Anarchistbanjo's World

Chapter 20

Somehow Tobal didn’t feel that optimistic about the planned expedition but didn’t have any right or authority to stop them. Perhaps Crow was right. Perhaps the village did need some form of protection. He was feeling moody as he walked away from the group. Becca came with him.

“I’m not very good company right now,” he warned.

“I’ll risk it,” she said.

Neither one said much as they watched the preparations for the three newbies that were going to be initiated that evening and got something to eat. It was so cold wind breaks had been set up around the fires to bounce the heat back. Most people seemed to either stay inside or near the fire pits used for cooking. They ate by one of the cooking pits.

“May I ask something?” He finally said.

“Sure,” Becca answered through a mouthful of tasty stew.

“Why last month?” He asked. “Why did you come to me like that?”
“Was it wrong?” She asked wiping her mouth clean with her hand and looking
up at him with those green eyes.

“No,” he whispered. “It was exactly right. I just don’t know if I could have ever come to you that way. I was too messed up or afraid or something.”

“I was afraid too,” she said thoughtfully. “Then when we kissed it was so good and later you gave me that present. Look,” she said. “I’m still wearing it. She pulled the carved owl out from where it had been hiding within her parka. It was Anne that really helped. She read my palm that day and told me I would loose the one I loved unless I acted immediately to keep him from leaving.”

“Really?” He asked curiously. “Where would I have gone?”

“To Melanie,” was her simple reply. “This has been kind of hard on her cause
she really likes you too.”

Tobal flushed, “You and Melanie talk about this stuff?”

She put her bowl down and came over to him, pinning him back against a windbreak. She laughed.

“We women talk about everything.”

“Everything?”

“Everything!”

“Well then, I’m going to keep my mouth shut around all of you.”

She set his bowl down and kissed him. “It won’t do any good. We’ll just tell stories then.”

“What kind of stories,” he undid some of the buttons on her parka and reached inside. She gasped in pleasure and their embrace was much longer than the last one. No thought of continuing the conversation. They were lost in the moment and in each other.

“Hey, some of us are trying to eat around here.” Nikki and Melanie had brought their own bowls of stew to eat by the fire.

“Becca, are you saving any for us?” Nikki quipped.

Tobal flushed.

Becca just nuzzled closer, “No, you’ve got to get your own.”

Together all four cleaned the dishes and moved toward the circle where the initiations were about to begin. It was cold and they took up positions next to a wind break that shielded one of the signal fires. As long as they stayed out of the wind it was all right.

Misty was HighPriestess that night and both she and the High Priest wore furs. The circle seemed much smaller than usual. There was a strong wind with drifting snow even in the sheltered valley and no one seemed anxious to dance around the fire clothed or not.

Tobal felt sorry for the new initiates that had to stand blind folded in such a wind with shortened tunics even if they were right next to the bon fire. To his relief they were wrapped in blankets to prevent over exposure to the bitter cold. In all things safety was the over riding concern of the medics and Masters. Living in harsh conditions made one strong. Being foolish killed you.

They watched together as Nikki’s, Melanie’s, and Becca’s newbies were initiated. Afterward Tobal was introduced to Cheryl, Loki, and Bran, the new initiates.

“If you are not careful we will catch up to you,” Melanie warned. “Cheryl, Loki and Bran make three newbies apiece for each of us. You have only trained one more than us.”

“I know.” Tobal frowned. “Why rub it in?”

The girls laughed and hugged him. “We’re just teasing. Don’t be so serious all the time.”

Tobal had gotten his fourth chevron that morning and was eager to get training. He already felt it had been a major mistake on his part to sit out the last month. The boredom and solitude had almost driven him crazy. He had tried working on the meditations and exercises Crow had taught him but it had been hard to focus and concentrate. Much of the time his thoughts had kept going back to Becca and their growing involvement with each other. Somehow it seemed to push everything else away. He didn’t know what had happened to his self discipline.

Immediately after circle things were moved inside one of the permanent shelters and continued out of the bad weather. This had happened a few other times during heavy rain but was unusual. Clansmen believed in having circle outside rain or shine, hell or high water. They spent so much time in the elements it didn’t bother them much and they were dressed for it.

They found a warm corner and started to gather. By the time Ellen got there ten people were sitting around waiting to hear what she had learned. Needless to say, Ellen was not happy with everyone knowing about the rogues or about Crow taking an entire group to the village for a visit.

Finally she gave in and sat with them and talked about what she had found out in her research.

“I was able to tap into the city’s data base and look into the historical archives and records.” She began. ” Ron and Rachel Kane were scientists that lived in the city and developed the sanctuary training system.” She looked around the group. “Those are Tobal’s parents, for those of you that don’t already know.”

The look of surprise on a few faces told Tobal that at least a few hadn’t known.

Ellen continued her story. “The sanctuary program was originally a social experiment designed to create a utopian community of specially trained and competent individuals. It was a personality modifying program to create physically, emotionally and mentally healthy individuals with strong will power and high creative ability.

It was highly successful in creating individuals that seemed to be more highly motivated and competent than the norm found within the Federation itself. The graduates showed scores that were mentally, emotionally and physically superior to non graduates and it was no surprise when the military got involved and the project became classified. Heliopolis became a natural recruiting ground for highly competent leaders and soldiers. It was a city-state devoted to the development of the Ubermench or super human and the main recruiting ground for Federation Special Forces.

As time went on the graduates gained political power within Heliopolis itself and voted for political changes that challenged the values and life styles of the older citizens that had not participated or agreed with the social experiment. The citizenry split along lines that supported the social experiment and those that were against it.”

Here Ellen stopped and said thoughtfully, “There is a saying that old timers never change their minds, they just die off and the younger generation outlives them. That was not the case in Heliopolis. The changes were so fast and radical there was not enough time for mediation. The hostilities and tensions became so great it resulted in a massacre of several students and families living at the main Apprentice gathering spot and the deaths of Ron and Rachel Kane whose bodies were found floating in the lake nearby.”

Ellen broke off from her story to look around at the group. “It seems not only Tobal lost his parents then but Crow lost both parents and Sarah lost her mother. This was not in the official report but in what I have learned personally.”

Sarah was white faced and her fists were tightened. There were murmurs within the group until Crow stopped them.

“Let her finish.”

“These multiple murders created a military emergency and the entire city fell under martial law directed by the Federation and Tobal’s Uncle Harry Kane who was the commander in charge at the time. It was under his command that any of those connected with the murders were eliminated or deported and Heliopolis became a secret classified program controlled by Federation military.”

Tobal started. His uncle had said he was in charge of security, not that he had been Commander in charge of the entire project. There was obviously a lot his uncle had known about and not shared with him.

Ellen continued, “The military created a new program that allowed no children or elderly unless they were physically fit enough to make it through the three degree system. It was simply a system designed to create recruits for the Federation military. The thought was it created better soldiers.

The city of Heliopolis became a city of the elite ruled by the military, a city of supermen and superwomen if you will. The graduates were still human but something about the training eliminated dysfunctional areas and built strong healthy individuals that could out compete the average person in all areas.

This continued several years until enough data was available to compare the graduates of the sanctuary program with special military forces. It was here they showed radical differences. The graduates of the sanctuary program did not do well in the normal military. Studies confirmed that military training suppressed the individual and forced conformance to a rigid authoritarian structure that was simply not endurable to the average graduate. The graduates of the sanctuary program were individuals and not team players.

It was at this point the Federation lost much of its interest in the project and turned it back to civilian control. The Federation continued to recruit graduates for field operative positions and kept a mountain complex manned with military personnel for special training. They also agreed to share medical resources with the medics as they needed them.

Ellen stopped and looked around, “That was when the city was granted the right of self government. But only those that had completed the restructured sanctuary training were considered citizens with the right to vote. They voted to adopt the military’s program in favor of the earlier program run by Ron and Rachel Kane. The earlier program had consisted of the creation of a village with children and old people as an important part of the social research that was going on. There was no more interest in the creation of another ‘village’ in the wilderness. It was felt there were too many ‘Safety concerns’.”

The Citizens of Heliopolis maximized individual qualities under a loose structure of cooperative effort. The city itself gained in political power and influence even as it remained closed to normal trade and commerce. Its citizenry were active in the outer world owning companies and making directives that influenced world politics. They formed an elite pool of superior resources that fought for it’s own place in world politics. It was whispered that government research continued at a nearby secret mountain complex where Special Ops field agents were trained.”