“Hold up until someone gets to you to mark it for us!” Catie yelled.
“Holding.”
There were two other underwater obstacles to negotiate before they crossed the twenty-meter pond.
“Good job, Julie,” Howard said as he started to hand her rifle back. “I think I should carry this for a bit. At least until you dry off.”
“Thanks!”
◆ ◆ ◆
Foxtrot Squadron, Flight One, made it around the course, almost catching up with Delta Squadron by the end of the course.
“I’m exhausted,” Catie said. “Gawd, these guys are sadistic.”
“Alright. You’ve got twenty minutes to get some water; then, we’re going to let you all do it again. This one is for the money. The three flights with the worst time on this round get to muck out the stables.”
“Sadistic is putting it mildly,” Plebe Howard said. “I hope we have something left for this round. I’m worried that we left it all out there on the course.”
“I know what you mean. Getting tagged is going to be a death blow. How many got tagged or had to restart on this round?”
“Twelve,” Joanie said. “It seems every other one got their rifles wet. I guess the trailing team could see the disaster in front of them. But when they made it through, the next team didn’t get a warning.”
“Let’s go talk to the other Foxtrots and give them some advice. We don’t want the squadron to look bad,” Catie said.
◆ ◆ ◆
In the end, they had to run the course four times. Even though they were never tagged, they were completely exhausted and had to walk-trot the last time through. Of course, that meant they were yelled at the whole way.
“I swear that Cadet Colonel Cordova is the devil incarnate,” Joanie said when they got to their room to shower. They had thirty minutes to shower, change, and make it back to the mess hall for dinner.
“I agree, but what does that make Jefferson?”
“Yeah, he is worse. I guess he’d be the devil wannabe.”
“Funny, just never let him hear you say that.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Dinner was unusually relaxed by the standards they were used to. The cadet officers allowed the Plebes to chat and joke a bit as they reviewed the tough day they’d endured.
“Plebe, MacGregor, how did you know about the water hazard?” Cadet Sergeant Rosenbach asked.
“Julie guessed,” Catie replied.
“Water, don’t get your rifle wet, it seemed obvious,” Julie said.
“Apparently not, only one other flight figured it out on their own. The others had the example of a wet Plebe leading their flight back to the beginning,” Cadet Sergeant Rosenbach said.
“Probably was a girl,” Julie said.
“Hmm, I’ll have to check that out,” Cadet Sergeant Rosenbach said. She was smiling.
As the dinner moved along, the upper-class cadets started quizzing the Plebes on their knowledge about Delphi and Delphi Defense Forces. Finally, Cadet Major Baker got around to Catie.
“Plebe MacGregor, how many men does it take to keep a Fox combat-ready?” Cadet Major Baker asked.
“Sir, it requires zero men to keep a Fox combat-ready,” Catie replied. Cadet Major Baker had been stressing ‘men’ all week.
“Zero! Do you think the Fox repairs itself?!”
“No, sir! It requires eight sailors to keep a Fox combat-ready.”
“Then why did you tell me zero?!”
“I said zero men, sir. If the ground crew were all women, this Plebe is confident that they would get the job done.”
“So, you think that there shouldn’t be any men in a ground crew?!”
“No, sir. This Plebe was just trying to be accurate.”
“And how is zero men accurate?!”
“This Plebe was just acknowledging that men are not required.”
“Why, do you hate men?!”
“No, sir, I just think we should ignore sex when assigning jobs.”
“Why is that?!”
“The Delphi forces code says that we see only Rank, Skill, Dedication, and Talent in our Marines and Sailors.”
“So, you don’t think it’s important if a sailor is a man or a woman?!”
“No, sir.”
“What about if you’re dating one?!”
“Sir, I don’t know!”
“You don’t know if you like to date men or women!”
“I haven’t made up my mind, sir!”
“Do you want some help?”
“You are helping, sir.”
The cadets all tried to stifle their laughs
“Ahem,” Colonel Sunamoto coughed. “I believe the Plebes are needed in the classroom.”
“Yes, sir,” Cadet Major Baker said. “Flight leaders, assemble your flights and proceed to the auditorium for class.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“The commandant will see you now,” the admin told Catie. She had been summoned to the commandant’s office that morning.
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Catie said as she stood up. She made her way to the door. “Ma’am, Plebe MacGregor reporting as ordered.”
“Please be seated,” Admiral Lewis said.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Catie took a seat in the chair in front of the desk. She carefully sat at attention.
“Now, Cadet MacGregor, can you explain what happened yesterday with Cadet Major Baker?”
“Ma’am, I just answered his questions.”
“You think your first answer was the correct answer?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Any other answer would have been incorrect,” Catie said.
“So, you couldn’t have said, eight sailors?”
“Ma’am, he asked how many men, not how many sailors. If I had answered sailors, it would have been incorrect, and I’m sure Cadet Major Baker would have pointed that out.”
“And your reply that you didn’t know if you wanted to date men or women?”
“Again, I was trying to be accurate,” Catie replied.
“It wasn’t just your way of setting him up?” Commandant Lewis asked.
“Setting him up for what, Ma’am?”
“You do know that it is not your job to weed out the cadets who have trouble with women?” Commandant Lewis asked.
“Yes, Ma’am. That would be the job of you and your staff,” Catie replied.
The commandant sighed. “Do you have an opinion about what we should do with Cadet Baker?”
“Ma’am, this Plebe is not qualified to have an opinion,” Catie replied.
“Would you be disappointed if we didn’t expel him?”
“I would be disappointed if you did,” Catie said.
“I see that you had exceptional marks from the instructors in your first week here. During the last week and a half, your marks are excellent but not exceptional, can you explain the difference?”
“No, Ma’am. I would need to do a detailed analysis of what changed
