After breakfast the candidates reported to the first part of the field test which was an obstacle course of sorts. It consisted of a five hundred stride run, crawling under three wires strung low against the ground, climbing over a ten foot wall, traversing a fifty stride swamp, climbing a rope to the top of a twenty stride observation deck, swinging with another rope across a ravine, and then running another five hundred strides to the finish line. The hardest part of the obstacle course for Peter was the rope climb. His upper arm strength hadn't been so great when he'd arrived there. Fortunately, he had worked hard on the free weights and lost about twenty pounds, so he'd made significant progress in this event. Still, his best time was nearly 400t. The time needed to pass was 420t. The best time performed since camp had begun was Tam's last run at 360t.
About half the squad were already done when the four of them arrived. Sy was called first and took off with a group of four candidates. He led the group to the barbed wire and then dropped to the ground. He began to crawl, keeping as low as he could. Unfortunately his shirt got hung up on a barb and in the time it took to get unsnarled, two of the candidates passed him.
"Go Sy, go!" Peter yelled. When they got to the swamp, muddy water splashed everywhere. Sy was running third now but not far behind the candidates in front of him. He struggled over the wall and when he got to the observation tower one of the candidates was scampering up the rope like a monkey on speed. The other one slipped off the rope and fell to the ground. Sy jumped over him and started climbing quickly. He was only half way up when the candidate in the lead reached the top. By the time Sy made it to the platform the other candidate was sailing across the ravine. Sy immediately grabbed on the rope, swung hard across the ravine, dropped, and came down hard on the ground. He wobbled a bit and then began running, but it was too late, the other candidate crossed the finish line well ahead of him. Despite the fact he hadn't won his heat, Peter was certain his time was good enough to pass.
When Peter's name was called, he hurried to the starting line. When Sergeant Baig gave the signal, he took off with great urgency and concentration. Fortunately, the weight and bulk he'd lost made it easier for him to go under the barbed wire. He stood up quickly and hit the swamp, in the lead. The water splashed everywhere and he felt mud and water penetrating his clothing. Suddenly his eye began to sting as swamp water seeped under an eyelid. He closed the eye, winching from pain, but didn't lose concentration as he timed his jump perfectly and caught the top of the wall. He quickly pulled himself up, threw one leg over, shifted his weight, and dropped down the other side. Peter didn't hesitate at the base of the wall. He immediately straightened up and began running toward the dangling rope beneath the observation deck and began to climb.
The pain in his eye was distracting him more now and slowing his climb to the platform. The candidate behind him was gaining ground quickly. Ignoring the pain, Peter imagined Luci waiting for him at the finish line. His pace quickened and he reached the top just before his opponent. Dashing for the second rope he swung over the ravine, dropped, and rolled three times before he was on his feet running to the finish line.
"Go, Leek!" Sy yelled from the finish line where they were waiting anxiously.
Peter dug deep with one last burst of speed and finished well ahead of his opponents. Tam and Sy ran over and greeted him excitedly.
"Nice job," Sy said. "You beat the hell out of my score.”
"You may have even beat me," Tam conceded.
Peter smiled and replied. "That, I doubt. I got some mud in my eye that screwed me up. I'm lucky I was able to finish."
As they were talking, Red came storming across the finish line just a stride behind another candidate. When the times were announced, Red's was 401t, Tam had set a course record of 353t, Sy had run a 414, and Peter's was 359t. They all breathed a sigh of relief that they had passed phase one of the field trials, but they still had two more to go and several written exams in the afternoon. It wasn't time to celebrate quite yet.
Phase two of the field trials involved proficiency with weaponry. Handling, marksmanship, and maintenance were to be tested in this phase. Lt. Londry explained the rules. "Step one is to take each of our three weapons, the C34 pistol, T7 laser gun, and the R6 rifle through handling routines to show your speed and dexterity in using the weapons. In this step combat simulations have been set up and each candidate is expected to demonstrate the proper techniques for handling the weapons under different circumstances. In step two you will be given stationary targets to shoot at for accuracy. In step three you will have to hit moving and spontaneous targets within the simulated combat environment. Finally, in step four you are required to take each weapon apart, clean it, and reassemble it within an acceptable time period.
"Each of these field tests will be very demanding and quite intense. It will take tremendous concentration and rhythm to make it through each step with the accuracy and speed required. Any distraction or lack of focus will likely lead to failure. All right. Let's get started."
Peter took a deep breath when Syril Johs’ name was called along with three other candidates. Sy looked at Peter with anguish in his eyes.
"Don't worry," Peter said, forcing a smile. "You'll do fine. Just get in there and show 'em how it's done."
Sy took his position at the starting point of the simulated combat zone. Each of the three weapons to be used were in front of each candidate. When Lt. Londry said go, each candidate grabbed his pistol and started down the path demonstrating the techniques they had learned in training. No shots were fired in this step. When they had completed the course with each weapon, there was a short break before the moving targets appeared. In this step each candidate went through the same simulated combat zone, however, from time to time targets appeared that they were expected to hit. This reminded Peter of FBI training clips he'd seen in movies back on Earth. When the shooting had stopped, the candidates were given a 120t break before the final phase began—disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling each weapon. Sy did well hitting 123 of 144 targets within acceptable parameters and cleaning his weapons under the 120t limit.
In the next round Tam and Peter were called forward. Each of them came up and took their positions. Step one was fairly simple. They had practiced proper techniques for many hours and doing the routine seemed pretty natural. When step one was completed, however, things got more interesting. Now they had to not only use proper technique, but be alert for objects suddenly appearing or flying by. They'd only been given one practice run for this test, so Peter wasn't nearly as confident as he'd been in step one. When Lt. Londry said go Peter started along the path, his pistol pointed straight ahead with a two-handed grip.
As he reached the first corner, he stopped briefly and then peered around it. Seeing the coast was clear, he spun around the corner keeping his weapon ahead of him. Suddenly from a window an enemy soldier appeared and pointed his weapon at Peter. Without giving it any thought, he pointed his pistol at the soldier and fired. The bulled hit him just above the nose and he went down. A second later in another window an old lady appeared. Peter gave her a good look and then moved on without firing. At the end of corridor there was a large room. He slipped in and moved right along the wall. Suddenly a door opened and two soldiers stepped out. They immediately began firing, so Peter hit the deck.
They had him pinned down behind a bench and it didn't look like Peter had much time before he was going to be mincemeat, if he didn't think of something. The bench was not attached to the ground, so he kicked it straight ahead and then dived right behind a large planter. The two soldiers took the bait and started firing at the bench rolling down the path. Peter rolled over two times and fired at the exposed soldiers, hitting them with multiple rounds. As he was admiring the kill he heard a high pitched whining sound to his right. Looking up he saw some sort of missile coming right at him. Again, without thinking, he raised the pistol and shot the missile out of the air. Then he ran down the final corridor and out of the comb
at zone.
Peter hadn't seen Tam perform since each simulated combat zone was shielded from the others, but Peter noticed he was already finished when he came running out. He smiled at Peter. "This is fun, huh?"
Peter nodded and then picked up the rifle and got into position to enter the zone. Before Lt. Londry could say go, a barrage of gunfire erupted around him. He felt the whir of a bullet pass by his head. He immediately fell to ground and rolled behind one of the tables for cover. Is this part of the drill, he wondered? He looked up and saw Tam firing his rifle toward the observation deck. While everyone looked on, a man swung off the observation deck, dropped to the ground beyond the ravine, and then ran off.
Tam started to run after him but was stopped by Lt. Londry. "Let him go. You'll never catch him."
"You want to bet," Tam said and took off toward the ravine. Red and Peter started to follow but Lt. Londry stepped in front of them and yelled, "I said, let him go!"
They both stopped and watched anxiously as Tam disappeared. Soon a security vehicle with three soldiers arrived. Lt. Londry talked to the driver and they took off toward the ravine. A few moments later there were shots heard in the distance and fear plunged through Peter like an ice pick through the heart. Had someone been hit? He prayed to God it wasn't Tam.
Despite the apparent attempt on Peter's life, Lt. Londry advised everyone that the field tests would resume.
"But Lieutenant, someone just tried to kill me," Peter said.
He looked at Peter and frowned, "Why would someone want to kill you? It was probably just a pissed off washout trying to get a little revenge before he gets shipped off to the Isle of Muhl. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. You better get used to being shot at, because that's a pretty common occurrence for a soldier."
Peter raised his eyebrows, nodded and replied, "Yes, sir."
It was still pretty obvious to Peter that he was the target, but he couldn't really debate the issue with the Lieutenant without compromising himself. He figured it didn't matter now anyway, as the assailant was probably dead—at least Peter hoped he was dead rather than Tam. In his heart he believed Tam was okay. If he had died he thought he would have felt something. They had established a strong connection since their first meeting and he was sure if that connection were severed, he'd know it.
It was difficult getting through the rest of the day not knowing what had happened to Tam nor what repercussions there might be for his disobedience of Lt. Londry's orders. After dinner the results of the field tests were posted and fortunately Red, Sy, and Peter had all passed. There was a blank by Tam's name, and he hadn't shown up yet. The three worried candidates loitered around the bulletin board wondering what had become of their friend and looking at their watches as it was nearly time for the night alarm. Finally, they decided to go see Sergeant Baig. His door was closed, so Peter knocked. A moment later Sgt. Baig opened the door and took a deep breath.
"I suppose you're wondering what happened to Candidate Lavender."
"Yes, Sergeant. Do you know when he'll be back?"
"I'm afraid I've got bad news."
"Was he hurt?" Peter asked.
"No. In fact, he wounded the sniper and we have him in custody."
"So, where is he then?" Peter pressed.
"He's being processed to go to the Isle of Muhl."
The three boys’ mouths dropped.
"What! You've got to be kidding," Peter exclaimed.
"He disobeyed a direct order from an officer,"Sgt. Baig explained. "That kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. We have no room for soldiers who do whatever they feel like doing."
"But he was protecting me," Peter said. "My life was in danger."
"Perhaps, but Lt. Londry was in charge and he gave an order and whether Candidate Lavendar liked it or not he was duty bound to honor it without question."
"Okay, he made a mistake. Can't you punish him or something—he'll never do it again," Peter pleaded.
"I'm not going to debate this with you, candidate. If you can't understand the importance of obeying orders perhaps you should join your friend at Pegaport."
Peter took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Finally he said, "No, Sergeant. I understand. Thank you for your patience."
Sergeant Baig nodded. They turned and walked dejectedly back to their bunks. When the lights went off Peter couldn't sleep. He was sick at the thought of Tam being at Pegaport and having to face Videl's sick friends who ran that hell hole. He would never make it there. He was much too independent and they'd kill him before they broke him. Somehow, they had to get him off the Isle of Muhl—but how?