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.They will hammer you into shape, if necessary, to make sure you fit in.And if you have real problems fitting in, you will be relieved and sent back to Earth.We have no time to coddle people here.Do you understand me?”There was a ragged chorus of assent.Kurt gazed over the pilots, noting how some of them seemed to have quailed under his speech and others looked resentful.The only one who looked almost happy was Charles Augustus.Indeed, the young man looked pleased.Kurt eyed him suspiciously – pilots were known for being great jokers and playing pranks on their superiors was a common trait during peacetime – then put the matter out of his mind.There was much else that needed to be said.“The older pilots amongst you also have experience, so they will be serving as subordinate commanders,” Kurt continued.“I suggest you learn from their experience too, because it is far easier to learn from someone else’s experience than learning it the hard way.I do not want to hear any quibbles about pilot equality, not now.Experience will serve as the basis of seniority.”He paused, significantly.In theory, Flight Lieutenants were equals, regardless of experience; in practice, he’d just thrown that convention out of the airlock.But there was no way he was going to abandon the chance to have more experienced pilots assist with the training, no matter their ranks.They needed all the help they could get.“You may have heard rumours about operational deployments,” Kurt concluded.He’d heard the rumours himself, although nothing had been officially confirmed.But it was pretty obvious that a task force consisting of six full-sized carriers wasn't going to be patrolling the rear of human space.“This is not a pleasure cruise.Any of you who act like you’re on a luxury liner to Jupiter will regret it.”He paused, again.“Which leads to one final point,” he added.“I assume you all brought your duffels?”The rooks raised their bags.Kurt smiled; Royal Navy regulations only allowed pilots one medium-sized bag, which had to carry their clothing as well as anything else they wished to bring with them.His training had included a session on how best to pack their bags, but the rooks had largely missed out on that piece of vital information.He'd bet good money that half of the rooks hadn't packed their spare uniforms, or stuffed the bags full of chocolate or pornographic materials.Or, rather more worryingly, drugs or electronic simulators.The latter two could get a pilot dishonourably discharged from the service, if he didn't manage to get himself killed first.“You should have been provided with a list of what you were expected to bring,” Kurt said, dryly.“If you haven’t brought any of it, you can obtain the missing items from the supply officer – but I’m afraid the costs will be coming out of your salary, as the items in question were supplied by the Royal Navy.I suggest you do that today, as we will be inspecting your possessions tomorrow.Which” – he paused, drawing the moment out as long as possible – “leads to the next point.“There are items that are firmly on the banned list,” he warned.“You have until the end of today to get rid of them, no questions asked.The list itself is on the datanet.If you are caught with any of them afterwards, you will be fined, docked in rank – which is a little pointless at the moment – assigned to punishment duties or the brig.or dishonourably discharged from the navy.You’ve all done very well to reach so far so quickly.It would be a crying shame if you lost it right now.”He smiled at their expressions.Whatever happened in Sin City stayed in Sin City – that much was well-known – but it was quite possible to buy items that were legally banned just about everywhere else in the lunar settlement.Pornography wasn't technically banned, but drugs, simulators and other devices were forbidden.But pilots, always seeking thrills, had probably decided to risk their careers to buy something they shouldn’t.He just hoped they had the sense to get rid of anything incriminating before the inspections began.Someone stupid enough not to do so was probably addicted already.“That’s the end of my speech,” he said.“Wing Commander Labara?”Rose stepped forward.“When I call your name,” she said, “assemble behind me.”She ran through eleven names, three of them belonging to experienced pilots.The rooks, some of them looking noticeably paler than they’d looked when they’d boarded the ship, followed orders, then followed her out of the compartment.Charles Augustus still showed no sign of anything, but pleasure.Kurt narrowed his eyes, watched them go – they hadn't learned to march in step, clearly – and then turned back as the other Wing Commanders went through the lists.Finally, all of the pilots were assigned to a specific squadron and on their way to the barracks.After the Academy, they’d probably find the barracks something of an improvement.He made his way back to his office and started to work his way through the reports, waiting to see who would call him first.Brief updates started to blink up on his terminal within moments, informing him that several rooks had forgotten various important items and would have to order them from the supply officer.Kurt rolled his eyes when he saw that, as always, they’d forgotten pieces of their uniforms or even their underwear.How the hell did someone manage to forget navy-issue underpants or bras?You were that young too, once, he reminded himself.He’d forgotten his uniform jacket, which had cost him a large chunk of his salary.And you had the full six months of intensive training.Putting the thought aside, he pulled up the planned training schedules and cast his eye down them.There would be a couple of days for his squadrons to get used to their new starfighters, then they would start training with American, Japanese and French pilots.It would be interesting, to say the least.No matter what the Admiral might have said about working together, national rivalry would play a major role in the coming mock battles.But they won’t be mock when we meet the aliens, he told himself, sharply.By then, we have to learn to work together or die together.Chapter NineMajor Charles Parnell couldn't help but be impressed by USS Chesty Puller.Like most military warships she was as ugly as hell, yet that hardly mattered.She was designed to take thousands of American Marines into the teeth of enemy fire, land them on hostile ground and provide fire support to them until the enemy were firmly suppressed
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