The Trainee

Chapter eight

Samson's POV

For the next few days I visited [f/n] in the infirmary. She pretended to be upset by it but I could see past her cranky facade. I told her how Annabella got kicked out of the trainee corps and how she left kicking and screaming on the evening wagon. On the day of her discharge Armin came with me bringing Connie.

"So this is the girl?" Connie asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Armin said. "Try not to annoy her. K Con."

Connie made a face of indignance. "Me? Annoying? I prefer the term hilarious."

I had to laugh at that one. As we approached her room, we saw [f/n] being lead out of the room by two stationary guards.

"Hey [f/n]. What's going on here?" Armin asked more politely them I would have.

[f/n]'s face was calm but slightly irritated as she answered. "Apparently I've been asked to appear before a board of military advisers."

"But why?" I asked her directly ignoring the stink eye I was getting from the guards. [f/n] struggled against the grip of a guard. "I wanted to know the same thing."

She gets pushed forward and the boys and I follow the trio down the hall. After some twists and turns we found ourselves infront of a conference room. They usher [f/n] inside and slam the door shut as we try to enter.

"What now?" Connie asked looking a little bummed. I shrugged and looked over at Armin who was doing a thinking thing.

"I know another way in." He began heading off down another hall way. "Hurry up. I don't want to miss whatever is going on."

Connie and I exchanged worried looks and took off after him. Armin lead us up two more flights of stairs and back down a hall that looks all but abandoned. We came up to a door that was slightly open and Armin, after looking in both directions, pushed us inside.

"Now keep quiet you two. We can hear them but that also means they can hear us." Serious Armin is not the Armin you want to mess with. "I am not getting caught up here again."

"Again?!" Connie exclaimed. Armin clamped his hand over his mouth as voices drifted up to us.

"Now miss [l/n], you must be wondering why you're here." I recognized the voice as that of Nile Dok. Commander of the Military police. The angle we were at only allowed us to see the tops of heads but I recognized one as the scouting legion commander, Erwin Smith.

"After an extensive review of your trainee score cards, we see that you are able to graduate now if you want." Dok continued. "And assuming you kept up your current trend you would land yourself a spot in the top ten if not the top five." This was a recruitment stunt. How low are the MP's willing to go?

"That still doesn't explain why I was lead here by armed guards." [f/n] pointed out. She took a moment to look at some papers that had been placed in front of her. "Besides Mr. umm Dork is it? If this is a meeting about my performance, why is it being held in secret?"

The way [f/n] stressed the mispronunciation of Nile's name meant that she knew what she was doing. There was another shuffling of documents as Commander Smith exchanged one of his papers for [f/n]'s. The boys and I share a questioning look but neither of us had a good enough vantage point to see what it was.

Mr. Dok tried to return the meeting to order. "The guards were just a formality Miss [l/n]." She didn't buy it but let him continue. "Now as you know, only the trainees that graduate in the top ten have the option of joining the Military Police-"

"And you came to see if I would join?" There was something dark about where this was headed. Dok stammered a response and [f/n] made a sound that resembled a laugh. A few moments of silence passed before she spoke again.

"Seeing as you have taken the time to look into my files Mr. Dok, I'm sure that you can see where I come from. I'm from the Underground." A soft whisper began amongst the listeners. She continued. "Now growing up down there, I saw the military police everyday. I saw the way they treated my family, my friends, and my neighbors."

"I can assure you Miss [l/n] that we are only there to keep the peace."

"Keep the peace?" [f/n] asked her voice beginning to rise. "You call gambling behind brothels keeping the peace? You call beating poor defenseless old men and children to within an inch of death keeping the peace? You call stabbing my mother because she wouldn't let your men have their way with me keeping the peace?" Her voice broke and the quiet was deadly.

Dok gapped like a fish for a few moments then spoke. "I can assure you this is the first time I'm hearing about any of this. But I will look into something being done about it."

"There's no point in lying Mr. Dok. I know you're only saying this to get me on your side."

Again, deafening silence.

"Well if you choose to reconsider, just remember that by joining the MP's you'd be doing a great service to the crown."

[f/n] pushed herself back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "In all honesty, I'd rather use the crown to wipe my ass."

A collective gasp went up from all of us. Someone called for a break and all beeline for the door. Armin, Connie, and I do the same, only to find it blocked by my dad.

"It's not what it looks like." I began. In actuality I had no clue what this all looked like. Thankfully my dad said nothing and pointed to the hall in effect telling us to scram. And needless to say, we did.