Free Welcome to the Marines (Corporate Marines Book 2) by Tom Germann Page B

would probably have washed out later.
    He started again and for once, seemed focused and in control of himself. He spoke clearly and concisely. “For those of you who move on into the hierarchy of the Corporation, you must understand this: Attachments are a weakness. At the highest levels you may aspire to, you can only get there if you are willing to give up marriage and true love. The Corporation needs men and women that can give their all, which, in some cases, may include your lives, with no hesitation. Now we all realize that sex is necessary as an outlet for most people. We are not talking about no physical attachments. But at your young age, sex leads to emotional attachments and the overwhelming desire in many to have children. The Corporation needs some people to give their all. Go, have sex with whoever you need to. But don’t fall in love with them as that can be a weakness that can be exploited.” We could all see that he was deadly serious now and we were all perched on the edge our seats for once as he went on. “For those of you who end up in the Corporate Marines, the section is your all. The highest levels in the Corporation also have command and support teams. But the Marines, they live, fight and die together. They must be closer than lovers, but they cannot be attached. If they have that attachment and it develops, then that will hinder the section’s effectiveness. The third most common reason for Marines being removed from active duty is treatment for emotional attachments.”
    The blonde had her hand up again. Her name was Kelly, but it was easier just calling her the Mouth. I tried to ignore how good the uniform that was so baggy on all of us looked on her. She continued in her loud, clear voice. “Sir, wouldn’t that make us sociopaths?”
    Someone giggled in the back rows. It sounded like a girl. The professor looked in that direction with an irritated look on his face. Then he focussed on the blonde again. “No, not at all. We are making you slightly psychotic. The difference here is that you will have a strongly ingrained sense of right and wrong as well as a survival instinct. Because you are all aware of what is going on, you will work to counter any extremes that would normally occur. Is that clear enough?” His eyebrows had gone up at the end.
    But Mouth wasn’t done yet. “But sir, what happens if that training doesn’t work and someone goes fully nuts?”
    He stopped smiling. “Candidate. The Corporation looks after its own.” He turned and went back to the podium, where he checked his notes before starting the class.
    The information on the expectations of the Corporation was much more interesting than the two-hour lecture on star drive technology, which none of us understood in any way. The one thing I did get from those lectures? Most of the scientists and engineers that work on the actual star drive systems do not really understand them. Some of the scientists who come closer to understanding the system and how it works go insane.
    Of course, the mad professor is a highly functioning psychotic who has gone completely around the bend, but his training has held. We found that out later, and it did not build our confidence.
    As far as I am able to wrap my head around it, the star drive is a bit more than the average person on the street understands. Our universe has certain laws. Laws that cannot be broken. In some cases, they can be bent a little, but usually that takes a lot of energy or there are other penalties. The star drive completely ignores that and changes everything. Ships in star drive do not interact with “our” universe. They step outside, and then cheat.
    I remember looking at the numbers and then suddenly it started to make a little sense. I had a headache for two days after that. There was one section member that did grasp some of the numbers. He was taken away and we never saw him again.
    The system is so poorly understood that ships do not go into or come