Dead Man's Game Read online

  “Now, you must have questions.” He smiled broadly. “I am not going to answer any of them. At least not right now. You are just going to have to trust that what I tell you is the truth.” He looked at the man who had been roughing me up. “Distribute the block.”

  The man grabbed a box from a table behind him and stepped forward. At first, I assumed the box was made from cardboard, but when I got a closer look I realized it was a dull reddish-brown plastic.

  The man pulled out a tube with a screw top and handed it to me with a silent snarl. I ignored him and examined the tube, which was the same dull reddish-brown.

  It had no indicator of what was inside.

  “You must have a tube with you at all times,” Jeffords said. “Error on the side of using too much rather than too little. You will apply it to every exposed surface of your body every waking hour and a half without exception. It does not matter if you are in the latrine. It does not matter if you are running, hiking, being chased by a grenling or any of the other fine wildlife this planet has to offer. As this gentleman over here has already learned, you stop whatever you are doing and put the block on immediately. Every ninety minutes.

  “You will notice I am using the term minutes. That is not exactly accurate, but we have adopted it as common colloquial. What we call a minute, is closer to approximately fifty-six seconds back on earth. It just worked out better to use what we were already familiar with, so it stuck.

  “Think of it as a minute and you’ll be okay. Just remember it’s a little bit less than you’re used to.” He held up his hand and showed his watch, there were three buttons on either side for a total of six, and one large one just below the face. “You all have a watch,” he tripped over the word making me think it was called by some other name and he was using the term watch to make it easier for us to adapt. “This watch is what you will use in training. The watch face is deactivated on purpose. It will be turned on later. Do not mess with it. Only press the buttons in the way we instruct. It can be set to beep every ninety minutes after you apply block. Here is the process.” He squeezed a generous amount of block on to his hands, it too was a dark reddish-brown. He wiped it all over the exposed areas of his skin, leaving a thick residue on every location. “You will notice I did not apply this the way you used sunblock back on earth. You must apply a thick covering.” He held up his watch. “This button on the right side, the top one, you press it after you apply block. This will set a ninety-minute timer. When you hear the beeping, you stop whatever you are doing and put on the block. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing laps. It doesn’t matter if you are under fire. You do it. Any questions?”

  I looked at my tube, wondering if I needed to apply it right now or if I should wait until ordered. I decided to wait for him to instruct us to put it on. I needed to appear an automaton yet remain my own man.

  What was I thinking, talking back like that?

  I’d known what they wanted and had already decided to comply. Why had I been belligerent? I chalked it up to the rude awakening, but I couldn’t make that mistake again because it would get me killed.

  No matter what happens, I thought, I must not react. If I get tossed again, I must wait for my mind to work.

  I had to be on guard if I was going to find my family. I couldn’t blow it because of an ill response to a run-in with a sergeant.

  Nobody owned my mind, I needed to remember that. They may have conscripted me but I owned my thoughts.

  I owned my actions.

  That meant playing nice until my opportunity came. I just hope it didn’t take years.

  “Spread the block,” Jeffords said.

  I unscrewed the top, pushed out a generous amount and rubbed it all over my hands, arms, face, ears, nose, and the back of my neck.

  Once I was done I put the block in the pocket of my red and grey camouflage jumpsuit and pressed the button on my watch.

  Jeffords waited for everybody to finish.

  “Your jumpsuits keep the sun from harming you. You will at all times wear a hat and shades when you are outside.” A man distributed wide-brimmed hats, another gave out shades. I put the hat on my head. It was too big but shrunk to the correct size when it touched my skin. It looked like some I’d seen back on earth, only it was the same color of camouflage they used here. I put the shades on as well and flinched when they adjusted to my size. The shades were the same dull, non-reflective reddish brown.

  “You will always apply block to every inch of your head even though you wear a hat.”

  Jeffords nodded at me.

  “Once again we will use Anders.” It was frustrating my attempt to correct my name had gone unnoticed. “He will never have hair. You all come out bald but hair grows unless you damage your hair follicles as this flaming crispy-skinned imbecile did.” He looked at me, hoping for a reaction, but I didn’t give him one. I could not be blamed for what had happened. I was not going to take the bait.

  “You always wear boots. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the shower. It doesn’t matter if you’re in bed. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you are doing, you always wear boots.” He paused and looked around the room to emphasize his next point. “There’s more to the boots than we’ll get into today, but you take good care of them and they will take good care of you.”

  I looked at my bare feet.

  When I had awoken the first time I’d already worn something. They hadn’t quite been shoes, but hadn’t quite been boots. It was remarkable I’d been able to run so far.

  Jeffords nodded my direction. “This fool learned the hard way about what happens to feet that are exposed to the ground without proper footwear.”

  He paused and looked at me expectantly, but I kept my mouth shut. This was new information for me, I didn’t know my feet had been damaged. The rest of my body had been on fire so perhaps I’d been too distracted to notice. I had the urge look at the soles of my feet but refrained.

  “You will find in front of your cot a pair of boots appropriate for your size. There are two pairs of socks. Let me explain. You put on the small pair of socks first. You put the large pair of socks on second. You always wear socks with your boots. You always wear boots wherever you are. In bed. In the latrine. Wherever. Are there any questions?”

  Without thinking about it I shook my head. I hated how quickly I was falling into obedience, even though I didn’t have any other choice.

  It would be a struggle to maintain my independent thought process, but I needed to make sure I did. I needed to sharpen my mind and be ready. Perhaps some things would become habit, but I had to make my words and actions communicate only the messages I intended to convey.

  “Put on your boots.”

  I picked up the boots—which were heavier than they looked—and the socks. After a careful look at Jeffords, I sat on the cot and put them on as we’d been instructed.

  I hoped Jeffords had seen my face, I was trying to be contrite.

  “It is time to introduce you to the world,” he said once we had all finished.

  Jeffords smiled as if thinking of a joke.

  “Welcome to the afterlife.”

  13

  As we followed Jeffords out the canvas door my heart thudded in my chest and perspiration formed on my face. It had less to do with the heat and more to do with my previous experience. I was not anxious to walk out into the sun again, even though Jeffords assured us that the block was up to the task.

  Consciously, I recognized the block should protect me as claimed. Unconsciously, I wasn’t ready to take the risk. The pain at the end of my run with General Roth had been miserable and I did not want to experience anything like that again.

  The sky was a light shade of purple. Two moons fought for dominance with the sun as it sent down its rays like millions of invisible missiles. It was above a hundred degrees and the sun wasn’t yet halfway up the horizon. Small wonder Jeffords had instructed us to put on a thick layer of block.

  There were guard towers arou
nd the perimeter, about a hundred yards back from camp. Another detail I had missed during my excursion the other day.

  To protect the camp or keep us from escaping?

  I looked at the surrounding wasteland and swallowed. There was no place to go.

  The others in the group had difficulty walking.

  I did not. My muscles twinged, but not as bad as they had the other time I’d been awake. I had no problem keeping up with the trained soldiers. If Jeffords made us run I would have some strain but I didn’t think that was likely considering the condition of the other recruits.

  We stopped at a large ravine that was in front of a guard tower. The soldiers on duty glanced our way. I would have thought they’d have a canopy overhead to guard against the sun, but they did not.

  The tower itself was a mini fortress with a place of resort below where they stood. There were holes in the armored walls, both where they were and below as well.

  Why the bunker? A grenling could easily toss it.

  Jeffords walked to the massive opening, drawing my attention from the guard tower.

  “You are in a hostile environment, you probably never experienced any of the hostility our former planet had to offer because you were raised in cities or in the suburbs or in small towns where everything was safe. Here, if you make the slightest mistake you’re going to die.”

  He looked around at us in turn. “You will die. Mistake number one is assuming the ground is solid. This fissure opened two days ago. It wasn’t here before, but it’s here now. Anders was onsite when it happened. Feel free to get the details from him if he’s interested in sharing about his screwup.”

  I felt one or two glances from the new recruits.

  The trained soldiers stared at me. Those closest had blank faces and I was unable to tell what they thought. General Roth had been surprised I’d survived, I wondered if they felt I had somehow shown them up. Perhaps I should expect hazing.

  It couldn’t take me by surprise if I expected it.

  “A soldier was here when it opened. He died.” He motioned at the ravine. “A grenling came up and attacked the general while she was educating maggot-puke Anders. It was a fluke thing. They’re great climbers but not as good at walking or running but don’t make the mistake Anders did of thinking you can outrun them.”

  Jeffords had to know I had followed the General. He seemed to hope I was going to say something in my defense but I kept my face still.

  When Jeffords turned his attention elsewhere I glanced around the faces of the other recruits using my peripheral vision and saw most had become pale. I didn’t think it was only from the heat. My own stomach was doing backflips and I knew better than them how toxic this place was.

  Bung beetles and grenlings, what other fun surprises were in store?

  “You may be tempted to run, but there is no place to go. There are no civilizations on Aldreda. The next base is two hundred miles away. This is by design. Deserters don’t survive. The only people who do are those who do what we say. You’re only chance is to stick with us. You might grumble about the fact you have been volunteered, about the fact your bodies are changed, but think of it this way. Each of you died. Perhaps there might be some who do not remember the circumstances of their death but rest assured you did die. You would not be here otherwise.

  “You’ve been given a second chance.

  “This is a gift, yes, one with strings, but a gift still the same. You can play a part in hunting down the aliens who destroyed our home world and giving back what they gave us. In time, once we know we can trust you, we will reveal further information about the war and the part you will play. Until then, you must prove you are capable of handling that knowledge.

  “This is a lot to digest. I have been there. Everybody else has been there. We were all volunteered in the same way.

  “What you must do is survive. You need to get it into your thick heads that we are the only way you’re going to do that. Any questions?”

  Jeffords looked around expectantly, I had many, but was not going to ask any of them. I would learn the answers in other ways. If we were going to train together for the next three months, I needed to make sure I did not look like more of a fool than I already did.

  I shook my head. This was about as ridiculous a situation as one could hope to find.

  If this is hell all the religions got it wrong.

  I had never thought about going to heaven. I’d made mistakes same as anybody, but didn’t think I was as bad as some. Indeed, I had never considered the possibility I might go to hell.

  One pale man in the back raised his hand.

  “We have a question,” Jeffords said with mock surprise. “Proceed.”

  “Um, is this hell?” His voice stammered as he spoke. I looked at Jeffords’ blank face, scrutinizing his reaction and body language.

  “Some of you will be tempted to think of this as such and perhaps you’re right after a fashion, especially for those who aren’t going to do what we tell you, but this is neither heaven nor hell. This is the place in between.

  “If you’re tempted to think this is what there is after death, put those thoughts out of your mind. In fact, put away all philosophy because you have no use for that here. This is the place in between your past life and whatever comes after we go into the great unknown.

  “You’ve been given a second shot, take advantage of it. You have a second chance at making something of yourself. For those who did things you weren’t proud of on earth, this is your opportunity to make a better case to God, if that’s what you believe.”

  The drill sergeant looked around as if expecting somebody else might have a question, his eyes roving over me more than the others. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I glanced around without moving my head and saw most were too tired to stand straight. I expected some would be angry, like me, but right now it took all their effort to just remain standing.

  “If there are no questions, it’s time to begin your training. For the first week we’re gonna keep things light and easy. You need to become used to your new bodies. You need to learn what you can do and what you can’t do. Do not mistake this time of rest as an indication of what is to come. If you went through military training on earth, this will be nothing like that. It’s gonna be the worst experience you’ve ever gone through because we don’t have rules we must follow to keep you safe. But after you make it to the other side, you’ll be glad you did.”

  He gave a small nod. “We will start with stretches. While your bodies have fully developed muscles, it will take a bit before you’re ready to face real training.”

  Jeffords took us through the stretches, all of which I completed with ease. I did my best to not look smug when most fell on their faces, but I wasn’t sure I succeeded, judging by the way Jeffords looked at me and shook his head. At one point he seemed about to speak but muttered something under his breath instead.

  Even though the moves weren’t a problem, I was sweating by the time we finished.

  When Jeffords ordered us back to our feet, all but a couple of the soldiers had left. The remaining two stayed at the back but didn’t look as if they expected trouble.

  I supposed they were correct as I watched the others struggle to stand.

  “I’ll take you to the mess tent,” Jeffords said as the last recruit stood. The sickly man looked ready to topple over but managed to remain upright. “It is essential you eat something even if you don’t want to. Your bodies have not had food or water, at least through conventional means so it will take time to adjust. You will be given more food than you should eat. Do not eat it all or you will be sick. Eat some, but not much.

  “It is far more critical you drink. You will be given one quart of liquid with an option for more, I recommend you drink one quart and one quart only.

  “You will have one hour after eating and then your training will begin.”

  14

  As we followed Jeffords, I tried to stay in the middle of the pac
k. The others struggled to stand much less walk. I wanted to fit in and disappear. It was bad enough Jeffords had singled me out during our first session. My physical appearance already set me apart from the others. I was more than a head taller than the rest and almost twice as thick. I didn’t need to call more attention to myself than I naturally did.

  Jeffords took us on a circuit around camp, going from guard tower to guard tower.

  Apparently, this was a rite of passage with a specific purpose because the others started to drag their heels and fall behind before we’d even made it to the second tower. The camp had been rearranged to accommodate the gaping fissure that had opened during the grenling’s attack.

  Jeffords had described the grenling as slow, but it had moved fast enough once it was out of camp. I hoped to never learn firsthand how it climbed.

  I looked around and realized I was alone. The others had fallen behind.

  Did I want them thinking I was like them, that I was struggling, or should I let it be known I was doing fine?

  On instinct more than actual choice I stayed with Jeffords. While I wanted to fit in there was only so much I could do if I were in better condition. It would be disingenuous to fake it.

  I wasn’t going to let their lack hold me up. I was anxious to get going in this new world and if I was better suited for it I didn’t want to waste time dumbing down my capabilities.

  My first priority was to get out of this intergalactic boot camp. That meant taking orders and building trust, neither of which I’d ever been good at doing.