Published: 27 Dec 2017

Close Call: The Best Teacher Of All

⚫Cpl. Robin – Hazardous Earth Creatures, Hazardous Native creatures, Winter Survival, Primitive Survival
⚫JrCpl. Gavin – Hazardous Native creatures, Grassland, Forest, Jungle
⚫SrPvt. Fairfax – Advanced Geothermal Dangers, Winter Survival, Hazardous Earth Creatures, Primitive Survival
⚫SrPvt. Ajax – Winter Survival, Near Ocean, Jungle, Primitive Survival
⚫Spec. Oliver – Advanced Geothermal Dangers, Near Ocean, Mountain, Primitive Survival

Snow slashed into Fairfax’s face as he knelt and wiped clear the ice he was standing on. He shook his head and motioned for Diane to pull on the rope which was secured around his waist. He carefully made his way back to the shore. He took a knee and wiped snow off his face.

Diane let out a long breath. The exhale was easy to see in the frigid air. “What’s it look like?”

“Seems solid,” Fairfax responded. “But our classes told us clear ice is better. The ice here is cloudy.”

Diane looked at her note-puter. “We need to have two fish big enough to cook and eat, a fire built, and shelter up with only eight hours of testing left. We then have to hike to the landing point just to pass this module.”

Fairfax nodded while pulling up the hood on his heavy coat. “There’s two more lakes just to the north.” He pointed. “I’m not failing because we took a shortcut, no matter how solid the ice seems.”

Diane gave a resigned sigh, “OK, but let’s get back into the tree line to cut down on the wind. It’s brutal!”

“If we do, the footing will be worse. We have to be careful of branches buried under the snow, so it will slow us down.”

“Worth it to get out of the wind.”

“OK, we do it your way, but since we’ll be in the tree line, we’ll gather wood on the way to the next lake. We also need to keep weapons out and ready just in case some mountain lion decides we’re its next meal… And let’s hope it’s better ice.”

Diane nodded, “Yes, and good ideas. I’ve never felt wind and cold like this! Do you think it gets this bad back on Earth?”

“I know it does. Only been in snow this bad a few times on street level in Chi-Troit.” Fairfax grinned. “But back there it’s colder and even windier. At least here the air doesn’t smell bad, and the snow is clean.” He reached down, grabbed a handful of fresh snow and stuck it in his mouth. “Back home this would make me sick or might kill me!”

Diane shuddered, this time from the words instead of the winter storm pounding them. “Fairfax, the more I hear you… the more I work with you out here… the more amazed I get.”

Fairfax shrugged, “One of the reasons both me and Ajax took Winter Survival is we have lived on the floor of Chi-Troit. We both figured this would be easy.” He grinned again. “It isn’t, but still way more fun than being caught in a major snowstorm back home!”

The pair continued to talk as they entered the tree line. A glance back at their Explorer Corps shadow and grader told them nothing since the man stayed well back and was nothing more than an outline in the blowing snow.

Forty minutes of trekking through deep snow and collecting a decent amount of wood, the pair made it to the edge of the next lake. Fairfax double-checked where the stream flowed in and out of the lake and made his way to the north so he wouldn’t be over where flowing water would make the ice thinner.

He double-checked the lakeshore. Nothing seemed out of place, so he safely stowed his laser rifle and tied a thin, very strong rope around his waist. He edged out onto the ice. After a few seconds he stomped down. It was like tramping on metalplast. He continued to move out onto the ice. Every few steps he stomped. It was solid. Once he was over twenty-five meters out, he knelt and brushed off the snow. A silent sigh of relief escaped his lips as he found the ice was much clearer than the last lake.

“What’s it look like?” Diane called out.

Fairfax gave the girl a thumbs-up gesture before he knelt, pulled out a hand pickaxe and made a hole. He dropped in a small ice transducer and got a scan. The display on his note-puter confirmed there were fish, some pretty large, in the area.

He looked over his shoulder, “We’re good. Ice is over ten centimeters thick, closer to fifteen, and the transducer shows hits. Keep your weapon out and set up an E-dome. Make sure to anchor it into the ice. Then we can take turns guarding while the other fishes from inside the E-dome!”

Two hours later, with five decent-sized fish, the pair used sticks to cook them over a fire and shared a meal of fish and water made from freshly melted snow. Fairfax held up one of the fish and waved the instructor over.

The Explorer Corps sergeant came over. He eyed the two before slinging his rifle. He sat on a fallen tree and shared the meal with the pair. “Very impressive. I have shadowed fourth year Explorer cadets who didn’t do nearly as well as you two, and normally we take three or four out on each test module so they have more manpower, eyes, and can help each other better. Your performance thus far has been tremendous!

“Even more impressive, we have never done a deep winter course this intensive. Everything we have added makes this a great deal harder. Yet, you are blowing past all expectations. All you have to do is put it all together in the final.”

Diane gave Fairfax a playful nudge, “Pretty sure with him on my team, we won’t have a problem. He’s aced every module.”

“With help,” Fairfax stated. “It’s a team effort; all of this is. Come on, let’s double-check our gear so we don’t forget anything and get to the extraction point. I don’t want Ajax beating me again.”

Diane helped Fairfax adjust his pack over his coat and did a quick sweep of the area. They made sure the fire was out and moved at a good pace towards the clearing where the lander would extract them.

Both kids frowned when they found an empty field. They checked to make sure they were at the correct place before shooting the instructor a puzzled look.

The man moved up, grinned, and eyed the two kids. “The shuttle is doing an overfly looking for fires in areas the landers flew over the last few days. I can get it here in less than half an hour or you can set up camp and wait for the other two testing pairs.”

He smirked as he held up his radio. “So do I call in for early transport or do you want to stick it out for the last three to four hours?”

Fairfax glanced over to Diane, “Those stuck out here need every chance they can get. Besides, I gotta get up at 0430 for a full day of Geothermal Dangers tomorrow. I’d love a nap before we head back, but it’s up to you.”

“I need to get used to camping in the snow if we are going to go after teams in the mountains.” Diane stated without hesitation. “And you’re right. Those lost out here need the flyer more than we do.” Diane then grinned fiendishly, “And I bet we can keep each other nice and warm while we wait.”

The testing instructor snickered as the pair quickly set up an E-dome. “I’ll keep watch for you two. But if I am going to be stuck out in this weather, I expect more rest than kissing.”

Diane wrapped her arms around Fairfax and kissed him on the cheek. “I think we can get in a little bit of both in three hours.”

Before Fairfax could do more than blush and gulp, Diane all but pulled him into the E-dome.

A few hills and several kilometers away, Ajax glanced over to his exercise testing partner. “You OK?”

Sean nodded, but also shivered. He wiped snow off his facemask before focusing in on the younger boy. “Without this,” he held up his note-puter, “I’d be totally lost. I can’t make out any landmarks… and this is the coldest I’ve ever been!”

Ajax took a knee in heavy wet snow. While he was not nearly as winded as Sean, the chance to take a few minutes was welcome. “We can stop and warm up. We still have a few hours and only about eight kilometers to the pick-up point.”

Sean also took a knee but shook his head. “No… I mean it would be great and if we were on normal ISTAZ, I’d have already begged for a us to hole up. But…” he scanned the woods. “I can’t help but think about those missing. We are in brand-new winter clothing, boots, gloves, have mittens, face shields, goggles, and even snowshoes. We even have portable solar-recharging heater units for our E-dome. Those stranded out here have little to none of what we have.

“I can’t jump into a warm E-dome when they have to be freezing, or if they managed to get to lower altitudes, will soon.” With a deep breath Sean stood and adjusted his pack.

Ajax held up a hand. “We both need to get our breath back and warm our hands and feet. Neither of us will do those stuck out here any good if we twist an ankle or get frostbite.”

Ajax moved up to Sean, pulled out four thin strips from his pack, and pushed buttons on the top. He then pulled out cold ones before he slid the rapidly warming strips into pouches on the outsides of Sean’s boots and gloves.

“Those are yours…”

“And you used yours up and are shivering again. It’s the first sign of hypo… um… being too cold.”

The shadowing instructor moved up and patted Ajax on the back. Her voice showed high praise. “Hypothermia, and you are totally correct. But so is Sean. Those are yours. Once they cool, you two are out of heating strips.”

Ajax shook his head. “Nope. I have two more sets. All of us in Team Five do.”

Sean looked over, “Including the chargers, you are carrying close to an extra two kilos!”

“Yeah,” Ajax forced a grin. “With Gavin on our team we figured they’d all get used even if the rest of us never need them!”

The woman laughed, “Some people are just not cold loving creatures.”

Ajax let out a humor-filled snort. “Gavin’s cold-blooded, like to the core!”

Sean let out a breath of relief as he moved his hands inside his gloves. After a couple of minutes, he let out a long sigh. He watched his breath dissipate into the storm before he spoke, “I’m glad you have extras, but they are still yours…”

Ajax shook his head hard. “Robin says nothing the team carries belongs to one person. It belongs to the team. Even stuff we owned before we got here…” He shrugged as he continued. “Not that Fairfax and I had much. But Robin’s right. We can’t be a team if we see gear as ours and ours alone. Once we get out here, it’s a team thing or we all lose and so do those stuck out here.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” the instructor stated. “Attitudes like that are vital to success out here.”

Ajax smirked, “Try living at street level. Without others watching your back, no one would make it.” He rolled his neck and stood, “You ready or do you need more time?”

“With the warming strips I’m good. Right now, I just want to get to the shuttle and get out of this stupid storm!”

“OK, but if you need a break, we take one. We can always break out an E-dome and share body heat if you get too cold. I’d prefer to be late and risk a failure than you getting too cold or worse, hurt. Also stay behind me. It will be easier for you to walk in my footsteps.”

“I should be up front blazing you a trail.” Sean grumbled in frustration. “I’m two years older!”

“You live in a tower in Rich-Folk. How many times have you actually been out in snow and cold?”

Sean’s head dropped as he whispered. “Only once until I came to Zong…” He chewed on his lower lip before continuing. “A few months ago, my school class won a week trip to the ski domes around Steam-Vail… but we stayed in a 190-story building with a few hundred other classes from all over who also won the same trip.

“Anyway, it was great, but we only went outside the ski domes and building twice… many needed oxygen enhancer masks… I didn’t; but outside it was colder than in the ski domes and the snow was nastier.

“While most of my class was freaked out, I loved it. Many only went to the ski dome one or two days, I went every day. Even weirder to me, almost no one took the second trip out on the mountain. Only nine others did, including Jason and Tasha. It’s where I first met them… It’s also when I knew I was going to do ISTAZ on my one guaranteed trip here… But then my name number got picked in the Adventure Quest Lotto, and even weirder I was slotted on the same two-week training as both of them. I guess because they were also lotto winners. We almost formed the core of a single team, but there were several others in our two-week training who wanted to do ISTAZ. One of our instructors told us older kids we should split up to help form more teams with younger ones who wanted to try, so I joined with Steve. It’s kind of crazy. He told me his class won the same trip. He was either right before mine or after. We just missed meeting each other at Steam-Vail.

“It’s bizarre how it all worked out with all being in the same camp and all… Even wilder, we all would have been able to come back next year… Don’t have to worry about it now, cause I’m volunteering to come back here to help at an ISTAZ camp no matter how much extra work I have to do.”

Sean took another deep breath, “But this snow is… well this storm is insane, but even as cold as I am, it’s amazing… and way better than the man-made snow in the ski domes!”

“I had no idea snow was supposed to be this white… It sure ain’t on the floor of Chi-Troit.” Ajax shuddered involuntarily. “But you really don’t… can’t get what being at street level is like. Your couple of times outside wherever Steam-Vail is… It can’t be the same as living in super cold weather for weeks at a time. Remember, I lived all but the last few months at street level. Yeah, we broke into buildings and junk, but most of the time was between them.

“Being out here is nothing compared to trudging over piles of trash and smelly brown snow, hiding from gangs, while snagging anything and everything usable to survive on the floor of Chi-Troit in the middle of winter.”

Ajax saw Sean cringe. “Look, I’m not holding it against ya or nothing. It’s what it is. If anything, I’m glad you don’t have to know what it’s like at street level.”

Before Ajax could say more, Sean wrapped his arms around him. “I’m sorry… I wish…” Sean gulped. “You’re an Explorer now. So never again.”

Ajax wiped at the corners of his eyes without breaking the unexpected hug. After several seconds of silence, he gave Sean a nod of thanks, looked at his note-puter, got his bearings, and moved in the direction of the landing point.

Sean continued to struggle. An hour and only four kilometers later, the two took a break out of the wind and snow by crouching behind an outcropping of rock. Ajax moved up to Sean, “Let’s break out the E-dome. We can combine our sleeping bags, warm, eat a meal pack and rest.”

Sean eyed the smaller boy for several seconds. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

Sean looked away, “Because I… you’re…”

Ajax looked up and let the snow hit him in the face. “Let me guess; you think I’m cute.”

Sean’s head jerked hard as his eyes went wide. “How’d you…? Um, NO!”

“Oh, come on! Stop.”

“But… um… But I’m older and…”

Ajax lowered his head and shook it. “Less than two years. And don’t worry. It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone.” He looked into Sean’s eyes. “You may not believe this, but the hug you gave me earlier felt great. If you want to give me another because you care or because you think I look good, doesn’t matter to me. I’d still like a few more from you… There wasn’t time for too many living at street level and there certainly weren’t any caring hugs in the orphanage!”

Sean moved over and cautiously wrapped his arms around Ajax. Once he was sure it was really going to be accepted and squeezed a little tighter. “Consider this both me caring and thinking you’re cute.”

“Two for one,” Ajax snickered. “Even better.”

Sean squeezed even tighter. “You deserved, still do, deserve more. You are… very special.”

Ajax rested his head on Sean’s upper arm for several seconds. He had to blink out a few tears. “You can give me as many of these as you want. Now how about we break out the E-dome, and warm up for an hour or two?”

“As tempting as it is, I want to pass this module. Even more important, I don’t want you to fail it, so let’s try to make it back to the pick-up?”

“OK, if you’re sure. But a nap with you wouldn’t bother me.”

“Maybe I can find a way to take you up on one or two before we leave Zong.”

“Look forward to it,” Ajax responded with a grin.

Two hours later, with Sean really struggling, Ajax looked at the clearing with a cringe.

Behind him, Sean dropped to his knees in the snow. “No lander?! But…” he shivered badly and tried to hug himself.

Ajax moved behind Sean and wrapped his arms around him. With one hand he checked the location on his note-puter. “We’re in the right spot… Stay balled up so you conserve heat. I’ll put up the dome…” He suddenly spotted the E-dome set up on the edge of the woods on the far side when a gust of wind parted the snow for a few seconds. “Someone’s already here. Come on. Let’s get you to the dome!”

Sean forced himself to stand and nodded, “OK, but… but where… where’s the transport?”

“Doesn’t matter. Once we get you in the dome, we’ll share heat and warm you back up. You should have told me you were getting this cold! We could have set the E-dome and warmed you up!”

“It’s more about the snow and the weight of the pack…” Sean stammered. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“You can’t just stop on the floor of a CHZ. You keep going till you find someplace basically safe or you don’t make it at all.” He glanced over, “Hold on to the back of my pack. I’ll help pull you…” Ajax bit back a wince as extra wight was put on his pack.

He continued forward all but pulling the older and taller boy with every step. At the same time, he opened the door in his mind and set out a thought, ‘Fairfax, if you’re in there, I need help!’

The response was groggy, but quick. ‘Huh, Ajax?’

‘Yeah! Sean is in bad shape! Help!’

‘Give me a sec to get dressed!’ Less than a minute later, Fairfax jumped out of the E-dome and bolted across the wide field even as he fought to zip up his coat. “Sean! Fairfax! You, OK?”

Ajax let out a long breath. “He’s wiped and cold…” A thought quickly followed. ‘And I could use a break.’

’I got him.’

‘No just grab his pack. I’ll get him to the dome.’

‘Drop your pack. I’ll take both!’

Ajax nodded even as he did so. ‘Great idea, and thanks.’

‘You want me to warm him up?’

‘No, let me.’ Ajax couldn’t help but grin, ‘He thinks I’m cute and I’m pretty sure Oliver has dibs on you!’

‘You are cute, and yeah Oliver likes me… But the only reason I’m his go to is because Robin isn’t terribly interested, and Troy isn’t on our team.’

Ajax had to cover his mouth and fake a cough to hide a burst of laughter, ‘Next to Robin, Troy’s definitely the cutest boy in the camp.’

‘Not what Sara thinks.’

‘Gavin’s hers for sure.’ Ajax nodded in agreement.

Fairfax grabbed both packs and shouted, “Diane! Sean is really shivering! Fire up my dome heater! It’s in the lower left side of my pack!” However, he couldn’t hide the smirk on his face from the unspoken conversation.

Diane’s head poked out of the E-dome, then quickly disappeared back inside. Her voice was muffled, “On it, but how… how did you know they were even out there?”

“Jus… jussst glad… he did.” Sean managed to answer through chattering teeth as he got to the tent.

“Get everything off him!” Diane barked as she pulled on a thermal undershirt. “He can get in the bags Fairfax and I were using with me or…”

“I’ll jump in with him,” Ajax responded as he tossed his coat off to the side and started to undress. “His hands and feet should OK. The heat from the warming strips should still be active.”

Sean took a few deep breaths and spoke even as Fairfax and Diane stripped him down. “They… they are… I just thought… once we got here I… I could… get to the ship and warm up…”

“You should know better,” Diane snapped. “You endangered both you and Ajax.”

Sean shook his head as Fairfax and Diane all but shoved him into their zipped together sleeping bags. “No… not really. Ajax, he kept checking on me. If… if we weren’t so close… to the pick-up…”

Diane shook her head. “You should have stopped, or at least been honest with Ajax! And you know it!”

Ajax shed his snow-covered outer clothing quickly. He tossed his dry underclothing in a separate pile, so it didn’t get wet before sliding in with Sean. “Damn! You are cold! You should have told me!”

Sean took some deep breaths and nodded even as Ajax wrapped him in a hug.

A few minutes later both instructors poked their head into the dome. The woman spoke. “You got him?”

Ajax gripped Sean tighter even as he nodded. “He’s still shaking, but not as bad. We’ll get him some warm liquid and I’ll stay with him.”

She took a reading with some kind of medical scanner and took a deep breath, “His core is still OK, but he has early exposure. You two came damned close to failing, but… I could tell you were keeping a close eye on him. But next time…”

Ajax stroked Sean’s hair. “Won’t be a next time. We’ll stop way before this. I just didn’t realize… He was able to talk and answer questions, and I knew his hands and feet were warm… It’s what the manual tells us to check for…”

“And you did it all. But sometimes you need to go with your gut. Which was all but screaming to you back at the rock you two used for cover. You wanted to break out the dome and warm up. Next time, don’t chance it.”

“Never again.”

The male sergeant patted the sleeping bag, “Then you both learned something far more valuable than any book teaching could possibly teach. And once you realized just how bad the situation was, you did everything right. Even you, Sean. You let these three take care of you. Just enough to pass, but damned sure not an Outstanding…”

“But probably a great deal more valuable than one.” The woman stated. “Keep him warm and get him to eat. We still need the last two to get here, but we can call in the shuttle if you want.”

“No.” Sean managed to answer. “Part of me being dumb and pushing this hard is I know there are others out here in way worse shape than I am… They need to be found way more than I need a warm flyer.” He forced a smile, “Besides, Ajax is taking great care of me.”

“Yes, he is.” The woman agreed even as she did a second scan of both boys. “Your readings are already better. Just get some rest, eat, and fully warm up.”

Fairfax glanced at the time on his note-puter. “Only an hour and forty minutes left on the test. Any word from Denny and Allen?”

The sergeant shook his head, “Nothing since the last check-in with their shadow over an hour ago. They got their fish cooked and were heading back. I’m sure the weather is slowing them down. We didn’t expect this bad of a storm.”

Diane cringed, “Without all the gear, I don’t know what I’d do!”

Fairfax shook his head. “Down on the streets of Chi-Troit, we’d build makeshift shelters out of trash and sleep in one big group, sometimes with other SL families to create as much heat as possible.”

“Same here,” Ajax stated from inside the sleeping bags. “We also wore lots of layers of whatever we could find.”

Sean shivered as much from the words as still being cold. “I sure hope those stuck out here, have someone like you two… and found a good place to bed down.”

The woman patted the bag, “So do we kids. Now get some rest.”

The pair of adults zipped the dome shut and spoke softly, but not quietly enough to prevent being overheard by those in the dome. The woman spoke first. “Close call, but a great real-life lesson we can’t teach in a class.”

“Agreed, and what an amazing reaction out of Fairfax!” The sergeant stated. “But I don’t see how he could have known they were out there. I was on guard and didn’t see them until Fairfax sprinted out of the dome.”

“I could barely make out the dome, yet Fairfax came out shouting both their names.” The woman agreed. “I’ve never seen anything like it…” She shrugged, “I guess both of them being SLOs taught them something we just can’t grasp.”

Inside the dome Diane glanced back and forth between Ajax and Fairfax. “How did you know?”

While Ajax pulled Sean even closer, Fairfax grinned but said nothing.

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