The Dragon Baby

Chapter 2

I made sure to keep eye contact the whole walk over. Nothing wrong with my stance at all. Then maintain eye contact while giving a proper salute. His steely brown eyes give nothing away as he looks down at me. It’s going to take a lot more to impress this man than just being a proper soldier. Still doesn’t mean I can slack on looking professional. One of the best weapons I’ve found that works when someone is perseverance until your time to shine comes. He sighs, “At ease, let’s go.” He turns and strides out the door. Perfectly measured steps. I let my eyes dip down to his ass, what sane woman wouldn’t? His ass was nice and firm looking from back here.

“You could totally bounce a quarter off that ass.” A familiar voice whispered in my ear. I did break character to roll my eyes as Nova snuck up behind me. She’s a whole head taller than me, having to look down whenever we speak. I give her a small half smile to let her know I agree but don’t say anything out loud. You never know who is listening. I just link arms with her as we follow the senior officers.

“What’s his name?” I ask as quietly as I can, taking long strides to match hers and Nova taking shorter strides, so I don’t look like a slow mo running man.

“That’s Sergeant Silas Cadfael. His last name means battle prince in Welsh. It's rumored that the General himself gave him the name after the General was speaking at his academy graduation and it was ambushed by a group of free living rogues. He apparently fought through a group of three rogues to save the trapped General just as they were about to kill him.” Nova whispers. I roll my eyes there’s no way anyone could take on three rogues. But he must have done something impressive to earn the last name that means battle prince.

That’s another thing the government does. They take away the last name you had even if it’s the only thing you have left of your family and then say you need to earn your last name. We won’t receive last names until we at least graduate from the “college”part of our training. It's just another way they can control you because now you want to do something that’ll get you that inspirational, cool, unique last name that will give you a little more individuality from the rest of the trained soldiers. Of course, there are still the Smiths and the Johns because someone has to be mediocre for others to feel special. Last names can not be changed. I’m not sure how it works for the children of other soldiers or with marriage but I haven’t really wanted to ask. I’m focused on trying to get into one of the communities to help, not get married and become a mother.

Nova and I load up into a black nondescript van that’ll take us to the air strip in a field just outside of campus. All ten of us trainees are crammed into this van. We could just walk there but they must want to get the show on the road. Trees flash by until we reach a larger passenger plane that’ll have plenty of room for the 20+ people going on this mission. The bags we packed before coming to briefing are being loaded into the belly of the plane. They hold our personal weapons along with some rations, a change of clothes, and a survival kit in case anything goes wrong. We are going out into the deep wilderness. As Staff Sergeant Jefferson said, be prepared for the worst.

He’s off to the side inspecting the different bags before allowing them to be loaded. Likely grading us on the preparedness of the contents because this is a graded activity. Slipping up in the recon mission may not kill you but if you treat it as anything less you’ll be out of the academy and brain dead.

I went up the removable steps to see some trainees already sitting with what looked like their senior officer for the trip. Some chatting, some not, some trainees looking super awkward. I searched for bright blonde hair. He’s sitting in the very back in what I could perceive as the most strategic seat. He had eyes on all the exits at once and all the people. He had a quick exit two rows up where an emergency exit was.

I salute him. “Hello Sergeant Cafael, I am Private Rowan.”

“At ease, and take a seat. It’s a nine hour flight. You’re free to chat amongst your friends or sleep or whatever you want to do until two hours before we land. By then I expect you to be back in this seat to be briefed about the mission and what my expectations are. I’m not your friend, I’m your superior officer. Once we take off I’m going to sleep the majority of the trip and I do not want to be disturbed.” He didn’t even look at me for more than a brief second. I felt like I’m talking to one of the instructors rather than someone closer to my age.

I sat down and got comfortable. Should I try to get some sleep or go sit with Nova? I peek up over the seats in front of me to see she's only a few rows ahead. Side eyeing Sergeant Cadfael, his eyes already closed, I move next to Nova. There's no instructor around but I’ll just go back if I need to. Nova’s eyes are bright with excitement. She’s visibly shaking.

“Can you believe it?” She whispers, grabbing my arm. “We are finally getting out of here!”

I can’t blame her for her excitement. It's been eight years since we’ve been taken from the foster system and seen the outside world. The government provides everything we need at the academy while they train us. There’s what we’re told is a world class cafeteria. We wouldn’t know the difference cause its not like we got to travel the world before ten years old. The food’s good, as far as I know, I don’t have much to compare it to. Entertainment facilities to keep us plient and not asking too many questions. Training grounds that more kids have shed blood on than I’d like to think about. The dormitories that are better than a lot of us knew in the foster system. The government doesn’t tend to pick from the good foster homes that would ask questions about why a kid is missing or would try to check in with the family that supposedly “adopted” the kid. But after eight years of the same people, the same schedule, the same grounds with a 10 ft tall and 10 ft thick concrete fence with electric barbed wire at the top with watch towers every 500 ft. Now this may seem extreme but the government ensures it’s for our safety. If any of the rogues found the compound, they would try to wipe us out. We are their biggest enemy and driving them towards extinction or enslavement.

I don’t blame them whatsoever and I’m tired of living in the fear that the rogues will find us government knapped kids without knowing the truth. We are just as trapped as their people.

My face must've taken on a dark look because Nova squeezed my arm to bring me back and gave me a “this is not the time” look. I give her a small smile to let her know that I’m not going to cause trouble on this trip. My days of trying to make a change by being showy and loud are over. All it got me was extra beatings and a trip to the mind wiping room as a warning. They didn’t take my memories but they showed me exactly how they would do it. I decided that day to move up in the ranks and work from the shadows. I couldn’t lose the memories of my family because they are all I have left.

I had only been in the foster care system for a year before the government found me. My parents and little brother, Adam, died in a car accident after my parents had picked him up from daycare. A driver went through a red light and T-boned my parents car into a semi truck waiting on the other side. They all died instantly. I didn’t have any more family besides them. I was put into a terrible foster home and got into a lot of trouble with the other kids because I didn’t understand where my parents were or why I couldn’t see them. I don’t even remember going to a funeral but I must have, right? I have a few shining memories that I’m not willing to give up. I may struggle to remember their faces now but I remember how they made me feel and I’m not giving that up.