Read Poor Man's Fight for Free Online

fleet?”
    “No. Not the fleet. The Union fleet stinks for enlisteds. I’ve done my research. Only good way to go into the Union military is as an officer like I’m doing. And don’t join a corporate security force, they’re just debt traps. You’ll never get out again. But you could sign up with the Archangel Navy. It’s actually got some pretty good options.”
    “I don’t know. I thought for a while about doing a reserve term for the educational benefits, but Dad hated the idea. Said it’d screw up all my plans. I looked into it and it turned out he was right.”
    “No, don’t go reserves. I looked at that, too. Even the regular Archangel Navy treats those guys like a joke. No, you’ll have to go full-term. It’s only five years.”
    “Five years? Everyone else will be done with university by then!”
    “Life’s not a race. This isn’t about everyone else. It’s about you. And don’t act like it’s a waste of time. You know it’s not.”
    Tanner scowled. “You really think enlisting is a good idea?”
    “It’s not as good as the options you had yesterday,” Allison answered honestly, “but you’re running out of those, right? And you said that you need to feel like you’ve got a plan to get through The Test today. So, there’s today’s plan. If you really do crash, you’ll go see a recruiter.”
    “I guess I could…”
    “You know you could. I’m surprised you didn’t think of this on your own.”
    “I just…didn’t really consider it. Dad would go into convulsions.”
    “No, Mrs. Hayden-Malone will go into convulsions ‘cause it’ll remind her of your mom,” Allison smirked. “But she’ll be convulsing on Arcadia, so screw her. We should all be so lucky.”
    They walked together silently. He hadn’t expected Allison to remember so much about his family situation. To his thinking, they had never been close despite his efforts to the contrary. Finally Allison prodded him with an elbow.
    “Fine! Fine. I’ll do it. If I crash The Test, I’ll join the Archangel Navy.”
    “Good,” she said. She fell quiet for a moment and grinned again. “So you should know, there’s a rule about fraternization between enlisteds and officers.”
    “Huh?” Tanner blinked.
    “If you enlist, you can’t see me naked,” she winked.
    Tanner moaned and looked at the ground at his feet. “What about before then?”
    “Shut up and buy me lunch.”
     
    ***
     
    “In less than 1500 words, compare and contrast the themes found in the major works of pre-Expansion literature with the common themes of post-Expansion literature.”
    That question couldn’t be serious. Tanner read it over and over again, even tracing it with his finger and reading it aloud to make sure he didn’t miss something as a result of fatigue. Nothing this broad or vague appeared in practice tests. Pre-Expansion literature? All of it? Going all the way back to, what, the Epic of Gilgamesh? Or just Anglophile literature? Did the scorers intend for respondents to focus on their own systems and cultures?
    Frowning, Tanner reached for the “help” menu at the bottom right of his screen to summon a test proctor. While he waited, he continued to ponder the essay prompt. What counted as a major work? Did he have to justify the “majorness” of his selections in his answer? Did they expect him to limit himself to works studied in NorthStar classes? The curriculum changed almost annually. Variations existed between schools.
    An older man in the bland, business casual clothes that everyone seemed to wear here came into Tanner’s testing space. “Hello. Did you summon help?”
    “Yeah, thanks for coming so fast.” Tanner gestured back to the question. “Is that all there is to this question? It seems awfully broad.”
    The proctor read it aloud. “It seems pretty straightforward to me.”
    “But there are no qualifiers or context at all,” Tanner said. “I mean, not everything written after Expansion began is actually