The soldier ran it through the machine to check its authenticity. The photo on it was crap, and he’d often wondered if anybody had a good ID card photo. The soldier looked from the photo to Andrew and handed it back.

“You can volunteer for a specific service, but there is no guarantee you’ll be assigned there. It depends on your skills and knowledge. So, what are you volunteering for? Infantry? Armor? Air force?”

“Specials.” Andrew said.

“You need to have power to be in the specials. I can’t feel you.” The soldier said, a sneer in his voice.

“That’s because I’m shielded,” Andrew replied and lowered his shield.

The soldier sat up straight and shook his head, his eyes opening in alarm. Andrew put his shield back in place.

“Shit!” Said the soldier. “You’re strong!”

“Yes. That is why I shield.”

“Good. You’re just what we need. Too many of us are doing this recruiting crap. The invaders have power as well, and there are a lot of them. Fill out this form.” He shoved a pad in front of Andrew.

Amused that suddenly people with power were wanted rather than shunned, Andrew quickly filled out the form on the pad the soldier had offered. There wasn’t much to it, and the only real important part was agreeing to serve in the military for the duration. He shrugged, signed that part, read the rest of the terms quickly, and handed the pad back. The soldier gave a quick once over and then shook his hand!

“Congratulations. Be at the station in the morning. The train leaves at seven am. You can bring one suitcase and don’t be late. You’re in the Army now, soldier.”

The train normally only consisted of three or four carriages. Today, it had four of the modern carriages it normally used, plus three older carriages tacked on at the front. Plus, the normal guard’s carriage and a second baggage car. Unfortunately, his ticket was for one of the old carriages along with lots of other young people. He found a seat and threw his carry bag into the roof rack. His suitcase was hopefully being loaded into the baggage car at the rear.

He’d managed to get a window seat, mainly because he had come early, and as the carriage filled up, the seat next to him stayed empty. The number of people boarding dwindled, and he saw that there were only five minutes left before the train was due to depart. A young woman came down the aisle, looking at the people seated already and then glancing at her pad every so often. She passed a couple of empty seats before reaching him. She glanced at her pad and then gave him a big smile as she sat in the empty seat next to him. She had a small carry bag which she kept with her rather than put the bag in the overhead rack. She had light brown hair, startling bright blue eyes, and was very attractive.