by Jacinta Jade
‘One-on-one, teams of two, and the four-player version, but never three-on-one. Too hard.’
As they stood there waiting for the players to take their positions, Wexner, Baindan, Kovi, Deson, and Tamot ambled into the room. Loce had, apparently, gone straight back to the room to resume his snooze.
Spotting them approaching, Siray tapped Zale on the shoulder, who turned around to see what had grabbed her attention. Waving to her friends, Siray waited until they had reached her, then said, ‘Let me introduce Zale to you all,’ and she gestured to Zale, who nodded politely.
She pointed out the members of her group for him, introducing them one-by-one. ‘This is Wexner, Baindan, Kovi, and, uh, Deson, who you met earlier.’
Zale smiled in good humour at them all, then asked, ‘So, have any of you played this game before?’
Wexner, Baindan, Kovi, and Deson all glanced over at the player’s table.
‘Never seen it before,’ said Wexner.
The others also shook their heads.
‘It’s fairly simple,’ Zale said. ‘Let me explain before this one starts so you have a bit of an idea …’
He managed to get in a brief explanation just before two challengers sat down at the table, and then they all turned their attention to watching the silent battle.
At the end of the game, Zale turned to Siray and her group expectantly. ‘Did any of you want to give it a try?’
Wexner and Baindan shook their heads, but Kovi and Deson exhibited interest.
‘Alright,’ Zale said, smiling. ‘Let me go sign you both up for a round. If you play your first game against each other, it should be a bit fairer, seeing as you’re both new to it.’ He left them, and they all watched as Zale approached someone near to the game table who held an electronic device.
Zale came back moments later, announcing that Kovi and Deson had been signed up for the match following the one about to begin. ‘Usually by this time of day, the evening schedule for matches is already filled, but I think I managed to sneak you in because everyone will be interested to see how a pair of untested challengers do.’
As the second match took place, Kovi and Deson peppered Zale with more questions about the game.
Zale seemed happy to provide them with as much insight as he could manage, although he did say as the current match ended, ‘You’ll understand a lot more once you’ve played.’
Siray watched as the current players left the table, and Zale nodded to Deson and Kovi. At his gesture, the pair made their way through the growing crowd to the elevated area.
Siray now stood with Zale, Baindan, and Wexner to one side of the table, Zale having led the way through the crowd so they could watch their friends battle it out from a position that offered a good view. As Deson and Kovi settled into their seats, Siray gazed around at the mass of people. The watchful gathering was larger than it had been for the game she had witnessed earlier in the day.
Zale saw her observing the throng and remarked, ‘What did I say? Everyone’s keen to see what your friends can do.’
Siray nodded and turned back to the table as the crowd grew quiet around her, watching as Deson and Kovi placed their hands on the pads before them. The pads began to glow, and the projected mist up almost immediately, flashing between orange and purple a couple of times before it settled down.
Now, approximately half of it was orange, and half of it was purple.
She leaned towards Zale and whispered, ‘Who has which colour?’
Zale turned his head slightly, speaking quietly. ‘It’s the colour in front of them. Kovi has purple, while Deson has orange.’
Siray watched tensely as both Kovi and Deson concentrated, but when breaths began turning into long moments, still nothing had happened.
The crowd was murmuring a little, and this time, it was Baindan who asked in a low voice ‘What’s going on?’
‘It seems that they’re tightly matched,’ Zale said. ‘But it can’t go on much longer. One of them will either find a way around the other’s will, or they’ll just find greater strength.’
He had barely said this when the crowd’s murmurs increased, and Siray spied the orange mist spreading slowly towards Deson. ‘Kovi’s starting to win,’ she said quietly.
As they watched, the mist began to progress faster and faster towards Deson.
‘I guess Deson doesn’t have the strength to push Kovi back,’ Wexner said.
Siray thought Deson must have heard Wexner’s comment, because in the next moment, he glanced at up at the group, focused on her, then looked again at Kovi. His eyes narrowed.
‘I think you spoke too soon, Wex,’ Baindan said, chuckling.
Siray guessed he had seen the same look she had, and Baindan’s guess was proved correct. Deson’s defences had been weakening, but now the spread of the mist in his direction halted. For a moment, nothing else happened and the mist didn’t shift, causing further excited mutterings amongst the crowd. Then, finally, it began to move again.
Away from Deson.
As it swirled in the new direction, it began to spread faster and faster. The need for defence gone, they all watched as Deson sent the purple mist flowing through the air towards Kovi, making it circle and spin as it approached him.
The crowd began clapping, encouraging him.
Kovi’s face was narrowed in concentration, but it appeared as if his efforts might be too late.
Sure enough, the mist touched Kovi’s face an instant later, and Deson’s hand pads glowed, confirming his victory.
The watching mass burst into cheers.
Deson stood up from his chair, triumphant, a massive grin on his face as strangers around him offered their congratulations.
Kovi stood as well, and eventually Deson made his way around to slap Kovi on the back, with Kovi smiling at him as they chatted about the game. Soon, they both returned to the group, and they all made their way over to get refreshments while discussing the match.
‘It’s so much harder than it looks,’ Kovi informed them. ‘At an early point in the match, I was wondering if it was working at all, because the projection wasn’t moving.’
‘That’s what I thought as well,’ Deson said. ‘Then, when I first felt you starting to push against me, it was as if … there was a constant pressure poking at my mind.’
‘Yeah, well, when you mowed me down at the end there, it felt like being pushed back despite having both feet planted on the ground,’ Kovi joked.
Zale said, ‘You both got the idea of it pretty quickly, and it was a great match. Don’t be surprised, Deson, if you get challenged by some of the others.’
Zale turned out to be right. Some players offered to take Deson on during their allotted game, but Deson refused all challenges, saying he would play again the following evening instead.
Siray wished Genlie had been there to see the match, but her friend had opted for taking a luxurious wash after dinner, followed by some quiet time in the room. Siray didn’t blame her. With nine of them sharing the same accommodation, and especially when seven of that number were males, it made it difficult to get any privacy.
They all spent the rest of the evening talking together, meeting new people, watching Force of Will matches, and watching Tamot and Jorgi play against each other in the ancient blocks game. It was an easy, carefree evening, and Siray enjoyed herself immensely. She did have to disappoint a few males who tried to gain her interest, but as most of them didn’t impress her at all, she let them know swiftly and simply that she wasn’t interested.
Only one rather large male didn’t take the hint well, leering at her before he said, ‘You’ll come around.’ He stalked off, and Siray turned away in disgust, walking back to the others from where she had been watching Tamot and Jorgi.
When she reached them, Baindan leaned over and said softly, ‘Another admirer?’
Siray scrunched up her face in disgust. ‘Apparently. Can’t have been that intelligent, as he still seemed to think I might be interested
in him even after the second time I indicated I was not.’
Zale, who was standing close by, overheard and said, ‘That was Mocery. He’s a bit of a brute, but a good fighter.’
Their talk soon turned to the training they had the next morning, with the group asking Zale what he knew about it. As he told them what he remembered of his own experience, Siray grew even more interested in the weapons session, and more worried about the fitness aspect.
Later on, while the recreation room was still quite busy, Zale said to them, ‘I hate to be the one to say this to you all, but if I were in your situation, I’d be getting as much rest as possible tonight, because the instructors are going to work you hard in the morning.’
Siray didn’t like to leave when she was having such a good time, but it had been a long day and she suspected that Zale might be right.
The others decided to head to the room with her, although Wexner and Baindan had to almost tear Tamot and Jorgi away from the blocks game.
‘But we were in a deciding round,’ complained Jorgi, even as Baindan kept a firm hand on his back as he pushed him towards the door.
Siray rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve been in a deciding round all evening. Just call it a draw, already.’
Tamot objected with a grunt. ‘No way. Rematch tomorrow night.’
Siray shook her head as they all left the recreation room and headed down the hallway to their accommodation. When they entered, they found the lights in the bunk area were already out, and Siray could just discern Genlie’s motionless form in the bed below her own.
Loce appeared to be awkwardly asleep on the couch, but as Deson’s attempts to wake him failed, they left him there and went to their own bunks.
Standing just behind Genlie’s bed, Siray quickly stripped down to her wrappings and undershorts, leaving the dirty clothes in a pile on the floor. Yawning, she carefully climbed the end of the bunk to haul herself up into her own bed, reached the far end, and slide aside the covers. Carefully rolling herself over and sliding between the sheets, she pulled the blankets up to her chin and relaxed.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SIRAY STARTED AWAKE as something began thrumming across her torso. Her heart pounding, she swiped instinctively at her chest with the hand already resting there, trying to brush off whatever it was that was on her. When the vibration continued against the forearm she was waving around, she instantly realised nothing was actually trying to climb on her—it was just the gadget on her arm.
Raising her forearm in relief, Siray saw white text displayed on the band.
Weapons training.
Below that text, the number 1,000 had just appeared. And it was counting down. Siray stared at the band as she blinked her eyes. Then she remembered.
Training. This morning.
The meaning of the text on the display clicked. She needed to be at training by the end of the countdown. She sat up quickly and peered around in the dim light cast by the room’s activation panel by the door. Some of the others nearby were rolling over in bed, their armbands having bothered them for only a moment before they returned to sleep, but she couldn’t see if the males down the far end had even stirred.
Crawling to the end of her bed, Siray swung her legs over the side and, finding the top rung, carefully climbed down. Once on the ground, she stepped around the ladder to bend down and wake up Genlie, but only a fastidiously made bed greeted her eyes.
‘Morning.’
Siray spun as her heart burst into a faster rhythm.
A fully dressed Genlie giggled. ‘The armband woke you up, right?’
Siray nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
‘I was already up,’ Genlie said. ‘I had a great night’s sleep. What about you?’
Siray shrugged. ‘I could have used a few moments longer,’ she said. Or another whole night, she thought.
Genlie nodded. ‘You’re probably still catching up on rest. And you had a long day yesterday.’
Siray nodded again before switching her attention back to the device on her arm. It now read 856. She looked up at Genlie. ‘We need to get the others up.’
Genlie stretched lazily. ‘I’ll get my group, you get yours. And I’ll see if Kovi’s awake.’
‘Okay.’ Siray pivoted and walked briskly past the pairs of bunk beds until she reached Baindan’s. Above him, Jorgi was snoring with abandon, forcing Siray to move right up to Baindan’s side and lean down to speak to him.
‘Baindan,’ she said, frowning at the lumpy shape of his head.
No response.
She peered closer, then realised that Baindan had his pillow over his head. He obviously hadn’t gotten a great night’s sleep either with Jorgi snoring overhead.
Too bad.
She grabbed the pillow and pulled it from his grip, exposing his ears to Jorgi’s storm.
‘Baindan!’ she said loudly.
‘What? What’s the matter?’ he asked, pushing up from the bed and looking around groggily.
Siray noted with interest that Baindan preferred to sleep without a shirt.
As Baindan saw her half squatting in front of him, his eyes focused some more. ‘Siray?’ he asked, disbelieving.
‘Time to get up—we’ve got to be at training real soon.’ She stood up and moved away, spying Deson on the top bed in the next bunk over. He was already stirring.
‘Let’s go, Deson—weapons training.’
He eyed her a little blearily but nodded. Most of the males were waking up, the noise of those already awake reaching even those who had been sleeping deeply, like Jorgi.
Genlie had woken Kovi, and Kovi was urging the rest of his group to get dressed.
Siray looked down at her arm. 693. Got to move faster, she told herself. ‘Baindan, Deson—hurry up and get dressed!’ she called loudly as she ran back to her bunk, following her own advice. Spotting a pile of dark-grey training clothes as she approached the bunk, Siray grabbed up the shirt and threw it on over her head. Next, she snatched at the shorts, pulled them on, and then picked up a tie for her hair. Stepping away from the bunk, she pulled her hair back from her face, twisting it into a knot and securing it with the tie as she watched Baindan and Deson struggle into their own dark-grey clothes.
Done with her hair, she scanned around, trying to locate her socks and boots.
‘Here.’ Genlie held them out to her. ‘You must have kicked them off last night before you went to bed, because one was under the bunk and the other I found in that direction,’ she said, gesturing.
‘Thanks,’ Siray said, gratefully taking the boots from Genlie. Sitting down on her bed, she began pulling on the socks she had spotted wedged inside them.
Finally dressed and ready to go, she glanced at the band. 569.
Everyone was up and moving around in various stages of dress or panic. Siray stood close to the door with Deson, and looked for Baindan. He was still by the bunk, trying to pull on his second boot, his fingers fumbling with the knotted laces.
‘Just hang on to it until we get to the risers,’ Siray suggested.
‘Good idea,’ he replied, and picking up the boot, he came across at a jog. As they exited the room, Siray saw that Genlie had managed to get Loce and Jorgi up and moving and, having jammed Jorgi’s shirt on over his head, was herding them from the room just behind Siray, Baindan, and Deson.
The two groups moved quickly down the hallway, turned the corner, and approached the guards. There they hesitated—how would they prove to the guards their training schedule if only each individual could read their own device?
Deson moved forwards and raised his arm to allow the guards to see his device. ‘We’ve all got training this morning,’ he explained.
The guards nodded and waved him closer, one of them stretching out his arm to wave his own device over Deson’s. As the guard peered down at his own gadget to read whatever it was telling him, he nodded again and waved Deson forwards to stand before a riser.
The rest of them followed the same
procedure, and soon they were all standing before the bank of silver doors, waiting as other Resistance members stepped out from the risers while Baindan used the opportunity to work through his tangled laces and pull on his remaining boot.
Just as one first riser became available, Wexner, Kovi, and Tamot came barrelling around the corner, the guards looking up in alarm. Deson called out to the concerned pair that the three males were also with them, and the guards raised their devices to scan those that the males were wearing.
Soon after, they all piled into various risers.
Siray glanced at her band again while Deson and Baindan chatted behind her. 342.
The silver doors closed before her, and there was just the slightest hum as the platform rose, which ended as the riser reached the training level. The doors opened, and the three of them stepped off the platform, preparing to show their arms for scanning, the quiet chiming of other risers reaching the level signalling the arrival of their friends.
As they all passed through the security check, they began running again until they reached the four doors in the middle of the long hallway, and then they paused.
Which room?
‘Do we just open the doors and go in?’ asked Tamot, who had arrived with his group just after Siray, Baindan, and Deson.
Siray looked down at her device, but it didn’t have any more to tell her. Then the door marked ‘T1’ opened, and three people emerged. Siray could tell at a glance that they were the instructors, as they wore much darker clothing and their faces had a confidence and authority that showed they expected to be obeyed.
‘Group one with me!’ called out one of the first instructor, a thin and aged female.
Siray, Baindan, and Deson moved towards her as she held open the door marked ‘T1’ for them. Once the three of them were inside, the instructor closed the door behind them and commenced the session.
The first part of the morning seemed a long one to Siray, as she still felt like she was waking up. This was unfortunate, as the instructor questioned them for most of that session to establish their knowledge of using weapons—the different types, what was allowed in battle, all the ways various weapons could be used, and which weapon was best for each kind of fight.