Stone Blade Read Online Free PDF Page B

no help for it. He hit the other side hard, rolled and came up with his paint aimed. Clouds of dust and smoke hung over the course but the artillery had stopped. For now. Well did Micah know it could start without warning.
    Movement!
    In one fluid motion Micah crouched, aimed and fired. A grunt and a fusillade of return fire meant he'd hit or closely missed. Micah dove for better cover.
    No! Obstacle course! He had to finish the course. Creeping, trying to watch every possible direction, Micah moved forward.
    Micah didn't see the shot that hit him but he knew its approximate area. Rolling again, this time through something sharp, he returned fire.
    There! A brief flash of light. Micah targeted the area.
    PAIN! Micah looked at his shoulder fully expecting to see it seared away. The cloth showed nary a mark. Paint. These were paints.
    The course! If Micah didn't finish, what might Hile do to him? He'd had his antidote for today but what of tomorrow. Or had he? Might Hile not have dosed him with colored water?
    Summoning will from he knew not where Micah continued forward. He could barely see the end of the course. Plenty of cover.
    No! Not this easily! Something was wrong. It must be a trap. No one stood there. None completed and waiting. No recruits, no others. If he could just pass the line...
    Micah absorbed himself into every bit of cover he saw. Slowly. So slowly the blessed line crept closer.
    BOOM!
    The artillery sim actually tossed Micah out into the open. Fear washed through him! Teeth clenched, Micah crawled for the line.
    “WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, SLUG?”
    Micah rolled and fired in one motion. Sergeant Starling cursed and struck Micah with his nerve lash. Fire and pain crawled across Micah's back as he rolled away from Starling and the line.
    “WRONG WAY, SLUG! YOU MOVE FOR THAT LINE NOW!!”
    Micah made a dash but found Starling in his way again. The pain drove him back but the man goaded him forward. No longer rational and no longer truly conscious of himself Micah charged for the line again. When Starling appeared before him Micah swung the butt of his rifle hard into Starling's stomach. Starling grunted and fell and Micah thought about crushing his skull but the line beckoned.
    Micah dove across the line with a half-gasp, half-terror-sound.
    Still nothing! Micah rolled to cover and began scanning the area. The fear within him built anew.
    “THIS AIN'T NO VACATION, SLUG! UN-ASS THAT GROUND! TEN-HUP!!”
    Micah tried for a shot or a swing but lost his weapon when the lash struck his arm. Then his legs. Then... The hiss of a hypo.
    “Not good enough, slug! GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN!!”
    Micah's mind gibbered as it digested the words. He tried. He tried to make his legs work. He tried to walk around the absolute and total horror welling up inside him. Instead he found himself curled on the ground, retching and shaking. Then the nerve lash struck. And again. And again, and again...
    Micah crawled into his bunk wishing with all the passion left in him to die then and there. After the obstacle course and their second dose of Fear they'd done elementary drill and questions. Micah knew he knew the drills. He knew he knew the answers. He dismally failed to bring either forth. None of the others did better. Several talked in muted whispers but most simply crawled into their bunks and sought the oblivion of sleep. Micah wanted to cry but he had no tears left in him. At least one of the others did and Micah shared them, in spirit.
    ***
    Assembly came the next morning as if nothing had happened. Hile stood before them with his smile unwavering.
    “Well, children. You've had your first taste and you all performed most unsatisfactorily. Today you will repeat the drill and you will improve.”
    As expected the medics waited with antidote. Hile recited their orders for the day. Again in the mess hall more injections waited. Micah managed to choke down his breakfast but he didn't even register its usual lack of taste.