The Assassin
Chapter 4
The Rescue (TY11-month 130)
«Officer Cho, please report to the recruiting office immediately,» the base AI said as soon as I stepped off the transporter in town. I ran toward the base, about half a mile from the transport center.
I’d been on a routine training circuit, finishing at Drylanders with a patrol cadre that had really adjusted well to the routine. We still required weekly combat and martial arts training. It made them more aware of their official purpose. We did construction, algae harvesting, perimeter patrol, and just about any odd job that was needed. But our purpose was to be a last line of defense for the planet and a peacekeeping force. Like most armed forces in the universe, I suppose, we went unarmed unless deemed absolutely necessary. Even when patrolling the borders, we weren’t lethally armed.
«What’s going on?»
«An irate sponsor is demanding that his concubine be returned to him,» the AI said. «Capo Slocum has explained that he does not have that option but Sponsor Donald Morris has become agitated and has engaged in pushing the capo toward the parade ground door.»
«Lock that door down. No one goes through who is not active in the Militia. What are my options?»
«Talking the citizen down is optimum, but the city AI has been unable to break through Sponsor Morris’s anger. You are authorized non-lethal force if needed to subdue the citizen.»
I burst through the front door of the recruiting center to find Capo Slocum pinned against the door to the base, blocking punches from Morris as the citizen railed on about opening up and giving him his property.
“Sponsor Donald Morris, stand down!” I shouted. “You are not authorized admittance to the Militia base. If you have a grievance against a Militia recruit, you may file it with the Base AI in the office.” Well, that was totally ineffective. He turned snarling at me.
“Who do you think you are to order me around. Do you know who I am? This Militia thing has stolen my property and I want it back,” he yelled at me. “I demand the door be opened so I can retrieve what is mine.”
“I’m afraid you’ll need to go through proper channels, sir. Colony law specifically states that any concubine may volunteer for the Militia and citizens may not interfere with it.” I was really trying to keep my cool, but Morris was far too gone to hear what I had to say. He was a strapping man who looked like he’d taken a Marine upgrade when he became a citizen. He took a swing at me and I blocked it, spinning him away from the door and my capo.
“You dare to strike a citizen? I’ll have you executed! You’re nothing but a drone yourself.”
“Officer Cho is authorized to use force to prevent encroachment of the Militia base,” the AI boomed through the speakers.
“As if he can stop me!” The challenge had been issued and the fight was on.
It had been nearly two years since I was tested by a Marine Sergeant who knew what he was doing when it came to martial arts and had actual battle experience. I wasn’t sure what training this guy had to go with his body upgrade, but it obviously wasn’t up to Marine standards. He came at me with fists flying like a second grade schoolyard bully. I placed a roundhouse kick in the center of his chest that sent him sailing out the front door of the recruitment office. He was so shocked he simply lay there looking up at me.
“You are ordered to stand down, Sponsor Morris. Any further action on your part will result in criminal charges to be stipulated by the Colony AI. You will be escorted to the brig and detained at the pleasure of Governor O’Hara. Am I clear?” I shouted.
“This is just what I warned about when she started this Militia program,” Morris snarled. “We’ll see just who prevails now that the Militia has shown its true colors and assaulted a citizen after kidnapping his property. We’re not done here, slave.” He picked himself up and marched toward the transporter station, dusting himself as he walked.
“Are you okay, Capo?” I asked when I went inside. He was straightening up his office and preparing to interview another recruit who was waiting wide-eyed in the front office.
“A little bruised, Officer, but nothing worse than the beatings you’ve given me!” He laughed. “I’ll spend a few minutes in a med tube when I’m finished here.”
“Don’t scare the recruits, Slocum. I don’t beat everyone on base.” I turned to the recruit standing next to Slocum’s desk. “Welcome to Drovers Run Base. I take it you aren’t the concubine Mr. Morris was after.”
“No, sir. I… I have permission to enlist from my sponsor.”
“Good for you. It helps to keep good relations with the folks at home. Carry on.”
I went out the door onto the base and straight to Capo Humphreys.
“Officer Cho, is it safe?”
“Yes. Who’s the recruit that bastard wanted returned to him?”
“Trainee Valerie Hodges has been taken to a med tube,” Humphreys said. “Cho, you wouldn’t believe the condition she was in. It’s a wonder she made it to the recruiting office.”
“How long before I can talk to her?”
«Trainee Hodges will be out of the med tube in one hour and seven minutes. I suggest you go directly to your office and contact Deputy Kramer as this incident will undoubtedly be escalated quickly,» the AI said. I nodded and motioned Humphreys to continue with her training duties as I went to my office.
“What did you step in?” Deputy Kramer demanded almost as soon as I arrived in my office. The AI connected the call immediately and I stood at attention. “Oh, at ease, Officer! Stop standing there like a fencepost.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m afraid there was a bit of a conflict at the recruitment office. Nothing too serious, I think,” I said, trying to minimize the urgency I felt.
“Since when is assaulting a sponsor ‘nothing serious?’ I have a complaint filed by the chairman of the urban planning group demanding your immediate recycling. The complaint went straight to the governor and now Director Kotter has called for a hearing.”
“What should I do, sir?”
“Your immediate responsibility is to report to the hearing room in the governor’s plantation house. Bring the capo who witnessed the event. What caused this blowup?”
“We received a recruit this morning named Valerie Hodges, nee Morris,” I explained. “Sponsor Morris demanded her return as his concubine, claiming she’d been kidnapped.”
“Bring her to the hearing as well.”
“She won’t be out of the med tube for another twenty-seven minutes.”
“Med tube? Was she in the fight as well?”
“No, sir. She arrived at the base so badly beaten and wounded that she was sent to a med tube before her evaluation could even be completed. The AI says the placement testing will be conducted while she is being repaired.”
“The Director has just issued a statement indicating the trial will be held at 1330 hours to allow a panel of judges to be assembled. That will include the Commander of the Marine contingent,” he said. “Officer Cho, I shouldn’t need to emphasize how poorly the Marines will react to a concubine assaulting a citizen. Most of them left their own concubines behind rather than risk them enlisting when they arrived here on Tara.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring Capo Slocum and Trainee Hodges with you to appear before the court at 1330. Stay out of trouble until then.”
“Yes, sir.” The signal was terminated and I sank down into my chair.
«You will need an attorney, Niall,» Cricket said through my implant. «I will accompany you if you are willing.»
«Can you do that? You aren’t limited to my residence?»
«I can move freely through the planetary network.»
«Thank you, Cricket. I was given a directive immediately prior to engaging Sponsor Morris that the use of non-lethal force against him was authorized.»
«The question will be whether that authorization is legal. It is in direct conflict with the Confederacy regulation against concubines attacking sponsors. The future of the Militia may rest on this case… as well as your life.»
The Trial (TY11-month 130)
“Why are we even having this formal trial?” Commander Inslee asked. “A concubine attacked a sponsor. Recycle him.”
“Commander, we’ll present the case. It is far more complex than it appears at first. This is a trial of our planetary Militia,” Governor O’Hara said. “We have multiple issues that must be considered. First is the issue of whether a sponsor can demand the return of a concubine who has enlisted in the Militia. Second is whether the Militia can act as a planetary police force as was first envisioned. Third, was the Base AI issuing a legal directive when it told Officer Cho the use of non-lethal force was authorized? Fourth, can a member of the Militia act as a planetary citizen in enforcing laws, even against Confederacy citizens? Finally, was Officer Cho subject to the Confederacy guideline against concubines attacking sponsors, since he was acting as a planetary citizen and not as a concubine.”
“You make things so difficult,” the commander sighed. “Very well. Let’s get on with it. Let’s start with a replay of the events. AI, project the recording, please.”
“Yes, Commander.”
The Base AI ran a holographic playback of the incident in the recruitment office, but began at the point of Concubine Valerie Morris staggering in and asking to enlist. She was naked. Bruising and bleeding were obvious over all her body. She declared her name to be Valerie Hodges following a fairly standard format of enlistees rejecting their former owner’s name and reverting to her own. She was then led directly to the base access door and rushed to a med tube on the base.
“Stop playback,” the commander ordered. It froze. “What is the swearing in of a recruit? Does just coming to the door and saying, ‘I want to enlist,’ automatically make a concubine into a Militia recruit?” Wow! This commander was going to go for clarification on each point. If she was not a recruit or member of the Militia when Morris arrived, he might have the power to demand her return. Maybe.
“As base AI, it is my responsibility to give the oath during the candidate’s placement evaluation. It is done through the testing bed,” our AI said. “Since all med tubes can double as sleep trainers or testing beds, I gave the oath as soon as Trainee Hodges was sealed in the med tube.”
“Was that before or after Citizen Morris arrived to demand his property?”
In front of us the action divided in two settings. In one, we saw Trainee Hodges being half led and half carried to the med tube. In the other, we saw the recruitment office. Above each of the settings, a clock was running. As Hodges was sealed into the med tube we heard the AI administering the oath of service.
“Do you, Valerie Hodges, solemnly swear to defend the planet Tara against invading forces, no matter the race, to uphold and enforce the laws of the planet, to work for the betterment of Tara as assigned by your superiors, and to keep the peace on this planet?”
“I do,” the Valerie hologram spoke. The scene and the clock running above it froze.
In the other setting, Capo Slocum sat at his desk as Morris stormed into the office.
“Where is she?” Morris demanded.
“Where is who?” Slocum responded.
“My concubine. I saw her enter this office. Where is she?”
“What is your concubine’s name, sir?”
“You know very well! Her name is Valerie Morris.”
“We have admitted a recruit named Valerie Hodges,” Slocum said.
“I demand the return of my property. Valerie Morris did not have permission to enlist.”
The scene froze. We looked at the displayed clocks and noted it was ten seconds later on the office scene than on the med tube scene.
“Issue one. Let the record show that Valerie Hodges was sworn in as a Militia recruit before her former owner demanded her return,” the commander said.
“She didn’t have permission to enlist!” Morris shouted. “She was a runaway.”
“AI, was Valerie Hodges free to enlist today?” Governor O’Hara asked.
“According to planetary law, a concubine may request enlistment on any anniversary of her arrival on the planet Tara. Comrade Hodges arrived on the planet one year ago today,” the AI intoned. “Testing revealed that the concubine was beaten severely early this morning, specifically so she would be unable to travel to the recruitment center. She showed remarkable fortitude in making the journey regardless.”
“By planetary law, a sponsor must allow a concubine freedom to test or to enlist on the anniversary of her arrival on Tara,” the governor said.
“By that law, I find in favor of Comrade Hodges,” the commander said. “Citizen Morris, you had no right to prevent your concubine from enlisting and no right to demand her return. Considering the extreme you went to in order to keep her from leaving your domicile, I will recommend retesting.”
“But by the Earth calendar, her arrival anniversary was eight days ago!” Morris insisted. “She missed her opportunity.”
“Tara runs on the Tara calendar. All anniversaries are computed according to the Tara annum,” the planetary AI interrupted.
“Objection overruled,” the commander said. “The case of Citizen Morris versus Trainee Hodges is dismissed.” He scowled at Morris and the pompous ass shrank back. He turned all his baleful countenance on me.
“Next is the validity of the planetary Militia being used as a police force,” The AI continued.
“Has the Militia charter not been reviewed by a Confederacy representative?” Commander Inslee asked.
“Tara has limited dealings with the rest of the Confederacy. Even the company of Marines currently housed in Sunnybrook have been sent here for quiet rest and do not generally have any direct interaction with the people of Tara beyond the brothels and entertainment,” the governor said. “According to the planetary charter, I can run the planet as I choose. I chose to chair a governing council, which created the Militia a little over two years ago.”
“Since it is the right of the governor to choose the mode of government and law-making, I deem my role to be determining whether acting as a planetary police force exceeds the authority granted in the Militia charter. AI, please provide a copy of the Militia charter.”
WHEREAS the Confederacy planet Tara is a non-militarized planet with the Corps of Engineers Agriculture Division as its citizen population devoted to preserving the agricultural ecosystems of planet Earth; and
WHEREAS the Confederacy citizens of Tara are pledged to perform job functions with an active term of service of thirty years and a reserve term of service for an additional thirty years; and
WHEREAS it is desired to keep the peace and security of the planet Tara against all disruptions domestic and interplanetary;
THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Tara Planetary Militia shall be established from the sub-sponsor-level population to provide manpower for public works, security and peacekeeping on the planet, and emergency defense from invaders.
FURTHER be it resolved that any resident of the planet age fourteen or above and not scoring 6.5 or higher on their CAP test will have the opportunity to enlist in this planetary Militia on the anniversary of their registered arrival on this planet, or if under the age of fourteen at arrival, upon their fourteenth birthday or anniversary of their birth thereafter. This opportunity will be repeated on each anniversary of arrival or birth and is not to be infringed in any way by citizen, non-citizen, or artificial intelligence. Any person who has a CAP test and scores 6.5 or above and who does not wish to volunteer for the Confederacy Military Forces may also volunteer for the planetary Militia under the same terms and conditions as a concubine.
FURTHER be it resolved that the Tara Planetary Militia will be charged with peacekeeping, safety, and security of the planet and its residents. It will execute public works as may be assigned at any time by the Governor or her/his designated representative. The Militia will be trained in both armed and unarmed combat and defense and will respond to any emergency on the planet, including civil unrest, natural disaster, invasion, or criminal activity.
FURTHER, persons serving in the Militia will be granted planetary citizenship during and after an enlistment of not less than thirty years of satisfactory active duty and not less than thirty years of reserve duty. Planetary citizenship will include all rights and privileges accorded to a Citizen with a 6.5 or higher CAP score, including domicile, provisions, and up to two concubines after satisfactory completion of two years of probationary service, excepting that Militia enlistees will not have the right to travel outside the colony’s sovereign space. Upon completion of the enlistee’s service, he or she will be granted full Confederacy Citizenship on par with any other Citizen. [Pending negotiations with Confederacy AI.]
BE IT KNOWN that failure on the part of the enlistee to execute his or her duties or to fulfill his or her term of service for any reason will result in the enlistee being stripped of planetary citizenship and possessions. Such discharged person will be returned to the general concubine pool to seek a sponsor or work in other state-sponsored occupations. Inability to be so placed may result in termination.
HEREBY enacted on this first day of the first month of the eighth year of Tara Colonization.
Signed,
Governor Scarlett O’Hara
“Connect to the Sunnybrook Marine base AI,” the commander said after he’d read the charter.
“Sunnybrook Marine AI. How may I help you, Commander?” answered the voice immediately.
“AI, have you reviewed the Militia charter we have before us?”
“I have.”
“Is it your opinion that within the charter provision is made for the planetary Militia to act as a planetary police force?”
“The wording is not exact but, among humans, the terms ‘peacekeeping, safety, and security’ are commonly synonymous with the functions of policing. Within the terms of the planetary charter, I adjudge the responsibility of the Militia to act as a planetary police force to be accepted.”
“Next question, AI. Did the Drovers Run Militia Base AI act within its authority in directing Officer Cho that the use of non-lethal force was authorized in dealing with Citizen Morris?”
“Within the terms of the charter, it is clear that the Militia will be trained in both armed and unarmed combat and defense and it is expected these may be used in the fulfillment of any responsibility of the Militia including peacekeeping, security, policing of criminal activity, and both civil unrest and invasion. I find that since the Citizen was acting in a way contrary to the stated directive in the charter that no one may impinge on the right of a non-citizen to volunteer for the Militia at specific times, the directive to Officer Cho was in line with enforcement of the law.”
“And did Officer Cho, acting as a member of the Militia and under the directive of the Base AI, have the authority to act as a policeman to enforce that law?”
“Within the terms of the charter, Officer Cho justifiably acted as a policeman.”
“We’re getting somewhere. The final issue before us is whether Officer Cho, not being a Confederacy Citizen, was exempt from the Confederacy ruling against concubines attacking Citizens. Do you have a ruling on that?”
The AI was silent. Morris used the opportunity to jump into the fray.
“It has been made crystal clear to all concubines and sponsors in multiple training forums that a concubine attacking a sponsor was subject to immediate termination. This person you address as Officer Cho is a drone. He could have killed me! I demand his immediate execution.”
“Commander, if I may,” Cricket’s voice came into the room.
“And who are you?”
“I am household AI 686f757365686f6c6461a, adopted name: Cricket. I am here to act as defense counsel for Officer Niall Cho.”
“A household AI? What… Never mind. Officer Cho, do you accept this household AI as your defense counsel?”
“I do, Commander.”
“This gets weirder all the time. State your defense, Cricket.”
“The Sunnybrook AI has already ruled that the provisions of the Militia Charter are valid. First, Officer Cho is a planetary citizen with the same rights as any Confederacy Citizen while in this planet’s sovereign space. Second, Officer Cho was acting within the parameters set in the charter that Militia would use armed and unarmed combat and defense in enforcing the laws and maintaining the peace regardless of the status of the disruptor. As a planetary citizen, Officer Cho can no longer be judged under the terms applied to concubines.”
“He could have killed me!” Morris insisted.
“Please note,” Cricket continued, “that Drovers Run Base AI did not authorize the use of force by Capo Slocum who was assaulted by Citizen Morris and offered no defense other than blocking his access to the base. The Base AI waited for the arrival of Officer Cho and authorized the use of force by him. Officer Cho is a fourth dan Black Belt in Taekwondo, an instructor in the martial arts. He knows exactly how much force is non-lethal and could control his response accordingly. Not only was the blow he delivered non-lethal, it took less than five minutes for the bruise on Mr. Morris’s chest to be repaired in the med tube,” Cricket concluded.
“Your planet has a law I have not seen on other planets,” Commander Inslee stated. “It is, however, an accepted premise of the Confederacy that planetary governors can make these laws and Confederacy Citizens on their planet must obey them. Therefore, I rule in favor of Officer Cho as being exempt from the Confederacy prohibition of concubine violence against sponsors when performing his duties as a member of the Militia. I rule that Sponsor Morris was not attacked by a concubine. I repeat my mandate that since Sponsor Morris flouted the law in attempting to keep his concubine from enlisting, he is remanded to his superior officers in the Corps of Engineers with the recommendation of rank review and retesting.”
“I believe that concludes our hearing,” Governor O’Hara said.
“One more thing before we dismiss, if I may, Governor,” Inslee said, holding up his hand. She nodded to him. “Sunnybrook AI, in rendering your judgments regarding the Militia, its AI and its charter, you repeatedly started each decision with the words, ‘Within the terms of the charter.’ Is the charter a legal document whose terms can be enforced?”
“On planet Tara, as you correctly stated earlier, the governor can set the laws that bind both sponsors and concubines. And dependents for that matter. However, the last provision of the charter may not be enforceable. It states that ‘Upon completion of the enlistee’s service, he or she will be granted full Confederacy Citizenship on par with any other Citizen.’ It is not within the purview of the planetary governor to dictate what must be done on a Confederacy-wide basis. Without having consulted with off-planet AIs, it is my opinion that this clause would not be supported Confederacy-wide as it might violate the Confederacy-human contract. I will say that a retired officer of the character of Officer Cho would likely be able to retest upon retirement and become a volunteer and full citizen of the Confederacy, but it is unlikely he would be accepted as an equal to other citizens without that evidence.”
“I see. Governor, if I read this correctly, you have fifty-six years to negotiate acceptance of the citizenship clause Confederacy-wide. Good luck.”
Dire Predictions (TY11-month 130)
“Officer Cho, Deputy Kramer, and Director Kotter, would you join me in my office before returning to duty?” Governor O’Hara asked. “I’m sure Capo Slocum can escort Trainee Hodges back to base.” The Governor stood and I had a chance to see what a truly elegant beauty she was. I understood she was over fifty years old but she looked like a sophisticated fashion model of maybe twenty-one or twenty-two. It made me angry. Amos could have ordered his concubines modified to beings of beauty but instead turned them into workhorses. He’d get his eventually, I vowed.
We followed her into her inner office and she directed us all to chairs at a round table. She spoke to a beautifully nude concubine who left and returned in a few seconds, it seemed, with hot beverages and little tea cakes for us.
“I wanted to take a minute to thank you and thank the Militia through you. The trial today was significant in our planetary development. That is why I went to the trouble of having the Marine base commander sit as the arbiter.”
“What do you mean, Governor?” Director Kotter asked.
“Lillian, let’s leave titles and ranks in the outer office,” the governor laughed. “You were with me eight years before we started the Militia and are as significant in its development as anything I did. I am Scarlett. Derek, Niall, please let’s relax the formality in this room.”
“As you wish, Governor… er… Scarlett,” the Deputy said. I nodded.
“We have a problem not faced by most other planets. We have no viable military presence. The Marines rotated here are here for rest and recovery after strenuous engagements. The single ship currently in orbit is here for a safe haven while it repairs itself. We receive three or four trade ships each month, most of which are here for two days or less. Immigration to Tara from Earth peaked three years ago. This year we expect fewer than 500 new sponsors to come to the planet. The fourteen-year-olds who test as sponsors—and that is an appallingly low number—are taken off planet as soon as possible, often without having filled their quota of concubines. As a result, our planet has no ability to defend itself or even maintain order without our Militia. We were spiraling dangerously close to chaos when the Militia was formed nearly four years ago,” Scarlett said.
“There are places where I’ve observed that chaos near the surface,” Kotter said. “We have sponsors who are not fulfilling their contractual obligations and are becoming fat and lazy. Their one weekend a month of training exercises are often drunken orgies.”
“Our sponsors on the planet are organized according to military discipline in the Corps of Engineers, but they are engaged in agricultural, engineering, and administrative contracts with the same terms of service as the Marines and Navy,” Scarlett said. “They would presumably muster to defend the planet against a Swarm invasion, but they aren’t going to intervene when someone is beating a concubine to death—which I intend to make fully against the law here—or even to get a drunk sponsor back to his pod. They aren’t the people we want to depend on if there is an earthquake that disrupts our power grid. We need a strong Militia with people trained for all those responsibilities, as well as to work on the projects we have planned for the planet. Like the new deep water harbor we have planned for Drylanders. I need you to not only be respected and able to quell unrest, but also to recruit many more into the Militia to handle these projects.”
“We’ll do our best, Scarlett,” Lillian said. “I can see where today was a keystone event. Word will get around that the formation of the Militia and its mission objectives have been validated by a Confederacy representative. It will be good for recruiting as well.”
“We need to get the word out. Niall, how is recruiting going?” Deputy Kramer asked.
“We’ve done fairly well. We are ahead of projections with some 500 total comrades in the Militia. Nearly 150 have now passed their probationary period and are settling down with concubines. I believe we’ll see results for recruiting from the campaign in the Drylanders schools to recruit those turning fourteen,” I said.
“We need to do that in the rest of the townships,” Lillian said. “Derek, can you see it gets done?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get people on it at once.”
“Tara is about to face a crisis and we are not ready for it. We have existed as a colony for nearly twelve years and have a planetary population of over a million. Over eighty percent of that number are dependents. In two years, the first children born on this planet will reach adulthood in a population explosion the likes of which we can only imagine. Currently we see a manageable gain in new adults of fewer than 10,000 per year. In two years, we will see new adults at the rate of over 60,000 per year. We currently have a sustained ratio of four drones per sponsor. By year twenty of our colony, the ratio of drones to sponsors will be nearly double that. And the difference will increase as we begin receiving refugees. We’ve been asked to receive a shipload from Kindertransport sometime in the next year—some 400 concubines and 2800 dependents. Even with improved schooling and higher percentages of new adults achieving sponsorship status, we can expect as many as fifty-to-one drones to sponsors in just a few years. The Militia is our first step in a management system for our population. There will be other steps, but it is vitally important to siphon off drones into the Militia just so that we have more people we can assign concubines to. Sponsors may continue to be angry about it for the next few years, but the supply of concubines is not going to dry up by a long shot.” Lillian reached across the table and took her former sponsor’s hand. Kramer and I nodded our understanding but were speechless.
“Thank you for your time, and thank you, Niall, for enduring the accusation and trial today. I know that had to be a little frightening.”
“I had confidence in your judgment, ma’am.”
We departed. I went back to the base as Kramer and Kotter walked toward the transport station together.
“Tell me about why you wanted to join the Militia, Hodges,” I said to the new trainee. When I got back to the base, I’d asked her to meet with me in my office. I didn’t spend personal time interviewing every new enlistee, but having been thrown together by circumstances, I wanted to know more about the trainee I’d faced possible execution for.
“I didn’t,” she said flatly. “Donald has become more belligerent and demanding over the past year. I was pregnant before we arrived on the planet and the baby died before it was born. He blamed me for killing his heir and insisted I become pregnant again as soon as possible. The AI advised against it until my body had a chance to fully accept its changes. Since then, I’ve become the scullery maid of the household. All three of his other concubines have borne children or are pregnant. Anytime any of the concubines or Donald passed me they kicked me, hit me, or shoved me. The only way out was to enlist.”
“Not the most noble reason for joining the Militia, but not that uncommon, either. You understand that there is a clause in our contract that if you quit the Militia within your probationary period of two years, you may be sent back to your former sponsor if he so desires? I don’t know if that was explained to you.”
“I won’t quit.”
“You’ll find the Militia is hard work. You might prefer to be the scullery maid,” I said.
“Are you going to beat me within an inch of my life?”
“No. Accidents do happen, but we don’t deliberately beat each other. Is that what happened to you this morning?”
“When I announced my intention to enlist, Donald swore I wouldn’t be able to and beat me with the help of the other concubines. They left me in my room and as soon as the coast was clear I came here. If they hadn’t been intentionally ignoring me, I wouldn’t have made it. As it was, I had to convince the AI to unlock my door by pointing out that it was not allowed to prevent me from enlisting,” she said.
“Your profile indicates that you’ll be pretty poor at fighting, but that isn’t all the Militia does. You will still need to train the same as everyone else, which includes classroom studies and sleep trainer sessions as well as intensive physical training. When you are done, you will be able to defend yourself against bullies like Donald, but we’ll do our best to keep you away from them.”
“Thank you, sir. Capo Humphreys gave me the training schedule after I got out of the med tube and before we left for the trial. I apologize for causing you to be put on the spot and will do my best to make up for it,” she said.
“Do your best in your training. That’s all we want.”
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