Of course, after class, the cadet officers thought a little bit of marching would help settle all that learning down.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Where did they find Cadet Lieutenant Hoffman?” Joanie complained after she and Catie finally made it back to their room for the night. It was the end of the first day of week two. “He’s a sadist!”
“I heard he’s from the Citadel,” Catie said. “What about his boss, Cadet Major Baker? He sure seemed to be enjoying himself.”
“They’re both sadists!”
“That’s Cadet Lieutenant Sadist and Cadet Major Sadist to you,” Catie said. “But, hey, we’ve only got them for five weeks. When we get back from Guatemala, they’ll reorganize us, and maybe we’ll luck out, and someone else will get him.”
“Why the reorganization?” Joanie asked as she rubbed her foot.
“Now, we’re organized between those who have experience in one of the military academies and those who don’t. When we start class, they’ll shuffle it to balance out the experience and the class ranking.”
“But we’ll still be stuck with these guys as the officers?”
“Mostly,” Catie said. “At least they’ll be busy with classes then and won’t have time to ride us every minute.”
“You hope.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“I’m exhausted,” Joanie said when she and Catie made it back to their room after the second day of week two.
“Being corrected every minute is exhausting,” Catie said.
“That and PT is using up all my energy. I’m still struggling with the run.”
“I notice you’re breathing up in your chest,” Catie said.
“That’s where my lungs are,” Joanie said.
“That’s true, but the volume is in the lower chest. You need to breathe with your diaphragm. Didn’t you ever sing?”
“Can’t carry a tune.”
“Here, let me show you. I learned this from a Hawaiian friend who teaches me Aikido,” Catie said. “Now sit on the floor cross-legged and wrap your arms around your body, like you’re giving yourself a hug.”
“Okay,” Joanie said as she sat on the floor.
“Now, lean forward until your arms are touching your legs.”
“Hey, it’s hard to breathe!”
“Relax. In that position, it is almost impossible to breathe without using your diaphragm. Now focus on expanding your ribcage in your lower back.”
“Hey, I can breathe.”
“Good, now do that every night before you go to bed and in the morning for thirty seconds. Longer, if you can find some time.”
“I’ll try. Like I have time, I still have to help clean our room and then start typing that stupid paper.”
“Did you finish all your research?”
“Yes, but typing everything up is going to take me hours. Are you ready to type yours yet?”
“Oh, I finished,” Catie said.
“You finished. When?!”
“Yesterday.”
“How could you, when did you have the time?”
“I did it in the morning. You know I get up at 0400.”
“Yeah, but you typed it in just one hour?”
“Sure,” Catie said. It had actually only taken her twenty minutes to type it up. With her nanites, she could type around one thousand words per minute.
“I wish you would type mine.”
“Tell you what, you go and clean Mary’s and Julie’s rooms so they can go do a quick run. And work on their breathing with them and their roommates before they run, and I’ll type your paper.”
“That’s a deal. But that’s too good a deal, what are you going to get out of it?”
“Those four will never pass the fitness test if they don’t start working out at least twice a day,” Catie said. “So this will give them time to work out.”
“Okay, I’ll do it. Just for today?”
“Why not all week?”
“That’s asking a lot. I’ll spend as many days helping them as you have to spend typing my paper.”
“Nuh-uh. I’ll be finished with your paper by the time you get back,” Catie said. “But, I want them to get help for more than just one day.”
“No way can you finish my paper that fast!”
“You want to bet?”
“Sure. If you’re finished with my paper when I get back, I’ll help them all week.”
“You have to spend at least five minutes with them on their breathing and clean their rooms,” Catie said.
“Sure, no problem, bet?”
“Bet. Send me your files.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“You’re back faster than I expected,” Catie said when Joanie showed up twenty-five minutes later. Catie was prepping her uniform for the next day. “It sure would be a lot more efficient if we could just wear shipsuits all day,” she thought.
“Did you give up on finishing my paper?”
“No, it’s done,” Catie said.
“I don’t believe you.”
“Check your Comm. I already transferred the files back.”
“Wow! What do you type, like five hundred words a minute?”
“Let’s just say I’m fast,” Catie said.
“If you want to really help those girls, you should offer to type their papers. Between that and me cleaning their rooms, they would have at least an extra forty minutes a day to work out.”
“Good idea.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Hey, I heard you’re typing Dubois’ paper,” Plebe Howard said. “How much would you charge to type mine?”
“I’m not doing it for money,” Catie said.
“Then what are you doing it for?”
“I’m doing it so they have time to do extra workouts. They need help to pass the fitness test.”
“If you want to help people pass the fitness test, then you should type Joey’s paper. That guy doesn’t stand a chance.”
“If you help him, I’ll type your paper and his,” Catie said.
“How are you going to manage two extra papers?”
“That’s my problem. I’ll type yours if you help him until the fitness test.”
“Deal.”
“That means you’ll need to help clean his room, too, so he has time.”
“Hey, if I get out of typing that paper, cleaning his room for a week will be nothing.”
“And you’ll need to run with him. Joanie will spend some time teaching him to breathe correctly.”
“Breathe correctly?”
“Yeah, he probably breathes up in his chest, without using
