Free Loralynn Kennakris 2: The Morning Which Breaks by Owen R. O'Neill, Jordan Leah Hunter Page B

to her feet and straightened painfully. “That’s the way to go about it, cadets. There are no match rules out there—nobody taps out at the end. You fight smart, you fight dirty, you fight to kill .” He turned to Kris, just starting to breathe easy. “Well done, Kennakris. Take a seat.” And to the others: “Now that we understand each other, let’s get on with the class.”
    *    *    *
    At the traditional Monday dinner of protein laboring to imitate beef, reconstituted vegetables, and mashed potatoes—the only genuine thing on the plate—slathered in butter-not-born-of-cow, Basmartin, as study leader for the week, led them in the pre-meal ritual: sitting at command, adjusting their chairs just so, uttering the thanksgiving, “Oh Lord, for what we are about to receive, bugger off,” and then ordering the attack. They ate in silence for a minute and Baz, seeing that Kris was just toying with her food, said, “I gotta hand it to you, Kris. I think you actually made him breathe hard. The rest of us could hardly make him lift a finger.” Kris shrugged. “Where’d you learn to fight like that?”
    Kris answered with nothing more than a level stare, but Minx, sitting cattycorner, interjected: “Don’t you know? She grew up in a crappy neighborhood.”
    Kris looked across to her, resisting the powerful urge to slam her pretty Homeworlder face into her mashed potatoes. Minx’s smug look faltered and then went blank, and Kris dropped her eyes to her plate. “Well, it’s true. I did.”

Chapter Seven
    CEF Academy Orbital Campus
Deimos, Mars, Sol
    Rubbing her eyes, Kris picked up her tablet again. The Academy’s history courses were dedicated to the concept of ‘know thy enemy’, which Kris embraced—up to a point. This week, the enemy they were supposed to get to know was Halith. The tablet considerately reminded her where she’d left off.
    Section 6.4. Poli-Social Theory Module: Technological Determinism
    {a} FTL Technology and the Evolution of the Halith Imperium: Bi-Polar Gravity Lens—Antimatter Jump Drive—Astrographic Factors. [ Open Abstract ]
    You Have Not Read This Article
    She expanded the unit and pulled up the assignment window. It read:
    This section discusses the evolution of the Dominion of Halith into an autocratic, imperialist, expansionist state from the perspective of Technological Determinism. Your report will compare and contrast this approach with competing schools of thought, such as Cultural Determinism, the Socio-Economic school, and Holistic Archetype Theory. Explicitly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Technological Determinism vis-à-vis the competing theories. Consider particularly the ability of the theory to explain significant cultural markers, such as the notably higher incidence of sadistic tendencies among Halith warrior-aristocrats. Form positive conclusions and be prepared to defend them in the oral session.
    Crap . She hated this type of assignment. Did anyone really give a shit why the Halith empire—Dominion, they insisted on calling it, even though the Halith referred to everything about themselves, including their armed forces, as imperial : the Imperial Navy, the Imperial Marines, the Imperial Ground Forces—had turned out like it did? Did it matter if one theory said it could explain better than another why their aristocrats had a statistically greater incidence of being sadistic fucks than other societies? All she cared about was that they still dealt in slaves, they exported terrorism, they’d damn near killed her, and they’d— no, don’t go there . . .
    Setting the tablet aside, she closed her eyes and rubbed her solar plexus. It had been over seven months now and the memories still made her stomach churn. Opening her eyes and leaning out of her bunk, she clicked her footlocker open—there should still be some of her last prescription left. She fished out the vial and opened it. Goddammit . Only two doses; no refills until the end of