Growing Up 8

Looking into a mirror, the seven-year-old boy studied his reflection.

By now he was resolved to the fact that this was not Earth, but that was just the start of it.

The totality of the situation hadn't occurred to Bill until some days after he saw the impossible 'Super Sparrow'. He was astonished, but perhaps not as shocked as someone would normally be, no doubt due to him having already coming to grips with his reincarnation.

What was somewhat more shocking was over the past few years, he had begun to think that there may some sort of predetermination at work.

This was because, soon after he had seen the sparrow he had learned after another fact. That was, his full name.

William D. Ox

He had known his name was William, at the time he had learned it, he didn't think much of it. Sure, that had been his name in his previous life, but 'William' was a common enough.

His last name, however, really made him do a double take. In his last life, his name had been William Bullock. 'Bill-Ox' his wife had called him whenever they had a disagreement where he didn't give in.

This expression had come from an argument early in their marriage when a tarp had flown off the roof of their run-down house. She had been against him trying to nail it back down during a storm and said he was stubborn as a mule, to which he replied: "I'm as strong as an ox."

He did the job but fell climbing down the ladder.

As so, he had lived more than fifty years with her calling him 'Bill-Ox' instead of 'William' whenever it suited her purpse. In fact, it was the only time she would ever use the name 'Bill'.

And now his name, in a way, was Bill Ox.

Bill didn't know if he believed in predetermination. It ran counter to the notion of free will, something that he believed in very much.

Then again, after learning more about this strange and unscientific world he now lived in, he found it hard to just outright dismiss anything.

Firstly, was he sure that he wasn't on Earth after seeing the bird, but subsequent knowledge he had learned in class over the last few years made it irrefutable that he now lived in some sort of fantasyland.

To start with, he lived on Vallipo Island which was the largest island in an archipelago. This archipelago, aptly named Vallipo Archipelago, was in a large body of water called the 'South Blue'. In his kindergarten year, what they called here as 'Grade 0', he learned that the world was split up into four 'Blues', each of which were about the same size. The oceans were separated by a giant mountain range on two sides, and a so-called 'Calm Belt' that split the planet at the equator.

That 'Calm Belt,' if it could be believed, had island-sized sea monsters swimming around in it.

He had become fully proficient in spoken language by Grade 1, where he had learned that there were islands that had their own climatic zones. He hadn't seen it himself, but it seemed to be normal for there to be an arctic island only a few dozens of kilometers from a desert island. Even more shocking was that this world actually used the metric system!

Heck, there were islands that had forests of processed food. If the drawings he had colored in was accurate, there were even hotdogs – bun and all – that sprung up from the ground.

Of course, it was also pointed out to the kids that the more incredible an island appeared, typically the more dangerous it was.

Besides learning a bunch of trivia about his new world those years he hadn't done much beside exercise and play around in the courtyard.

Now he was in Grade 2 and yesterday was told by his father that he was finally going to be allowed to go and play outside by himself. Up until this point he had hardly ever been taken out of the hospital, a few times he was taken to the town with his nanny, but those times could have been counted on one hand.

Starting today, with some exceptions, he would be allowed to freely roam around the base.

Adjusting his shirt, Bill looked himself over once more before turning and walking out of the room.

As he walked through the apartment Bill called out: "Mom, I'm going to go play!"

Sitting in a tall-backed chair his mother looked over and said softly: "Make sure you're home before dinner."

In other contexts, her words could be viewed as being somewhat distant. However, according to his nanny, her accident had hurt her spirit more than it did her body.

He was assured time and again by Ms. Angie, that his mother loved him very much, but she couldn't show it like she wanted to because of the accident.

As to the nature of the accident, Bill still didn't know exactly. When he did bring the subject up to Ms. Angie, she would change the subject or simply tell him that his mom would get better over time.

Once he brought it up to his father, and for just an instant saw the power hidden in his father's large frame. Seeing pure rage in the face of a man who stood nearly ten foot tall was an experience, but almost as shocking was Bills reaction to his dad's anger.

That anger was infectious, and even though his father quickly reigned himself in and left, Bill had been left in a sour mood for the rest of the day.

Putting all of that out of his head, he replied with a quick: "Ok, I will!"

Standing on his toes, Bill turned the doorknob and left the apartment. He knew the way out of the hospital, but after that he was just going to have to explore.

Walking outside he decided to try and get to the dock.

Since he didn't know which way to go, the plan was to find the fortress ramparts. From there he would follow the edge around to hopefully find the long ramps that connected each level.

He had considered taking the elevator down to the ground floor as he had when he visited the town, except, that elevator was connected to a labyrinth of large hallways that connected the weapon magazines, training rooms, dorms, kitchens, and every other conceivable facility that this place held.

So, instead of definitely getting lost, he decided to only take the chance he would get lost.

Putting one step in front of the other Bill couldn't help but to pick up his pace.

All the pictures of the ships he had seen were depictions of sailing ships. As mundane as it might sound, Bill was interested in seeing the level of ship technology.

As he headed off in a random direction Bill thought to himself: 'Well, it will be interesting if they're all 'Age of Sail' ships."

Walking on the side of a massive road Bill had to say, the architecture of the place was simply megalithic. The base itself was built layer on layer of stone foundation.

Each foundation supported buildings and structures that were at least a hundred foot in height.

 Those structures then became a new foundation on top of which more similarly tall buildings stood. Instead of a naval base Bill thought the place looked like a fortified, mountain-sized, stone city.

From what he could see now, and what he had seen in the past, the base had five levels. It was shaped more as a square than a pyramid, however, as the very top of base there was a Roman-style palace.

Five massive pillars on either side of the palace entrance held up the roof of the building and between the pillars was written, in English, "MARINE". Looking up Bill figured that world would be visible for miles at sea.

Bill thought that it would be crazy if they had the technology to manipulate the land to make such a fortress, but still had to use wind power to get across the ocean.

Breaking into a smile, Bill began to walk a little bit faster, everything here was new and different. From the animals, buildings, to even the world itself!

Walking through wide streets it only took about fifteen minutes before he saw the rampart.

The ramparts had walls, but from his estimation, each crenel only seemed about four feet high. This was good news since he was about five feet tall.

Walking straight up to the wall, Bill poked his head through the merlons.

The sight of an ever-expanding ocean that reached as far as the eye could see was spectacular. From here he could see the lower fortress levels, and he could make out the dock, which indeed had massive sailing ships.

As he looked side to side, he tried to see down the rampart sides to catch a glimpse of where he was trying to go. Now that he had seen the ships from afar, he wanted to see them closer.

Being unable to see over the merlons, which stood over six feet in height, and too cautious to lean far over the edge, Bill climbed himself up in the crenel hoping to use the boosted height to see further down the fortress's sides.

The stone was thick, easily thick enough for a foot hold. Bill was seven and strong enough to easily lift himself.

No sooner than he did so….

*YANK*

?: "Kid, what'd you think you're doing?"

Being forcible pulled out of the crenel Bill fell back on his butt. Looking up he saw an olive-skinned, bearded, young man wearing a blue and white sailors' uniform with a hat which read "MARINE".

Looking at the young man for a second, Bill thought that he hadn't seen any people on the rampart as he walked up, but without a second thought he replied: "I was looking for a way down to the docks."

?: "So you were thinking about jumping? Why didn't you just ask someone for directions? Wait kid, does your father even know you're here?"

As he was about to reply to the wild notion of jumping, a certain realization hit, and he had to ask: "Do you know my father?"

Looking at Bill strangely, the olive-skin bearded man replied flippantly while raising his pointer finger: "Kid, everyone here knows your dad, and we all know you, and don't think for one second that we won't go run back and tell on you if you're acting up!

You're lucky it was only me who just saw you climb on that wall! Now tell me, does your father know you're here?"

"Yes, he said I could go out and play from now on." Bill answered truthfully. At his mental age he wouldn't just trust a stranger but considering he may have been rash for climbing the wall, maybe this sailor was probably just looking out for a kid.

?: "And did he say you could go to the docks?" The man replied doubtfully. 

Bill: "He didn't say I couldn't, he just said I couldn't go off base or walk around the shipyard."

Nodding his head in somewhat understanding, the man replied: "Hmmm… I see. Well then, if you want, I can take you there, or I can point you in the direction. This is a commissioned naval base so it's easy to find your way around.

But no matter what, you need to be careful. It's easy for a mishap to happen down there. We have ships loading and offloading all day.

Plus, if you want to know the truth." The man leaned in slightly, covering one side of his mouth: "All the fun stuff actually happens up there!"

Pointing up to the palace, Bill followed the man's gesture.

Bill: "I'll go up there in the future, for now, I just want to see those ships up close." Pausing for a second, he then continued: "You can come with me, or just point me in the right direction, I'm fine with either."

?: "Alrighty then! I'll take you there personally. It doesn't take too long to get down from here. We just follow the main road and take some stairs!

By the way, kid, what's your name?"

Raising his eyebrow, Bill replied: "I thought you said everyone here knew who I was."

Suddenly silent, and then laughing, the olive-skinned bearded man said: "I do know your name, William Ox! But remember this, it's always polite to introduce yourself!"

Somewhat nodding his head to the sentiment, Bill replied: "Ok, I'm William, but my friends call me Bill."

?: "Bill? Not Will? Well, that's ok. My name is Oliver Barba, and my friends just call me Oliver."

Standing up straight, Bill recognized that Oliver was probably six-and-a-half foot tall. Nowhere near the height of his parents, but still taller than any of the parents or doctors he'd seen so far.

Shaking hands, much to Oliver's amusement, Bill replied: "Ok, Oliver. My plan was to follow the ramparts here around to the ramps and walk the base one level at a time.

Since you know the base better, can you show me the way through the elevator?"

Oliver: "The Officer lift? Ha-ha, no I can't yet. I'm just a Seaman First Class so I'm not able access that without an appropriate reason.

But, your idea wasn't a bad one, so we can go that way or down the emergency steps. The steps will be faster, but if we go that way, you'll miss out on seeing the base."

Looking up at the sky for a second, Oliver looked back down and asked: "What time do you need to be back home?"

"By dinner." Bill answered.

Nodding his head, Oliver then crossed his arms before he continued: "Ok this is the thing. If we take the emergency steps, you'll have about four hours to walk through the docks before having to head back.

If we take the most direct way thru the access ramps, you'll have about three hours,

I can also take you thru the scenic route, I'll show you some cool facilities but maybe we won't get to the docks at all today."

Without hesitating Bill knew which he wanted: "Let's take the access ramps, if we meet later then you can take me to see some of those facilities."

With a thumbs up, Oliver replied: "Ok, cool, let's go!"

Walking down to the first level took slightly longer than Oliver had estimated, after over an hour of walking and talking Bill learned that Oliver was surprisingly only nineteen. Despite his humble rank, the teenager was only just out basic training and had been given his rank straight away.

While Oliver did seem proud of the fact, Bill took note of the bitterness in the young man's voice when he claimed that he could have been promoted to a Commissioned Officer if only he was allowed into a cadet academy. However, according to Oliver, the academies were for the children of Officers and Nobility. People like him need not apply.

The next hour or so had flown by. Despite his circumstances, Bill knew next to nothing about the 'Marines' and hadn't even known that his dad was the overseer this base.

He was a Commodore!

That did explain how Oliver had recognized Bill, and why his mom was so well taken care of. In fact, as soon as Bill realized that Oliver knew him, he guessed that his dad was a high-ranking officer.

As they continued down to the second level, Bill kept asking Oliver questions about the Navy and Marines.

Bill: "So each of the Four Blues only has a single Vice Admiral in charge of security?"

Oliver: "In terms of the Marines, more or less yeah. What you got to understand is that each Blue has their own Kingdoms, and typically the Navy of those Kingdoms patrol their own shores.

Depending on the Blue there may be stronger or weaker Kingdoms and stronger or weaker threats, so in turn, the Marines have to cover that gap."

Looking over to Oliver, an idea struck him: "So there's a difference between the Navy and Marines? And if so, who's in charge of the Marines?"

Shrugging his shoulders Oliver answered: "Right, the words 'navy' and 'marines' sometimes get used interchangeably, but in proper use, the Marines are in service to the World Government while any individual Kingdom may or may not have a Navy."

Hearing about this for the first time, the notion of a 'World Government' set Bills hair on edge. While he knew he was in a different world, he was still inherently an American who believed in self-determination. He, like much of his generation, looked at large governmental bodies with suspicion.

Not letting it show on his face Bill continued to ask: "What is the World Government?"

Oliver: "huh? You don't know? It's you, kid! Hahaha, the way you've been talking I assumed you had been educated since you were two!

Well look, the World Government is an organization made up of over one hundred and seventy Kingdoms."

Bill: "So the World Government rules the world?"

With another shrug Oliver continued: "Kind of, but that's not to say the Kingdoms don't have their own authorities, the major Kings get together every so often to decide things.

But honestly, I don't know the ins and outs of how it works. I only know that I joined the Marines to protect the people and make the Pirates and other evildoers face justice."

It seemed weird, but now that Oliver said it, Bill had never considered the chance of pirates in a world like this one. Now that he thought about it, the idea struck him. Pirates, or anyone else, could make getaways on the open ocean.

Without satellites and radar, finding a specific ship on an oceanic world would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Bill: "Wait, how many pirates are there?"

Suddenly it was Oliver's turn to have a startled, and then realizing, face.

Speaking in a measured tone Oliver simply replied: "They're a problem, but kid, don't worry about it. Look, there's the ramp that heads down to the first level. Let's not talk about this anymore. I'm sure in the future your dad will tell you everything you need to know."

Deciding not to push the young man, Bill agreed to drop the topic. The rest of the day went slower than the walk down. It didn't take long for Bill to adapt to the sights, and although he did have a good time as Oliver spoke about the ships and crews, and even showed Bill a Communication Snail, Bill decided that he had to learn more about the world.

Heading back to the hospital, Bill gazed up towards the palace at the top of the fort. Perhaps Oliver had been right in suggesting that he go there all along.