Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness" - 'While the Officers are away. . .'
47307.30 ; 0900
Jeb flashed a look at the timepiece on his wrist, then at the
Lance Corporal beside him. Stevenson nodded, and pointed over his
shoulder to the rest of the Marine detachment. All were standing against
the wall, tight grins on their faces.
At a sharp nod from Kirby, all fourteen Marines poured into the
quarters of the new recruit, Private Pamala Lee. The Marines moved with
enough stealth and the private was sleeping heavily enough that they were
able to surround her bed without stirring her. Kirby snapped the fingers
of his left hand sharply, and eight buckets of warm and cold water
were handed to those right next to Lee's sleeping form. A whispered
command, and all eight buckets, thrity-two liters in all, were emptied
onto the bed. A surprised and sputtering Private sat bolt upright, the
tight singlet that she wore was soaked to the core.
"ON YOUR FEET MARINE!" shouted Kirby at the top of his lungs.
"YOU MAY BE NEW BUT YOU ARE SLEEPING ON MY TIME NOW, MY LITTLE PRIVATE!"
As the ranks thinned enough for her to step off her now-soaken
mattress, the other Marines came to attention. Kirby moved around to the
front of the Marine group. "Alright you little beasts of burden, since we
haven't seen much of each other for around ten days, I'm sure that you
have missed seeing my smiling face each and every one of those days. To
recitify this problem, we will be marching double quick time to athletic
center number two, where your full combat gear awaits you. We will all
dress out into our gear, and then we will go for a little run, I'd say
about ten miles should do the trick."
A complaint originated somewhere in the back row, but the first
part of it escaped before it could be bitten back by the Marine who was
at fault.
Kirby shouldered his way into the back ranks and confronted the
one responsible. The Marine was tall enough that Kirby's head only came
to the man's chin. "Grueber! Did I hear you complain?"
"No Chief, you did not!"
"Now that's one hell of a thing to say to your drill instructor,
son! I can tell if you are lying to me Grueber, and that little part of
me tells me that you are full of shit! If you have a legitimate
complaint, make it!"
Grueber stood there tight-lipped for a moment, then began to
speak. "I feel that a ten mile run is not appropriate for a crew just
returning from ten days restriction to quarters."
Kirby looked at the young man for a moment, then resumed his place
at the front of the ranks. "You are absolutely right, Grueber. A ten
mile run is not right for a group of ass-kicking Marines fresh out of a
ten-day enforced period of sitting on their ass. Thank you very much,
Grueber." Kirby then pitched his voice back to its normal shouting
volume. "WE WILL NOT BE RUNNING TEN MILES TODAY. THANKS TO GRUEBER, WE
WILL BE RUNNING FIFTEEN MILES, AND FOR EVERY COMPLAINT I GET FROM NOW ON,
WE WILL RUN FIVE MORE MILES. AM I CLEAR?"
"YES CHIEF! CLEAR!" they all shouted in unison.
"GOOD!" yelled the chief. At once, all of them were led out the
door and began jogging to the recreational facility, with the new private,
Lee, jogging alongside the rest of the unit in her soaking wet singlet.
--------
NRPG: Well, thought I'd post to see what the rest of the ship (or at
least Kirby) was doing. :)