Hard Corps by Claire Thompson Page B

I didn’t bother to keep track of where the other girls in my barracks were assigned, and they, I figured, were equally as uninterested in me.
    I continued to dress, and was on my way out, reading the slip of paper to see where I should head, when Amelia appeared next to me. ‘We’ll walk together,’ she said. I started to speak, to ask her a million questions that had been gathering, when she stopped me with a hand to her lips. ‘Not yet, Remy. Wait till we get there. There will be time. You and I are excused from basic training this morning. We have been assigned to a private cell at the Special Calisthenics Unit. We can talk freely there.’
    ‘But, Amelia! You are my guide? No way! How come you never said anything? Are you a — ’
    I was stopped abruptly by her sharp ‘Hush!’ and a warning hand on my arm. I heard footsteps behind us and, just then, none other than Cadet Jean Dillon joined us, walking briskly, her arms swinging.
    ‘Well, well. So, it’s come to this. What a pleasant surprise.’ Her tone was flat and decidedly unpleasant. ‘New meat, eh, Amelia? I wouldn’t have thought she had it in her.’
    While trying to process that Jean was walking with us and seemed to know where we were going, I also felt compelled to respond. My gut reaction was to snarl back some insult at the cocky, arrogant bitch but, before I could open my mouth, Amelia’s grip tightened on my arm and slowly, almost imperceptibly, she shook her head. She looked afraid, and I didn’t want to upset her, so I shut up. Time enough later to deal with Cadet Dillon.
    As we arrived at the training area, Jean swerved off to join the small knot of cadets milling around the courtyard waiting to begin the day’s training. ‘Later, Harris. Your worst nightmare is just beginning.’ Jean laughed as she spoke, and suddenly I felt a vague pang of fear, mixing in with the anger.
    I followed Amelia into a small building that I had never been in before. Still not speaking, she led me down a hall to a series of doors, spaced closely together. Each door had a number on it. When we came to Number 5, Amelia stopped, unlocked the door, and pushed it open. We stepped inside a musty little room that had only enough space to accommodate two chairs and a small table. The place had a decidedly Depression-era feel about it.
    Amelia shut the door and indicated one of the chairs as she sat in the other. ‘OK, we can talk now. This room is secure. Before you ask a million questions, and I know you have them — I did last month when I was initiated — let me talk for a minute. I might answer some before you even ask.’
    I waited expectantly. Dillon could wait. The Corps came first. ‘Well,’ she said, smiling at me, her round, blue eyes sparkling. ‘First, welcome to the Corps, Remy. I had no idea when I first saw you that you were slave material. But when you got hooked up with Jacob, I thought you had potential, till he dropped you due to your lack of submission — ’
    ‘Whoa! Hold on here, Amelia. Just how do you know the details of our breakup? I mean, I know it was no secret I was seeing him, but how do you know the intimate details?’ Even as I asked I instantly knew. Jacob must have told her. Or someone in the Corps. He was in the Corps. Of course. It made sense now. Jacob was in the Corps, and Jean was in the Corps. That was how she knew all about my movements all the time. They were friends, for God’s sake. Or at least colleagues, or whatever the hell you would call it in the Corps. Amelia looked at me, her expression gentle.
    ‘I know this is a lot to absorb. The Corps is a very close-knit community. There are few secrets here. When you sign on as a novice, you give up your right to your own privacy, basically. You become the property of the group at large. Sort of like the Army, really, but on a far more intimate level. Jacob saw potential in you as a possible recruit. He was hoping to invite you to join the Corps, but then he decided