Training Day, All Over Again

Pfc. Graham begins her training no sooner than the moment she takes her first few steps onto The Atlantis. However, what seems like simple career training for her placement into the Military, becomes a fight for survival of her will and sanity...

Graham knew she should have slept in the drop ship just before entering Atlantis.  According to her PDA she’d been traveling for several weeks. However, since there are no set time zones in space there was no telling how long she’d been out.  With the news of her training about to start, the only thought running through her head was how long until she collapsed.  Graham didn’t feel tired, but she knew it would catch up to her unexpectedly.  She did her best not to think about and focus on the task that lay ahead of her.

   “We’re going to start you off with some simple physical endurance.  Nothing you shouldn’t be too familiar with, private,” Krieger explained, “Given your scores from basic this should be a breeze.”  Lieutenant Krieger led her down a few more corridors then used a key card to open a door to the training course.  “Here we are; this course was designed to not only emulate the same training course you went through in basic but also has other elements to throw you off guard.  Remember, to expect the unexpected is only less than ten percent of the things you need to must expect.”

 

01110100011010010110110101100101001000000110110001100001011100000111001101100101

 

The initial endurance training was just as the Lieutenant said.  Anti-gravity, closing walls, and random triggers and traps were a mind boggle to say the least.  Once she made it to the end she questioned how she did it.  Once she was done with the course she met up with Krieger at the exit.  “Well done, private!  Most soldiers don’t finish the course, let alone finish as fast as you have.  My congratulations go out to you, Graham.  Are you ready for more?”

More, she thought to herself, wasn’t that more than enough?!!  “Yes Sir!”

“That’s the spirit!  Time to get to you the team, they’ll be escorting you through each leg of the training course.”  Graham thought the DI’s were rough to her the training they put her through.  If the training from here on in was anything like what she just went through, she questioned her own survival beyond her ability to stay awake.  She followed Krieger through the labyrinth like corridors of Atlantis once again.  Every twist and turn made her heart race just a little bit more.  Once they entered a room with seven doors, three at either side with the main door behind them, Krieger began to look confused.

“Krieger,” an ominous voice spoke, almost as if the voice was in the air itself, “I’m right here!”  Graham reached for her side arm, but Krieger held out his right arm to halt her from her intentions.

“No need for that, private, she’s not a threat.”  When Graham released her grip on her side arm, the ominous voice materialized on the opposite corner of the room.  “Meet Staff Sergeant Jynx.  Get used to her doing that, she likes to creep out the weak of mind.”

“Give the girl some credit, Krieger, you were a neophyte yourself one time…” Jynx spoke.

“One time, yes…I’m willing to admit that much.”

“Hello child, I am Tatiana Jynx.  If it pleases you, you may call me Tati.”

“Yes Sergeant!” Graham responded at the position of attention.

“No need for formalities with me, child.  It is my will to serve you a it is to serve me.  Please, call me Tati.”

“I’ll do my best Serge-I mean, Tati.”  Graham felt strange calling a soldier by her first name.  She was always told to refer to a soldier by their rank.  She remembered that well from all the pushups she had to do to learn that lesson.  Her train of thought suddenly shifted away from proper address to Jynx’s vanishing act played backwards.  “Um, Miss…Tati…uh-“

“We’ve given it the name ‘Phasing’, my child.  It is, how should we say, a gift I was given at a very young age.”  How did she know what I was thinking, Graham thought to herself.  “It is…another gift of mine…”  Graham’s head felt like it was spinning faster than a saw blade.  She was afraid Jynx was going to find out some of her most coveted memories with Daniel.  The level of embarrassment would see Graham’s face bright enough to bring light into a black hole.  “Do not worry, my child, I have trained myself to block the most intimate thoughts of one from my foresight.  So you secrets are safe from me, child.  Now, shall we begin with the next phase of your training?”

Krieger excused himself and left before Graham ever noticed.  Failing to salute an officer was provably beaten into her during boot camp, but for once she completely ignored the possibility of correcting herself and kept her attention on the other woman in front of her.  “So…Tati, do you have…ESP or something like-“

“You could call it that, child.  It is something that resonates in all of us.  Some are able to grasp this gift, whilst others only know the slightest taste.  I am curious to see how much you can taste.”

“So you think I have ESP, Sergeant?  I mean, Tati.”

“No, my child, you do have this gift.  It is just a matter of how strong this gift is with you.”  Jynx explained the circumstances of the test to Graham.  The six doors in the room held items that were required to open the seventh door.  However, the six doors had to be opened in a specific sequence.  In order to solve that sequence, Graham had to pay attention to how each door must be opened.  In conjunction, the items within the six doors held clues as per which door was to be opened next in the sequence as well as how to open the next door.  In order to solve this, Graham had to rely solely on her “gift”.

 

01110100011010010110110101100101001000000110110001100001011100000111001101100101

 

Graham’s mind felt like pure plasma.  It felt like months trying to find her way out.  When Jynx phased out of the room Graham did all she was taught to do to solve “Tati’s Test”.  Graham tried to believe she had the so called “gift”, but as the test grew harder and harder Graham found herself loosing concentration.  By the time Graham figured out how to open the last door she questioned whether or not to open it, knowing this wasn’t her final test.  On the other hand, if she didn’t open the door it would tell the others she failed and she didn’t want to know the consequences for failure.  She opened the door and was not surprised to find Jynx standing on the other side.

“There is no reason to doubt your gift, my child.  It is as I said it is, the gift is not fully awakened to everyone.  However, your awareness of the gift is paramount to us, child,” Jynx said.  Graham wasn’t sure but she swore the mental strain was being lifted as Jynx spoke.  “Do not think of the time you spent as a deficit against you.  Your will to complete the task ahead of you is the true sign of a warrior.”  It took a moment for Graham to realize Jynx was accompanied by a much younger looking male soldier.  “This is Corporal Mikhail Churchill; he’ll be escorting you to the next area for weapon’s training.”

“Right this way, Private Graham!” Churchill spoke.  Graham followed Churchill down the various doorways and corridors towards the firing range.  “So, fresh outta boot camp, eh?”

“Yeah, and they didn’t even give me time to pack my gear.  They just said ‘off to Atlantis, b***h!’ and here I am.” Graham responded.

Churchill laughed a little at Graham’s words.  “Yeah, sounds about right.  My old battery hated me when they found out I was being shipped here.  The First Sergeant threw such a fit I swear his ears were gonna pop off of his head.  From that day on everybody called him First Sergeant Balloon-Head.”

“Sounds like you came from a fun Battery.”

“Oh man, don’t get me started!  Those guys were a bunch of clowns in chicken suits, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t hold attention.”  Graham was starting to feel more and more comfortable being in Churchill’s company.  He seemed the most outgoing out of everyone she’s met so far.  Churchill’s talkative nature was an amazing change of pace after her last training session.

“Yeah, I just wish everyone in my last Battery were the same as yours…  Still, after all the training I’ve been through so far I’m not sure this is any better.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Graham.  It’s actually a really good thing you’re here.  It means I’m no long the lowest ranking person in the squad,” Churchill said and laughed again.

“You know what, thanks.  That really didn’t help me feel better.  I just wanted you to know that.”

“You’re probably still a little baked from Tati’s course.  I’m honestly not sure if she’s truly trying to pry into our mind’s or if she just gets off on mental torture.  Either way, I promise not to be too hard on you.  Not on the first, I like to get to know you before I leave you exhausted.”  Graham’s silence told Churchill his perverted sense of humor was not appreciated.  “Wow, tough crowd.”  As Churchill opened the door to the weapons testing area, a look of disgust came about his face.  “Ah damn it, I hate it that these guys never clean up after themselves.”

Graham thought at first it was another of Churchill’s pranks, until after she followed him into the room.  The strangest part about the room was how there were no walls besides the basic four walls of the room.  This was nothing like the firing range back at boot camp.  Boxes of different sizes and combat rifles laying about gave the impression a huge battle ensured.  “Is this a dry fire range?  It doesn’t look very safe,” Graham commented.

“Nah, live fire.  The rifles use a ‘harmonics’ firing mechanism.”

“Harmonics?” Graham asked, completely clueless to any such system being used in a firearm.

“Yeah, when the doors to the room are sealed shut a dampening field is emitted through panels hidden in the walls.  Kinda like that feeling you get if you’re in a sub 30,000 miles below sea level.  Well, depending on what planet you’re on that is.”  As Churchill was speaking to Graham, he proceeded stacking some of the smaller boxes onto one another and moving them into position to reset the course.  “Anyway, each rifle in the room has a sonic device which transmits at the same frequency as the dampening field every time you pull the trigger.”  Graham noticed Churchill standing in front of a box that was only inches shorter than he.  She could see that box had to be moved as well, though she didn’t know how someone of such short stature could possibly move it without help.  “However, the wavelengths flow in opposite directions from that of the dampening field…”

“Do you need help moving that?” Graham asked.

“Nope, the bigger ones are usually easier.”  Graham stood a good head and a half taller than Churchill, even though his muscular build was only slightly bigger.  She saw him struggle with the smaller boxes, so it made no sense how the bigger boxes could be the easier ones to move.  “It takes the human body a couple of minutes to adjust to the dampening field, so take your time in getting used to it.  Let me know when you’re ready.”

“What about you?”

“This thing doesn’t bother me, any…”  Churchill extended his left hand the huge box in front of him became caught in a blue beam of energy.  The box then elevated off the ground and Churchill guided it into position.  “The dampening field becomes nullified around my body, so I have no problem maneuvering through this stuff.  People tell me it becomes hard to breathe in here sometimes because of the field, but thanks to my telekinesis I don’t ever feel a thing.  Pick up that rifle there, that’ll be the one you’re gonna use for this training exercise.”

 

01110100011010010110110101100101001000000110110001100001011100000111001101100101

 

By the end of the test, Graham felt like she’d just swam 800 kilometers upstream.  When the training room door finally opened she collapsed onto the floor outside of the room gasping for air.  Churchill walked up behind and placed his hands on her back.  Graham didn’t notice him there until she could feel her body becoming less erratic from shock.  She wasn’t sure if he was using telekinesis to heal her or not.  In no time she was breathing normal again and able to stand on her feet.  She felt a little light headed at first but the sensation quickly went away.  “What did you just do to me?” she asked.

“I allowed the oxygen into your lungs to help push out some of that carbon dioxide-“

“No!  I mean in there, I that room.  Why did you keep pushing things the way you did?”

“It was all part of your training.  Your scores from basic said your reflexes were the highest of any soldier ever,” he explained.  Churchill may have seemed like a goofball in the beginning, but it was clear to Graham that his mind worked better in combat that it did during more peaceful circumstances.  “Some planets have a higher gravity than others.  That’s why it was necessary to skew certain object using my telekinesis.”  It became clear to Graham that the extensity of her training meant she would be dealing with situation no ordinary soldier has ever dealt with before.  It was also clear to her that she had a great deal of expectations to live up to amongst such a strange group of soldiers.  She questioned how valuable she was in this environment, but this didn’t give her a sense of despair at all.  Instead, it drove her to look forward to the training before her, and to push herself beyond the definition of the word ‘soldier’ that was taught to her during her time in basic training.

Author's Note

This was posted moments after the completion of the chapter, so i haven't done any proofreading yet. Please let me know if it feels as though it is too long or if there are some things missing...

Reviews

[Amund Schofield]

When your explaining how Graham feels when Tatiana read her mind, you wrote it like "Graham's head felt like it was spinning faster than a saw blade" than should be then. Also why did she see a blade?

"Pick up that rifle there, that'll be the one you're gonna use for this training exorcise." It should be exercise

Also, you're writing to quickly... or rather the pace of the story seems to quick, espicially with these tests being so hard. Maybe you should take the time to explain the tests. Explain how as she goes through each one her head hurts more and more. Also use more adjectives and adverbs.