Battleframe (The Mindwars Book 1) Page 5

  Thomas lay in the grass beside him and embraced the exercise as naturally as Ray. Since the fateful day when they had first met, the two of them had become inseparable. They attended primary school together and now the Concord Recon Cadet corp.

  Ray let out his breath slowly and just as slowly breathed back in again. A lot had happened in the last eight years since Gasp had rescued the two of them from the Scourge attack. They had both lost their parents in the battle for the colony. The war had made orphans of many children. As well as being their senior training officer, Gasp had become their adopted father. Although he was not Ray’s natural father, Gasp was a good man and an expert at his trade. He taught his boys everything he knew about his craft and he knew a lot.

  “Breathe out, breathe in.”

  Everything had ended the day the Scourge battle-pods had begun falling all over the colony. Through the bravery and skills of battleframe pilots like Gasp the Concord had barely managed to hold off the assault. Now both boys wanted to become pilots but only the best of the best could get through the Cadet-training program.

  “Breathe out, breathe in.”

  Ray and Thomas trained harder than anyone else did to become the best battleframe snipers the Concord would ever see. They wanted Gasp to be proud of them but they wanted to beat each other even more. It was a friendly rivalry born in the crucible of horrific circumstances. They were brothers, constantly fighting each other but if anyone picked on either of them then they stood shoulder to shoulder. They loved each other dearly and each would never leave the other if they were in some sort of trouble.

  After all these years Ray still had his father’s rifle back in the barracks but now he held a military grade Charge rifle lightly in his hands. Although Gasp had encouraged Ray to enter the recon Cadet corps, the sight of his father’s rifle had finally convinced him to enlist.

  “Now fire between your heartbeats.”

  Ray had completed this drill a hundred, no, a thousand times before. He felt his heart beating slower as he regulated his breathing. It had become second nature to him. One after another, the Scourge targets down the range fell to Ray’s precise shots. Each cut out was drilled through the skull by his beam of blue energy. Immediately after completing the exercise, Ray swung his scope to look at Thomas’s targets. He sighed inwardly; they too had the tell tale holes drilled through their heads. Ray did not have to look across at Thomas to know that he was already scoping out his targets.

  The sergeant looked across at his trainees lying on the ground with their rifles tucked into their shoulders as they fired at the targets. There was always a standout brilliant Cadet but in this intake, the senior training officer’s sons were exceptional. Gasp had given him specific instructions to give both boys hell and that he did plus some. Despite his best efforts the two did not break. What frustrated him the most was the pair viewed additional punishment exercises and barracks chores as his way of helping them get better!

  Walking down the line the sergeant stopped behind both Ray and Thomas. He lifted his binoculars to look down the range at their targets.

  Ray sensed the sergeant behind him and since all the targets had been eliminated he pulled the charge canister out of his gun. He then turned around and sat up straight with his disabled rifle resting on crossed legs. He smiled inwardly when he noticed that he was perhaps half a second faster than Thomas.

  The sergeant lowered his binoculars and looked to both Ray and Thomas as he yelled, “A perfect score yet again Cadets!”

  Thomas wondered why sergeants always had to yell. It was as if their voice volume was more of a switch, on or off and not variable.

  The bellowing continued. “Do you know how many people get a perfect score?”

  Ray made the mistake of attempting to reply, “I’m not….”

  “I wasn’t asking you a question Cadet! You’re a frapping whizz with the rifle. Did you know that Cadet, a whizz!”

  “I was just….”

  “Keep your mouth shut Cadet! You’re a whizz with your rifle and bang go down the targets, one after another.”

  “I like….”

  The edges of Thomas’s mouth turned up in a little smile. Ray always made the mistake of trying to answer every question, even if they were rhetorical.

  The sergeant noticed the smirk on Thomas’s face and turned his attention to him. “Do you think that something’s funny Cadet?”

  “Sir, no sir!”

  “Then why are you smiling? Do you think that it’s funny seeing me ask Cadet Ray questions?”

  “Well, no…..”

  Ignoring the reply the sergeant raised his binoculars to peer down range at Thomas’s targets. “So you think you’re a genius like Cadet Ray?”

  “Sir, no…”

  The sergeant’s volume switch was still firmly in the ‘on’ position. “I don’t think that you’re a frapping genius Cadet. Nobody thinks that you’re a frapping genius. So why do you think that you’re a frapping genius?”

  “Well, I don’t…”

  Thomas sighed inwardly. He had fallen for the same trick that Ray did with trying to answer the sergeant’s questions. This time it was Ray’s turn to let a little smirk show on his face.

  As if he had eyes in the side of his head the sergeant swung immediately back to Ray. “Do you think something’s funny Cadet? Both of you seem to think that you’re comedians! On your feet and fall in behind me. Apparently, it’s time to discuss your futures Cadets.”

  Ray and Thomas jumped to their feet, slung their rifles into their back holsters and clipped the energy canisters to their belts. They knew better than to delay anything with the sergeant. With the sergeants back to them, Ray looked questioningly at Thomas who replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

  With a clipped precise step, they followed the sergeant up to the command deck above the shooting range. The first thing Ray noticed was there were two other men standing alongside Gasp. Each of them wore standard black Concord uniforms and had binoculars hanging from a cord around their necks.

  Gasp said, “That will be all Sergeant.”

  “Yes sir!”

  Ray held his eyes straight forward even as his peripheral vision watched the sergeant turn and leave. Gasp saw that Ray and Thomas were taking everything in, absorbing each and every detail of the moment so that they were ready for any action. He was proud of his adopted sons but this decision would not be his alone.

  Colonel Greerson turned around and inspected the young men with his hawk like eyes. “So these are your boys Gasp?”

  “Yes, this is Cadet Ray and Cadet Thomas.”

  “That’ not what I meant.”

  “Yes, they are my sons.”

  The third man, Captain Eldrich, had a much softer but no less direct tone to his voice. Like a punch smothered by a pillow. He did not mess around and wanted to know whether the Cadets met the cut immediately or move onto another candidate. “How many pens are on the desk Cadet Thomas?”

  Without taking his eyes off the Captain Thomas answered immediately. “Three sir. One in the holder and two lying on the desk.”

  “What’s the nearest armed weapon to you?”

  “Yours sir.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “From here I can see that it’s at full charge.”

  “Cadet Ray, Who am I?”

  “You’re a recon pilot sir. I would say Raven class.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You’re not heavy set and your hands are softer than a close combat pilot. There is a callous on your Charge rifle firing finger that is in the same position as mine. I would say that you’ve just recently returned from a mission as you haven’t become relaxed enough to turn the safety on your gun.”

  Captain Eldrich smiled at the Cadet’s replies and said nothing more. Colonel Greerson asked, “Are you a smart-alec Cadet Thomas?”

  Like a knee-jerk reaction Ray immediately came to Thomas’s aid to defend him against the accusation. “No he’s not sir.
Although we’re the top of our class there is one thing that senior training officer Gasp has taught us…”

  Colonel Greerson let the fact that Ray came to Thomas’s defence slide. These two boys intrigued him. Their scores were off the chart and they obviously had a quick wit. “What did he teach you Cadet?”

  “That we don’t know everything sir. As soon as you believe you know everything then you’re as good as dead.”

  The Colonel picked up a sheaf of papers lying on table beside him. Feigning that he was losing interest in the conversation he casually asked, “So why do you want to become a recon?”

  This time Thomas answered, “So we can live sir.”

  Colonel Greerson had heard many different replies to this question but never the one that Thomas had just answered. “Pardon me Cadet?”

  In a flat tone of voice, Ray repeated the answer, “So we can both live sir.”

  Colonel Greerson could not help but display his curiosity. These two seemed to behave as a team in everything that they did. Insult one and the other defends. “What do you mean by ‘so you can live’ Cadet?”

  Ray looked the Colonel straight in the eye. “Sir, during our personal time we’ve been studying the war. Both Thomas and I know that the Concord must be losing.”

  Now both men were curious and Captain Eldrich stepped in to question again. “Why do you say that?”

  “I’m eighteen years old and a fully trained recon. For the past six years I’ve learned all there is about the Scourge, the Concord and how to become a sniper recon. Thirty years ago I would’ve just been completing high school.”

  Eldrich subconsciously ran his hand through his dark hair. These kids were exceptional. He had never heard answers like he was hearing now. Colonel Greerson turned to Eldrich and gave a little laugh as he said, “And we thought we were being so careful with our covert training program.”

  The Captain ignored his superior officer’s little jibe. “So why are we here Cadets?”

  This time Thomas replied, “To assess our aptitude for operational duty sir.”

  “What do you think our response will be?”

  “The Concord needs us both and in fact, all of the Cadets. You will say yes, we are ready.”

  Captain Eldrich continued to stare at both young men without saying anything. Everything they said was true. They did need them and the other Cadets. In fact, they needed anyone that could hold a gun. They had been losing the war for the past couple of years. Slowly but surely the Scourge had been crushing one colony after another.

  Colonel Greerson had seen and heard enough. These two were both brilliant and incredibly self composed. “Do either of you have any questions?”

  Ray hesitated a few seconds before asking, “What is the new technology that’s just been developed?”

  This time, both men immediately turned towards Gasp accusingly. In a raised deadly serious tone Colonel Greerson asked, “What have you been telling your sons Gasp? You of all people know the consequences of sharing top secret information with anyone!”

  It was clear that Gasp was as confused as the two men staring at him. “I’ve told them nothing.” He then turned to his sons and asked, “Who did you two hear this from?”

  Ray quickly answered, “No one. It was obvious.”

  “What do you mean by obvious?”

  “The Colonel and Captain told me.”

  Now all three men stared at Ray with an intensity that would have terrified any other Cadets. Without thinking, Thomas instinctively rested his hand on his belt knife, ready for action. What his brother had just said had set these two men completely on edge. Captain Eldrich noticed Thomas’s casual movement and found his own hand straying towards his gun.

  Gasp finally broke the tension and asked, “Have you spoken to either the Colonel or Captain before?”

  Ray carefully watched and analysed the reactions of the men opposite him. He finally said, “No, I have never met them before...”

  Captain Eldrich began to relax and he picked up the glass of water beside him. “We all know that we’ve never met before. For frap sake! These are a couple of Cadets in front of us! What I want to know Cadet Ray is what did we tell you and how did we?”

  Ray cleared his throat and noticed that Thomas had let his hand drop to his side. “Never in the history of the Cadet core has anyone other than the commanding trainer approved a Cadet for operational duty and yet, here you two stand. You said you were assessing us, so the question I have been asking myself is, ‘assessing us for what?’ In our entire conversation you had a look of hope, not despair, even though I indicated that I believed the Concord was losing the war.”

  “This Cadet is exceptional,” Eldrich thought himself. “Continue,” he said aloud.

  “I notice from the insignia on the Colonel’s uniform that he’s from the Blue Sky research division and that you’re from operations Captain. Since you are focused on individuals and not something broader and larger then I would guess that there is only one thing it could be.”

  Gasp knew how sharp his adopted sons could be but this was incredible deductions from not very much information. Colonel Greerson looked across at Gasp and asked accusingly, “Are you sure that you didn’t brief the Cadets at all before today’s meeting?”

  “I didn’t know it was going to take place until you both landed.”

  Greerson nodded and returned his attention back to Ray.

  Ray took note of the exchange and decided to make a very educated guess. “You’ve developed a new type of battleframe and are looking at testing it out on younger pilots.”

  Greerson replied, “Not just a new battleframe but a whole new technology. It could change the outcome of the war.”

  “I see.”

  I imagine that both of them actually do see Eldrich thought to himself. “It’s called tellurite energy and we need pilots that are able to take full advantage of the prototype battleframes,” Colonel Greerson continued.

  Thomas nodded in Eldrich’s direction. “Why not Captain Eldrich?”

  “Our top researcher has insisted that we have a much younger pilot. It’s something about being more flexible.”

  Ray was really concentrating now. “You’ve developed another technology to keep the pilot alive.”

  “You worked all this out from us being here?” Captain Eldrich said incredulously.

  “It all fits Captain. That’s why you’re both here.”

  For some reason Colonel Greerson liked these two young Cadets and had already decided that they would be the ideal candidates for the prototype battleframe programme. He paused for a few seconds in thought and said, “For the past ten years we’ve been conducting extensive research into two fields. The first was tellurite energy and the second nanotechnology. I presume that you’re familiar with nanotechnology?”

  “Molecular sized machines? They have always been theoretical at best.”

  “Not anymore. We can now build a battleframe out of raw tellurite energy from the molecular level upwards via programmable nanites. The same nanites can repair a battleframe while in combat and different programing can allow them to provide each battleframe with unique capabilities.”

  This was the first time that Gasp had heard what the Colonel was revealing. The ramifications stunned him. “You mean to tell me that Blue Sky has developed a self-repairing battleframe? This could change everything!”

  “Correct. Professor Steinberg’s team have also recently completed research into nanomeds that can be injected into the bloodstream to heal a wounded pilot. The microscopic machines work on the pilot at the cellular level and can heal anything other than absolutely critical injuries.”

  Although they were both remaining calm on the outside, Ray and Thomas’s hearts were beating faster than ever. Ray automatically revisited his recent drill and slowed his breathing down to regain some semblance of control over his excitement. The implications of such a battleframe would be revolutionary and they were both smack bang in the middle o
f it! “The professor requires younger pilots, like us, to test out both the new battleframe and nanomeds?”

  “That is correct Cadet.”

  “So have you finished your assessment?”

  Colonel Greerson looked across at Captain Eldrich who nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, we are in agreement that you both would be ideal candidates.”

  Ray immediately answered, “I accept” and Thomas quickly added his assent as well.

  “There is just one final matter.”

  “And that is?”

  “Every pilot needs a call-sign that can be recognized by both other pilots and Concord systems for identity verification purposes. What call-sign would you like to have added to the logs?”

  Ray had been thinking on this for quite some time and had always rejected every suggestion from Thomas and his other friends. He then remembered what the sergeant had said earlier that morning. He was a whizz at firing the rifle. “Sir, I would like to choose Whizzbang as my call-sign.”

  Colonel Greerson tapped a few commands on his wrist-comp and said, “That name is available Cadet.” Speaking into his wrist-comp the Colonel said, “Whizzbang, Romeo, Oscar, Sierra, two, niner added to Concord systems control.” Turning to Thomas he asked, “And you Cadet?”

  Like Ray, Thomas had been thinking about what his call-sign ever since he first joined the Cadets six years earlier. He wanted something simple, straight forward and not at all grandiose. “Bosk, I’d like it to be Bosk.”

  The Colonel nodded. He had heard stranger call-signs before. Once again, he tapped on his wrist-comp, “Bosk is available. Concorde system control has now added Bosk, Sierra, Hotel, Echo, zero, six to the database of authorized battleframe pilots.”

  “My congratulations to you both. No word of this conversation is to be uttered to anyone other than the five of us. Is that clear?”

  “Yes sir,” both Ray and Thomas answered in unison.

  All the men were now smiling as they stepped forward to shake Whizzbang and Bosk’s hands in congratulations.

  Captain Eldrich finally asked, “Do you have any further questions?”