Shaping Faith: Chapter 17

The structure of this new base was a lot more intimate than their old one, which Verona liked. For one thing, everything was smaller and there were maybe two dozen people total. They generally held practices and trainings together, although Verona and Kyle were told they would have some one-on-one sessions to make up for their lack of experience.

The layout was a lot simpler, too. The sleeping quarters were on one end - large communal rooms, one for men and one for women. Down a short hallway was the mess hall, and further beyond that were the training facilities. As far as Verona could tell, nothing was restricted, and there were no Guides to watch them closely. If that hadn’t been sign enough that they had moved up a level in trust, the fact that Blocking field over this base only blocked teleporting, not twin connections, cinched it.

After her conversation with Analia, Verona spent the rest of the day feeling as if someone had lit a cozy fire in her chest, and she threw herself into training even more than she had before. That evening, they were practicing strategic thinking.

The strategy room wouldn’t have looked out of place in an arcade. It wasn’t a large room, but it was packed with several different machines with various strategy games. Nobody officially kept track of scores, but Verona had learned quickly that that didn’t mean the games weren’t competitive.

This “class” was one they all took together. Most of the others were for either the tech people or the field agents, but the higher-ups apparently thought it was a good idea for everyone to have a decent understanding of tactics. It was sound logic, in Verona’s mind.

And none of them were likely to complain – the games were fun. The types of game ranged from the single person rendezvous mission to a complex military battle with hundreds of troops and ships.

Verona loved the intricate war games, although she didn’t consider herself very good at them. Kyle, on the other hand, preferred the first person missions, so they didn’t play together often. Verona knew he had been trying to beat the highest level on one of them, and sure enough as they filed into the room he went straight for it.

Today, Verona called Merea over to the Battle Stations game, where each player was the commander of her respective strike forces. One player defended a randomly chosen location, while the other tried to take it. Resources were also randomized. As the commander, the players themselves rarely fought, making it entirely about tactics.

“Mind if I’m attacking this time?” she asked Merea, who sat across from her, face hidden by the monitor and control panel. Commands – mostly a wide variety of pre-programmed movements that could be compiled into something resembling a plan – were either selected from the screen or typed in manually. It wasn’t as flexible as a real life situation would be, but games could never be perfect.

“No, that’s fine. Normal mode?”

“Sounds good.” Verona made a few final adjustments and pressed play.

After a moment for the game to generate, the screen cleared to show the inside of a standard military hovercar, which would serve as her squad’s base of operations. Radio reports rolled in as her scouts fed her information about the basic scenario, and the layout and structure of the hideout they would be assaulting. Verona would have preferred written information, but that wouldn’t have been realistic.

She started typing in orders as quickly as she could. If she was lucky, Merea would still be getting used to the setup and have trouble absorbing the attack.

Verona’s first wave was repelled, but soon she was able to find a simple, nonsensical flaw in Merea’s defenses, and from there the game proceeded quickly, taking only a few minutes. After the game, Verona looked over at Merea.

“What was that all about?” she asked. “I shouldn’t be able to beat you that easily. You’re better than that.”

“Yeah, I know, all right?” said Merea. “I was being stupid.”

She seemed mad enough at herself already, so Verona dropped the matter. “Do you want to play again?”

“No, I think I’ll just go play some of the singleplayer ones.”

Now Verona had no one to play with, and she didn’t feel like practicing by herself, so she wandered over to where a small group had congregated around a middle-aged man with a salt-and-pepper beard and a younger woman with long, dark hair engaged in an intense hovercar chase. She thought the man’s name was Ivan, but she didn’t know the woman’s name.

Verona watched closely, captivated. The controls were simple enough, but incredibly versatile, and the two seemed an even match in both strategy and reaction time. They had to swerve around buildings, dodging other cars and each other’s fire, but they made it look almost easy. Verona itched to try her hand at the controls.

The battle culminated in a clever shot by Ivan, and the woman’s hovercar spiraled to the earth in a barely controlled crash landing. Then END GAME blinked on the screen and the group applauded.

The group started to disperse, but Verona lingered, wondering if she could play. Finally, she screwed up her courage and addressed Ivan. “Hey, can I try it out?”

“Sure,” he said. “Do you have someone to play with you?”

“No, I don’t actually,” Verona confessed.

“Want me to play?”

Verona hesitated – she didn’t think she could beat him and she didn’t want to embarrass herself. But she didn’t have anyone else to play with, so she agreed.

The game was long and drawn out. They were approaching the twenty-minute mark when Verona, hiding behind a building with all of her systems powered down as Ivan looked for her, realized he had left his flank exposed. Her breath caught in her throat, she squeezed the trigger, and Ivan’s car spun to the earth.

Verona frowned, not quite believing that she had won. Could it really have been that easy?

“Nice job,” Ivan said from across the table, smiling oddly. “How about a rematch?”

Then it clicked. “You were going easy on me!”

Ivan rubbed the back of his head, looking slightly ashamed. “Well, yeah. I mean, it’s your first time playing.”

“Let’s have a rematch, then. And this time, don’t go easy.”

“Are you sure?”

Verona nodded. She wanted to know how good she actually was.

The game began and ended within five minutes. Verona thought she had thrown him off the trail, but it turned out to be a ruse so she would let her guard down, and before she knew it her hovercar was spiraling toward the ground just like the other woman’s had.

She shook Ivan’s hand cordially afterward, but inside she couldn’t help but be disappointed in herself.

Later that night, Verona had returned to her dorm and was lying in bed. Lights out was in ten minutes, but there was still a lot of general hubbub in the room. Most of the women were older than Verona, but not yet middle-aged, while Merea was the youngest by several years. Despite the wide range in background, it seemed the women could find something to talk about with ease.

“Why are you so happy today?” The attack came from Merea, who had paused by Verona’s bed on the way to the bathroom and was looking distinctly unhappy.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Verona retorted. She regretted it almost immediately, as Merea rolled her eyes and stalked off.

What’s eating her? Verona figured she should probably find out, so she followed Merea into the communal bathrooms. The younger girl was leaning on the sink, staring into the mirror with a twisted expression.

Verona put her hand on Merea’s shoulder. “Merea, I’m sorry. What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Merea insisted, turning around and trying to act natural. “But you’ve been acting like you just won the lottery all day.”

Verona wanted to press her, but she decided that maybe telling Merea her good news first would open her up for discussion. “I...talked with my twin today. We used to be really close, but after Mother’s death and everything else… Anyway, it went well. We had fun.”

Merea lips curled upwards into a small smile, and she moved away from the sink. “That’s really great, Verona.”

“Yeah,” Verona said. “It’s not fun, not being on speaking terms with someone who’s like a part of yourself.”

Merea nodded, then so quietly that Verona could barely hear it, said, “I wouldn’t know.”

“What do you mean?” Verona asked, surprised. Had she never fought with her twin before?

Merea looked at the floor, as if embarrassed. “I’m… actually singleborn.”

“Oh.” They were uncommon, but not rare. Occasionally, the zygote didn’t divide at the three day mark like it was supposed to. Verona’s first reaction was to say “I’m sorry,” but Merea didn’t even know what she was missing. How could she?

“It’s not a big deal.” If anything, the girl looked more miserable than before.

Verona put the information out of her mind and focused on Merea’s current state. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she figured she could at least offer a listening ear.

She took Merea’s hand and pulled her back out of the bathroom, dodging around one of the other women. “Come on. Let’s sit down and you can tell me what’s wrong.”

They settled down on Verona’s bed, Verona putting her arm around the younger girl. She was sniffling now, so Verona handed her a few tissues in advance. “What is it? Are you scared of something? Worried?”

A couple of the other women gave them concerned looks as they passed, wondering if they should intervene, but Verona shook her head at them and mouthed “It’s fine.”

“It’s… not important, really. Life is so much better here.” She leaned into Verona, and Verona patted her a bit awkwardly, not really sure what to do. She decided to keep quiet and let Merea do all the talking.

“But earlier today...I was so useless. I didn’t even understand half the technical terms they were using, and someone had to explain to me each step of the repairs we did. Everyone else is just so much older and more competent. It’s like I’m a charity case.”

Verona suppressed the wild urge to laugh. That was exactly how she felt about herself, especially after watching the practices earlier today. The truth was, Verona was pretty sure Merea was just here so she and Kyle weren’t split up. But she wasn’t about to tell Merea that.

“Of course not,” she said in a reassuring voice. “Sure, you’re not as experienced as the older folks, but you’re pretty good with tech for your age. They see that in you, and that’s why you’re here. You’re not supposed to know everything yet.”

Merea didn’t respond immediately, but she seemed to relax a bit, so Verona took that as a victory. She rested her head on Verona’s shoulder for a moment more, and Verona heard her murmur “I just want to be useful.”

Then, as if realizing she had let her guard down, Merea pulled away from Verona and stood up. “It’s almost lights out - I should get in bed.”

Verona watched her go, feeling sure she hadn’t really helped at all.