Chapter 2 - The Old Recruit
Maya was thirty-four years old when she entered the training program.
Most of the soldiers beside her were barely twenty.
Cross noticed the difference on the first morning.
“Did somebody send us a chaperone?”
A few trainees laughed.
Maya did not.
Before joining the Army, she had worked as an emergency-room technician while caring for her younger brother after their mother died. She entered service later than most recruits because responsibility had reached her earlier.
Her age changed the way she trained.
She did not sprint through the first mile to impress instructors.
She controlled her breathing.
Protected her joints.
Measured the distance.
While younger trainees exhausted themselves trying to prove toughness, Maya preserved enough strength to complete every task correctly.
Cross interpreted efficiency as laziness.
He assigned her extra sandbags.
Made her repeat obstacle courses after the company finished.
Called her slow even when the recorded times showed otherwise.
Maya never asked for special treatment.
She asked only that standards remain accurate.
That request irritated him more than open defiance would have.
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Cross did not want a trainee who knew the rules.
He wanted one who feared his version of them.
