Crossroads, Part Twelve

Continued from Part Eleven

The next afternoon, Snyder sat at mess with his platoon. Sergeant Cutler walked over. “Recruit Snyder, this way.”

Cutler silently led Snyder out of the cafeteria and back to the testing center, where a man with lieutenant’s bars sat behind a desk.

Cutler and Snyder saluted.

The lieutenant said, “At ease, gentlemen. Recruit Snyder, I’ve graded your results. They were quite interesting.”

Snyder leaned forward. “Give it to me straight. How bad was it?”

The lieutenant chuckled. “Well, son, on the GED, I’m afraid you got every question correct. Your IQ came back at 175, which must be a disappointment if you were shooting for 200.”

Snyder grabbed the piece of paper and stared at it. “Nuh-uh.”

“Yes, huh. You are at the 99.9998 percentile of human intelligence. You are one in 722,000. There are perhaps 400 people in the entire province with your level of intelligence. You sir, are a genius.”

Snyder looked around. “Where’s the camera? This is a practical joke, right?”

He looked over at the smiling Sergeant Cutler, who said, “I told you.”

The lieutenant spread his hands on the desk. “Now, on the aptitude tests, you came up very strong for either Intelligence or the Military Police.”

“Sir, on the advice of Sergeant Cutler, I think I’d like to try Intelligence.”

“Excellent choice. I’m sure you’ll be a welcomed addition.” The lieutenant shook his hand. “Again, congratulations, son.”

Concluded…here

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