by Justin Sloan
A door nearby opened and out came Kwan, dressed now in the style of training clothes they all wore.
“Training?” he asked, and she noted that he might be a man of few words. She nodded, then motioned to Carma’s door.
“Just waiting on her.”
He grunted and approached, then turned to look through the open door before Samantha thought to warn him not to. Without a second glance, he turned back away with a beet red face. Samantha couldn’t help but smile as he continued on without them. At least Carma was making others uncomfortable, too.
“Meet you there!” Samantha called after him, to which he just replied with another grunt and a nod of his head.
She had to laugh at that, and made a note to have a word with the lady later. Maybe this kind of behavior on her own planet was fine, but in a team like this it was likely to cause some major issues.
Carma appeared a moment later, now wearing the black training gear and looking much more appropriate.
“They expect me to move around in this?” she asked, clearly not excited about having to wear clothes that actually covered her skin.
“You know,” Samantha offered, “on my planet, women fight with their hands and feet, even guns and knives… not only with their sexuality.”
“Why take away one of our biggest weapons against the enemy?”
“The enemy?” Samantha frowned.
“Oh, well maybe not in this war. But in the wars against men, surely you must admit the power of distraction does wonders?”
That deserved another laugh, though Samantha had to admit to herself it was as much out of humor as discomfort. “On Earth, we don’t have wars against men.”
“Truly?” Carma shook her head. “Odd, considering I heard all of your armies are led by men. You’d think one of you women would step up at some point and put a stop to it all.”
“Yes, one might think that.”
As they continued down the hallway, a feeling of foreboding came over Samantha, and she glanced back to see Dex floating along in his hooded cloak. The sight of him sent a shiver up her spine.
“Guess we don’t all have to train in these clothes,” Carma noted. “Good, I may take mine off if they get in the way.”
Samantha held up a hand. “Please, don’t.”
With a shrug, the woman continued on. Two bay doors slid apart at their approach, and they found themselves back in the mess hall. Kwan was at the opposite side, where a door opened and the sounds of someone training came from within.
Samantha picked up the pace now, curious to see what they were dealing with, and really starting to wonder how big the ship was. Judging by the hallways and what she had seen of the command center, it certainly wasn’t some fighter. She had a feeling they were riding in a fairly good-sized, badass space ship.
Knowing Hadrian to the extent that she did, how could it be otherwise?
The walls of the training room were a silvery blue, and the room was full of sparring equipment, weights, and a small obstacle course. Various doors led out of it, though she couldn’t see to where. At one side she noticed a rack of swords. Each had a unique level of intricacy, some with glowing lines of green or blue. On the wall to her left was a pair of mechanical wings. To her right she saw a wall covered in various types of rifles and pistols. Apparently, this was the training room and the armory.
Kwan was jumping up and down, shaking his arms, and then moved to the pull-up bar. He busted out a set like they were nothing. Dex floated in behind them and lingered for a moment, then moved to the swords.
A hint of his dark black hand showed when he reached for a bright blue sword, and then he was moving like the wind, sword flowing as if caught up in the various gusts that brought it smoothly up and then fiercely down. It was enchanting to watch.
Carma nudged her. “Men, right? Always showing off.”
“Is…?”
Carma leaned in, lowering her voice. “The hooded one… is he a man? Is that what you were going to ask?”
Samantha turned away, blushing. What a stupid question, and who really cared.
But Carma added, “Nobody knows, really. Many put the standard ‘he’ on their kind, such as one would for God. Well, idiots would, I should say. Of course God is a woman. I’m right here.”
Samantha glanced over, not sure if the woman was joking. Judging by the broad smile, she was.
“It’s not really showing off when we’re here to be training,” Napalm said from behind them, startling Samantha. “I’d say there are other ways of showing off that a certain someone has been guilty of since arriving, way worse than what’s going on here.”
“Ah, yet more pleasing to the eye,” Carma said, seeing the insult for what it was.
“Let’s go. Obstacle course you two,” he commanded.
She frowned. “I thought you were just another member of the team.”
“I am, but we all have strengths here, and mine’s taking charge and getting butts moving when those butts are busy being lazy.”
Carma smirked, shaking her head. “Keep your mind off my butt while training, and I’ll do whatever you say. Consider it a challenge.” She started toward the obstacle course. “Oh, and I’m doing it, but not because you said so.”
At the first section, a small wall with bars above for maneuvering over, she stopped to stretch, leaving Napalm a nice view of her ass. He quickly recovered, looking away, and found Samantha staring up at him.
“It’s normal to stare on your planet, I’m guessing?” he asked.
“Sorry, getting to the obstacle course.” She ran over, not bothering to stretch. Her adrenaline was still pumping at the close-up view of those fiery eyes. They were unlike anything she had ever seen before, as if someone had lit a flame within marbles and then put those marbles in his eye sockets.
“You trying to make me look bad?” Carma called after her.
Samantha was too busy working her way past the first bars, then up a rope that led to a ledge for her to roll across. Friends had died back on Earth, and she’d left others behind to get here. Napalm was right. This wasn’t a place to play games or partake in gossip. It was time to train.
When the time came for her to get revenge on those sons of bitches in the Syndicate, she meant to bring them unspeakable amounts of pain. So she pushed herself, rolling out of the way of simulated blaster fire. She hoped it was simulated, anyway.
She ran full speed at the next obstacle, a wall, preparing to run halfway up and jump the rest as she had done many times when fighting the Syndicate. Halfway up though, two figures leaped out at her—one from the ground, one from the ceiling, swords at the ready. Both swung, and one caught her on the shoulder, sending a jolt through her arm that made her fall sideways and step off the area marked as the course.
BRRRRT!
A light flashed and everyone turned to see Samantha on the floor.
“Guess this obstacle course has a sense of humor,” Napalm said, stepping over to help her out. “Again?”
“You first.” Her arm was still stinging, and she was kind of pissed about it even being part of the course.
“Together,” he stated. It wasn’t a question.
They took their positions, Samantha rolling her eyes when she saw Carma still stretching. On noticing this, the woman stepped forward.
“Allow me, big man,” she told Napalm, and stepped into his path. Again, the woman made a point of turning her ass in his direction, especially as she bent into an arched-back stretch. Glancing over her shoulder, she added, “Do you mind?”
He looked more annoyed than anything else, but gestured for her to go ahead.
“Watch how it’s done, little rose,” Carma said, and then took off. Each jump and placement of her limbs was precise, delicate, and smooth. She didn’t have the wind-like style of Dex, but moved like a river maneuvering around large boulders and anything put in its path.
“Any day,” Napalm said behind Samantha, and she remembered that she was supposed to
be going too.
She broke into a run, throwing herself from one obstacle to the next, keenly aware that Kwan and Dex had both stopped to watch. Don’t embarrass yourself now, Sam, she told herself, swinging down from the bars to hit the ground with a roll. Then she was up and running, ready for the two figures with the swords this time.
Carma had paused, glancing back with a smile, and then charged forward as one with Samantha.
The figures leaped out at them, but this time the mock swords came from a different direction. Carma rolled with it, moving around the figure to land a reverse elbow and then a jumping, backward push kick, throwing herself at the wall.
By the time Samantha had ducked under the first strike and landed a roundhouse kick to the attacker—a mannequin, she now saw—Carma was already up and over the next wall.
Now it was her turn, and she was relieved when she made it. She kicked off from the wall and was over the other side, only to find a line of spikes waiting.
She cringed as she fell right onto them. No pain came, though, and she saw a flicker as she landed. Holograms, then. Her landing was accompanied by another loud sound and flash of the light.
“Disqualified,” Napalm said, stepping around to see what had happened. “Always have to know what you’re jumping into.”
“And you know what we’re jumping into here?” Samantha asked, wheeling on him. “Because I sure as hell don’t!”
Failing at anything had never been her strong suit.
The others walked over, Dex staring at her with his face of darkness. For all she knew, there wasn’t even a face in there. That thought combined with Napalm’s fiery eyes pulled her past her comfort zone, and she felt her hands shaking as she went on.
“We’re out here on someone else’s word, being chased by what looked to me like a damn space dragon or something, and you’re here talking about knowing what you’re jumping into.” She spun, eyeing each of them. “Well, come on! Who here knows and isn’t saying? Because I’d sure as hell like to be filled in on what it is I left my friends behind for, and how the hell anyone expects us to make a difference!”
For a long moment, silence followed.
“If you’re wondering how serious it is,” Carma said stepping forward, her standard grin replaced with a solemn expression and far off gaze, “know that I was one of our top warriors, and that we’ve been at war on my planet for many years. Still, when Hadrian called, I knew my duty.”
“I, too,” Napalm chimed in, “left behind much. But it wasn’t out of fear for my planet that I joined this mission. It was because of loyalty to Hadrian. I was there when the attack on his planet happened, and while that’s a story best told by him, I’ll say this. If they were able to do what they did to his people, a people with immense powers beyond our comprehension, no planet is safe. Nobody is safe.”
“And we’re going to change that?” Samantha asked. “How?”
She hadn’t heard the sound of the door sliding open, but a second later she saw the glow of Hadrian as he approached.
“By going into the depths of the universe that no one else can enter,” he said, walking up to the group with hands behind his back. He now wore a golden robe over his blue battle armor, one that glowed as he did.
Samantha’s chest was still heaving, her left eyelid slightly twitching. It was time for answers.
“We need more than that,” she muttered. Then, raising her voice, she added, “I need to know what I’m getting into.”
“That won’t always be possible,” Hadrian replied. “But to the extent that I can illuminate your path…” He waved to one of the walls, then moved his hands until an image appeared, growing larger until it took up the whole wall.
Galaxies flew past, images of spaceships fighting, humanoid aliens charging through jungle. Then others on another planet that glowed red, the aliens looking like demons. Finally it stopped. A planet glowed, growing larger and larger, until they could see green and blue.
He pointed to a particularly wide blue line. “Until recently, the goal was to train you and then have the Elders decide on a mission, when you are ready. However, things change. Your new mission starts here. Somewhere along this river, deep within enemy territory, we believe there might be a survivor from my planet. Someone they’re using to find the gates and travel through them. It’s the only plausible explanation.”
“So it’s a rescue mission,” Samantha said. “But why can’t you do it yourself?”
“There are parts of the universe where some of us cannot go. The inhabitants of this planet have set up blockers to my gates, along with other systems to sense my power and keep me out.” He turned, looking at each of them. “I can’t say for sure you will even be able to enter, but I know I cannot. I have tried. The other Elders have tried… and we’ve all failed.”
Samantha scratched her chin, trying to process.
“What you’re saying, I believe,” Carma interjected, “is that we’re the special ones from our own groups, but we’re possibly just not special enough for the security measures they’ve set in place to stop us?”
“Precisely.” He allowed a smile at her wording of it.
“And the point of all this?” Samantha asked, gesturing back at the training room.
“Let’s say there is a thin line for being detected, right? A certain level of special… skills. Each of you falls just below that level.”
“Leaving me to wonder what the hell you are capable of,” Carma said, eyeing Hadrian with an intense look.
Hadrian simply smiled at her and nodded. “This is why I mean to get you all to the extreme of your capabilities as quick as possible. In the short amount of time we have, I mean to test your physical and mental prowess, and see if we can maybe push you to your limits.”
“But we know how to fight, we know—”
“You can always be better. You can always learn more about working as a team. You can always improve upon your weaknesses and learn new skills.”
Carma scrunched her nose, annoyed at being told she wasn’t perfect.
“Sounds like a blast,” Napalm said. “Now can we get to work?”
“If we want to survive this and play our part in defeating the enemy, we have no time to spare.” His face settled on the salt-and-pepper haired man, looking every bit the military commander, and he motioned to the swords. “Each of you, pick one. It will be yours.”
Samantha’s heart skipped a beat. Swords? Back home she had become very familiar with guns, grenade launchers, you name it. But not with swords, spears, or any type of weapon easier found at a Renaissance fair than a modern battle.
Her frown must’ve shown her thoughts, because Hadrian said, “You’ll have many opportunities to learn to appreciate a weapon such as this. The day will soon come when you won’t understand how you could’ve ever fought without one.”
A soothing, rhythmic sound came from Dex, as if he were quietly singing.
“Swords don’t need bullets, or time to recharge,” Carma translated.
Samantha turned to the swords, choosing one that was long and slender with a greenish blue, glowing line along its blade.
To her side, Dex turned his cloaked face toward her and made that whispering sound again. “Now, you name your sword,” Carma translated. “Mine’s called Stormcaller, because you get in my way and you’re in for a shitstorm of pain.”
Sam grinned, liking that, and held her blade in front of her, testing its weight. It twirled nicely, an extension of her arm, and moved through the air like the wind cutting through the fog.
Energy flowed, and she could sense the air moving around her as she practiced. Finally, she stood still. She was in love. It thrilled her thinking about how many enemies she was going to destroy with this blade.
She turned back to Carma and Dex and said, “I’ll call it Soulcrusher.”
6
HADRIAN’S SHIP: TRAINING DOME
The others were going through sword movements, instructed by Dex, the appa
rent expert here. Carma translated for him. She and Napalm both understood Dex, but Napalm knew that the creature’s voice came through a different plane, one that the humans couldn’t access.
Napalm was having a hard time with the sword. Drawing in energy? Causing explosions or hitting the mark with a blaster? No problem. Among his people, he was one of the better fighters, but hand-to-hand combat wasn’t his specialty.
On his tenth attempt to perform the swiping pattern and spinning thrust, part of a series of fluid strikes and blocks Dex was showing them, he spun to see Hadrian in the doorway, staring at him.
A quick motion for him to follow, and Napalm placed the sword back on the rack and trailed Hadrian into the mess hall.
“Sir?”
Hadrian smiled at that. “No need for formalities. You’ve seen them move… do you still feel as you did? That we’re hopeless?”
Napalm rubbed his hands together, considering this. “I’ve sensed something in the girl that I hadn’t seen before. She’s not like Kwan, nor other humans, I imagine.”
“There’s something there, that is true.” Hadrian’s stare remained unbroken.
“I’m curious to learn more. And even more curious to know what her limits are.”
“Very good. That’s one of two things I wanted to speak with you about—her training. While I’m occupied, I’d like you to teach her. Special one-on-one classes.”
“Teach her?” Napalm shook his head. “But you can’t teach an Orak to be a Doray.”
Hadrian chuckled. “It amuses me that I still don’t know all of the animals from your planet. Perhaps I will spend more time there in the near future.”
“Right, please do. And the girl?”
“Consider her somewhere between an Orak and a Doray.”
“Ew,” Napalm said, scrunching up his face.
“Maybe not exactly, then. But considering what she is capable of, I believe you will be pleasantly surprised. Just… teach. Her mind has forgotten much of what she so easily accepted in her youth. She just needs to be reminded. Nudged.”