John Ringo - There Will Be Dragons

“I never turn down free hooch.” Gunny chuckled. “And, yeah, you were right; he can hang. He ended up dragging one of his friends all the way to the top. I think she would have made it on her own so I didn’t jump his ass. But while he didn’t exactly carry her, he was definitely a support. He’ll do.”

“He’s acting like the devil is on his tail all the time,” Edmund commented, pouring out two glasses. “There’s more to whatever went on with him and Daneh than she’ll tell me. But watch him; he’s liable to do something stupid and heroic. We need all the trained troops we can get; losing that one to his own stupidity would… annoy me.”

“Will do,” Gunny said, downing the bourbon. “Not bad.”

“I laid it down years ago,” Edmund replied, taking a gulp himself. “How are the rest of the recruits?”

“They made it to the top of the hill which means they really want to be here. We’ll just have to see how they train up.” He paused and frowned. “I sometimes find it difficult to remember that we were once as foolish as these young folks.”

“Yep,” Edmund admitted. “And the reality of it is that you have to have people as foolish as this because we’re no longer dumb enough to do what has to be done.”

“The scary part is that they look up to us,” Gunny said, chewing on his stogie. “We’re like Gods to them. Some of them know, intellectually, that we’re just as human as they are. And a few can even figure out that once upon a time we were Just Like Them. The better of them, sure. But not even like the best .”

“Yuh,” Talbot grunted. “It seems like the best of our old companions didn’t make it this far.”

“And when we were like them, somebody that we looked up to kicked our ass into line. We are born in imperfection, Edmund.”

“We are that,” Edmund grimaced. “And no matter how hard I have tried, I think we’re going for the simplicity of imperfection.”

“Clarify?” Gunny said. “You’re not talking about the training program, are you?”

“No,” Edmund sighed. “The Constitution of the United Free States has been drafted. It’s got provisions for both aristocracy and de facto feudalism included. No matter what I did.”

“Does it directly affect us?” Gunny said.

“Only in the aristocracy provisions,” Talbot snarled. “I managed to include a provision that local governments could declare themselves ‘serfdom free’ within their local charters. We’re chartered in Overjay, a geographical area with Washan, Warnan and a few others, including Rowana, which is not a member.”

“What about military forces?” Gunny asked, cutting to the part that was important to him.

“Well, I got an amendment that full voters have to show capability to use arms, but the feudal states got a provision that ‘secondary citizens’ are to be unarmed and they count towards their voters even if they can’t vote. Local citizenry raises its own weaponry and provides for its own defense. Professional military forces swear oath to the United Free States. And I’m pretty sure I’m going to get the Academy listed as a part of the professional military force.”

“What about the legions?” Gunny asked. “Is that going to be the main force? Or are we going to have to take whatever comes to a muster?”

“Well, the question is, who is going to be in charge?” Edmund replied with a chuckle. “The secret here is to have the best plan at the beginning and get the forces formed around yours. We’ll have more than legions in the long term, but hopefully that will be the core force. On the other hand, the Kents have gone almost entirely towards cavalry. If we can get them to join the UFS, and they’re balking badly, it would be stupid to put them on foot. On the other hand, most of the city states are concentrating on infantry. And who’s got the best infantry?”

“We do,” Rutherford said, assuredly.

“That’s right.”

“So,” Gunny said, changing the subject. “How’s Daneh?”

“Getting weird on me.”

When Edmund got home, his curtains had been replaced.

Indeed, on walking into his front room, he wasn’t sure he was in the right house. The furniture had been rearranged, two of his favorite tapestries were gone and the big table that he was wont to pile stuff on until he figured out what to do with it had disappeared.

Daneh was in the middle of the room, on her hands and knees, measuring the floor with a piece of string.

“What are you doing?” he asked, carefully.

“Measuring for carpets,” Daneh replied, making a note.

“I like tile,” Edmund said.

“I know you do,” Daneh replied, getting up off her knees with some effort. She had started to show lately and it was affecting her balance. “But, do you have any idea how uncomfortable tile is when your ankles are swelling and your feet feel like your arches are falling?”

“You’re not that far along, yet,” he temporized.

“No,” she smiled. “That’s why I’m measuring for carpets now.”

“Is this a pregnant thing?” he asked, carefully. She had had a tendency to snap his head off lately if he asked searching questions about her “delicate condition.”

“I don’t know,” she replied cheerfully. “But whether it is or not, you’re getting carpet.”

“And where is it coming from?”

“I met this nice girl named Shilan who is one of the apprentice weavers. And since the sheep dropped and we’ve got a bit of an excess of wool at the moment, and since the new powered mill is experimenting with different weaves, she thought she could get me some piled wool carpet. That’s where the curtains came from, too.”

“And my tapestries?” he asked cautiously.

“They’re out in your workshop,” she answered. “What do you want for supper?”

After a hearty dinner the recruits spent the night in bunkhouses that had been cleared out for them and were woken before dawn by one of the sergeants walking through, banging on a metal shield.

“Up and at ’em, rise and shine, it’s another beautiful day in the legions,” the sergeant said. “Ten minutes for the jakes then fall out in front of the barracks.”

Herzer lined up for the latrines — there were only two seats available for the whole group — then washed sketchily in a rain barrel. Finally he joined the mob in front of the bunkhouse.

“We’re not going to try to move you around in formations, yet,” the sergeant said after doing a headcount, “because you’d just be falling over your own feet. So if you’d just follow me in your customary cluster fisk and try not to fall too far behind, we’ll go get you in-processed.

The gaggle followed him to a series of buildings near the base of the western hills. These were more substantial than most of the “temporary” buildings that had been thrown up to handle the refugee influx and Herzer suspected they had supported the annual Faire. They gathered outside the first and then went in one by one.

The room inside had been separated into two by a series of rough tables. On one side were a few civilians and on the other were piles of rough cloth and more than twenty women hastily sewing uniforms from it.

“My, you’re a big one,” the man who seemed to be in charge said. “Katie, I’m going to need an XXL for this one,” the man called, pulling a string from around his neck. “What’s your inseam, big-boy?”

“I have no idea,” Herzer replied. “What’s an inseam?”

“The length of the inside of your thigh,” the man replied, squatting down and measuring it. He chuckled at Herzer’s discomfort. “That’s exactly why I told the silly gunnery sergeant you weren’t to strip until after this bit! I need a forty-four inseam, Katie!”