The Ninth by Benjamin Schramm

Author:Benjamin Schramm
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-05-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10: Assessment

A gentle progression of three tones awoke Brent. He sat up and felt his forehead. It was completely dry. For the first time in his life he had awoken peacefully. His dreams weren’t peaceful and the normal nightmare had awaited him, but having lived through it had stunted its sting. It was also comforting to remember bits and pieces of the dream after he awoke. He knew had dreamt of the final exam with the gaping maw. A shiver ran down his spine as he recalled the eerie light seeping out of the thing in orbit.

Shaking his head he put thoughts of the previous day to the side and stretched. Getting out of his bunk, Brent turned and made the bed. He suddenly realized he was the only one up and about. The other troopers were still lazing in bed. As he watched the others contently cuddle with their sheets, an unpleasant odor wafted past his nose. It stuck him he had been quite active the previous day, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had showered. Fetching his pad from the locker where he had stored it the night before, he started searching for any information on the facilities of the academy.

After a few minutes of random searching, Brent couldn’t find anything useful. Whoever had organized data on the pad had done a poor job of it. It almost felt as if the system had been designed to be intentionally counterintuitive. Glancing around him he found the other recruits still lazing. Brent sighed quietly to himself. All he wanted was a shower. Why was it when he needed assistance there was never anyone handy? As he put the pad down he noticed the display had changed; it wasn’t on the last page he had pulled up. Studying the new image he quickly realized it was a map. At his fingertips was a detailed map of the entire academy. In no time he had located the nearest facility. It was a massive complex apparently serving the needs of at least ten divisions.

As he was about to head out he realized he didn’t have a change of clothes. The night before he had only tossed his pad in the locker after he had rolled on top of it in the middle of the night, and it had jabbed him awake. Investigating the locker more closely, he found three uniforms, all of them the same type as those worn by the Weavers. His stomach churned uneasily as he realized he would have to wear the same uniform as those disgusting brats. A small patch of green and orange on the right shoulder was the only place that identified which division he belonged to. There was another uniform, but it was much more detailed and rigid, obviously for formal ceremonies and the like. Behind the four uniforms was the giant white marshmallow. Cain had said Cassandra wore her “gear” all the time, but didn’t say how it worked. For now, the only use Brent could make out would be as a beach ball.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.