The War for Profit Series Omnibus (2 page)

In the bleachers all around were the rest of the Cadets, family members, instructors and staff, veterans, alumni and anyone else interested in attending the graduation ceremony. The coliseum was packed. Some spectators had to stand. The applause began as soon as the Graduating Class took their seats.

The Senior Instructor stepped away from the podium. The
Academy President stepped up and spoke, “I’m very proud of all the students, the graduating seniors especially. It is no small task to complete the rigorous training program of the Ostwind Armor Academy. It is amazing, I must say, that four hundred and thirty two of you made it all the way through to graduation. That is a surprisingly high number. I am proud of each and every one of you.”

She raised her left hand, the signal for the guest speaker to make his entrance.

By this time the Academy Commandant and the senior faculty and the alumni board members were lined up at the end of the coliseum opposite the stage, behind the Guest Speaker and his wife in a column of twos. He stepped off with his left foot and kept the pace slow. His well-dressed wife looped her right arm through his left, giving a clear signal they were a happy couple. His dress uniform was a dark blue coat over light blue pants tucked into riding boots with ornamental chromed single-lug spurs. He wore tan leather gloves that came halfway up his forearms. A saber hung in its scabbard on his left hip, a sidearm was holstered on his right thigh and he wore a black cowboy-style hat, a pair of gold tassels resting on the front of its brim. Clearly, a Cavalry officer.

The academy president announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Iron Horse Brigade Commander, Colonel Joseph Johnston!”

He angled to the left of the stage and climbed the six steps to get up on the stage and then took his place to stand at the lectern. A double row of seats were set up and his wife took the second one, leaving the first for him. He watched over his shoulder as the rest of the retinue filled in the remaining seats. Then he looked forward and surveyed the crowd. He looked right to left, slowly, mechanically. The coliseum became quiet, almost silent. He took a deep breath and looked at the word machine that projected his speech in front of him.

Finally he spoke,
“It’s great to be here in the coliseum of the Ostwind Armor Academy, and the first thing I want to say is, Hell on Wheels!”

“Hell on Wheels!” the crowd roared back.

After the crowd quieted down, Colonel Johnston began reading his prepared speech.

“Good afternoon President Ross, Commandant Bolar, the Alumni Board of Directors, instructors, faculty, parents, family and friends, cadets and the graduating class seated in the field before me. Congratulations on your graduation, and thank you for allowing me the honor to be a part of it. Let me also acknowledge your planetary governor, Eric Fisher, your city’s mayor, Thomas Rea, and all the members of the Bonding Commission who are here with us today.

“Mercenary work is important work. Mercenary units make peace where there was war. The suffering of combat is greatly reduced by the professionalism of mercenaries. Nations enjoy greater social development when mercenaries fight their wars for them.

“
When a government decides it is time for war, they have to weigh the cost. They have to sacrifice something near and dear to them personally, and that is their money. That fact alone has prevented more than one war over the past two thousand years. Before professional mercenaries came to dominate warfare, governments would sacrifice millions of their own citizens, and their citizen’s money, to go to war for frivolous reasons. Often times they’d start a war just to get more money and power in their own pockets. The existence of mercenary units takes all that away. Civil governments devote more of their time and resources to social development. Human life has more value, and when populations get too large they have incentive to take to the stars and find new homes for their people. The choice of starting a war to whittle down the numbers is no longer an option. The population can hire mercenaries to fight back, and no government troops can match our skill or professionalism.

“
For that reason, the existence of professional mercenary units has brought peace more than it has brought war. Governments have to sacrifice money to hire us. Civilians don’t learn to fight, which means the populations are easier to police. The whole process has, over time, become much more civil. Even crime has been reduced, thanks to the important work we do. Sure, most governments have standing armies, government troops, but they don’t have the advanced weapons systems or the skills to fight like we do. Mostly they are there to provide stability, service and support for their people. They are very good at disaster relief, fighting forest fires, cleaning up after earthquakes, things like that. Tasks we are not prepared to do, but they certainly would perform badly against an armed enemy on the field of battle. I know. I’ve seen it.

“
Human suffering in time of war has also come down. We don’t fight for fun, we fight for profit. Bullets cost money so we don’t waste them. Every one of you here today would rather process a prisoner than scoop guts into a body bag. Just because some government gives a young man or woman a cheap uniform and a rusty rifle, you are under no obligation to kill them. We avoid killing civilians because, as I said, bullets cost money. And every civilian is a potential future employer. Let fly a laser bolt into a building full of civilians and a couple years later you may find yourself trying to negotiate a contract with a family member of one of those civilians you killed. That will cost you money.

“
Mercenary work curtails hate in society. As you go into battle as a professional, you don’t kill your opponent out of hatred. You are there to accomplish a clear mission and achieve a defined objective. If somebody gets in your way, you can use deadly force. And when the contract is completed, you and your fellow mercenaries leave with your agreed-upon compensation in your pocket. The civil government doesn’t have a large number of grieving family members or injured veterans to care for, and doesn’t have a large group of experienced combat killers mixed in amongst its population.

“
This fosters social development. Hatred abates and peace and prosperity reigns. Nations are free to devote more resources to social development, to quality of life, and can’t oppress their people because their people might just hire you to come get rid of an oppressive government. And nations can be generous to their people. They don’t have to devote their resources or their best and brightest minds to the development of weapons of war or military leadership. But in every society there are always those who would like to fight. It is human nature. And we are them, the fighters. We take them; they come here of their own volition to attend our academies and become leaders along side us or voluntarily enlist in the mercenary units based on their home worlds to serve as our troops. We provide a home for them, a place to serve.

“
Then there’s the debate about tanks, something that comes up over and over. And time and again, for thousands of years, tanks prove decisive in battle. We still carry knives, pistols and rifles. Bigger weapons systems do not make the smaller ones obsolete. If anything, it makes them even more essential. It wasn’t that long ago I raised a big rock above my head in both hands and smashed an opponent’s head with that rock, and my ability to smash a head with a rock is the reason I’m alive today to talk about it. And it didn’t bother me one bit. Did I have to do it? No, I had a choice. I could have let my opponent get up, and could have passed that moral dilemma of whether it’s okay to smash a person’s head with a rock over to them by giving them the chance to smash my head instead. But I liked it and I’d do it again, given the chance. And that’s why we have mercenary units. That’s why we are called upon and paid well to fight battles and wars. We don’t belong in the civilian world, and this profession keeps us segregated from it. We’d be nothing but trouble. We belong here. Most of you can satisfy your wild side with a single five-year enlistment and then mellow out and go into civilian life with a pocket full of money and war stories to tell. But anyway, back to the speech…

“T
anks are essential. They dominate the ground battle in a way no other weapons system can. Being on the ground is their strength. But most of all remember this: the existence of the professional mercenary industry promotes social development, reduces human suffering and makes peace across the galaxy. We do important work and we love doing it.”

His speech concluded, he took one step backward and enjoyed the applause of the audience. The academy president gave him a gentle nudge to step sideways. Colonel Johnston took his seat.

The academy president addressed the crowd, “Thank you Colonel Johnston for that inspiring speech…”

Three more speakers spoke, and then the graduates marched across the stage to get their handshakes and diplomas from the Commandant and the President.
Galen felt absent, as though he weren’t in his body but just observing as it went through the motions, disassociated with the long, drawn out experience. But finally it was over. The ceremony ended with the playing of the Academy song. At the first note of the song, the column of dignitaries rose from their seats and formed up behind the guest speaker and he led the procession out of the coliseum. As the end of the procession passed, the graduates stood row after row, faced inward and marched out through the main doors to leave the coliseum.

The cadets kept formation and marched back to the barracks to recover their personal bags. But not Galen. Upon exiting the coliseum he kept walking straight across the street, committed the forbidden act of walking across the grass of the lawn, kept walking, removed his jacket and slung it over his left shoulder, removed his hat and held it in his right hand, sauntered along lazily and strode right out the front gate of the Academy and boarded the next airbus that came by without noting its route. A few stops later he got off the bus and waited for the one that would drop him off at home. Then is personal communicator buzzed.

Where are you?
A message from his mother.

He called her. “On my way home.”

“Oh. We were waiting for you here. Cadet Miller gave me your bag. Not much in it. Why did you leave on your own?”

Galen took a deep breath. “Freedom. I saw that gate right across the lawn in front of me and it just, I don’t know, drew me toward it. It’s hard to explain. I’ll be home in a few minutes.”

“It will take me a half hour to get there. Just wait in the bar.”

“Yes, Mom. Love you.”

“I love you too.” The call ended.

After a few stops the bus let Galen off a few doors down from the Outlander Bar. Nestled between the other four-story buildings of the street, the bar had a distinctive red brick facade, windowless on the first floor, setting it apart from the large granite stone blocks and picture windows of the stores, shops, and business spaces near by. To its right was a medical care building where specialized technicians and doctors provided everything from cosmetic surgery to back re-alignments to orthopedic services. On the left, a financial services conglomeration. The first floor was a pawn shop, with brokers and bankers and tax attorneys in the offices above. Galen stepped into the alcove of the bar and beat on the steel door
and stepped back. It opened outward.

The door man, as tall as Galen but twice as wide, gave him a hug and said, “Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” They stepped apart. It was early, no other customers yet. “I’ll wait here for Mom.”

“Sure.” The door man stepped behind the bar. Galen sat on a bar stool. The door man drew a glass of ale and
put it in front of Galen.

He lifted it, smelled it and said, “This is my first drink in two years.”

“Go slow,” said the door man.

Galen took a sip, grimaced. Took a drink and then he shivered involuntarily. Soon he felt warmer and drank some more. The taste seemed green at first, and the back of his neck became taught for a moment. Then warmth and he easily sipped his ale, its taste getting better, tasting good by the time he finished it.

Mom came from the bar’s back entrance and then went behind the bar and stood in front of Galen. A tall middle aged woman with wheat straw colored shoulder-length hair framing a ruddy face, broad shoulders and large breasts and wide hips, wearing a dark brown shirt-dress that reached from her knees to her neck and a thick gold chain necklace hanging outside her dress. She placed a tray of food in front of him, a double cheese hamburger and a serving of fries on one plate, a slice of cheese cake on the other. She refilled his ale and said, “Enjoy.”

“Oh, I will. Thanks, Mom.”

“I put your bag upstairs in your old room. The bed is ready so you can sleep. And I hung some new clothes for you in the closet.”

Galen nodded, his mouth full.

“I’ll come wake you up for the party. I have a lot of work to do right now.” Mom turned and went into the back, the sounds of food preparation briefly coming from the kitchen area before the swinging door closed.

Galen made the extra effort to not eat in the mechanical, practiced method of the academy. He chewed slowly, many chews, not counting. He sipped ale, and drank, and especially enjoyed eating with his hands. Then he hunched forward over the food, deliberately, after realizing he’d been sitting up straight. At the end he resisted the reflexive move to use the fork on the cheesecake and instead lifted it with his left hand and took big bites. He noticed the crumbs, the bits of sauce and drops of ketchup on the front of his cadet uniform shi
rt and left it all there.