Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star

by Gregory Faccone

  The spiral grew wider, and the pace increased as was traditional. Jordahk held up his end, but just barely. Ring partners needed the strength to resist holds, the speed to dodge blows, and the balance to bend with the maneuvers. Putting her in some of the required joint locks was like trying to grip a cable used to secure starliners. He was sweating. Glick produced only a fine sheen on flushed skin.

  The last three maneuvers were large, returning them to the center. Jordahk was too slow and caught a grazing blow to the face. He was practiced at taking hits, though, and kept his feet under him. He didn't finish the ring in style, but he did finish. The two bowed to each other.

  Jordahk rubbed his face. Despite his mistakes, he felt a sense of accomplishment. He had wrestled with something dangerous and lived to tell the tale. Glick pulled her arms in a stretch and smiled. In all his days aboard ship he'd never seen the woman smile. And to be fair, it wasn't a big smile. She only pulled up one side of her mouth, but he could see it in her eyes. She enjoyed it. Stretch completed, her demeanor closed back up.

  The third ring required trust. What was it going to take to make this woman his ally? It was like trying to pulverize granix with his fists.

  "Well, uh..." Cranium was rather relieved, probably because no one needed a med station. "Why don't we call it a workout. The bottom of the hill's approaching."

  Jordahk thought Cranium generous with the "we." The data rider had sat safely on his butt during their physical battle of wills. But he was also right. Their first destination neared, and they would soon leave manifold space. Jordahk had done what he could. It was time to move on with the mission.

  "So that's all you've got then?" Glick asked. Her eyes were penetrating beams of teleforce.

  Jordahk managed an "Uh..." before Cranium interrupted.

  "Cool your plasma, Glick," Cranium said. "It's enough already." He grabbed at Jordahk's arm to get him off the padded area.

  "What about the fourth ring?" Glick asked.

  The fourth ring was master level stuff. It was equal parts semi-controlled sparring and difficult maneuvers. Jordahk could demonstrate everything he knew about the fourth pankido ring in fewer than 30 seconds.

  "I don't do the fourth ring," he said flatly, "yet."

  "Oh well," Cranium said. He continued to usher Jordahk away.

  Jordahk suspected the data rider wouldn't know the fourth ring from a Lawless Space cluster brawl. Looking back at Glick, Jordahk found himself on the receiving end of a piercing stare.

  "Perhaps a little free sparring?" Glick asked.

  Jordahk's mind whirled. Just how far was he willing to go to secure this woman's support? Perspiration made the complex earth tone colors of her hair shine. All the layers and pointy ends reminded him of a bird of prey. So did the way she held herself. Was he up to the challenge? He had enough doubts in life. Maybe this was one he could overcome right now. He stopped.

  "It's always good to train against a skilled opponent," Jordahk said. "I don't suppose a couple minutes could hurt."

  Cranium shoulders sagged. "That depends. If by hurt you mean a broken—"

  "Stow it, Clutch," Glick snapped. Her expression changed to one of great interest, as if the challenge brought something to the surface.

  Cranium regarded his sister, then Jordahk. Then he shrugged and walked away. Jordahk heard him talking but didn't know whether he was communicating with someone or just mumbling.

  Glick moved to the floor and took a deceptively casual combat stance. Jordahk walked within a few paces, which was about as close as he dared. He focused on her eyes while retaining peripheral awareness of her hands. This routine hand-to-hand mindset was more difficult to maintain than usual. He found her whole body distracting. She was a magnificent example of humanity. He found himself more desirous of watching than sparring with her.

  Jordahk adopted an open pankido stance, appropriate for the unexpected. Although he did expect one thing regarding the next few minutes—they would hurt.

  A pang of doubt stabbed Jordahk. Damn those jerks on Kraytcia. He let that experience get to him, and his confidence. Pull it together, adam. He took a second to forehead his thoughts.

  Glick stared, still and confident. That was the outside. Gazing deeper, Jordahk sensed hidden ripples. All wasn't right within Glick. The discovery of this secret was revealed subtly in his expression. Her brows lowered in response, and the storm struck.

  Glick moved before Jordahk even thought to start. He reacted with self-preservation and dojo instinct to parry a string of clean opening strikes—clean in that they left no possibility of counterattack. She followed up with a kick to the chest he couldn't dodge, but he did manage to blunt it, arms crossed before him. Staggering back from the force of the blow, he forced deep breaths.

  More time was needed for necessary oxygen. Charging in again without pause, she feinted high then lowered, planting hands and extending a leg. She rotated to sweep Jordahk's legs. His feet flew up, and his head toward the tiles. With dexterity he didn't even know he possessed, his arms shot downward. Pushing hard, he surprised himself by performing a sort of cartwheel, ending back on his feet, as much to his amazement as hers. She arched an eyebrow.

  Jordahk thought it best to take the offensive since she was so hard to anticipate. He moved close, employing the pankido doctrine of intercepting attacks as they formed. He didn't think he could beat the security and procurements expert to the draw, but by acting first he arrived just as she was preparing a kick. He faked a palm strike to her face just to get her off-balance. Then he grabbed his true target, one of her wrists, and was already running it through an arc from high to low, taking her body with it.

  Her eyes opened wide as she realized she was being flipped. Slamming her legs down, she sprang into the air as if two rockets had been ignited. She tucked into a backward somersault, dragging Jordahk's hold on her wrist. His body twisted. In an instant he went from being in control to losing his balance.

  She groaned in pain. The torque on her wrist must have been tremendous. Getting out of a move that way was something only possible in the era of stronger bones and ligaments. Jordahk had to release her or end up being carried by her somersault and becoming the one toppled. He did so, staggering awkwardly.

  Somehow Glick opened up into a balanced landing as if she did this maneuver every day. Maybe she did. Her feet landed one after the other, but touched the ground only long enough to propel her up again for an arcing roundhouse kick. He was too engrossed in the spectacle to be prepared. He moved his body with the hit and tumbled.

  It wasn't until Jordahk came out of the roll, pretty smoothly he thought, that he felt pain in his upper arm. Her treaders were angled to a hard, dull edge down their front from shin to toe. He risked a glance at Cranium, who was clearly communicating the message to bow out. That advice carried some wisdom. Unarmed hand-to-hand combat against Glick was going to get him seriously clocked sooner or later. Likely sooner.

  She arched her eyebrow again, impressed at his ability to take pain. As far as strengths went, that one was pretty lame. If he could just get her in one of his few master level pankido locks, he knew he could hold it. At least then he might be able to exit the match with some face. Jordahk was already moving as the plan came together. A lot of his plans seemed to involve pain lately, and this one was no exception.

  He came down vertically with a lightning fast chop. It might have caught many opponents, but not Glick. With an equally quick deflection and sidestep, she made a fist for her counterattack. Jordahk tightened his stomach for the blow that couldn't be dodged. But he knew that going in, just like he knew she couldn't resist throwing it.

  It felt like he was dropped onto a rock from orbit. Her fist caused ripples of pain throughout his abdomen, but because he was ready for it, his vision stayed clear. His hand somehow managed to obey, and grabbed her punching wrist. Jordahk held onto it as the force of her blow pushed him backwards. Using that momentum he yanked her. Glick made her first mistake then
by trying to free her wrist with her other hand, and he closed the trap.

  She tried to get her balance, but Jordahk pivoted with both her wrists tucked under his arm. When he had her moving fast enough, he twisted both up in an arc. It all came to a stop with Glick stretched up onto her toes, wrists bent backwards, lifted before him. She couldn't get purchase enough to jump out, so she tried to force her arms free. She was strong, and they struggled.

  Curiosity blossomed in Jordahk's mind. What kind of lifetime therapy did this woman have? The mystic ravelen he received from Aristahl as a boy was exceptional, although it took him years to realize it. Rarely did he meet someone whose muscle strength exceeded his pound for pound. The few times that he did, that person always had a ravelen, too, not the scientum retta.

  Variance in lifetime therapies was normal, but too much enhancement in one area threw the system out of balance. Those with great raw muscle strength were often just a little slower, or their bones might not be as hard. Or maybe their vision was only average. Poorly administered lifetime therapies even led to periods of aching, or worse. Jordahk eventually realized all areas of his enhancement were on the upper end, at least all he knew of. Who knew what else Aristahl had put in him?

  Glick matched him strength for strength. If not for his extra mass and the nearly no-escape lock, she might have pulled free. She was fast, too. She pulled hard again, grunting. Jordahk's arms strained, but held. The lock required all his effort. He beheld her face, just inches from his. She looked back with an expression of surprise. A full-fledged bead of sweat rolled down her temple.

  "You win on points," Jordahk said. They lay frozen in strained immobility. "How about we end it like this?"

  Glick stared at him intently as before, but this time her eyes didn't narrow. In them was less anger. She struggled again, changing the angle of her wrists. That mischievous half smile returned, and Jordahk smiled back despite himself. Then his intellect caught up with why she might be smiling. Her stick beeped.

  His vision exploded in a flash of color. He heard that internal ringing sound that never portended good things. He staggered backwards. One of Glick's wrists had been aimed at his head, and a sub-whispered command snapped her stick to full size. Warmth ran down his face. Touching it filled his palm with blood.

  "Drax."

  Bones were hard to break, but even enhanced skin could only take so much. Jordahk didn't have Max to direct blood micros. Barring that, the flow wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

  Glick put opposite hand to wrist, and with another beep she held both sticks at full size, poised for action. Expectation added to her half smile. She paced with her sticks, and Jordahk knew she was daring him.

  He put his non-bloody hand up palm out. It wasn't concession, but pause. His other remained pressed against the side of his head.

  "Well?" Glick said.

  "Wait a second."

  Glick continued her cat-like pacing in an outfit fitting that description. Part of Jordahk's brain was still distracted by her. She continued to scrutinize him as he walked off.

  Cranium intercepted him. "What're you doing, adam?"

  "Trying to stay in this sparring match."

  "Sparring match? We passed that a light year ago," Cranium whispered louder than necessary.

  Jordahk spotted a discarded towel. "I'm glad you're not fond of picking up."

  On his belt a flexible section came off by design. Without Max, Jordahk activated it manually by running his thumb down the long contact switch and then quickly back up. With a faint beep, the piece stiffened into a spartan but deadly tanto point knife. Sometimes, you just had to improvise.

  The sharp blade cut through the towel almost as if it wasn't there. Jordahk wrapped a double strip around his head to staunch the bleeding the old-fashioned way. A red spot formed on the makeshift bandage immediately.

  "Nice time to take a break, Max," he mused.

  "You're not thinking about going back out there," Cranium said. It was more a statement than a question. "Just look at her. I've seen her like this. Let it go."

  "I'm close to a breakthrough," Jordahk said.

  "More like 'getting broken'."

  From a narrow inner pocket of his long coat, Jordahk pulled a thumb thick metal cylinder. It activated with a beep, thickening in width, and flashing to six feet in length. With hardly a thought, he twirled the metal staff. Pankido might not be big on the weapon, but he was.

  He sought training at many schools to master its use. Of course, "master" was a strong word, but the staff was his favorite martial weapon, and he admitted to decent skills.

  Cranium's reaction warred between being impressed, and observing lunacy by facing his sister.

  "You're acting like a radiated slag," Cranium said, although it didn't come out forcefully. Maybe the data rider thought Jordahk could actually survive this encounter.

  Jordahk walked back onto the floor and remarked over his shoulder. "No, a combat bot goes where it's ordered. I'm volunteering." He grinned.

  Thinking about the comment another second, he wasn't sure it made him sound very wise. But he sure did like his staff. It cost him a fair sum on Kraytcia. He long regarded it as one of his better purchases.

  The metal twang of Glick's sticks striking together pulled Jordahk's attention back where it needed to be. She flipped both sticks in her hands. Little doubt remained they were her favorite martial weapons, although she was probably just as formidable with a chair.

  What Jordahk lacked in skill he made up in experience—most of it involving him getting tossed about in dojos, gung halls, and martial schools throughout the Asterfraeo. Glick's stance changed subtly. Did he detect a touch of respectful wariness in the set of her shoulders? The previously buffeted maintenance bot slunk farther into a corner.

  Jordahk's ready stance was confident, and his staff glimmered. All of their combined strength couldn't bend it. In a flash, Glick attacked. She took advantage of her twin weapons, attacking independently. Although his staff was double-ended, it wasn't as versatile, but he'd trained for this. Just as sudden as her attack, he was moving and taking advantage of his extra reach, stepping and angling constantly. Her sticks flew, but her strikes missed or were rebuffed. The staccato sound of metal striking metal filled the stone gym again, although the staff didn't ring hollow like the poor maintenance bot.

  Cranium's expression vacillated between amazement and wincing. To him it was a no-win situation. At the bottom of the hill, a concussion to either one was bad for them all.

  Jordahk wasn't sure for whom Cranium was rooting. The data rider was probably grateful to have a non-enemy stand up to his sister but also unhappy it was their benefactor.

  The exchanges were fast, yet Jordahk surprised himself by keeping up. Maybe he needed to take a higher view of himself. Then he took a stinging shot to his side. The universe was definitely out to keep him humble.

  Jordahk struck a glancing blow off the top of Glick's head that shocked more than hurt her. He could tell by her cockeyed expression of astonishment, making him wonder when was the last time she'd been on the receiving end of a blow.

  Being humbled was an everyday occurrence for Jordahk. In that area he had far more experience than Glick. She became more riled as her attacks proved ineffective. He continued to nip at her with strikes to the periphery and even a couple of light jabs to the abdomen. The latter felt like striking a wall. He didn't know whether to attribute that to her muscle tone or the distracting, gauzy top.

  Glick's temperament was slipping, and her moves became increasingly reckless. Jordahk bided his time. Thirty seconds could feel like an hour when facing a stick-wielding dervish. Keeping up with her speed was part anticipation, part reflex, and part luck. Finally, his opening came.

  Jordahk wound the staff over his head. It left his midsection open, and Glick slashed across his kidney. Wincing hard, he began one of his favorite moves. A staff master on Kraytcia called it the "maple gyre," because it resembled the rotating seedlin
gs that fell from maple trees. Glick's slash left her vulnerable to it.

  The coiled staff was filled with potential energy. Jordahk unwound it at full power moving downward. The first spinning end missed her head. She was fast pulling it back. That was okay, because he didn't want to crack her there anyway and had held back.

  The second end came around fast and connected hard on her wrist. Non-enhanced bone would have shattered. One of her sticks flew the toward Cranium. The first end came back around for the third strike. Her hips rotated, escaping impact. Jordahk spun for the fourth and final strike. It connected hard with her calf. He strained to keep both hands on the staff and pushed through, sweeping Glick's legs out from under her. He maintained contact so the cat wouldn't land on her feet.

  Jordahk leaped upon her to pin. The breakneck speed of the sparring match came to an instantaneous end. He could feel pain below his waist, but tried to ignore it. The staff was across Glick's shoulders, and he pushed down to pin with all the leverage he could muster. They breathed heavily in the sudden stillness. Her face was close, and he saw surprise on it. Something else was also there. Jordahk couldn't recognize it, but at least it wasn't antagonistic.

  He held the pin, not knowing if it was over. Her war of subtle expressions ended, and her cold half smile returned.

  "I don't think," she spoke softly, "that you could hold this pin for long."

  To punctuate her point, muscles flexed along her torso. Lying atop her, he couldn't miss it. He felt sharp pain in his crotch. He looked down to see her remaining stick levered in such a way that would have made it painful indeed to stay atop her. Jordahk eased up on the pin. He dropped his head and shook it as a wry grin overtook him.