Tales from the Academy

Chapter 32

"Come on, girl! Hit me like you mean it!" Anny lashed out but Sergeant Major Szytko easily deflected the blow, darted in, and an instant later Anny found herself on the mats with Szytko's foot pressing uncomfortably against her throat. He glared at her, applied a bit more pressure just to make his point, and then let her up.

"Sorry, Sergeant Major," she gasped, rubbing her neck.

"Sorry don't cut it kid. Not when your enemy is out to kill you. Or render you helpless." He quirked an eyebrow at her and she blushed and turned away. Damn. Did everyone know what happened on Komarr?

"There's no reason you can't do this, Cadet," continued Szytko. "You've got the reflexes and enough raw strength to beat anyone less skilled than you—which when I get done with you will be just about everyone. But you've got to want to do it. And not just to protect yourself. I've known many an assault trooper and if you can't hold your own in close combat training with them, they're never going to give you the respect an officer must have. You hear me, Cadet?"

"Yes, Sergeant Major," she replied. But then she muttered: "Drou thought I was pretty good." She didn't think she'd spoken loudly enough for him to hear, but he looked right at her.

"With all due respect to the Commodore's wife, she was flattering you. Oh, you're good enough to handle an over-amorous cadet or some bastard in a bar, but I'm talking about a trained fighting man. Someone who's going to kill you if you give him half a chance. Do you want to win that fight? Or are you going to just roll over and die?"

"I want to win, Sergeant Major."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

Anny almost laughed, hearing the old drill sergeant's trick, but she did what was expected and shouted back: "I want to win! Sergeant Major!"

"Good. Now prove it." He came at her again.

An hour later, bruised, sore, and dripping with sweat, she was finally allowed to quit for the night. "Better," was all that he would say. She limped to the small women's locker room—more evidence of the changes that were happening—and let herself in. Wonderful things, palm locks. She stripped off her clothes and went into the shower. Hot water was pretty wonderful, too. She remembered the sponge baths with cold water she'd had to endure during her first year. Yes, things had changed. The hot water eased some of her sore muscles. Not all the soreness was courtesy of Sergeant Major Szytko, either. She and her friends were all spending more time on physical training. Their first year had gotten them all into good shape, but the last two years, with so much time spent in the simulators or classrooms, they'd gotten a bit soft. That wasn't going to be good enough when they left on their training cruise with a batch of assault troopers. So, every hour they could spare from their normal classes and duties were spent running and working out. The Sergeant Major was helping them with unarmed combat training. They were all getting into better shape then they'd ever been in. Even Alby, who seemed to be eating about six meals a day and was bulking up amazingly.

But it made for very long days. Anny dressed and checked the time and saw that she was due at the women's barracks for bed check in ten minutes. She was a little annoyed that she had to oversee both the women and her own company, but at the same time it was flattering that the Commandant trusted her to do both jobs. She left the gymnasium and broke into a brisk trot. The late summer evening was still warm and humid despite the hour and she was soon sweating again. She crossed the parade ground and then down the road to the women's compound. Newly installed lights illuminated the way.

One of the new cadets, it looked like Kate Dunnigan, was standing sentry at the gate. She stiffened when she heard Anny's footsteps and was preparing to issue a challenge when she recognized her. She came to attention and presented arms. Anny stopped and stared at her.

"Only field-grade officers and above rate a present, cadet. Captains and below you just come to attention. If they directly approach you, you give the rifle salute, understand?"

"Y-yes, sir! Sorry, sir!"

"Another month and it will be second nature. Carry on Miss Dunnigan."

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!"

Anny suppressed her grin until she was through the gate. The new batch of girls were shaping up pretty well, she thought. They were less trouble than she'd feared—of course she was also getting more help from the Second Six than she'd expected, too. The path through the woods and the clearing in the center were lit up, bright as day, with far more lighting than was really necessary. She wasn't sure how the women managed to sleep with all that light streaming in their windows. She was just glad she was still in her little room in the C Company barracks. When she had time she really ought to talk to someone about having the lights dim down after Lights Out. It's not like anyone could sneak in here with the new fence and the sensors they had attached to it.

The barracks building was still brand new and the main door slid open soundlessly which is why Anny heard the noise in the stairwell before the source of that noise heard her on the steps. She froze and listened: A muffled sob from the landing above her. Someone crying? She went up a few steps and one of the boards creaked and the noise stopped abruptly. She quickened her pace and she heard someone moving just above her. "Whoever that is, stop where you are," she commanded. The movement stopped. She reached the next landing and just above it was a cadet, looking back at her with wide eyes.

"Captain Payne!" exclaimed the girl. Anny took a step closer and saw that it was one of the new plebes, a Barrayaran named Sandra Woitek. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet.

"You're supposed to be in your bunk, Miss Woitek. Is something wrong?"

The girl looked around as if searching for some route of escape. But then her shoulders sagged. "Sir? How do I go about resigning? I… I want to go home, sir."

Anny sighed. She was tired, she wanted to go to bed. She nearly told the girl to go to her bunk and that she'd fill out the paperwork in the morning. She did not want to deal with this right now. What if the Countess hadn't wanted to deal with it? Or Drou? Or Szytko? Or Jer and Alby and Patric? Instead, she went and sat on the steps next to where Woitek was standing.

"Home? You just got here, cadet. Six weeks and you're ready to quit?"

"I know," replied the girl, misery filling her voice. "I'm sorry, but… but this just isn't working out."

"What, exactly, isn't working out? Is the training too tough? The discipline too severe? Or is being a soldier just not as much fun as you thought it would be?" She let a little sarcasm seep into her voice and Woitek flinched.

"I never thought it would be fun! I want to serve the Empire! But… but they won't let me!"

"Who? Who won't let you?"

"The others. The boys in my company, I mean. They're all so… so cruel." The girl clamped her mouth shut and sniffed. Fresh tears glistened in her eyes.

"Just the ones in your company?" asked Anny. Just as had been done last year, the girls had been parceled out, two to a company. "What about the upperclassmen?"

"No, not really. They've given the boys a hard time, but they've never bothered me personally."

Anny frowned. The wonderful solidarity that had grown at the Academy after the Fire was starting to fade. The incoming plebe class hadn't been there—and the upperclassmen weren't going to let them forget it. She'd seen it again and again: upperclassmen hazing the plebes far more harshly than they had when she was a plebe. It wasn't right—it wasn't the plebes' fault they hadn't fought the Fire—but it was probably inevitable. Veterans looking down their noses at new recruits, it probably happened in every army in history.

But oddly, they weren't harassing the plebe girls. She liked to think that it was because of how well the Second Six had performed in the fire. They'd earned the respect of C Company and, as the word spread, of everyone else. Perhaps that respect was spilling over to this new batch of girls. Or perhaps the word of what had happened to the officers who had accosted Anny on Komarr had spread and no one wanted to risk having the same thing happen to them. Whatever the case, the plebe girls were being left alone by the upperclassmen, while their male comrades were being hazed unmercifully. Which probably put those boys in a pretty bad mood…

"Has there been any physical abuse?" she asked Woitek.

The girl's face turned red. "They've grabbed me and pinched me a few times," she admitted.

"Nothing worse than that?" Woitek shook her head. "Did you report it to your sergeant?"

"N-no. I didn't want… I didn't want to look like a rat… or a whiner."

Anny nodded. "But it's mostly verbal abuse and mean tricks?"

"Yes, sir." Woitek's face twisted in dismay. "Sir, please, I know it all sounds trivial, but they never let up! The…the girls in 3rd Battalion, Abbie and Jenna and the others, have told us stories about what they did to you when you were a plebe and I know it was a lot worse for you. But I just can't take this anymore!"

Anny sat there silently for a while. What to tell this kid? Suck it up and stop complaining? How would she have responded if someone had said that to her in the blackest days of her plebe year? Laughed in their face probably. But was there anything she could do? On average about a third of the male cadets didn't make it through for one reason or another. She knew that the screening process for the women was being especially thorough to weed out those who didn't have what it took, but it was inevitable that some of them were not going to graduate. Perhaps Woitek was one of those. Still, it couldn't hurt to try and help her. What she wouldn't have given to have another woman around during her own plebe year! She couldn't just turn her back on her.

"I made it through, cadet," she said at last. "But I only made it because I found some friends I could count on. You girls have been assigned to your companies in pairs. You're supposed to stand by each other, watch each other's backs. Is your teammate helping you?"

Now Woitek's face turned red and she looked angry and frustrated. "No sir, she… she sides with them! Against me!"

Anny stiffened. "What? You're paired with…?"

"Gloria Kolgan, sir."

"She's Vor, isn't she?"

"Yes sir! And there's a Vor clique in the company. She joins up with them! The non-Vors won't help me because they're afraid of the others! It's… it's not fair!" The girl was on the verge of tears again.

"Welcome to Barrayar," muttered Anny. She sat for a moment longer and then took a deep breath and stood up. "Change into your PT gear, cadet."

"What?" said Woitek.

"You heard me. Now come on." She proceeded up the steps and opened the door into the barracks room all the girls shared. The lights were out and everyone was in their bunks but many heads turned in their direction when they entered.

"Cadet Kolgan!" shouted Anny. "In your PT gear! Now!"

There was a muffled squawk of surprise from about halfway down the row of bunks and then the sound of hurried movement. Anny looked at Woitek, who was just standing there gawking. "I gave you an order, too, cadet."

"Yes, sir!" Woitek ran to her locker and began changing. Anny stood there, slowly tapping her finger against the side of her trousers and ignoring the nearly two-dozen pairs of eyes staring at her. After about a minute Cadet Kolgan ran up and stopped in front of her. "Sir?" she said. Anny didn't reply until Woitek was ready, too.

"Follow me."

She led them down the steps and through the door and then around to the side of the barracks. The ground there had been recently sodded and was quite soft. It would do just fine. She stopped and stared at the two girls.

"Sir?" said Kolgan. "What… what's going on, sir?"

"This is an unscheduled close-combat training exercise," said Anny. "They happen from time to time—when necessary. I realize that neither of you has had close combat training yet. Consider this a preview."

"But what—akk!" Anny stepped forward, grabbed Kolgan, and threw her to the ground in one easy motion. The girl thudded quite satisfactorily. Woitek looked on in surprise and started to smile—until Anny grabbed her and threw her down next to Kolgan.

"Get up," she ordered and the girls complied. "One of the primary objectives in close combat is to get your opponent on the ground. There are a number of ways to do this." She darted forward and in an instant both girls were down again.

"Up." For the next fifteen minutes she threw them again and again, giving a running commentary on what move she was using and possible defenses against them. The girls tried, but they were hopelessly outclassed.

She looked down at them as they painfully hauled themselves up again. "We can keep doing this all night, cadets," she said. "And we will until you beat me."

"But… but we can't beat you!" gasped Kolgan. "You're too good!" Woitek clearly agreed but didn't have the breath to say anything.

"Individually, no, you can't beat me. The only way you'll win is by working together. As a team." She stared at them and they awkwardly looked at each other and then back at her. Then they attacked.

She threw them both down.

They got up and attacked again.

She'd been lying to them, of course. Even together they had no chance at all of beating her. But she wasn't going to let them know that, nor that eventually she would let them win.

Eventually.

It went on for at least a half hour. They were all sweating and gasping and groaning and covered with mud. They had torn the hell out of the Grounds Department's new sod. But the pair got up each time. Eventually they started talking, making plans, working together. At one point Anny looked up and saw twenty-three faces pressed against the third floor windows. Good. Finally she decided it had gone on long enough. She let them get her down and after quite a bit of wrestling around, she was face down in the mud with Woitek sitting on her back and Kolgan pinning her legs. Both of them were laughing, whooping and giggling.

"That will do, cadets," she said. "On your feet." For a moment they didn't move, fearing some trick on her part, she supposed, but then they got up and she painfully got up as well. The girls were a muddy mess, but grinning ear-to-ear.

"You still have a lot to learn. But there's one lesson you must learn right from the start. Here at the Academy we work in teams. No one can go it alone and succeed. You have to depend on the cadet next to you and they have to be able to depend on you. And we don't always get to choose who our teammate is. But that doesn't matter! It doesn't matter who your comrade is or whether you like them or not! You stand by your comrade because they are your comrade. You do that or you're no good. And everyone will know you're no good."

Their grins were gone now. She stared hard at them and they glanced nervously at her and at each other. Finally, Kolgan took a half step forward.

"Thank you for the lesson, sir. We won't forget it."

Anny nodded. "Good. Now get showered and get to bed. It's way past Lights Out."

The pair saluted and she returned it. They walked toward their barracks and Anny walked toward the gate. She was nearly out of earshot, but she heard one of them say:

"She let us win, you know."

"Yeah, but it still felt good, didn't it?"

"Yeah."

She was smiling, but then she winced when she neared the gate. Cadet Dunnigan was still on sentry. Damn. The cadets didn't post a guard all night. When Anny finished her nightly bed check she dismissed the guard, shut the gate, and activated the alarm system. Dunnigan was up way past her bed time!

"You're dismissed, cadet,' she told her. "Sorry about that."

"I was beginning to wonder, sir. Good night."

"Good night." She locked up and then headed back to her own room. She was definitely going to need another shower.

Sleep? Who needs sleep?