by Jon F. Merz
He woke to the sound of Mithrus shouting for the slaves to gather themselves for the new workday. Ran groaned, rolled over, and sat up, wiping away the sleep from his eyes. By his own estimate, he’d had perhaps two hours of sleep. More than he’d expected, but far less than he needed.
Kuva grumbled as he woke up. “I’m not going to be very friendly to that scum today.”
Ran shook his head. “Play the game for now, Kuva. You can kill him later.”
Kuva touched one of the many bruises on his face and winced. “That bastard has ruined me for the ladies. If these don’t heal, I’ll give him a slow death the likes of which he’s never dreamed of.”
Ran smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay. I wasn’t too sure there for a while.”
“Looked a sight, did I?”
“Indeed.”
Kuva grunted as he stood up. “Takes more than what they threw at me to break one of my kind. Still, it wasn’t very pleasant. I’ll wager you heard my screams?”
“Yes. It didn’t sound good.”
“Pain never does,” said Kuva. “Mark my words: when we get out of here, the wailing of Mithrus will wake the dead.”
As the slaves filed out of the pens, Mithrus kept shouting for them to move faster. “Come on, you louts, Zal wants his tunnel to the other side completed this week. You’ve got a lot of work to do to make that happen. You don’t want Zal to get angry, do you?”
Ran and Kuva moved out of their pens and into the line of other slaves. Ran saw Cassandra, but the princess wasn’t awake yet or interested in looking at him. Ran still thought she looked beautiful, even dressed in tattered clothes.
“Ah, did you have a nice beauty sleep?” Mithrus swooped in front of them, blocking their way. With him were three guards. He clucked when he saw Kuva’s face. “Oh my, did we get a little overzealous with our correctional action on you yesterday? That looks painful.”
Ran could feel Kuva’s temper wanting to explode, but knew if his friend did that, then Mithrus would simply hurt him all the more. So instead, Ran put one hand on Kuva’s shoulder and looked directly at Mithrus. “Should we proceed to work?”
Mithrus switched his gaze from Kuva to Ran. “Don’t test me, Nehonian. I could kill you without a moment’s worth of work.”
“I don’t doubt it,” said Ran. “But you did say that Zal would not be pleased if his tunnel wasn’t finished. We would very much like to get on with our work.”
“Oh, would you?” Mithrus chuckled and then swept his arm out to the side. “Then please . . . do carry on. Don’t let us delay you any longer.”
Ran eyed the gauntlet of Mithrus’s guards but knew he had no choice but to walk through it. He nodded at Mithrus. “Thank you.” Then he and Kuva walked past the guards.
As Kuva walked past Mithrus, the big man managed to keep his eyes staring directly in front of him. Ran marveled at his restraint, knowing that his friend would love nothing more than to rip Mithrus’s throat out. As they moved down the tunnel to the work area, Ran nudged him.
“You did well back there.”
“In my head, I just killed him twenty times.” Kuva grinned. “I will take care of him for real one day very soon.”
“Yes, you will,” said Ran. “And then we’ll be free.”
“Free,” said Kuva quietly. “That will be a good day, indeed.” He glanced around and then back at Ran. “And when will that be, exactly?”
Ran held up his hand. “We shouldn’t talk about that just now. Let me figure a few more things out and then we’ll talk later. It’s too dangerous to do so right now. Especially with Mithrus and his goons about.”
They moved into the work area, and Kuva nodded at the pickax. “You want the first shift or should I?”
“You feel well enough to swing for a while?”
Kuva flexed his arms and then hefted the ax. “Yeah, feels pretty good, actually.”
Ran felt a measure of relief. With such little sleep, the thought of hacking away at the stone was not a pleasant one. “I’ll get the cart then. Let me know when you need a break, all right?”
Kuva nodded. “Good.” He turned and started swinging at the stone. Around them, the sounds of other slaves doing the same echoed off the catacomb walls. Ran tried to look around for Cassandra but couldn’t see her anywhere. He turned back and willed Kuva to swing harder. As soon as Ran could load up a cart, he could get out of their immediate area and make sure she was okay.
It took another five minutes before he was able to do so, but Ran pushed the cart toward the conveyor belt opening and then sighed when he saw Cassandra down at the far end of one of the other tunnels. He shook his head. The way Zal was trying to break through seemed entirely illogical to Ran. In his place, Ran would have concentrated all of the slaves in one key place. Progress would surely have been faster. Still, perhaps there was more to this way of doing things than Ran could fathom.
As he pushed the cart toward the opening, he saw Bagyo milling about. The beast was moving back and forth by the opening to the conveyor belt. Each time he did so, he stopped and sniffed the air. Ran nearly stopped right then and there, but doing so would have only provoked suspicion. Did Bagyo have a keen sense of smell? Had he scented Ran around the opening from earlier? Ran took a breath and continued to push the cart toward the opening.
Bagyo stopped as soon as he saw Ran. “You. Come.”
Ran nodded and shoved the cart forward. As he did so, he collided with another slave pushing his cart and they went sprawling together across the floor. As they rolled, Ran mashed himself into the other man’s body, trying his best to smear his clothes with the slave’s. Given the horrid stench of the slave, Ran had to suppress his gag reflex.
Bagyo’s hands plucked them apart and stood them back up. Ran looked at the other slave. “Sorry. I think my cart hit a rock.”
Bagyo shoved the other slave away and pointed at Ran. “Come here.”
He led Ran back to the opening and then stood by, again sniffing the air. Bagyo turned and eyed Ran. “You in belt last night?”
Ran stared him back in his eyes, knowing that doing so was an absolute must. “Last night? I was asleep. Exhausted after a day’s work.”
Bagyo leaned close to him, his mouth open and heaving as he sniffed Ran from top to bottom. Ran prayed he had enough of the other slave’s stink on him to mask his own scent. Bagyo’s breath hovered around Ran for a full two minutes. Ran kept his breathing steady and normal, just in case the beast could detect changes in body temperature, too.
Finally, Bagyo leaned back. Confusion creased his distorted face. “Guess not you.” He pointed at the overturned cart. “Go. Get cart. Keep working.”
Gladly, thought Ran. As he walked back to the cart, he breathed easier. Fortunately, the improvised plan had worked. But Ran would have to be careful to remember that Bagyo had an apparent number of traits he hadn’t counted on having to deal with. Scent was a tough one to get past. There were ways, as Ran had just done. They were never palatable, however.
Ran collected his cart and then brought it over to the opening. As he fed rocks into the conveyor belt, he felt Bagyo watching him in his peripheral vision, still apparently suspicious. Ran made a great show of reaching all the way into the opening and brushing his sleeves against the opening itself. Each time he slid more rocks in, Ran reached a bit deeper, scraping his skin and clothes in the process. When he was done, he got the cart and started his return trip.
On the way back, he swerved down the tunnel where Cassandra was working. She looked up as he approached and nodded once to him.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Just hate it here is all. I miss the outside world.”
“I know,” said Ran. He glanced around. Two slaves were busy hacking at the wall while another collected rocks only a short distance away from where Ran and Cassandra stood. Ran eyed him for a moment, but the slave never glanced his way. He was old and frail and clucked as he picked rocks up like he was tidying someone’s
messy house. Maybe he’s already lost his mind, thought Ran. Easy enough to do in a place like this.
Ran lowered his voice. “It will be tonight. After everyone’s asleep. I know a way. It’s risky, but—”
Cassandra put a grimy finger over his lips. “Shh. Don’t say any more. I trust you, you know that. You can tell us on the way there.”
The touch of her finger had sent a jolt of energy through his body. Ran smiled and held her hand for a moment longer than he should have. “All right. Be careful today. You’ll need all your strength for the journey ahead.”
“Understood. Now get out of here before Bagyo starts looking for you again. The last thing you need is him on your case.”
“You’re right, of course.” Ran turned and started pushing his cart back up the tunnel toward his own work station.
“Ran?”
He turned, and Cassandra stood there with a funny lopsided grin on her face.
“What is it?” he asked.
She grinned fully now and shook her head. “You really stink.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
As the day dragged on, Ran started feeling the effects of little sleep. The pickax grew heavier with each swing. The cart became more and more unstable each time he had to push its contents to the conveyor belt. Even the air grew ever more humid and stifling. It was as if Ran were moving in slow motion, and there was little he could do to make himself feel better.
Sleep deprivation had been one of the things that the elders back at the Nine Daggers clan in Gakur had stressed could easily happen on assignments. Various environments and conditions would no doubt affect how a shadow warrior worked. As such, operatives had to be trained to deal with it.
Ran remembered the day he had walked into one of the classrooms high in a tower. He and four other students had been called there earlier than normal. When he arrived, Ran found the other students already there and one of the instructors, Eijiro, waiting for Ran.
“We’ve discussed before how you can never quite plan for every contingency that may arise in the course of a mission. Sometimes, things will happen and you may well wonder why they did. The universe, after all, plays a role in our lives and missions—whether we wish it did or not. As we are not yet able to bend the universe to our will, we must endeavor to be ready for anything that comes our way. That is the purpose behind today’s lesson. You five are going to go through something that very few other people outside of the clan would ever think about willfully doing. But since we are not ordinary people, we hold ourselves to different standards. We do the things that others do not.”
One of Ran’s classmates raised his hand. “What is the lesson, Master Eijiro?”
Eijiro grinned as he walked around the students. “Did everyone have a good sleep last night?”
The students murmured and agreed they all had. Eijiro seemed pleased by this. “Excellent. Then you are starting this assignment off much better than you may find you will in the real world.” He turned back to the student who had asked the question. “To answer you: today’s lesson is learning how you function on a lack of sleep.”
Ran frowned. “But it’s morning. We just woke up a few hours ago. How will we know what a lack of sleep is like when we’re already wide awake?”
Eijiro continued to smile and said nothing. Ran felt his stomach ache just a bit. He shook his head. “This exercise isn’t just for today, is it?”
“Exactly,” said Eijiro. “It starts today. It ends when you have all experienced the joy of being without sleep for a certain amount of time.”
“How much time?” asked another student.
“It will vary depending on the student,” said Eijiro. “Some of you will shows signs of sleep deprivation sooner than others. I will be watching all of you closely. Once I determine that prolonging the exercise will harm you, I will remove you from this room and put you to bed.”
“So we just sit here?” asked Ran. “Do nothing?”
Eijiro shrugged. “You may do whatever you wish. The time is yours to move about. You cannot—must not—leave this room, however. To do so would place you in danger the longer the exercise runs. There are books in the back you can read. Food will be served four times each day. You should endeavor to exercise and keep your mind active during this time. You are not permitted to sleep. If you fail this exercise, you will be required to retest before you can successfully graduate. Is that understood?”
The students nodded. Ran felt a tightness in his stomach. Most times, the instructors told them about forthcoming tests. This was one of the few times they had sprung one on him. The tension in the room felt almost palpable as the students with Ran started realizing the gravity of the exercise and what it meant for their future careers. No one wanted to fail and have to go through this exercise again—especially now that they knew what it entailed.
“Boredom will be your constant enemy,” said Eijiro. “The temptation for you to simply lay down will become overpowering at times. You must learn to resist it. We will not force you to do anything other than avoid sleep. If you can successfully battle boredom here, then in the real world, it will be somewhat easier to continue to fight even without rest.”
“Somewhat easier,” said another student. “But not entirely.”
“Nothing ever is,” said Eijiro. “But we endeavor to provide you with the most realistic exercises we can replicate within the safety of this school. This is one such exercise. Learn from it. Learn what happens to your body as it thirsts for more rest and you are unable to provide it.”
Ran raised his hand. “Master Eijiro, what happens if we simply pass out?”
“If enough time has not passed, then you will be required to re-test at a later date.” Eijiro grinned. “We know what the human body is capable of. We know how long we can go without food and water. We also know how long we can go without sleep. You students do not know that yet. In this exercise, you will learn.” He looked at the timepiece on the wall and nodded. “It begins now.”
Ran glanced at his classmates. There was a bit of nervous tension broken when they all realized there was nothing much to do but let time pass. Ran got to his feet and started doing some of the taiso body-stretching exercises that formed the foundation for the martial arts they studied here. He sank down and flexed his thighs and calves, twisting this way and that, enjoying the feeling of loosening up his muscles and ligaments. Two other students wandered to the shelves and chose a book to read. Another sat by the class window and stared outside as the day progressed. The last student immediately walked to Eijiro and told him he didn’t feel ready for the test. Eijiro let him leave.
Four left.
The day dragged on. Ran worked his way through every unarmed technique he could recall. He performed them slowly, so as not to overly tax himself. But by the time the sun started heading toward the horizon, Ran felt the first twinges of exhaustion coming over him. Meals helped, but only for a short time. The spike from eating lasted perhaps an hour or two and then faded even faster. That first night saw Eijiro replaced by another instructor who watched over them with the eyes of a hawk. When one of the students dozed off, the instructor screamed at him. That helped wake Ran back up.
Eijiro returned the next morning. He looked refreshed and rested. Ran felt horrible. Each minute seemed to take days to pass. He sweated and at other times grew cold as his body struggled to figure out what was happening to him. Ran lost interest in the meals but ate anyway, knowing he had to keep his strength up despite the massive lethargy that had crept into his bones. On the second day, he did no physical exercises, judging he was too exhausted to try them. He tried reading a book instead and found the script kept melting all over the page as his eyes lost focus.
It would be one thing, Ran thought, if they kept us running all over the place. Then we wouldn’t have time to think. But this is just monotonous.
“Feeling all right, Ran?”
He turned at the sound of Eijiro’s voice. “Fine.”
; Eijiro grinned. “Good. Keep up the good work.”
Ran frowned as the instructor turned away. Easy for him to say. He doesn’t have to go through this.
At dinner on the second day, Eijiro left again and was replaced by yet another instructor. Ran knew of his reputation even though he had not yet had him for any course. The other students called him Weasel because of his thin, wiry appearance. Ran could have sworn the Weasel had whiskers growing out of his face, too. But he wasn’t sure he was seeing anything accurately.
The Weasel seemed to love this exercise, though. When dinner was finished, he strode to the front of the class and clapped his hands. “So, two days in, are we?” He nodded at the four students. “Not bad, not bad at all. Not as good as when I went through this, mind you, but you lot don’t look all that impressive.”
As he said this, one of the students slipped from his bench and collapsed on the floor. The Weasel sighed and dragged the student out of the room, only to return moments later. “Three left now.”
Ran eyed his classmates. There was no way, he decided, he was going to quit.
On the third morning, only Ran and one other student were left. At some point during the night, the third student had been removed. Ran couldn’t quite remember what had happened, his mind was truly one big foggy nightmare. Images swam in front of his eyes. He felt like he was drooling constantly. Each time he tried to walk around the room and do something physical to keep his mind from playing tricks on him, he would stumble.
The other student struggled to reach Ran. “I’ve seen you before. Are you in my class?”
Ran frowned. “I think so. I’m Ran.”
“Akira,” said the other student. “What happened to the others?”
Ran shook his head. “Gone. Just the two of us left.”
Akira was an inch taller than Ran. He stood. “We’ve got to beat this thing. We can’t let it get us. I don’t want to ever go through this again.”