Insignia Read Online Free PDF

like Elliot Ramirez lived.
    Tom realized what this was. “All right, did someone put you up to this? Because I’m not a total chump. Whatever this is really about, I’m not going for it.”
    “Sorry to hear that,” Marsh noted drily. “Most teenagers would jump at the opportunity to join our Combatants.”
    Tom spun back to face him, because the old man looked stern, and he was wearing military getup, after all. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you? You have to be.”
    Marsh gestured for him to sit down. “Mr. Raines, you’ve heard of the current war situation. You must have.”
    Tom stayed where he was. “I don’t live in a cave.”
    “I’ll take that as a yes. You see, we used to give programmers control of the Indo-American machines fighting across the solar system. They created programs that determined the actions of those machines. Logical actions. The Russo-Chinese alliance adopted the same strategy, so combat became very predictable. The outcome was predetermined, and oftentimes, an outright stalemate. So we became clever. We inserted a human factor into the behavior of machines.”
    “Combatants.”
    “No, first hackers. They tampered with Russo-Chinese software. Russia and China deployed their own hackers, and we stalemated again. But the Russo-Chinese military went a step further, and gave human beings active control over their combat machines. Strategists. Unconventional thinkers. Risk takers. Mavericks. Young ones, because teenagers have certain attributes critical to this type of warfare. So now we, too, have young people on the front lines, young people playing a critical role in the war effort.”
    “Young people like Elliot Ramirez,” Tom pointed out.
    In other words, young people who were promising, talented, go-getters. Young people who were nothing like him.
    “That’s right,” the general said, undaunted. “Elliot has a particular set of strengths he brought to our forces. Charisma, charm, and he’s an excellent figure skater.”
    Tom snorted. He couldn’t help it, picturing the heroic warrior, Elliot Ramirez, in a sparkly unitard.
    Marsh’s eyes narrowed. “Make fun all you like, young man, but that kid has golden DNA. He’d have been something spectacular wherever he went. If he hadn’t ended up with us, Ramirez would be competing in the Olympics. For us, it’s the potential that counts. We look for people who are promising, those who can deploy effective strategies against the Russo-Chinese Combatants. We can train our recruits, we can make them better than they ever imagined, but potential? It’s the single quality we can’t create. Ramirez brought something unique to the table. And we’re hoping you can as well.”
    That sense of disbelief crept over Tom. This couldn’t be happening.
    “Do you need to see proof, Tom?”
    “Yes,” Tom answered at once.
    “How about I show you a Challenge Coin?” Marsh slipped out a coin from his pocket. “Members of the Air Force—”
    “Show this to each other to prove they’re military. I know. I’ve played about a million military sims.” Tom snatched the coin and turned it over in his hands, seeing the Air Force insignia, on the back.
    Marsh took it back from him and pressed his fingertip over the logo. “Brigadier General Terry Marsh, United States Air Force,” the old man said. The coin’s surface flashed green, verifying his voiceprint, his identity, his fingerprint, and DNA all at once.
    Tom looked at Marsh’s stubby fingertips, coin clenched between them, trying to figure out ways someone could fake Air Force technology. The very idea this general guy might be here for him was so incredible, he couldn’t get his head around it.
    “Does that pass your inspection?” Marsh asked him, waving the coin in two fingers.
    Tom stared at it, then dragged his gaze up to Marsh’s. “You’re really here for me? You think I could be a Combatant?”
    “It’s a great opportunity, son. We give trainees an education in