Hunter, Warrior, Commander

by Andrew Maclure

  The Harssanass launched another attack and Sah Lee leapt straight at it, which it didn’t appear to expect. It hesitated for a moment, undecided whether to take her head on or to jink to one side. Sah Lee bent down and caught it with her shoulder just above its left hip. She missed the vulnerable spot highlighted by her AI but knocked it off its feet and she heard the whoosh of its breath as the air was knocked out of its lungs. She spun round to take advantage of it being down, but it rolled over and up on to its feet, mouth open gasping to refill its lungs, dropping into a defensive stance. She knew she wasn’t experienced enough with a creature like this to initiate an attack, so she edged round, moving backwards and forwards to keep it moving, not allowing it the time to settle on an attack plan. It made a move forwards and Sah Lee leapt to its right, planning to get past it and turn to attack from behind but as she went past, it lashed out and ripped its claws across her face. She felt them scrape across her left cheek and jaw bones and hot blood poured down her face. As the Harssanass turned to prepare for another attack Sah Lee launched herself at it, raking her claws across the top of its chest, drawing blood. She stooped and grabbed the end of its tail and thrust herself forward jerking the Harssanass backwards. Planting her feet firmly, she yanked its tail back and to the side, then jumped forwards and grabbed its left wrist pulling its arm out straight. As it turned its head round, jaws open to bite her arm, she punched it in the pale highlighted vulnerable patch below the side of its jaw. It snapped its head back and lost concentration on its arm which she still held out straight and pulling her right fist back she punched the back of its elbow with all of her strength. The arm broke with a crack and the Harssanass made a hissing screaming sound.

  Both of the security officers came running over brandishing their stun sticks and carrying medical bags, shouting “Step away!”

  Sah Lee let go of the broken arm, stepped back and tried to smile, but the left of her face didn’t seem to be working properly. “Don’t worry. I’ve finished with it now.”

  “I’ve already called for medics, there are two on their way.” the leading security officer said. He pulled a pack out of the medical bag and tore it open, “Hold this to your face and press hard.” he said, handing her a thick white wad.

  “What?” Sah Lee asked. “Where?”

  He grabbed the back of her head and pressed the wad against the torn skin on her face. “Here. Would you prefer me to hold it for you? You can sit down if you like.”

  “No, why? What’s wrong?”

  “Just sit down, steady,” he put his free arm round her shoulders and held her as she sat down. “We’re going to sit here quietly until the medic gets here.”

  “It’s not very quiet with that screaming.” She gestured towards the Harssanass which was laying down with the other security officer trying to calm it. “I’m fine, it’s just scratched me.”

  “The skin is hanging off your face, and the bone is exposed. You’re lucky if you can’t feel any pain yet, when it hits you, you’ll be screaming too.”

  “It doesn’t hurt much. Are you sure it’s down to the bone? Anyway, I don’t scream, I’m an Aarnth.”

  “You’re from Aarn? That explains a lot. Your personnel file is closed, so I didn’t know.”

  Two medics ran in, accompanied by two automated gurneys. The medic Sah Lee had seen before dropped to her knees beside her, the other went to the Harssanass.

  “I’m OK.” Sah Lee said. “You ought to see to the Harssanass, I seem to have hurt it.”

  The medic pressed an injector tube to her neck. She immediately felt drowsy. The medic took a roll of tape and fixed the wad to Sah Lees face. “Help me get her on to the gurney.” she said to the security officer and between them they lifted Sah Lee on to the stretcher. She tried to help but her legs wouldn’t cooperate.

  “Just relax.” the medic told Sah Lee, “I’ve given you a sedative, so you can’t walk. I’ll anesthetize you when we get to the medical center, though you may lose consciousness on the way. The medical center is beginning to look like there’s a war on. Are you determined to fill it up by yourself?” she asked with a smile.

  “It’s not my fault. I didn’t ask them to come and fight me.” Sah Lee slurred under the effect of the anesthetic. Then everything went black.

  Chapter Sixty Four

  Back In The Medical Center

  Sah Lee woke up in the medical center. The medic was standing next to her with an injector tube in her hand. “I’m thinking of having a reserved bed for you here.” she said.

  Sah Lee reached up to touch her face. She stretched her mouth open. then scrunched her face up a few times. “You seem to have put it back together OK. How is the Harssanass?”

  “He’s still here, but he’ll be fine. You wrecked his elbow joint, so we had to remove it, but it will finish regrowing soon. And don’t thank me for your face. I had new orders by the time we got back here. Ker Din Ser Forn whisked you away for medical attention. You’re lucky to have such a powerful friend.”

  “He’s no friend of mine! If you get asked to send me to him again when I’m injured, don’t let him take me. Don’t you have some kind of duty of care obligation to your patients?”

  “I wasn’t asked, I was ordered. I do have a duty of care, which can supersede my obligation to follow lawful orders, but only if the order would compromise the medical interests of my patient. The People’s medical technology is immeasurably far ahead of ours, so I would be failing in my duty of care to refuse an offer of treatment by one of them.”

  “I get no say in this?”

  “Not while you are in the care of this army. Or any other ethical medical facility in the galaxy.”

  Sah Lee swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. “If their technology is so good, why do I ache all over?” she said as she sat down again.

  “I spoke to Ker Din Ser Forn, he told me you had suffered some deep seated physical traumas during your fights. He said he wanted to get you back here quickly, so you may not have completely healed. He gave me a pattern for something for you if you had any residual pain.” She walked to the nearest synthesizer and came back with a new injector tube, which she pressed to Sah Lee’s neck.

  Sah Lee stood up again. “That feels better. Why was he in such a hurry to get me back here?”

  “He didn’t say, perhaps he had to be somewhere else. There’s a security officer outside, waiting to take you back to your cell. I suppose you’ll be sending me more patients now.”

  The security officer came in, an avian that Sah Lee hadn’t seen before. “Do you really need to take me back? I could find my own way.”

  “I’m sure you would Private. Standing orders are that prisoners must be accompanied at all times. We’d normally have two or three of us with your punishment level, but the boss said you were no trouble. From what I’ve heard about you, if you make a run for it, I’ll give chase at a slow walk.”

  “What have you heard about me?”

  “That no-one in their right mind would get into a bar brawl with you, but you’re not learning to fight in battle. Your punishment seems pointless.”

  Sah Lee was back in her cell, waiting for breakfast and wondering what unpleasant mix her AI had ordered for her this time. The door opened, and the avian security guard came in. “You’ve got a visitor. Come with me.”

  She was shown to a room with a table and two chairs. Colonel B’Erren Tek occupied one of them. Sah Lee pulled the other chair out and sat down. “Nice of you to visit, Colonel.”

  “Please stand to attention Private.” The Colonel said politely, paused, then snapped, “Now!”

  Sah Lee hastily stood up to attention.

  The Colonel rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. “Sah Lee, I have stuck my neck out for you, putting you on punishment instead of discharging you from the army. Don’t make me think I made a mistake. The reason I am here is that I’ve heard about your progress. You don’t seem to be learning how to fight in battle. That’s no
t to say you aren’t learning something. If I ever get into a fight in a bar, you’ll be the first person I’ll call, but I need you to be a super soldier, not a super brawler, so I’m changing your routine. You’ll continue with your one-hour sessions, but you won’t have challengers any more. Instead, you’ll have one-hour training sessions with anyone I consider suitable. I have a few candidates you have already met: the Krendor Kar Fen, the Rinquit Bynor, the Harssanass Ferssera -”

  Sah Lee interrupted, “A Harssanass? The only one I’ve met is the one that put me in the medical unit. He almost ripped my face off.”

  “Yes, that’s the one. You wrecked his elbow joint. He’s still in medical waiting for it to grow back.”

  “Are you serious? He was the most vicious challenger I’ve had! I was ready to kill him.”

  “He’s good, isn’t he? You impressed him, he said you show promise.” The Colonel smiled. “He’s quite a fan of yours now. I’ve got a couple more that you know: Si’ir Monnen Dak, or Si’ir Monn as you call him and Ranesh, who you share quarters with.”

  “Ranesh? But she doesn’t like me.”

  “Obviously she does, otherwise she wouldn’t give up her free time to train you.”

  “But last time I spoke to her, I said ‘hello’ and she said, ‘Fuck off’.”

  “See, she does like you. If she didn’t like you, she would ignore you.”

  “She has ignored me a few times.”

  “OK, maybe she doesn’t like you much, but she is doing something for you. I have others I am considering, and word is getting around, so there will be no shortage of volunteers.”

  “I’m the hated rookie. Why do so many people want to help now?”

  “You were resented because you were only taken on because Ker Din Ser Forn requested it. Everyone assumed you were a bored, spoilt civilian from a civilization that had cozied up to the People and that you weren’t serious about becoming a soldier. It didn’t help that your personnel file is closed because we didn’t want everyone knowing you were a young survivor of the attack on Aarn, but that secret has been blown. Everyone sees you differently now.”

  “I don’t want their sympathy.”

  “Tough. You’ll get some of that, but mostly your background will be seen for what it is, genuine motivation.”

  “Why are you making all this effort for me?”

  “I’ve told you before. Ker Din Ser Forn thinks you have great potential, not just as a warrior but as a leader. He has an uncanny ability for judging people.”

  “I don’t like him, and I don’t trust him.”

  “You’ve made that clear before, but what you think doesn’t matter. I like him, and I trust him. Now, you will remain here as a prisoner, but the regime will be relaxed. Is there anything that you would like to focus on?”

  “My AI thinks I should practice my agility. It says it gives me an edge in fighting.”

  “You refer to your AI as it? Haven’t you given it a name yet, or assigned it a gender?”

  “No, it’s a machine. You wouldn’t name your weapon and assign it a gender, why would I do that for my AI?”

  “Did you ever have a pet as a child?”

  “A pet? What’s that?”

  “A domestic or tamed animal kept for companionship or pleasure.” her AI answered.

  “Ah. My AI has just told me. What a strange idea. Why would you want to keep an animal, except to eat it?”

  “OK, did you have a favorite doll?”

  “Doll?” Sah Lee asked her AI.

  “A small model of an adult, child or baby of your species, a child’s toy, often seen as a practice or surrogate baby.”

  “My AI has just told me what a doll is.” Sah Lee shuddered. “That sounds really creepy.”

  B’Erren sighed. “Let’s forget that, but an AI isn’t just a machine. It is a living entity, but machine based instead of organically based. They are super intelligent, the best friend you’ll ever have and the most valuable asset you’ll ever possess. Show it some respect.”

  “Uh, OK. Anyway, the agility training?”

  “The agility training. You can have a two hour session with your AI every day. Anything else?”

  “Not that I can think of. Oh, I’ve just thought of something, can I choose my own meals. Prison food doesn’t agree with me.”

  “Yes, though the security officers have reported to me that there’s something strange about your meals. They don’t know what is in your sealed meal containers but suspect it may not be the standard prison menu, which definitely doesn’t include herbal teas. I know for sure that you don’t have the skills to change your menu, so I’m guessing it must be your AI. That’s not an AI of an equivalent level to a newly post emergent civilization, or any other civilization that I know of - except one.”

  Sah Lee felt herself blush with the guilt of keeping her AI’s interference with orders secret, but said nothing.

  "At least you can choose your own menu now with a clear conscience.” B’Erren said, with a tight smile. “I’ve ordered golems for all the training partners. You’ll fight the golems which your partners will control. We’ll give the medics a rest for a while. You’ve sent enough of my soldiers to them already. Sergeant Si’ir Monnen Dak will be here for your first session in about an hour. I’ll have a selection of KE weapons brought into this room. There will be gaps in the day when none of your training partners are available, you can come in here during those periods it to familiarize yourself with the weapons. Your AI can do your training. Carry on Private.”

  “There’s just one other thing, Sir. How is Ren Deel?”

  “Corporal Ren Deel is in perfect health Private. Probably better than he has been for a long time, after being treated with People’s medical technology. He’s off Betzel Station right now, I’m sure he’ll visit when he returns.”

  Colonel B’Erren Tek stood ready to leave. Sah Lee saluted, and the Colonel left the room. The avian security guard stepped in. “Your status has changed Private. You seem to be a VIP prisoner now, so if you wouldn’t mind stepping this way, we’ll return to your suite - I mean, cell.”

  “Lead on.” Sah Lee said with a laugh.

  Chapter Sixty Five

  New Training Regime

  Once again, Sah Lee stood in the center of what was now her training room, bouncing on her toes, curious who would take the first of her new training sessions with her.

  Si’ir Monn came in, accompanied by a golem that was his twin. Sah Lee was a bit spooked to see the two of them coming towards her. The golem she had practiced with before was an anonymous bipedal construction slightly taller than her but not having characteristics of any particular species type.

  “So, you’re not dead.” Si’ir Monn greeted her.

  “That's very perceptive of you.” she replied.

  “My time spent training you for the battlefield seems to have been wasted, but Colonel B’erren Tek thinks you’d be good in a bar fight now.”

  “That could be useful, but I want to be able to fight against outcasts, not intoxicated soldiers.”

  “We’re going to do that now, and you’ll be fighting the golem which I’ll be controlling, so no need to hold back. All we’ve done before is defense, for this session, you are going on the attack.”

  His golem adopted a defensive stance, feet apart, knees slightly bent, left foot in front of the right and body at an angle to her, arms at chest height and extended with elbows bent.

  Sah Lee moved from side to side, not giving a hint where she would attack from. When she was ready, she sprung at the golem, claws fully extended, and teeth bared.

  ◆◆◆

  Now that Sah Lee could attack her opponents, the golems, without having to hold back and without having to worry about being injured, she could try out different attack and defenses, retrying the ones that didn’t work and improving on the ones that did. Having the golems controlled by different species, instead of just her AI, gave a realistic experience of fighting with real live
opponents who sometimes did unpredictable and apparently illogical moves. For the final two hours of the day in the training room, her AI had a comprehensive program of gymnastic moves and routines for her to practice and improve her agility. Each day finished with her exhausted and began with her waking with aching muscles.

  Day by day, her ability grew until she could defeat every golem she had to fight, except Kar Fen’s. His was just too big and powerful to overcome bare handed.

  Colonel B’Erren Tek came to visit her again. No longer escorted by security officers, Sah Lee went to meet her in the room she used for her weapons familiarization training and stood to attention in front of the table.

  “At ease Private. You’re doing pretty well on your training. I’m going to mix up your training now. You’ll be fighting in teams of two or three and using weapons. We have your hunting knife in storage, I can have a practice copy made of it for you to use, or you can choose something else. You’ll be wearing body armor from now on, you need to be able to fight with it on when you are in battle. I’m going to arrange off-station training exercises for you with a team made up from some of your training partners, so you can get used to working with a team. I’ll be your unit officer, so I can see how you perform.”

  “OK, it will be good to get out of here for a while. I’ve spent all my life outside on the plains, apart from some time in classrooms and workshops at university. Are we going somewhere nice?”

  “No. We’re going down to Betzel, so we’ll be wearing environment suits on top of our body armor. It will be uncomfortable and unpleasant, but it’s not a vacation. Any questions?”

  “Uh, no, not that I can think of.”

  “And what about your hunting knife, or would you like to have a look at the armory first?”

  “I would like my knife, or a copy of it. Would it be weighted the same as mine?”

  “I will have an exact replica made, but not sharp. I’d don't want you to damage the golems too much.”