Leaving and calling

 

Day 7, morning

“Hey, Love,” Andrew said, and I turned around, startled.  I had just gotten in the simulator and did not expect him.  “I guess we get to sim together today,” he said, pulling me toward him and kissing me.

“Ummm, I guess so,” I said.  I had known this was coming, but it still took me by surprise.

“I have been looking forward to simming together!” he said, unwrapping his hands and taking mine.  “Look, the little green ball.  Let’s see where it goes.”

We were walking across a beautiful flat plain, similar to New Texas.  Ahead of us I saw a river and, looking down and seeing that I was in a soldier suit and carrying one of those big rifles, I tightened my grip and starting watching out on one side while Andrew stared out the other.  Even with our attention our first alien took us by surprise, and I had to fire three times before Andrew, turning, killed him with a head shot.  I cursed, to myself, and tried to pay even more attention.

It was difficult fighting, however.  Whoever this was has planted crops, reasonably tall crops, right down to the river side, and the aliens could come out of the fields at a dead run, continuously surprising me.

I was also surprised when it wasn’t me that was killed first.  I had just killed a Juvy that had come out on my side when I heard a choking noise and turned to see Andrew, attacked by three Pack at the same time, going down with one of them on his throat.  They were so busy killing Andrew that I got all three of them before they could turn on me.  I stared in horror at Andrew’s body on the ground and then, hearing rustling, had to turn and fight off my own pack of Pack, one of which bit me soundly, but rather ineffectively, on the chest.

I was rubbing myself where it had bit me when I heard, from the ground behind me, some decidedly non-Christian language.  I turned and saw Andrew getting up, his throat miraculously repaired and once again breathing.  He had the grace to blush, “Sorry, but that was really painful.  I’ll try to not use that kind of language again.  Especially over a little thing like dying in sim.  Look out!” he shouted and I turned and was rather proud of the way I took the adult coming at me with a hip shot.

“Thanks,” I said, hearing him get up and turn back to back with me.  “Come on, our ball leadeth us.”

He chuckled at my Biblical allusion and we continued walking, talking, and killing.

“Ouch!” Andrew said, when the computer brought him back from his second ‘death’.  “That hurt!”

“I’m sorry, Andrew,” I said, “I couldn’t get my gun around in time.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” he said.  “I’m supposed to be able to defend myself, you, and the baby.  That’s the partner’s job.”

“And what’s my job?” I asked, wearily picking up my pack again, as the stupid little bouncing ball moved on again.

“Why, you know,” he said, awkwardly.  “Having kids.  You remember what they said, about how we breed so slowly.”

“We breed slowly, anyway,” I said.  “Another girl showed up pregnant this morning.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, slapping me on the back.  “We’ll succeed one of these nights.”

“I hope so,” I said.  “I would like to have your child.”

“Children, dear, children,” he said, slapping me again.  “Many, many children to fight the enemy…”

Suddenly we had real enemies to fight, and our conversation was over for a while.  But my thoughts weren’t.  Children, breeding, fighting… that was what my life was reduced to.  I thought, jealously, about the job that I was missing… the job I had actually been hired on for before I graduated, subject, of course, to my not being culled.

This job… we were practically animals.  Harvest, eat, breed, sleep… fight.  I dropped asleep each night physically exhausted.  I was tired in places I didn’t know you could even have muscles.  And, of course, none of my tiredness slowed Andrew down in his attempts to get me with child.  Not that I thought he would slow down once I was with child! He had made that clear, as had the Newtonian.  And, in their own way, Gruden’s and my mother.

“Ouch!” Andrew said, again, and I looked over to see him killing an alien who had just bit him in the leg.  I hurried over and put pressure on his wound.  “Ouch!!” he repeated, scanning all around us.  “Those teeth are sharp!”

We had a very nice surprise at lunch time, coming around a corner and seeing five other couples standing around what was obviously a picnic.  June and Marten, Grant and Jane, Jill…

“What’s this?”Andrew said, as we came closer.

“Lunch!” Marten said.

“Time off?” Andrew said, looking out into the brush.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Grant said, seriously.  “We’d better keep guards out.”

I sighed.  Must be always training? Were we never going to get to just relax? I was exhausted.

As it turned out I didn’t have to worry about myself.  The boys took turns guarding and we girls, except for when we were actually being attacked, which only happened about five times during lunch, mostly sat around and got stuff ready or cleaned it up… and ate, of course.  The meal itself was delicious, sandwiches with roast, sliced, cold Juvy… and some delicious pickles that I didn’t recognize.

And it was really neat to meet with our ‘gang’ outside of official break time.  Martin prayed for lunch, of course, but outside of that there were no ‘spiritual’ bits; not for us girls, anyway.  I heard the boys discussing something called ‘preterism’, but I ignored them.

“This is so beautiful,” Jill said, after lunch, as we sat there putting things away.

“Just like home,” I said.

“Except for the enemy,” Jill added, laughing.

“There is that,” I admitted ruefully, with a quick glance at the other major thing that was different from home.  He was listening to, but not participating in, the discussion.  “And the food,” I added, lifting up a bit of roast Juvy.

“Well, we’ll be eating a lot of it where we’re going,” Jill said, “We’d best get used to it.”

—

#

We broke for lunch and Andrew and I went our way together, walking the rivers edge and killing aliens all the way.  I think, once, I even got a shot at an enemy female, and we found, and destroyed, a nest of eggs twice.  Stripping out of my suit and pulling my robe on, I went to the door and came out just at the same time as Andrew.  “I loved spending the day with you,” he said, reaching out for my hand.  Several other people were coming out the door and we had to hurry out of their way.

“Me, too,” I said, almost meaning it, but definitely feeling the difference in our relationship.  Our walk wasn’t long since out room was in the same hallway as our training room, and I was on the side toward the door when we got there, so I reached out and put my hand on the plate.

#

Day 7, evening

“Oh!” I said, when the door opened to reveal a boy, obviously just out of the shower, pulling on his shirt.  “I’m so sorry,” I said, embarrassed and looking back at the door plate.  I thought…”

“Come in, come in,” a girl said, from next to the door.  “It’s all right, you didn’t get the room wrong.  The computer said that you would be along.  Sorry we’re so late getting ready to go, but we’ll be out of here in a second.”

“I… I don’t understand,” I said, as Andrew pushed me into the room so the door could close.  The boy, as he finished pulling on his shirt, said.

“It’s called ‘hot-bunking’.  In the end there will be six of us in each room, for eight hours each.  Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Andrew said as the boy, the girl in tow, scooshed past us toward the door.  “See you…”

“Tomorrow morning, our time,” the boy said as the door closed, laughing.

“Well, that’s new,” Andrew said, pulling off his own shirt.  “Come shower with me? I thought of a new passage, today,” he said, as we undressed.  “I even thought of something to say about it.  I realized, last night, that I really should try to pick something neutral.  It isn’t like I’m really ready to ‘preach’ to you.  So I found a passage that really talked to me, when I was younger.  It’s in Philippians chapter four…”

He must have been excited about that passage because we actually did our ‘worship time’ before, you know, other things.  I lay there, afterward, wondering how I felt about this new super spiritual husband.  He would probably forget all about it after a while, I decided.  He was just reacting to Marten’s admonition.  And, besides, it was probably good we got together, religiously, before we suddenly had children.

#

Day ten, church, morning

 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Martin said.  “I’ve been asked to make an announcement.  As you all know the ship is getting full, and ready to leave.  So soon you will get to make your first, and only, ‘letter home’ during this training period.  Here’s how it will work.  Today you can record your letter.  It can be as long as you like, and to as many people.  The letter will get sent down to the planet and then, when you time comes, it will get sent to your parents or whoever you send it to.  At the same time any letter or letters that people have sent you will come up.  Your letters downplanet will, of course, need to be screened.”

“Screened?” Jane asked.

Censored,” he said.  “Now that you have been told the truth, they have to make sure you don’t let it out.  The computer can do a lot of it, but, in this case, they want a person listening in on each call.”

“Someone will be listening?”

“Yes.  Some random member of the crew, who will not care how much you say you love your mother or whatever.  They will just care whether or not you give out the secret.”

“Where will we write these ‘letters’?” another girl asked.

“In your rooms,” Martin said.  “That is the only real place where you have any privacy.”

It was a good thing he said that this week.  Last week I would have thought that my cabin was the worst place for privacy.  I squeezed Andrew’s hand, and he looked at me in surprise.  Boys.

“And then, the big news you all knew was coming, in a few days we will be heading off to the front.  Which gives us a huge load of things we should be praying about…”

Andrew and I, after service and lunch, were cuddling in a corner.  A lot of other couples did this, more and more each week.  I found it very restful now that, well, now that we were really partners.  “Are you excited, or terrified?” he asked me.

“About the enemy? Or writing a letter to my mother?”

He laughed, “Both, I guess.”

“Both, I guess.”

He laughed again.  “I’m so glad to be going with you,” he said, cuddling me closer.  “I was worried about what kind of partner I would get.”

“I suppose we all worry about that,” I said, cuddling back.  “but, really, what can I say about you in the letter? I feel like I hardly know you!”

He gave me his ‘evening’ look and I punched his arm, “Outside of that, I mean.  And I know how many brothers you have.  But, really, do you have any hobbies?”

“Well, I did,” he said.  “I really liked to draw.”

I sat up, “That’s right!” I said, “Can you draw something for my family?”

“I never have any time, nowadays,” he protested.

“Well, you have time today,” I said.

“But, I don’t have any materials,” he said, again, more weakly.

I darted off and, after a short conversation with June, opened a cupboard and came back, “Can you do chalk?” I asked, holding up the computer chalkboard.

“It… It’s my favorite,” he said.  “Now, hold still.”

“What?” I squealed but,

“Hold still!” he ordered again, and I ‘held still’.

It was annoying, holding so still for so long, and not getting to see.  I could see his glance darting back and forth from my face to his board, and see the quick, long, strokes he was making, the board held carefully on his crossed legs.  “Are you… can I see?” I asked.

“Hold still!” he said, again, more sharply, and I settled back (without moving) to wait.

“There,” he said, a half an hour later, and handed me the board.

“Ooooh,” I said, for it was me! Laying there with my legs crossed in my uniform.  You could really tell.  I thought he was just, that he just ‘liked’ to draw.  But he really could draw.

“Like it?” he asked, nervously.

“Jane!” I said, as the only girl that wasn’t actively wrapped up in her partner.  “Jane, come look!”

Jane, and Grant, came over.  Jane ‘ooohed’ appreciatively, but Grant, picking it up, nodded.  “Good job.  No wonder you are so good at maps and things.  You really have an eye.”

I stared at Andrew.  “I’m not really good at them,” he said, “Just better than at some other things.”

Grant  laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, “You’re OK, Andrew,” he said and then, taking Jane by the waist, went back to their area.

“Wow,” I said, cuddling up next to Andrew and holding the board where we could both see.  “This is really good.  What else can you draw?”

“People are my favorite,” he said.  “But I like animals too.”

“Can I… can I show my mother?”

“What?!” he said.

“Can I show my mother, can I send a copy? I think it will help, help make you, you know, a real person.”

“Ummm, sure.  It’s not my best.  Here, let me try again.”

“OK,” I said, “But I am going to copy this one, as your first.”

“My first… oh,” he said, grinning and took the board back after I had entered the necessary commands.

He did another picture of me, then one of June nursing.  Martin came over to oogle his wife on paper, and that caused everyone to come look and Andrew to be mightily embarrassed.  In the end practically every partner wanted a picture of his partenere and Andrew was busy the rest of break day.

—

#

Day ten evening

“Do you want to start?” I asked Andrew, as soon as we got back to our room.

“huh?” he said, caught in the act of pulling off his shirt.

“The letter,” I said.

“Oh,” he said, pulling his shirt back on.  He thought for a minute.  “So you want to do them together?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“The Letter.  Do you want to do the letter together?”

“Oh.  Oh, yeah! That should be great!” I said.  I had thought we would just take turns, but together would be so much better.  My folks would just love it, I was sure, as would my siblings.  I sat down in front of the computer and, zipping his shirt back in place, he sat down next to me.

“Computer! Record, voice and video,” I said, and the screen lit up.  I changed the focus some, I didn’t really want my folks to see the tiny room we were living in, and started.

“Hey, Mom, Dad, kiddos! Remember me?” I giggled, “This is Andrew, my partner!” I drew him closer to me.  “He’s been really great to me and we’re doing all sorts of training.”

I went on and on about the training for a while, and then, “Oh, and I’ve met some new friends…” and told them all about June, and Jane, and Jill, and then suddenly I remembered and said, “Say something, Andrew!”

“Umm, hi,” he said.  “My name is Andrew Tome and my folks live in La Grange, and Aliyah is just great.  I… I was going to be an artist and Aliyah has a picture that I drew of her that she wants to send you.  I’m not sure what else to say.”

“Silly, Andrew,” I said, clinging to his arm.  “He is kind of shy, mom, can you imagine me with a shy boy? And no, Mom, not yet, but hopefully soon,” I said, talking my way around a question I knew she would want answered.  “How is everyone back home?” I asked.  “How did graduation go without me there? How did my poor stand in do? Did anyone partner?”

It was a strange phenomenon, but most graduation parties resulted in several partnerships.  People who had lived through the stress of cull all year suddenly broke down after they were safe and partnered.  “I gave you my exemption, Beth,” I said, “Although I doubt you will need it.  I’m sure you will just say yes to the first boy that asks.  But if you do you can give it away to someone else, or sell it, Daddy will like that!”

“Well, we’ll record more later, bye now,” I said, and told the computer to stop recording.

“Are you ready for yours?” I asked, and then suddenly realized we were supposed to be doing it together.  “Oh, I’m so sorry!” I said.

“No, no, my folks will love that,” he said.  “We can attach them together, and then everyone will get both letters.”

“OK,” I said.  “Your turn?”

“I’m kind of tired,” he said, “Let’s do it tomorrow.”

“OK,” I said, and we got undressed, showered, and went to bed.