Forging Zero Read Online Free PDF Page B

“The
battalion leaders have made their decision.  Twice I requested a place for this
one, and twice I was denied.  No Congressional soldier will take him into his
fold.  Thus, he has no place in the Army.”
    Joe
lifted his head and stared at a point on the wall across the room as Commander
Tril raised his gun, determined not to let them see his fear.  He knew that
begging was worthless.  They could have left all of the sickly kids back on
Earth, but instead they brought them aboard to use as a warning to the others. 
    The
sickly kids…and the kids who’d pissed them off.
    Joe
felt his bowels churning and he absurdly hoped he didn’t shit himself in front
of all the little kids.  Most of the kids had shit themselves.  Even then,
little Harry Simpson had a brown stain running down his twitching, skeletal
leg.
    In the
silence that followed, Commander Kihgl made a guttural noise that sounded like
more laughter. 
    Get
on with it, you assholes, Joe thought, his fists
clenching despite his guards’ tight grips cutting off the circulation in his
forearms. What were they trying to do?  Make him cry?   
    The
pale, scarred alien called Kihgl spoke again.  Tril turned to face him, an
unmistakable look of irritation on his wrinkled, orange-brown face.  His weapon
never wavered from where its muzzle aimed between Joe’s eyes.
    Joe
stared at it.  Odd, how it looked like the tip of the gun was rippling like a
desert mirage.  It reminded him of swirling water, like the meandering stream
that ran through his friend’s back yard.
    Joe’s
eyes snapped back to the aliens as a flurry of brutal alien words erupted
between Tril and Kihgl.  Several other aliens joined in, all team ‘captains,’
most of whom seemed to side with Tril.  Joe realized the alien he’d disfigured
was bargaining for his life. 
    He was
surprised, knowing that alien, of any of them, had the most reason to kill
him.  Joe allowed himself an instant of hope, but it quickly faded as he
realized that the other battalion commanders were winning the argument.  Joe
looked at the floor, wondering how long they would drag it on.
    An
authoritative tone rose above the fray and the argument stopped with an
unmistakable note of finality.  Joe recognized the speaker and he suddenly felt
his blood coagulate in his veins.  Lagrah.  The one he had humiliated.  The one
who had taken him, alone, back to the ship in Sam’s place.  The one who had
intended to kill him as an example to the others.
    Commander
Tril put his weapon away, shoved Joe at Kihgl, and stalked from the room.  Joe
stared at Lagrah, utterly dumbfounded.
    He
took my side?
    Joe
could still feel the alien’s malice towards him for what he had done back in
the alley, every ounce of which Joe had earned.  And yet, for some reason, the
alien he had humiliated on the streets of San Diego had saved him on the ship. 
    Confused,
Joe allowed Kihgl to push him into his group. 
    Lagrah
moved to the front of the room to address them all.  “I am Prime Commander
Lagrah of the Ooreiki Ground Force.  Humans, you are standing here today
because an Ooreiki commander saw something redeemable in you, something he
could transform into a soldier.  From this point on, you are all recruits in
the Congressional Army.  Look at the Ooreiki around you.  These are the
commanders and battlemasters that will be guiding you through your next three
turns of service.  Battalion commanders, step forward.”
    Kihgl
stepped forward and faced Joe’s battalion.
    “Do
you accept these recruits?”
    Joe
felt Kihgl’s eyes flicker towards him before, in unison, they said, “In the
name of Congress, we do.”
    “Then
you may take them to your pods and begin their training.  We will break away in
nine hundred tics.  Dismissed.”
    The
cavern erupted in barked orders as the Ooreiki took control of their new
battalions.  Kids screamed and ran in all directions, and black-clad Ooreiki
grabbed them and hurled them