Rick rubbed his dark brown eyes.  He was fatigued almost to the point of exhaustion, as were the rest of Earth Forces.  The Dominai had been relentless in their exercises and drills.  The Dominai had less than six months to get to the Galactic Rim and challenge the faceless enemy from beyond the Galactic Alliance.

     Speaking of warlike, it would soon be time for more combat training with the other race that the Alliance tapped for this bloodbath, the Qwans.  Rick shuddered at the thought.  When the Dominai had successfully forced the Qwans co-operation, as was the Dominai’s species trait of lack of diplomacy, they bluntly told the Qwan that they were only almost as warlike and sick as humans.  Now the Qwan had a chip on what passed for their shoulders.  Rick remembered when the Qwan attempted to impress his infantry detachment with how they joyously collected their dead after each battle, roasted them, and ate them with glee, singing whatever half-baked war songs they could dream up.  The Dominai were sickened by the story but impressed by the efficiency of not having to carry rations into battle.  “That was the Dominai for you,” thought Rick.  “Efficiency and bluntness, what a combination in a species.”

     A small hologram of an emaciated Dominai materialized on the floor in front of Rick.  Rick didn’t have to wait to hear the Dominai’s butchered English command to know it was time for combat training.  “What’s it going to be today?” he thought as he turned off his Journal and picked himself up from his bunk.  “ “Probably more training with those awful particle beam weapons.  They weigh like 40 pounds and put off so much heat that you were sweating after an hour no matter how cold it was.”

     The training room door slid quietly open to reveal the rest of his battalion, soldiers from other provinces (such as Korea, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Columbia) and, of course, the ever present Qwan.  Most of Earth was no longer composed of small countries.  Groups of former countries, now called provinces, banded together in Federations.  For instance, Rick came from the province of the United States, in the Federation of North America (basically Canada, the U.S. and Mexico rolled into one region).  The training room was easily the largest room on the ship, capable of hosting all the venues of the Summer Olympics in one area.