha like!'
Taz could tell that this was going to be a long afternoon. She looked around and saw the Commander staring at her, a gleam in his eye, automatically she rolled her eyes at the idiocy of her group and very surprisingly, he winked at her before putting a finger to his lips and turning away again.
