Free Wolf Block by Stuart J. Whitmore Page A

Your balances have each been reduced by the mandatory fine of five hundred marks. Nongma Darhi, your balance is now below zero. If you do not correct this before 23:30 today, you will be selected for extra duties to compensate for this discrepancy.” The display went dark, and the two women relaxed again.
    “Bitch,” Nongma said under her breath.
    “She’s just an animation,” Bunierti commented with a smirk, knowing the comment was actually addressed at her, and mentally daring Nongma to clarify.
    Nongma scowled, but at first said nothing. “If you can buy whatever lawyers you need,” she finally spoke up, “why not just buy your way out of this service? I’ve heard that lots of rich kids do that.”
    Bunierti snorted. “Yes, some of my so-called peers took that route, and every last one of them is lazy, weak, stupid, and unprincipled. Some of their parents did the same, and they think they’re accepted despite cheating their way out of service. Honorable people like my parents treat them politely when they must, but there is a gulf between the cheaters and the honorable that the cheaters never comprehend, and when the honorable are alone among themselves they do not speak kindly of the cheaters. So yes, I could have bought my way out of this service, but I am not lazy, I am not weak, I am not stupid, and I am most certainly not unprincipled.”
    Nongma looked away. “Most certainly not,” she echoed quietly. After a moment she looked back at Bunierti. “I guess ‘street scum’ like me have much less complicated lives.”
    “Undoubtedly,” Bunierti agreed with a roll of her eyes.
    Silence fell between the two women, and Bunierti decided it was a good time to review her study materials. The testing imposed on Upholders was designed to lengthen their service as much as possible, but she knew she was smart and, while she would not cheat, she had no intention of serving any more than absolutely necessary to earn her pass out of Upholding and into the life of her choosing. Once settled on her bunk, Bunierti slid her infoscroll from its protective case and unfurled it to a comfortable width. A few gestures with her thumbs brought up the materials she needed to study for the next exam, and she immediately plunged her thoughts into the words and images on the scroll. At first she was vaguely aware that Nongma was watching her with obvious animosity, but she had plenty of practice ignoring the hateful stares of those less wealthy.
    A siren blast moved both women to their feet. They weren’t startled, it was too common of an occurrence for that, but neither looked happy as they grabbed their armor. Despite their differences, Bunierti knew that Nongma’s thoughts were the same as hers at that moment. Not thoughts, really, but a mental ticking of a countdown timer. The repercussions for tardiness were severe and would be doled out equally, regardless of the Upholder’s background. At the same time, there was a vague curiosity about whether this was a drill or a real event. Most were drills, naturally, but she’d seen action in the relatively short span of her service so far and she was already racking up her count of kills, or “ultimate collections” as they were formally called.
    When the two women left their quarters the door snapped shut and sealed itself automatically. The corridor was already full of other Upholders moving in orderly but rapid streams toward the deployment portals. Bunierti gave little thought to where Nongma would end up, for it was unlikely the two would be deployed to the same area. When it was her turn, she did a snappy about-face and stepped backward into the deployment pod, her limbs and head positioned correctly with drilled precision. The restraints clicked into place long before the glowing countdown timer in the pod reached zero.
    The strong G force as the pod was launched brought Bunierti’s curiosity to the fore. Either there was some real urgency to the situation or she was