Midshipman by Phil Geusz Read Free Book Online

I’d overheard Mr. Banes use the word “prodigy” to describe James more than once when he thought neither of us could overhear him. But he really shouldn’t have worried. My friend knew just exactly how smart he was—when someone’s that intelligent things can hardly be otherwise—and I wasn’t under any illusions about myself, either. Frieda and I had always been the smartest Rabbits in our school by a very long shot, yet I wasn’t anything even close to where James was. Except in math, of course—I was ahead of him there. But I’d had special help from Dad for as long as I could remember, so it didn’t really count.
    “Therefore,” Mr. Banes continued, eyeing us both up and down. “I suppose it’d be all right if you put aside the books for a while and worked at strengthening your bodies.” He looked at me. “You’ve been terribly ill, David, and you’re still nowhere close to being as fit as you once were. We need to remedy that, and now’s as good a time as any.” Then he turned to James. “And you, young sir—”  he sank an index finger into my friend’s belly—“are getting chubbier every year!”
    James blushed—he truly was sort of fat, which was natural enough for someone who spent as much time reading as he did.
    “It’s time for you both to get some exercise,” our tutor declared. “Fresh air, sunshine, all of that rot. We have thirty-four days before we up-ship for Earth Secundus, and I propose that we make the most of them.”
    I felt my ears perk up at the idea of exercise and sunshine, but James wasn’t at all pleased by the prospect. “Aww!” he complained. “You’re not sending me to camp again, are you?”
    Mr. Bane’s face hardened. “Your body is the sustainer of your mind,” he countered. “Neither can be truly healthy without the other. And besides…” His eyes narrowed. “Before you know it, it’ll be time for you fulfill your obligation and head off to the Academy.”
    I blinked at that, and the tutor must’ve seen me. “Military service is one of the basic obligations of all male nobles, David,” he explained. “The House of Marcus traditionally serves in either the navy or the marines. Though milord was an army man, as befitted his generally contrary nature. It was something he never outgrew.” Mr. Banes smiled gently, and suddenly I appreciated that I was being educated by the same man as… Finally I just gulped and nodded.
    “I guess,” James replied, though I could see that he was deeply unhappy. He’d told me many times that he wanted to be a philosopher or novelist or maybe even a journalist when he grew up. I hadn’t realized that these were unattainable dreams for him.
    “It’s only five years,” Mr. Banes replied, smiling even though I could see he was hurting almost as badly as my friend was. “After that you can have your brother recall you to help run the fiefdom—heaven knows he’ll need you, what with him inheriting so young.” Then the tutor scowled and turned away, and I frowned too. It was an open secret that nothing had been heard from Benjamin Marcus or his mother since the day of the invasion. Either they were in deep hiding somewhere, or…
    “Five years!” James whispered, as if it were a death sentence. Then he squared his soldiers and straightened his back. “All right, then. What must be, must be. I’ll do my best to start getting in shape for it.”
    “That’s the right stuff!” our teacher replied, smiling and nodding. “Besides, I think you’ll like this camp. It’s way up in the New Alps!”
     
     

8
     
    Mountains were definitely pretty, it didn’t take me long to decide. But they were also cold even in summer, and terribly difficult to tramp up and down. Which was pretty much all we seemed to do most days over and over again, the routine interrupted only by impromptu geology lectures and long scrambles in pursuit of local wildlife.
    It wasn’t so bad at first. Mrs. Pruett, who Mr. Banes had