Tales from the Academy

Chapter 19

Anny Payne waited in the rain for the bus to Hassadar at the Red Rocks stop. This region of the Dendarii Mountains had been in a severe drought for several years and she imagined all the inhabitants were happy to see the rain, brief as it was likely to be. But it would have to choose this particular morning… She could have sought shelter in Giverson's Store, but that would have meant enduring Mr. Giverson's endless prattle and the scrutiny and whispered comments of the usual gang of idlers who hung out there. She'd had all she could take of both; the rain was just a minor annoyance by comparison. Her mood was as dark as the clouds overhead. I'm never coming back here.

The thought didn't dismay her as much as it should have. Red Rocks, a village southeast of Hassadar, in the foothills of the mountains, had been her whole world for most of her life. She'd grown up here, gone to the little school here, worked the small family farm here. Except for one rusted-out link in the chain holding the load of logs that had crushed the life out of her brother she probably would have gotten married here and never left. But Peter's death and her impossible promise to her father on his own deathbed had taken her away from Red Rocks. Far away. To Hassadar, to glittering Vorbarr Sultana and ultimately to the Imperial Service Academy. It still seemed like a dream. Well, if it is, I have no intention of waking up!

She hadn't been back to Red Rocks in almost three years. She'd exchanged a few brief messages with her mother and sent some notes to her sisters on birthdays and holidays, but she hadn't been back—until now. She had two weeks leave at the end of her second year at the Academy and instead of spending the time at Vorkosigan House as she had last year, she decided that she really ought to go home and see her family and old friends.

It had started out well enough. A small crowd had welcomed her at the bus stop and there had been hugs and happy reunions. To her surprise she was something of a celebrity in tiny Red Rocks. There had been a dance held in her honor the first night and the village Speaker had said some nice things about her. It had been a lot of fun.

Things had gone downhill from there.

It soon became clear that her sisters and even some of her old friends resented her new status. The young men seemed to think that after all that time in sophisticated Vorbarr Sultana and surrounded by thousands of male cadets she was going to be willing to hop into to bed with them at the drop of a hat. When she disabused them of that notion the friendly smiles vanished and the ugly whispers began. The people who she'd grown up with seemed ignorant and uncouth, downright embarrassing at times. It was obvious that she didn't fit in here anymore.

And then there was Monti.

Her mother had a boyfriend. A live-in boyfriend. It shouldn't have surprised her. Her mother was in her mid-forties, over twenty years younger than her father, and it was entirely proper that a widow of her age might find another husband. But they hadn't married and from what her sisters told her Monti had no intention of getting married because that would have cut off her father's pension payments. Monti didn't seem like too bad a sort and treated her sisters kindly enough, but he was obviously an opportunist. He treated the house and the farm like he owned them, even though technically they belonged to her mother. He'd even sold off some things—including the old sword over the mantle. He'd started asking Anny about the disposition of her salary once she graduated and started getting one. The implication was that he might consider marrying her mother if Anny could make up for the loss of the pension payments. Her mother was clearly in favor of such a move. When Anny had not agreed to anything they both turned surly.

After three days she bought a bus ticket and was now standing in the rain waiting for it to arrive. No one had come to see her off. The Paynes had lived in Red Rocks for nine generations. Once her sisters married or left, there would be no more.

[Scene Break]

The bus to Hassadar was crowded. Most of the empty seats were next to elderly men and women on an outing to the provincial capital and Anny didn't want to get them wet with her sodden clothing. But she spotted a seat next to a thin teenage boy. She stuffed her bag into the overhead rack, took off her jacket and cap and sat down. He did a double-take. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Good mornin'… uh, Miss. I thought…"

You thought I was a boy, didn't you? She was wearing a shirt and trousers and her hair was close-cropped per the Academy regulation. "'Mornin'," she replied stiffly. He flinched slightly at her tone and Anny reminded herself that even though she might feel angry with the whole world just at the moment there was no reason to take it out on this poor kid. "Hi," she said more mildly. "I'm Anny."

"Zac, Zac Karal. Nice t'meet you, Anny. Goin' to Hassadar?"

"Just a stop-over. Then I'm off to Vorbarr Sultana on the monorail."

"Really? Me, too! I just enlisted and I hafta report in there. God knows where they'll send me after that."

Now she did a double-take. Zac didn't seem old enough to enlist. But obviously he was. She was tempted to one-up him by telling him where she was going after Vorbarr Sultana. But no, she was tired of explaining herself. "Well, good luck to you." she stared out the window on the opposite side of the bus and the conversation died. The bus crept along the narrow, twisting roads, stopping at one village after another. Few people in the mountains owned a vehicle and the bus was the best way to get around. The rain soon stopped and the sun came out, promising another hot day.

A bit later Zac got up to use the rest room at the rear of the bus. When he came back Anny got up to let him in to his seat, but he was frozen, looking at her travel bag. What…?

"Where'd you get that?" he asked, pointing. She grimaced; the bag had the Academy seal printed on the side.

"It's mine," she said, gesturing him to his seat.

"What? Your brother or something at the Academy? He bought it for you?" he asked, taking his place.

"No, it's mine. I got it at the Academy."

"What? You were visitin'? Takin' a tour?"

She sighed. "No, I go to the Academy. I'm a cadet there."

"Yeah, right!" he snorted.

"'S'true." She looked away and refused to say anything more.

"City folk," Zac muttered.

"What?" She looked back at him.

"You city folk think you can tell us hillsmen any lie you like and we'll believe it."

"I'm from Red Rocks."

He looked at her skeptically. "Then why you lyin' to me?"

She signed again and pulled out her Academy ID card and handed it to him. "Not lyin'. Satisfied?" She had almost eradicated her Dendarii Mountains accent while at the Academy, but the last few days were bringing it back full strength. Zac goggled at the ID and then goggled at her.

"You're Anny Payne!" he exclaimed. A number of heads turned in her direction.

"Shh! Everybody'll want one."

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a near-whisper.

"Just visitin'."

"That's right! She… you're from Red Rocks! I saw it on the vids when you won that pentath-a-thingy last year!"

"Home sweet home." She managed to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"Guess your folks must be pretty proud."

Why wouldn't this kid shut up? "Belike. What about you? Where're you from?"

"Silvy Vale."

That was much farther up in the mountains than Red Rocks. "The bus gets all the way up there now?" Anny had faint memories of huge machines cutting the road through Red Rocks when she was very young.

"Nah, not yet," replied Zac. "Another few years they say. I had to walk down to Three Pines yesterday. Got the bus there."

"Your folks proud of you joinin' up?"

"Yeah, I guess they're happy. My Grandda Serg was right proud, he was a twenty-year man himself, but my ma is kinda worried, tho'." Anny stared at him and tried not to grin. No doubt that he was just as worried as his ma.

"Just do what your sergeant tells you and you'll be fine. He might seem nasty, but he really wants you to make it through. Try to make some friends among the other inductees. That'll help a lot. Just remember that everyone else is just as nervous and lonely as you are even though they won't admit it."

"Guess you've been through the mill already. This is what? Your third year?"

"Just startin' it. And, yeah, I've been through the mill."

"Pretty tough?"

"Tough enough."

"Huh. Well if you can do it I guess I can." He stopped, embarrassed. "Uh, I didn't mean…."

"Yes you did. Now you're lyin' to me." She smiled and after a moment he did, too.

"Yeah, I guess I was. Just not used to… It's a new idea."

"That it is. But don't worry, seems to bother a lot of folks."

"Not sure if it bothers me… just takes some gettin' used to. But I guess if you're good enough to make it through that ought t'be good enough for everyone."

"I wish everyone felt that way, Zac."

They spent the rest of the trip to Hassadar talking quietly. Zac, once he got over the shock of it all, quizzed Anny relentlessly on what he should expect. She reminded him repeatedly that the Academy course was a bit different than what he'd encounter in normal basic training, but she gave him all the advice she could. More than once she stopped cold when the image of her brother Peter suddenly popped into her head. In another reality, this might have been him on the bus heading off to the training camp.

Eventually the bus came down out of the mountains and picked up speed on the much better roads leading to Hassadar. They arrived just before midday. The bus station directly adjoined the monorail station and Anny invited Zac to have lunch with her at a restaurant across the street. But he spotted a group of youths who were obviously also recruits and decided he better join up with them even though their train wouldn't leave for another hour.

"I'm sure we'll all be back in third class, so I guess I won't be seein' you on the train. But it was great talkin' with you, Anny. Thanks for your help."

"Good luck to you, Zac. Maybe we'll bump into each other again some time."

"That would be good—except I'll hafta salute you the next time I see you!" He laughed and she did, too. But the thought that someday she would be expected to command boys like Zac was sobering. She offered her hand and he took it without hesitation. "Good luck to you, too, Anny."

They parted and Anny ate a solitary lunch before catching the monorail. She had ridden it enough times that it was no longer the novelty it had once been and she slept most of the way to Vorbarr Sultana. The sun was westering, but the long summer day was far from over by the time she trudged up to the gate of Vorkosigan House. Home. She'd told herself a thousand times not to think about it that way. It wasn't her home. Never could be. Wasn't right to even think about it that way. But she couldn't help it.

The ImpSec guard, a corporal, let her through after scanning her. They'd seen each other before and he knew she was on the permanent guest list, but ImpSec was nothing if not thorough. Armsman Pym let her in the front door. "Welcome back, Miss Anny," he said cordially. "We weren't expecting you so soon."

"Change of plans. Sorry to drop in without warning. I should have called."

"No trouble, Miss. You're always welcome here." Her black mood from the morning had almost entirely evaporated and Pym's sincere greeting finished it off like a strong sun on morning dew. She found herself smiling as she trotted up the grand staircase to her little room on the third floor.

The house was unusually quiet. The Count and Countess and their large retinues were back on Sergyar, of course, but the Lord Auditor, Lady Ekaterin and their family were all off at their summer home in Vorkosigan Surleau. She wasn't sure why Pym hadn't accompanied them; he seemed to be their favorite among the armsmen. Before she'd left for Red Rocks they had invited her to stop in and visit them on her way back and she was sorry she hadn't taken them up on that. Patric was back on South Continent and he'd persuaded Jer and Alby to go along. She really missed them. In fact, she was feeling rather lonely. Maybe she'd go and visit with Drou Kouldelka tomorrow.

Automatically she unpacked her computer pad and turned it on to see if she had any messages. She was expecting a few from the boys down on South Continent, but she came immediately alert when a priority message from the Academy popped up on the screen, blinking a demanding red.

It was short and simply instructed her to report to the Commandant two days hence. Her leave wasn't over for another four.

Oh dear, what now?

[Scene Break]

Anny stood at attention before Commandant Sylvanus' desk and saluted. "Cadet-Captain Payne, reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease, cadet. Have a seat. Sorry to drag you back here early."

She found a chair and perched on the edge of it feeling very self-conscious. Sylvanus was shuffling through some flimsies. He didn't seem upset about anything, which was a relief. She'd caused the poor man so much trouble over the last two years…

"Well!" he said suddenly. "Another year begins. You ready for it, Cadet-Captain? What shape will your company be in?"

"I expect they might be a bit hung-over the first day, but they'll be fine after that. They're a good group, sir. The best."

"You're pretty proud of them, aren't you?"

"Yes sir, I am." And she was. They had worked so hard. They had come so close to winning the Pentathlon for a second year. They could have been the honor company again. A few seconds on the races, another bulls-eye on the rifle range… darn.

"You've done an excellent job with them, Anny." It took her a moment to realize that he'd called her by name. He'd never done that before.

"T-thank, you, sir,' she stuttered. She could tell she was blushing. What was this all about?

To her surprise now the Commandant seemed to be blushing. "Cadet, I have a rather awkward question to ask you, but I need a completely honest answer."

"Sir?"

"Have any of the cadets made any… inappropriate advances toward you since you've been here?" Yes, there was no doubt that he was blushing. "I know you've never lodged any complaints, but…"

"Sir? No, sir. Nothing physical, anyway." Well, there had been a few times during close-combat training where her opponents had tried some holds that weren't quite… conventional, but she didn't think that was what the Commandant was asking about. Hell, one time she'd accidentally grabbed Cadet Kirkwood right by the…

"What about verbally?"

"There were a few things at first, sir. Comments about… about certain aspects of my anatomy. Nothing too far out of line. I heard worse in high school."

"'At first'. What about now?"

"In the last year nothing at all from my company. From the other companies… some. Not much."

"So you are telling me that your own company have behaved like gentlemen with you? Truthfully? It's important, cadet."

"Yes, sir, they have."

Sylvanus nodded. "They respect you. That's good. But you're their captain…" He paused and stared past her for a few moments. She'd noticed that he'd do that when thinking. But what in the world was he thinking about now? She couldn't believe that at this late date he was planning to discipline anyone for trying to cop a feel…

"Anny, I have a problem. I need your help."

"I'll do whatever I can. What sort of problem, sir?"

"Well, six problems to be exact." He leaned forward and handed her a small pile of flimsies. She looked at them and saw that they were standard personnel files for a cadet. Each sheet had all the personal information about a cadet, including a photo.

She looked. She looked again.

"Good Lord…"

Sylvanus chuckled at her reaction. "You've got no one to blame but yourself, cadet."