Chapter 3 - The Suites
"This is your suite," Peter Lomax told the younger men, "There are three rooms here along with a shared bathroom. One of those rooms is mine, the smallest one. The other two both have three beds each. This open area in front of the bathroom and my room is the common area. This is where we’ll be conducting small group activities."
"Gotta love shared quarters," Copeland Steele muttered, not liking the idea much.
"Only three is going to be cool for me," Simon Sutcliffe grinned, "I’ve had to share a room with four of my younger brothers for years. I’m glad to be getting out of there."
"Ok," Lomax said, "Steele, Sutcliffe and Suvorov get the room on the right. The rest of you get the one on the left."
"Great," Suvorov sneered, "I get to room with these two pipsqueaks."
"I assure you," Simon said, mischief in his eyes, "We’re just about as thrilled about the prospect as you are."
Suvorov said nothing and went into the room, taking the bed on the right and moving it as far from the other two as he could. Neither Steele nor Sutcliffe really had any problems with that, as they didn’t like Suvorov anymore than he seemed to like them.
"Lovely fellow, isn’t he?" Copeland said to Simon as he walked in, "So which side do you want?"
"I’ll flip you for having to take the one closest to Suvorov," Simon offered, pulling out an empire stainless steel coin.
"Deal," Steele said, "You flip I’ll call in the air."
Simon flipped the coin in the air and Copeland waited for half a second before calling what he wanted.
"Mullinix," Copeland said just as Simon caught the coin.
The Mullinix Empire currency came in decimal units, with coins being the smallest of them. On one side of the coin was an image of the Mullinix that was in power when it was stamped, the other side was a generic logo for the empire, said to have been designed by Marcus Mullinix himself. Simon waited for a second to build up the suspense before raising his hand and showing Copeland the smiling picture of Insegniferro.
"Good call," Simon grumped, "I guess I’ll get the middle bed."
While the three boys were getting their stuff unpacked Pete Lomax came into the room and looked at the way things were positioning out. He was slightly concerned by Suvorov’s apparent isolation, but knew from what little he’d seen of the large man that it was probably for the best.
"Looks like you’re getting settled," Lomax said, nodding his approval, "You three have got about thirty minutes before the evening meal. All of us in this unit will get to eat together at a table in the hall. Most of the time we’ll just be coming back from classes and seeing each other for the first time that day."
"Do we have to see each other at all?" Suvorov asked hopefully.
"Yes," Lomax nodded, "Part of the training here is getting to know each other. That’s how you learn to work with people."
"Guess that lets Suvorov out," Simon muttered, catching a stern look from Suvorov and a giggle from Copeland.
"Enough of that," Lomax said shaking his head, "I’ll see you guys in a few. Get ready for the absolute best in mediocre food."
Copeland and Suvorov looked puzzled at that remark but Simon actually laughed. He’d heard about the food in the academy from his older brothers. It had its few proponents, but for the most part it was legendary in its mediocrity.
"The food here is nothing to write home about," Simon explained, "It is about as mediocre as it can really be without actually being bad. There are legends here about just how much work it takes to make something quite so tasteless."
"You really know how to build up a meal," Copeland said distastefully.
"Better than our boys at the front have," Suvorov sneered, "What I wouldn’t give to be out with them, sitting by the fire in the off time before the next fight."
"You need some serious help," Copeland said, looking at Suvorov, "You actually want to be out there where people are getting killed?"
"I want to be the one killin’ em!" Suvorov exclaimed, "You don’t win wars by dying, you win them by killing the enemy!"
"Why do you want to be in a war?" Simon asked him, "That’s what I don’t get."
"My family has been in the army for generations," Suvorov said proudly, "A member of my family has died in every major war we’ve ever had. I intend to honor their memories and be the best soldier for the Mullinix I can be."
"I guess I can understand that," Copeland shrugged, "More power to you, Suvorov."
"Come on, guys," Lomax said, popping his head into the room, "It’s time to eat."
Suvorov was the first one up and ready to go. Simon, knowing the food would be only fair to middling was slower. Copeland, who had never eaten with more than four people at once in his life was not thrilled about doing it and dragged his feet. Simon almost had to drag him along.
"Come on!" Simon exclaimed, "You’ll be older than Taliaferro by the time we get there at this rate!"
That was something Copeland Steele thought he could live with.