TGoaW-59

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==Chapter 59 - The Glow of a Worm inside a Child's Eye==
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"That's not the same thing at all!!"
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The girl's outburst was, well...amusing.
"I fail to see your distinction. You have admitted to enlisting prisoners in exchange for service in place of their rightful punishments, is this NOT a form of compulsory service?"
It's been two weeks aboard FCS Hetzhund, and the terms of their 'parole' allowed some observational activities on the troop decks, and more to the point, the chance for Samantha Clees to poke some fun at Elizabeth Ngo.
This poking of fun, involved discussions about Clan society and culture that weren't always held by the former Star Colonel. The girl's incredible combination of intelligence and ignorance made her something of a mental chew-toy for hyper-agressive, honor-bound Clan warriors trapped in a position where their Honor was being tested.
"We gave them a second chance." Elizabeth argued. "it's not the same thing at all as...beating someone up and making them your slave, or trading people like...collector cards on a bet!"
Today's feature, involves Star Commander Nathan of the Roshaks, debating the girl on the subject of bondholder and bondsman status versus her twisted impressions of the same.
It is something to do, when you have given your word-of-honor that you will not try to escape or take over the ship.
Not that PROPER Clan warriors would do such a thing as violating a surrender.
the contest is, in a sense, completely unfair. Nathan Roshak's diatribe on 'Why we must restore the Star League' has swayed Wardens to the Crusader cause in the Homeworlds.
Dismantling a thirteen year old would almost be pathetic, if the girl in question were more 'average' and less 'terrifyingly intelligent'.
"Yet their options are rather dark, are they not? Life sentence in prison or twenty years in your navy?" He inquired mildly, "I fail to see how anyone would reject that...or return to prison rather than seeking honor and glory in the Service."
"We've had people drop." Liz said quietly. "The training's pretty stiff, and some guys can't handle it, the first nine months of training is spent living outside the hull in the oort cloud, stage one graduation is finishing the rebuild on a ship, and piloting at newtonian to an outpost for transfer to stage two."
"How do you not run out of ships?" he asked mildly.
"Lots of wrecks if you know where to look. we transfer them to the outsystem for the training crews to repair, under supervision, then auction them with the proceeds split between the cadet class that fixed it, and the Academy as funding."
"So...free labor."
"not free." she argued, "it's paid-everybody gets paid. Sublight navigation and maintenance are key skills, phase one graduates get stamped on their vacuum operations, sublight navigation and ship maintenance and basic DC tasks, and the cert is good outside the service."
"That is for your...non-prisoners." he pointed out.
"Yeah." she nodded, "But the felon-recruits get good time on their sentences for the non-lifers and points toward parole for the lifers, just for surviving phase one."
"Oh? harsh is it?"
"Five percent death rate on average." she noted, "Planned that way-train as you work, train as you fight. anyone who can't work with others on the team will get themselves killed without help, or realize they want to go home and we let them...just that sometimes 'home' is a prison cell instead of a planetary surface."
"BUT, it is military discipline." he said, "OUR system is more akin to your...'parole'-a bondsman has to learn the 'ropes' of the Clan from his bondholder, and demonstrate proficiency and developed loyalty, much like your Spider Moon programme. the difference is, we offer an alternative to the destructive conflicts that have regressed your nation."
"Right, because two men throwing seventy ton war machines at each other over who cut in the lunch-line is so progressive, right?" she scoffed.
"That is another issue, one that involves more intense questions including the proper social order. We do not, as a general rule, 'throw seventy ton war machines' around for petty reasons. Most grievance trials are handled using fisticuffs or downgraded means, unless they are significantly more important than...'who cut in the lunch line'."
"yeah, stronger takes." she said, "over ten thousand years of human history, seven thousand of those on our current civilization..."
"I have heard this one before, Elizabeth Ngo."
"a minute?" she held up a finger.
"Migraine again?"
"Rusty spikes...I must retire with this topic left unresolved." her chronometer beeped.
"Oh, MEDICINE time. very well. your arguments were getting weak, you should see to that." he agreed.
Elizabeth left the designated bay for the Falcon officers with a pained limping shuffle under the one-gee of thrust.
"You know, she is funnier when she is high." Marthe pointed out.
"Aff...but not as engaging." Nathan mused. "That girl? she is why we are here. an argument not even the scumdog Wolves would be able to refute. all that ability, hampered by stravag bad medicine."
"You know what I noticed?" Marthe asked.
"What?"
"She is more like one of ours, than one of theirs. Perhaps this is why she is in trouble with the Archon for defeating Von Jankmon and forcing us to surrender. All that ability, hampered by a corrupt political class."
"She is of the political class." Clees chimed in. "I am finding it fascinating how naïve she is about so many things, by the time I was coming up to my fourteenth year, I had a far better grasp of human nature...and not just myself, I have observed Sibko brats with more self-control."
"I think you are wrong there." Marthe noted, "Not FAR wrong, but wrong. How many sibko brats could badger serving warriors into doing something as risky and stupid as her attack? It could EASILY have gone the other way."
"Aff." Samantha nodded, "it could have, it might have, maybe even should have."
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