by T. A. White
Suites this nice didn't go unoccupied, which made her suspicious of who among the crew had a reason to resent Kira moving into their space.
Her days developed a routine. Wake up, grab some food, run on the track, head to her room. Sometimes she varied it by taking a detour to one of the observatories, but for the most part, she kept to herself.
Something easier said than done, on a ship this size.
A week into the voyage, Kira headed toward the Tuann mess hall, grabbing a tray and moving through the short line before stopping at the counter. The cooks knew her, loading up her plate with strange food that managed to be as visually appealing as it was delicious.
She paused as she surveyed the room, noticing the Curs in one corner. Raider and Jace were absent, but the rest of them huddled around a table.
"I think they're talking about you," Jin murmured.
Kira had already picked up on that from the way one of the newbies glanced up and then away, before leaning forward.
"Shall we eavesdrop?" Jin asked slyly as Kira set her tray on an empty table.
Before she could stop him, the Curs’ conversation was filtering into her auditory implant.
"That's the Phoenix?" Nova asked.
Since the journey had begun, Kira had managed to get the names of the newbies. William Black was known to the others as Nova. The other man was Luke Rogers or Maverick.
"The person with the highest wave runner kill count in a single battle?" Nova asked skeptically.
"That's her," Tank confirmed.
"I thought she'd be different," Nova said.
"What were you expecting?" Blue asked. "Flames to shoot from her eyes or something?"
"Naw. It's just she doesn't seem like the sort who has done what the rumors say," he said.
The others were quiet.
Nova leaned closer, his voice dropping. "I heard she's the reason Rothchild's moon is in three pieces."
Tank and Blue were conspicuously silent as he continued. Kira absently ate a cube of something white with blue dots flecked inside it.
"You know some people call her a mass murderer for what was done there. She caused nearly ten thousand deaths with that stunt."
Kira paused with her fork halfway to her mouth before setting it down. Suddenly her appetite was gone.
She stood.
"I for one am grateful for what she did," Maverick said, not looking up from his plate. "I'm from Rothchild. I was on the planet during the invasion. If she hadn't set the nuke, we would have lost the entire planet instead of only the moon."
The words cut out as Jin turned off his eavesdropping technology, trailing morosely behind her as she left the mess hall behind.
"Sorry, Kira."
"Don't be. It's good we know what they're saying," she assured him.
Even if the reminder of her past brought to the fore nasty emotions.
She spotted Amila in the corridor, the other woman smiling and waving. "Would you like to visit an observation room with me?"
Kira sighed, somehow unsurprised at the woman's presence. It seemed wherever she went on the ship, she or Baran inevitably joined her within half an hour.
"Sure," Kira said, not quite ready to return to her room.
The observatory would at least present a distraction. Too bad it couldn't also overwrite her memories.
*
Several days later, Kira hesitated on the threshold to the gym, taking in the many bodies inhabiting it. Normally, at this hour it was empty, affording her the opportunity to exercise without having so many eyes watching her.
Everywhere on the ship, people stared. For someone used to near-constant isolation, it was grating.
Amila and Baran paused next to her, shooting expectant glances her way.
Kira returned them with a bland stare. Somehow, she had a feeling her two tag-a-longs might have something to do with the crowd.
Tattletales.
She sighed and padded forward. It didn't really matter if they did. She was here now, and her body ached to burn off some energy. Might as well make the visit worthwhile. In two hours, this place would be packed as a third of Graydon's crew came off shift.
Then, she'd have to fight for space on the track.
Besides, she wasn't the type to turn tail and run. If they wanted to watch her jog in circles, they were welcome to do so.
Kira found a spot on the mat far from the rest and bent, stretching low as her hamstrings tightened then relaxed, the stretch pulling pleasantly on tired muscles.
It wasn't often she had access to a track and she'd taken advantage, running farther than was perhaps wise.
She kept an eye on the other two groups as she widened her stance and then bent over one leg. Maybe if she took long enough, they'd finish their training and leave.
No such luck.
Kira straightened, pulling one foot up as she balanced on the other. The meaty sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the space. She found it telling, both groups had decided to demonstrate their prowess through hand-to-hand combat.
The Tuann and humans pointedly ignored each other as they sparred on opposite sides of the gym. At least, that was what they wanted you to believe. Kira caught more than one sidelong look from each group as they checked out the other.
Not surprising, given the tense relations between the two.
Graydon stepped onto the mat as Kira finished with her stretching and headed to the track running along the circumference of the room.
A man, slightly shorter, but as well built stepped up to face him. For a long second, they were both motionless, studying each other as they waited for some unseen signal to begin.
They burst into movement, flowing around each other like water as they delivered well-placed hits. The sharp crack of their blocks followed Kira as she started her slow jog, Baran and Amila setting off at a pace a hair slower than hers—enough to stay about ten feet behind her.
She knew from prior experience if her pace slowed, theirs would too. If it sped up, so would theirs. She'd resigned herself to their company and ignored them as much as she could.
Jin peeled off, drifting closer to the ceiling as Kira's body woke up. He liked to tell her, exercise was for those with flesh. He had better things to do with his energy than run around in circles like a damn rodent.
Graydon had chosen a spot easily visible no matter where in the room you were. It made it easy to watch the match. Something Kira shamelessly did.
His opponent was good. Very good. Both men were efficient, no movement wasted. They had power and speed behind every blow. She could see why the Tuann were considered deadly warriors and such important allies.
They were clearly the equal of any Tsavitee Kira had come up against.
Jace and his team would have trouble with them if they fought them one-on-one. It'd be better to overwhelm the Tuann with numbers. In hand-to-hand combat, they wouldn't go down easily.
Something to remember for the future.
Graydon took down his opponent in a movement he made look ridiculously easy but would have probably caused a sprained ankle or broken bone, if someone inexperienced had tried it.
He looked up then, his gaze catching hers. There was a primal energy there, a fierce light in his eyes.
Kira didn't react outwardly, despite the sharp edge of awareness coursing through her. She looked away, feigning disinterest as she returned her attention to her run, letting her mind shut off as she picked up speed.
She sank into the rhythm of her pace as she forgot about her unwelcome fellow gym goers, concentrating on the things of importance, her breathing and running.
She was halfway through her run when the youth she'd rescued on the station caught her attention. His expression was focused and intent as he held a staff taller than him.
Kira's pace slowed slightly as curiosity took hold.
An armored figure, sword in hand, rose from the ground like a ghostly apparition. He was short and squat, his shoulders wider than Tank’s.
He also had no face, just a blank space where it should be.
A simulation, Kira realized. A lifelike training device used in place of a sparring partner. Instead of a physical blow, you would receive an electric zap whenever you failed to block. Kira had never seen one mimic reality this well. It far surpassed even the most advanced human version available.
Baran and Amila had explained how they worked the first time she'd visited the gym. They'd followed that immediately by asking if she'd like to try it. She'd declined for many reasons, the least of which, she got the feeling the question was a test.
The boy attacked, his movements jerky and clumsy. The armored figure blocked easily and counterattacked. The boy flinched, pain chasing across his face.
Kira passed just as the boy lunged, only to be thrown to the edge of the mat. Bad move. He should have tried to disrupt the simulation's center of gravity, rather than going directly in for a strike.
The girl from the sailboat watched with a pensive expression on her face, a staff similar to the boy’s cradled in her arms.
Liont and Fari stood behind her, pained sympathy in their eyes as the boy hit the mat hard.
Kira continued past, keeping one eye on their group as she moved to the opposite side of the gym.
She circled the track two more times as the boy grew more frustrated with each failed attempt, never changing his attack, doing the exact same thing time and again.
Kira slowed as he hit the edge of the simulation. He was going about it the wrong way. He needed to vary his movements up. His form was atrocious and his fighting style utterly unsuited to his small size.
He also demonstrated a distinct lack of thought or even a semblance of strategy, a fact which would bite him in the ass eventually.
Most civilians thought fighting and combat were simple things driven by instinct and decided by strength. This held true at times, but like war, a fight was more than the power behind a punch or the speed of an attack. It took foresight, planning, strategy. Good warriors had brains as well as brawn.
Right now, the boy wasn't demonstrating either quality.
The little girl sitting on the sidelines was the first to notice as Kira stopped on the track and turned toward them, watching as the boy picked himself up to square off against the simulation yet again.
He had guts. She'd give him that.
"Joule," the girl said softly.
Liont and Fari faced her, both men’s faces polite as they nodded at her.
The boy looked up, his eyes alert and slightly startled as he noticed Kira for the first time.
He said a word and the simulation froze. He stepped out of the simulation square, his face grave.
Kira watched as he and the girl faced her. They bent in small, identical bows.
Her lips quirked. How adorable.
"Lady, we wanted to thank you for your kindness," the boy said, the words oddly formal. It was a marked difference from the suspicious, fierce thing who had challenged her when she'd pulled them from the burning sailboat.
She watched the two, not knowing how to respond. She hadn't saved them to receive their gratitude. Granted, her actions had consequences she had not foreseen then, but she didn't blame either of them for that.
"What are you doing?" Kira asked, ignoring the thank you.
The two exchanged a look before focusing on Kira. As before, the boy was the first to speak. "I am training."
Kira could see that, but she didn't know the reason why, or why he seemed so desperate. The emotion fueled every move he made.
"Why?" she asked.
The boy's mouth flattened into a stubborn line as he stared up at her. It was an expression she'd seen on other faces, ones who haunted her nightmares. Something about it said he'd had the innocence torn from him, and knew the only person he could count on to protect him from now on, was himself.
That expression kept her rooted in place instead of following her normal routine of retreating to her room as soon as her run was done.
"Joule has to be ready," the girl said.
"For what?"
"To protect us."
Now wasn't that an interesting answer, especially given the phalanx of protection currently circling them.
Baran, seeing the question on her face, stepped forward. "Joule and Ziva are the last of House Maxiim’s future. Joule will either demonstrate his fitness as a House overlord or seek to dissolve his House and swear fealty to another House."
"He means give up our name and lineage," Joule said angrily.
That was what was fueling him? A desire not to lose his family name?
Boring. Kira had expected more.
"A name is merely a bunch of letters strung together and given meaning by someone else," Kira said, her eyes never leaving his.
He scoffed. "You are luijan, outsider. You don't know what you're talking about."
Perhaps not. Kira had chosen her name from a book, thinking it meant rebirth. Instead, she'd been off by a letter and ended up with a name with a different meaning. She'd taken her surname from the forest where Himoto had discovered her.
"Maybe, but this outsider knows you're doing that move wrong," Kira said.
Insult flashed across Joule's face. "One of the oshota taught me this. They’re the emperor's best warriors. Undefeatable in battle. What would a luijan know about this?"
Kira's mouth quirked up.
Maybe so, but whoever had taught him that move hadn't done him any favors. She doubted they'd intended to help him at all. Not many people could pull off a direct attack on an opponent that size. He was trying to sink all his power into one thrust. Doable, if you were a lot bigger with a strong foundation to work from.
Graydon and his people all could do it. Liont could, Fari too, she suspected. Kira might be able to, if pressed, and if she didn't have to fight afterward.
For someone the size of a child? Impossible. That technique was unsuitable to his small frame and would be for many years. If he was serious about learning to fight and protect himself now, he needed to adjust his style to one that would work for him instead of against him. If he continued in this vein, the only thing he would walk away with at the end would be a bunch of bruises.
"Suit yourself," she said, giving him a bland smile before turning and heading back to the track. It was his life. She might have saved it, but that didn't give her the right to stick her nose where he didn't want it.
Baran kept pace with her, glancing at her occasionally. He wanted something. She just couldn't be sure what.
"Our names define our loyalties," Baran explained when they were halfway around the track again. "If he loses his, he'll lose the last link to his family and ancestors. Those men and women you’ve seen protecting him would be cast upon another House’s mercy, dependent on their goodwill for survival."
Kira glanced at him but didn't respond. She grabbed the earbuds she'd removed earlier and stuck them into her ears, tuning him out. She didn't want to talk. She wanted to run.
Baran’s expression was frustrated as she faced forward and picked up the pace. He fell back several steps when it became clear Kira had no intention of engaging him.
She did another ten minutes at that pace, one a few notches below a sprint. She finally slowed and stepped off the track, ignoring the people around her as she sat and worked through her stretches.
A pair of feet stepped into her view. Kira held the stretch for several more seconds before she sat back and looked up.
Jace stood in front of her, Raider steps behind him.
Nova and Maverick lurked several mats over, one eye on the Tuann as they performed their own stretches.
"Do you need help?" Jace asked as Kira reclined and raised her leg straight up, grabbing her calf and gently pulling it toward her.
"No."
Jace didn't listen, pushing her leg toward her. "Resist," he said, changing his grip and gently pulling it away from her.
With a grunt Kira did.
"I see your social sk
ills haven't gotten any better." Raider glanced at her two guards where they did their own stretching yards away.
Kira didn't respond as she raised her other leg so Jace could help her with it.
"It’ll be hard to convince them to relinquish their claim on you if you never talk to them," Jace said.
Kira grunted. He didn't care about that. He cared about the ships and Kira's ability to convince the Tuann to part with them. Beyond that, she was on her own.
"They're not the right people," she said. She'd listened when they spoke. Her House had laid claim to her. The mark on her wrist seemed to declare her origins for her. Until someone from her House said she was free to go, it didn't matter how convincing or persuasive she was.
"Graydon has a powerful voice among his people," Jace said. "It wouldn't hurt to get him on your side."
She fixed him with a dark scowl. She disliked getting close to people because of what they could do for her.
Jace seemed to understand. "Just try to be a little friendlier. Don't antagonize just because you can."
She didn't do that.
"You're wasting your time," Raider said. "She can't help it. She's worse than a territorial porcupine."
"Why are you here, Raider?" Kira asked, abruptly tired of the not-so-veiled hostility.
He shrugged. "No idea. For some reason, Himoto and Jace thought I might have a mitigating influence on you."
"Guess they didn't get the memo that you hate my guts," Kira shot back.
His smile was thin and failed to reach his eyes. "All of us from the old days hate you, even Blue. She's feeling nostalgic right now, but pretty soon she's going to remember who you are and what you've done. She's going to remember you're the reason all our friends are dead."
Each word was like a blow, merciless as they landed. Kira's mask slammed down as ugly emotions threatened to surge to the surface.
Raider crouched, keeping his words soft, almost gentle-sounding. "Do what you're here to do. It'll make everyone's life much easier."
He let her see inside him, dropping all pretense and masks. He really did hate her. There was loathing in his eyes. She didn't let him see how much that glimpse affected her, locking her feelings away to be examined at another time. If she'd ever thought they might forgive her, that naivety was gone now, washed away by the deep currents of loathing buffeting her.