Starship: Rogue

Chapter Seven

 After she and Walker had come back to the dorm, Adlai made good on her announcement of how she felt and sprinted into the bathroom, where she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl.

When she'd finished throwing up, she wiped her mouth with a shaking hand, stripped and stepped into the shower, turning the water pressure up quite high. The steaming jets of hot water pounded against her shoulders and arms, relieving some of the tension and pain. Adlai winced in relief as her muscles unwound.

She finished showering, dressed in her other uniform, since this the one she'd worn was sodden with sweat, and stretched gently so her arm muscles wouldn't seize up. She'd have to stretch again before she went to bed, but, honestly, she'd put this much effort in, working the factories back on Lares. She'd felt worse pain.

As she stretched, the telescreen on the wall flickered to life, and Aquamarine training group's individual rankings popped up. Adlai's jaw dropped when she saw that her name now topped the list, Walker's right below her.

"Holy shit," Walker murmured from where he'd been stretching. "Well, I guess half-killing ourselves paid off."

Adlai laughed, wincing as she pushed herself deeper into a stretch. "I guess so," she said. The clock in the corner of the telescreen read out 10:55, so she stood, dusting off her pants. "We should go," she added. "It's almost time to be back in the training center."

They returned to the arena where the rest of Aquamarine was just finishing up with the weights with plenty of time to spare and waited in a corner so they weren't in the way. Adlai took the opportunity to look around. To her surprise, she saw that, yet again, the Ranger lieutenant sat in the stands that ringed the arena, watching the cadets train. Aquamarine was the only group there at the moment, and Lieutenant Reid's gaze was fixed upon them. His gaze darted to Adlai and Walker when they entered, and something along the lines of curiosity crossed his face.

But he looked away before Adlai could be sure.

Walker elbowed her, once, sharply and jerked his head at the telescreen opposite them. Aquamarine had risen from third to second, and, when the rankings of individual cadets appeared, ten of the top twenty spots were filled by Aquamarine trainees, including, to her shock, Adlai's own name, and Walker's, and Solberg, Sutter, Darcy and Harper. The girls made up only four of six women on the list; the rest were guys.

"Well done," she whispered to Walker, who grinned from ear to ear. "You, too," he murmured back.

Major Kramer called out, "All right, cadets." Adlai and Walker went to join the others who had gathered in a knot around him. "Time for some hand-to-hand combat training."

For two hours, he drilled them in basic blocks, kicks, punches, holds and throws, including how to fall without breaking bones. For Adlai, most of what he taught them was second-nature, the kind of thing everyone who grew up in the Fringe knew in order to protect themselves. Adlai let her mind wander, since the movements were already muscle memory to her.

At the end of the two hours, they moved into the classroom for their first tactics and strategy lessons. Adlai had thought that the two words meant the same thing, but Kramer dispelled that idea as soon as everyone was seated at the wooden desks that filled the room.

"Now," he said as the board at the front of the classroom came to life. "You may think that tactics and strategy are the same thing." As he spoke, words appeared on the board. "You would be wrong. Strategy is the general planning for a battle or mission, while tactics is the actual movements as they happen, not the long-term plan. Now, could somebody possibly give an example of the difference?"