Forgotten Heroes

Chapter Three

0448 Hours, Tuesday January 30, 2388 (Military Calendar)/ Europa Military Base in orbit around Jupiter

Trahaearn was wide awake and already ready for their instructors to shovel them out and make them run and exercise excessively. He had pictured it in his mind, all the kids moving out of the barracks to the field fearing the electric shock they would receive if the instructors saw them slacking off. Those men would make them run for miles and miles, and make sore and tired and exhausted.

He had spent all his time awake picturing it. He jumped down from his cot and fell on the hard cold cement floor. He looked around; everyone appeared to be sleeping in their bed. A few feet away, in between two cots, a small opening led to the bathroom.

He felt the need to pee, so he made his way into one of the little gray stalls. Once he was finished, he washed his hands on the sink.

Trahaearn looked at himself in the mirror. He looked sleepy, so he wet his hair and face with his hands. His long curvy dark blonde hair stuck to his head as it got wet. When he felt awake, he looked at his green eyes for a while before returning to bed.

Back in the main corridor of their barracks, the voice of a young girl called him softly. "Hey. Come here." Trahaearn turned and looked for the girl. He spotted her and she waived at him, signaling him to walk to her. The girl had long brown hair and smooth skin, she looked about his age.

"Hi. I'm Trahaearn." The girl sat against the wall, and Trahaearn sat besides her on the other side of the bed.

"Duscha. Why are you up this early?"

"I don't know. I woke up. Why are you up?"

"You woke me up."

Trahaearn figured he really made a bit of noise when going to the bathroom so he apologized. "Sorry to wake you."

"It's ok; I wake up early anyways, but not this early." They sat in silence for a short while, not an uncomfortable silence, just a brief pause in the conversation. Duscha spoke up again in a half whispered voice, "When do you think they will come for us?"

"In five minutes or so, I guess."

"I don't want to go. I wish I'd be home with my family, but they won't let us. I don't think they ever will." She was right at that. They never would allow them to go home, and they would never even make it near the system Delta Wolf for the rest of their lives.

"I don't think so. I don't think our parents know we are here either. We were abducted by the ONI."

Duscha seemed surprised, "The ONI, how can you be so certain? They wouldn't be so interested in us kids."

"Who else would kidnap so many children? I'm sure it is the ONI. I've heard a lot of things from my mother of them. They do not obey the rules. ONI does whatever it pleases, however it pleases, wherever it pleases, and whenever it pleases." Trahaearn described ONI in the same manner one describes legends and myths. With an intonation that makes it look like ONI is something to fear and respect.

"What do you think they will do with us?"

"Didn't you hear the man talking to us yesterday? He said we would be soldiers. I guess that we will exercise, run and be trained to be soldiers. I don't like it. We don't have a choice either."

They sat in silence for a moment, each contemplating and imagining what their future held for them. They both imagined it was their destiny to become great soldiers and save the world. They weren't innocent, they both knew the world wasn't a fairytale, but they were still children.

A large number of feet were walking towards their barracks. It was probably their instructors who came to wake them up. "I better get to my bed."

"Yeah, fake you were sleeping."

Trahaearn ran to his bed and covered himself with his bed sheets. The main door opened and in came a large number of men, making a racket to wake the children up. The men yelled and hit the metal supports of their beds to make noise and wake everyone.

In thirty seconds all the children were rushed down the corridor and into a large bathroom at the far end of the barracks. Those who lagged behind or refused to cooperate were shocked with a light tazer to make them move.

Everyone, girls and boys were shoved into a large room with sprinklers on the ceiling. A tall man walked in and yelled orders to them after everyone was inside. "Do exactly as you are told. Those who choose not to will be punished! If you do not hear the instructions, just follow the group, someone will have heard the instructions. Now, everyone will take off their old clothes and throw them into the metal cabinets on the wall. Take off every last piece of clothes, no underwear! Now, you will be showered with cold water, then it will warm and soapy. After you will be rinsed in cold water again, then lukewarm water mixed with shampoo. Finally you will be rinsed in cold water.

"Once you are clean, proceed to the next room and dry yourself with a towel. Leave the towel in one of the towel disposal bins and proceed to your bed, where your new clothes will be waiting for you. You have ten minutes to dry up, get dressed and to make it outside where I will be waiting for you. Remember, failure to comply will result in punishment!"

The tall man turned around and walked out closing the doors behind him. Everyone did as ordered and began taking off their clothes. Trahaearn was quick to do so, he hated his instructors and he didn't want to give them the pleasure of punishing him.

Duscha was nearby and hesitated when taking off her clothes. Trahaearn; already naked like few of them approached her, "You need to get naked Duscha. Don't give them a chance to punish you."

Duscha tried to avoid looking at him, "I can't. I won't." She finally took her underwear off, but she couldn't stop covering herself.

When the water began falling down, only a few kids hadn't taken off their clothes but they all did after it got wet. The water turned warmer and began feeling soapy. Duscha had no choice but to stop covering herself and rub the soap all over.

The water turned cold again and then warm and finally cold. Trahaearn washed off all the shampoo and soap off and proceeded to dry himself. He followed the rules down to the last letter and was the first one to get dressed and step outside.

Only three kids arrived late. The man that had given them the speech last night was there besides the tall man who had given them orders in the bathroom.

The old man with white and receding hair spoke up, "Welcome. I am Chief Officer Tarantino. If any of you would want to talk to me, you will address me as such, with respect and courtesy. Today we will begin doing a short lap. Private Chief Ingram," the tall man, "will guide you. Follow him. Do not lag behind. We will not tolerate slackers!"

The short lap turned to be a two mile trot, but, as they would find out, it really was a short jog after all.They all arrived back to where Officer Tarantino was waiting for them.

Chief Officer Tarantino announced they would do calisthenics and stretching now and a few kids whined. They were shocked accordingly.

After some tiresome exercises, Tarantino announce that push ups would be their last exercise. All the kids were tired and every last muscle in them ached and begged for rest. "We will do twenty five push ups. If anyone, and I mean anyone, does a poor job or gets tired we will begin from zero." Twenty five push ups were all they had to do. In practice, they did one hundred and seven. Trahaearn counter them.

"Good! Excellent work out! Now, everyone follow Private Chief Ingram for a tiny jog to the classroom where you will get breakfast."

At the sound of that, all the children got up and were apt to follow Private Ingram all the way to the classroom.

The breakfast they received made them full, but wasn't a real breakfast. They were served with MREs, standard military food packets, as they were told. They opened their packets, which included smaller plastic bags. One said Dairy Milk Shake, and the other held crackers. Another small bag came with a pill, which instructions told them to drop into the Dairy Milk Shake. Trahaearn followed instructions and was surprised as the drink cooled in his hands. He opened the crackers and ate breakfast, which he found tastier than most children.

Once every child had finished, a man passed along with a tray and left with the trash. All their trainers filed out of the room and the large HID in the middle of the room sparkled to life. An AI appeared on the display.

"Welcome to class children. I will be your teacher. You can call me Kris."