by David Archer
Gary didn't slow. As soon as everyone was on top, he took off again, running straight to the far edge of the building and throwing himself into the air. Noah was third in line, with Angie just ahead of him, and when she also flew off the building, Noah simply followed. He pushed off at the last second with everything he had, and then realized that he had just made a leap that had to carry him more than fifty feet forward, even as he dropped down two full stories to the roof of the building across the street.
A split second ahead of him, he saw Angie hit and roll, and followed suit. The parachute training he received in the Army came in handy, for he knew how to take the hit on his feet, then roll it out and come back up on to them. They were still moving, and he didn't let himself slow down. He just kept following the girl in front of him.
Gary snatched open a door and disappeared down a flight of stairs, with Angie and Noah hot on his tail. Noah didn't look back to see where Marco was, assuming that he would be there, somewhere. He was too busy concentrating on following and keeping up.
Angie leapt up onto the railing beside the stairs and slid down, but when Noah tried it, he ended up rolling down the steps themselves. A few bruises on his backside told him that he would need more practice for some of these moves, so he got to his feet as quickly as he could when he hit the landing, then ran down the steps three and four at a time after that.
Gary veered off on the third floor, opening the stairwell door and flying down the hallway. He went through an office where several people were working at computers, literally flying directly over some of them to get to a window across the room. When he reached it, he threw himself through it but caught the window ledge with a hand and swung himself downward.
Angie hesitated, and Noah passed her, flying through the window just as Gary had done, and using the ledge to stop his forward momentum and drop to a balcony just below. Gary was already inside, back through the window beside the balcony and running like mad through another office full of computer terminals. Noah dived through the window and rolled to his feet just as Angie hit the balcony behind him, but he didn't wait to see if she followed.
The shortest route to the door Gary had disappeared through was diagonal, so Noah jumped up to run right across the tops of several desks. The people sitting at them were screaming and yelling, and sliding themselves away from their desks, and Noah realized that he had stepped on and broken at least one keyboard, but simply yelled, “Sorry!” as he ran out the door.
Gary went into another room, this one apparently just for storage, and Noah got to the door just in time to see him going out the window on the far side. Noah followed, of course, and found himself once more on top of a trailer, but then they ran down the cab of the truck and onto its hood, sliding off onto the road in front of it and continuing their run.
Up this, over that, leap here, run there—for more than an hour, Gary kept them moving, but finally, they were back at the exercise yard. Noah estimated that they had run a good twelve miles, and he didn't even want to think about how many of those miles might have been vertical. The entire group collapsed onto the grass of the field, breathing heavily and gratefully accepting the bottles of water that were being passed around.
“So,” Noah heard Jackson's voice, “how did that feel?”
Noah looked up at the man, and managed a very feeble grin. “At the moment, the stitch in my side feels a lot like I've been shot, but I think that will pass. We do this every day?”
Jackson nodded. “Five days a week,” he said. “We've found that there is absolutely nothing that can keep a man in better shape, as well as keeping you ready to move on a split second's notice. You get good at this, and you'll find that you'll see escape routes that no one else would believe, or ways to reach a target that anyone else would think was untouchable. This discipline is a lot more than just exercise and fun; it changes your entire way of thinking. Where other people will see obstacles, even blank walls, you'll soon start to see pathways you can use to get where you want to go. It's awesome.”
Noah nodded. “Like I said in the beginning,” he said. “This is gonna be fun.”
NINE
“I'll let you get to your room and get a shower,” Marco said, “while I go grab one myself. Soon as you're done, come on out by the car, because you've got weapons class next. I'll drive you over, but I got something else to do after that. Someone else will show you how to get back.”
Noah nodded, and as soon as the car was parked, he got out and jogged over to his door. He opened it quickly and slipped inside, stripping off the sweaty clothes he was wearing as he walked toward the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, quickly showered and dressed, he pulled the door shut behind him once again.
He was sitting on the hood of the car when Marco came out of his own room, and they got in without saying a word. Both of them were still feeling the effects of their workout, and Noah was honest enough with himself to admit that he wished he had time for a nap. He leaned back in the seat as Marco drove, but the ride was far too short for any real rest. The car pulled up in front of a large brick building, and Marco pointed at the door.
“That's where you go,” he said. “Your instructor in there is Daniel, and you'll know him because of his German accent. He's a good guy, and if there's any kind of weapon he isn't an expert with, I'll guarantee you it's not one you've ever heard of. I've gotta get to a class of my own, so I may not see you again today. Take it easy, and we'll probably see each other tomorrow.”
“Later,” was all Noah could manage, as he got out of the car and walked toward the door. He opened it and walked inside, and immediately realized that he must be late. There were quite a few people seated at long tables, all of them facing toward the front of the room where a tall, dark-haired man was pointing at a projection screen.
“Well, it seems we have a visitor,” the man said, and the accent told Noah that this must be Daniel. “You would be Noah, then?” Daniel asked.
“I am, Sir,” Noah replied. “I apologize for being late.”
Daniel pointed at an empty seat at the front table. “Please sit there,” he said, and Noah moved to take the seat indicated, on the right side of the center aisle. The seats were benches, wide enough for two people, and Noah's seatmate was a young black man. The fellow nodded at him, but didn't say a word as he took his seat.
Daniel tapped the screen with a finger to draw everyone's attention back up to it. Noah looked up to see a diagram of what appeared to be a Bowie knife.
“We're starting today with our section on knives,” Daniel said. “With all of the high-powered, high-tech weaponry that is now available in this world, it may seem strange to you that we put such emphasis on something as simple as the knife, but you should not find it so. When everything else you might use can fail you, the knife is a tool that is easily concealed, easily maintained and easily used.” He pointed at the diagram. “It was an American who created what is still considered to be one of the finest designs for the knife, and we all know it as the Bowie knife. By giving the full length of the blade a single edge, rather than the double edge of most knives throughout history, the majority of the blade was much stronger due to its thicker back edge. The dipped and curved point of the blade, the edge of which was also sharp, allowed the knife to pierce more easily, and could be used as a skinning edge for those who carried this knife when hunting. In addition, this narrowing groove that runs the length of the blade allows blood to flow past the knife when it is used for stabbing, hastening death as the victim can bleed out more quickly.”
Daniel turned back to face his students, and clicked a remote to turn off the projector. At the same time, the lights came up so that everyone could see him clearly. “There are two very important things you must remember about your knife. The first is to never leave your knife in your victim, and there are two reasons for this. Reason number one is quite obvious, in that the knife would leave a clue that someone could use to identify you as the killer. Reason number two should
be even more obvious, but for some of you idiots I have to make sure you understand it. You do not leave a knife behind in your victim, because a good knife is very difficult to find. Once you have found one, don't let it go.”
There was a ripple of laughter through the room, and Daniel's grin said that he was expecting it. “The second thing you must remember about your knife is to keep it well sharpened and maintained. While it may seem to you that a knife is so simple that it does not require much in the way of maintenance, you should be aware that many things can affect how well a knife serves you. If an edge becomes nicked, for instance, it may drag when used for cutting, and slow you down. A deep nick of the blade can catch on bone, preventing you from removing the knife from the target.” He clicked the remote again, and the lights went down as the projector came back on, showing a new image of a knife with a rough and chipped blade edge. “Flaws like these can cause the knife to hang up even in softer tissues, so it is always important to maintain a smooth, very sharp edge.” He clicked again, and a new knife appeared on the screen. At first glance, it seemed slightly misshapen, but Daniel pointed at its grip. “If the hilt of your knife becomes loose, then the tip of the blade is no longer where you expect it to be. With every motion of the hilt inside the grip, the tip is moved away from the centerline of the knife, which is where you have always expected it to be. While it may seem to be only a slight difference, that slight difference can cause you to miss a critical organ or artery, meaning your target does not die. In addition, a loose grip can throw off the balance of the knife, affecting how you handle it in many ways. This is unacceptable.”
He clicked again, and a third knife appeared on the screen. This one was rusty and dull. “This knife is one you would only want to use if it were the only possible option. The two damaged knives we have already looked at would be preferable to this one, and can anyone tell me why?”
Daniel waited for a couple of seconds, but no one raised a hand or spoke up. He looked around the room, and his eyes settled on Noah. “Perhaps, Mr. Noah, you would like to make a guess as to why this knife would be the last resort?”
Noah looked at the picture on the screen, and folded his hands in front of himself. “The edge of that knife is very dull, which means it's not going to be very effective if I have to fight. Since it's so rusty, I have to assume that the owner hasn't bothered with any kind of maintenance, and in fact it's probable that, if I've got that knife at all, it's because I stumbled across it somewhere. That means I have absolutely no sense of its balance or weight, so the only possible value it could have to me would be if I could use it for stabbing. Also, rust can cover up cracks and breaks in steel, so it's even possible that the knife has been damaged to the point that I can't trust it even for that.”
Daniel nodded at Noah, and smiled broadly. “I've been hearing good things about you, today,” he said, “and waiting my chance to form my own opinion. I must admit that you have made a very valid assessment, but you missed one thing. Would you care to try again?”
Noah looked again at the picture on the screen, letting his eyes roll over the knife from its tip all the way to the top of the hilt. He saw again that the edge was dull, and that the knife had not been cared for, but if there was something else he should've seen, it was escaping him. He was about to say so when a thought struck him.
“Well, the only thing I can see that I haven't said already is that, if that was my knife, then I probably shouldn't be trying to use it at all. If a warrior can't take care of his weapons, he doesn't deserve them.”
Daniel laughed. “That is another very valid point, but it wasn't what I was looking for,” he said. “Look very closely at the photo. Can you see the gap between the grip and the finger guard? What that means is that the hilt is not only loose, it is actually detached. It is quite possible that if this knife were used to stab your target or opponent, when you tried to draw it out you would find yourself holding only the grip, while the blade remained where you had put it.”
Noah nodded, seeing the gap Daniel mentioned. He wondered if he should've seen it without it being pointed out, but the gap was very small. He had been looking at the blade, which he considered the effective part of a knife, and hadn't considered the overall condition as well as he should have.
Daniel continued his lecture on knives, and how they should be maintained and cared for. At one point, he opened the box and began distributing Bowie knives to each of the students, along with sharpening stones and oil, and then began teaching them how to put a razor edge onto such a thick piece of steel. Noah, who had loved knives since he was a child, was quite adept at sharpening, and so were several of the others. After a few minutes, those who knew what they were doing were urged by Daniel to help their classmates.
The class continued this way for a couple of hours, and Noah got to know a few of his fellow students. When everything was winding down, and they were putting away the knives and stones, Daniel called Noah aside.
“I told you that I had been hearing good things about you,” he said. “That is true. However, what you should know is that not everyone is convinced that you are all that you're expected to be. There is something about you, and none of us knows quite what it is, that has convinced our administrator and psychologist that you are going to be something special.” He smiled. “Do not be so surprised; even in a place like this, rumors abound. It is impossible to completely keep a secret when there are so many hundreds of people around, but all of us are committed to this organization, so it's not a matter of a threat, so much as a matter of trust. Some of us do not trust you, and are reluctant to see so many of our superiors putting such hope in you.”
Noah looked at Daniel for a long moment, and then smiled. The smile had no emotion behind it, but was meant only to disarm any concerns the German instructor might have.
“I don't know what you mean, about people putting hope into me,” he said. “I'm here because I was offered a chance to become part of this organization, and since the alternative meant having a permanent address in the local cemetery, I was kind of glad the offer came along. Other than that, though, I'm not out to impress anyone, I'm not out to show off—I'm just here to do a job. As long as I can believe it's a job that needs to be done, I'm in.” He turned and walked toward the exit.
The man who had shared his seat tapped him on the shoulder, and Noah turned to look into his face. “I'm Roger,” the man said. “I know you're new here. Have you had permanent quarters assigned yet?”
Noah shook his head. “They got me staying in some little motel,” he said, “over in Alley Town.”
Roger nodded, and grinned. “That's what I figured,” he said. “Need a ride? It takes them a few days to get wheels assigned.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Noah said. “I appreciate it, if it's not taking you out of your way.”
Roger started toward the door, and chuckled. “It is,” he said, “but it's okay. By the way, you do know that's not the only restaurant here, right? We got several on the compound, including some good old burger joints.”
Noah laughed. “Seriously? Where are they, I could stand a nice thick burger and fries.”
They stepped into the parking lot and Roger pointed at a pickup truck. It was a small one, and looked like it had probably seen better days. “Hop in,” he said. “Burger and fries, coming right up.”
Noah climbed into the little truck, as Roger got behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition. He turned it, and Roger realized that the truck's appearance was deceptive. The engine that started up ran quite smoothly, and when Roger put it in gear, it was obvious that it had quite a lot of power.
“This truck seems to have a bit more motor in it than normal,” Noah said. “You build it yourself?”
“No,” Roger said. “This was assigned to me, because I've always been a country boy who loved pickup trucks. Just about everything they give us to drive is pretty well built, you'll see. I think a lot of them come from what the government confiscates, you know
, like from drug dealers and such. Somebody went to a lot of work to shove a big block under the hood of this thing.”
Roger drove the truck toward the urban setting where they had had their workout earlier, and Noah paid attention to the landmarks. “This is kind of ingenious,” he said. “It's like we've got samples of just about every different kind of environment here. Small-town, big-city, countryside—I even saw a stretch that looks like desert. Only thing I haven't seen so far is water, and I'd be willing to bet there's a lake here, somewhere.”
“You'd be right,” Roger said. “Southwest edge opens up on a lake that can get pretty treacherous at times. It's fresh water, but other than that you could swear you were out on the ocean, in spots.”
“So the idea, I gather, is to let us run practice missions in all these different environments?”
“Oh, that's part of it,” Roger admitted. “There's a lot more to it than that, though. Part of it is the workouts, to let us get used to running courses of all kinds. Then there's the fact that a lot of our people have been locked up for years, so they need to get used to being in the world again, and this is how they do it. To be honest, I think that's pretty much one of the more important reasons for it, but there's probably other reasons I don't even know about.”
Noah was surprised to see a typical fast food restaurant appear ahead of them. “That's wild, I didn't see that when we were here earlier. I wonder what else there is around here that I didn't see.”
Roger shrugged his shoulders. “Well, unless you're starving, let's take a cruise and see.” He drove past the burger place, and cruised through the urban section, going from street to street, and Noah realized that the section seemed to be made up of about thirty-six city blocks, a six-block by six-block grid. He saw office buildings, banks, apartment buildings, a large hotel, a shopping center with several stores, a couple of theaters and several different restaurants. There was a school complex that seemed to have everything from kindergarten through high school, and an impressive hospital that looked like it was ready for just about anything. Roger took another turn, and then they cruised through a few smaller streets that were lined with houses.