by Cary Caffrey
"Are you…okay?" Dr. Garrett asked.
Sigrid thought, and nodded, "Yes." She took a few careful breaths, feeling the air rush through her lungs before blowing it out in a long exhale; it sounded like a gale-force wind in her head. "Is that…normal?"
Dr. Garrett didn't need to answer; Sigrid could read the woman's body-language and biochemistry easily enough; the way she gripped Sigrid by the shoulders told her this certainly wasn't normal.
"Your reaction was rather…extreme." Dr. Garrett said finally. Her eyes were darting all over Sigrid, as if worried Sigrid might freak out again. "How do you feel?"
How did she feel? Like some giant, ravenous, predator-cat that's just been rolled in catnip, is how I feel! Sigrid thought, but she couldn't tell the doctor that—could she?
"May I go to lunch now, please?"
"Ah…I'd like to do some tests first."
Sigrid hoped the tests wouldn't take very long.
* * *
The tests took far longer than Sigrid liked, but once Dr. Garrett was satisfied that Sigrid had adapted to the treatment adequately, she released her from the hospital ward. Sigrid walked back to her room slowly and carefully. If she didn't concentrate, she became quickly overwhelmed by the sounds of her own footsteps reverberating in the halls. It was worse when she passed through a group of people—breathing, sweating, talking, hormones raging. There was a growing hunger lurking in her, and it practically growled.
Suko wasn't in her room when she looked so she went back to her own, closing the door quickly behind her. The silence proved too much and she found herself calculating the volume of blood distributed by each heartbeat—she wondered if she could manipulate the flow and the rhythm? Yes, she could.
She needed to find Suko. The memory of their night together—stored in perfect detail in her PCM—came rushing back. Sigrid fell back against the wall, closed her eyes; she could still feel Suko next to her, the touch of her hands.
Gah—she had to get out of there.
She decided to change into the long-sleeved, one-piece suit that had become their new uniform. The jet black fabric was emblazoned with the red Kimura logo and had a zippered front culminating in a stylish high-collar. Tall lace-up boots and her twin Markov pistols completed the outfit.
She finally found Suko sitting in the cafeteria with Leta; both had lunch trays in front of them, although neither plate looked touched. Suko's eyes shot up to meet her gaze as she entered and walked quickly over to the table. Sigrid's pulse quickened and her temperature rose; Suko's closeness filled her with a rush of excitement. She found herself involuntarily scanning Suko; her pulse and adrenals were elevated too. It was obvious that both girls had received their treatment, and their senses were firing on all cylinders as they regarded each other with the same hungry intensity. All of Sigrid's skin tingled; she reached out a hand, half expecting sparks to leap from Suko's skin to the tips of her fingers.
"Oh, get a room, you two," Leta said.
Sigrid tried her best to look innocent, but felt her face flushing hot. "What? What do you mean?"
Leta laughed; a few of the other girls were looking over and grinning too. "You think we can't sense it? It's written all over the two of you."
Suko chuckled. "I guess there's not much we're going to be able to keep from each other."
Apparently not, Sigrid thought, somewhat chagrined.
Sigrid tried to keep appearances by taking a lunch tray, but she couldn't eat either. She tried a spoonful of her soup, but found herself lost, calculating the volume and ratio of the various ingredients. And Suko kept looking at her. It was very distracting.
Suko had dipped the tip of her finger in her water, running it over the rim of her glass in slow circles; her foot gently grazed against Sigrid's leg, sliding up the length of her calf. She swallowed, and wet her lips with the tip of her tongue—
"Oh, dear God," Leta said.
Suko shot her a guilty look. "Sorry."
As casually as they could, Sigrid and Suko walked out of the cafeteria. Suko's room was closer and they slipped quickly inside, grabbing for the zippers of each other's jumpsuits before the door had even closed. Suko threw Sigrid onto the bed and dived on top of her. As much as last night's tryst had been cautious and tender, this afternoon's adventure was purely carnal, enhanced further still by their newly modified sensory-receptors.
They had no idea how much time had passed when they collapsed, side by side, on the bed.
"Rock walls or not, I know someone heard that," Suko said.
Sigrid laughed. "I guess this is what she meant."
"What?"
"Dr. Garrett. She said we'd experience a heightened situational awareness."
Suko chuckled. "Definitely. That has to be it."
CHAPTER TEN
Graduation
February 23, 2348
A few of the girls were still having difficulty dealing with the effects of Activation, so Dr. Garrett had prescribed a period of rest for those still feeling overwhelmed.
The period of respite left Sigrid free to spend all her time with Suko. Each minute alone seemed a chance for Sigrid to explore every inch of Suko's soft, warm skin. Suko teased her, saying that she was mapping her, charting her like one of Rosa's bloody survey exercises. Sigrid was indeed on a mission, loosing herself in each of Suko's eager embraces.
For the next four days they only left her room at mealtimes and for their daily consultation with Dr. Garrett. Sigrid had been mortified when Dr. Garrett cautioned her not to overly stimulate herself. Dr. Garrett hadn't said it outright, but Sigrid figured out the staff was monitoring the girls' activities—all of the time—collecting data for analysis from their telemetry sent to the main servers.
Sigrid and Suko had both been a little embarrassed to learn they were being so closely monitored, but there was nothing they could do.
After not seeing them for days, Leta decided to drag the lovers from their nest and take them on an outing. The new girls had just arrived at the Academy and she proposed a trip down to meet them. She'd finagled one of the Starlings from the motor pool. Sigrid and Suko jumped at the chance to accompany her.
As they entered the hangar, Sigrid noted that Leta was making a point of sticking to the shadows, peering around corners, beckoning them to follow when no one was looking.
Sigrid frowned. "I thought you said you had permission."
Leta gave a sheepish shrug. "Well…they didn't say, no."
"Good point," Suko said, as they piled into one of the parked Starlings. Leta's hands flew over the controls with a practiced precision as she executed the startup routine. "Since when can you fly one of these?"
The thrusters roared to life, blasting the ground outside with a gush of wind.
Leta smiled. "Since now. I found the manuals in the Tactical Database." She pointed out the various operations. "Thrust, lift, pitch…piece of cake. Check it out."
Sigrid accessed the database stored in her PCM and instantly found the files, along with more files on basic flight characteristics. "Ooo, sweet!" she said, impulsively reaching over Leta's shoulder and grabbing the stick—she yanked it back. The Starling shot up into the air, narrowly missing the hangar roof before buzzing low over a row of parked transports and scattering their astonished ground-crews.
"Hey!" Leta protested, wresting control from Sigrid. "You'll get us grounded."
"Sorry—I couldn't resist."
"Well, get your own."
Sigrid sat back in her seat with a guilty grin. "Okay…I'll be good."
Leta rolled her eyes and gunned the thrusters. The T-48 shot through the open hangar doors and into the morning sunlight. Sigrid wasn't sure if Leta was showing off or just trying to figure out the controls, but she put the Starling through a startling series of aerobatics—Sigrid fumbled quickly to fasten her seat and shoulder-belts.
"Scaredy-cat." Leta stuck out her tongue as she put the Starling into a half-roll. She pulled out over the peak that hid the Annex,
then zoomed low, skimming the surface of mountainside. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," she said, going inverted again.
Sigrid gulped as she stared up at the ground now above her head.
Leta's final maneuver brought them low over the Academy as she buzzed a group of Marines on a training run. As they flew by, Sigrid caught a glimpse of the new group of girls assembling in the center compound.
She pointed. "Look!"
Leta hauled back, coming hard about, then circled above them. The new girls began pointing up, some even waved. Leta zoomed back over the Marine compound before performing a spine-crushing landing in the airfield just outside the Academy walls.
A heavyset man wearing sergeant stripes stormed out of the hangar, ready to rip a new asshole for the pilot who had clearly lost his mind. He stopped short of the craft, staying clear of the props as they wound down. Sigrid saw the redness on his face, the veins bulging in his neck. It didn't require genetically modified sensory receptors to see the man was furious and looking for a pound of flesh. She almost suggested that Leta take off again and flee back to the Annex.
Hesitantly, Sigrid climbed out from her jump seat and stepped down onto the muddy ground. The still-spinning props whipped her long blond hair over her back and shoulders. She pulled a loose strand from her face as she met the man's glare.
All his bluster vanished in an instant and his jaw dropped as his eyes slowly traced the length of Sigrid's body. Her formfitting uniform and knee-high military boots complemented the curve of her feminine hips, accentuated by the pistols strapped to each of her shapely thighs. Even as short as she was, Sigrid cut a striking figure, though she'd never been leered at so openly before. The instructors had always been professional and paternal, but this man looked at her with a craving, a hunger. The veins in his neck no longer bulged, but his face remained flushed red. When Suko and Leta came up beside her, Sigrid felt his pulse quicken as he took in the three women.
Dear God—he's becoming sexually aroused. She looked at her two friends—they'd also picked up on it.
"Something we can help you with, Sergeant?" Leta asked, with a hand on her hip.
The sergeant must have realized he was gawking. He closed his mouth and straightened himself. "Ah…next time, make sure you radio for clearance." He gave a dismissive wave and stormed off. The girls were out of his chain of command anyway.
The three of them stifled a laugh and headed toward the school, eager to see the new crop of students. They found the new recruits in the courtyard—forty-two girls between nine and eleven-years-old—gathered around Rosa. They listened as he gave the girls their induction speech, similar to the one he'd made to them so many years ago, telling the new group what instruction they would receive and what Kimura would expect of them.
It aroused a poignant feeling in Sigrid. Had it really been nine years since she'd come here and sat on that ground, listened to that lecture? Leaving Earth, her family, all her years of training; it was still so confusing. Perhaps more so now. She would be leaving soon, they all would be—leaving to begin their work as Mercenaries, working to repay their family debts that the Kimura Corporation had purchased.
Whatever would happen to her out there? And what of Suko?
Many of the new girls had seen them approach, their attention drawn away from Rosa and his lecture.
Rosa looked up sharply at the interruption, but rather than send the trio away, he invited them to come closer. The younger girls froze in awe, perhaps from some inherent connection, or maybe because the three older girls in black, with weapons slung at their sides, painted such an impressive and deadly picture.
Rosa's face relaxed into a slight grin. "Ladies—perhaps you would like to come and meet your new sisters."
The three girls approached the group, stepping into their midst. The little girls gathered close, reaching out to touch them and say hello. Sigrid was amazed. They all seemed so young. She couldn't help but wonder if they would have an easier time of it than she did. Would they be bullied as well? Would they be beaten?
Rosa surprised the gate-crashers by asking them to join the new girls in the dining area. As they took lunch with the new arrivals, the three shared stories of their experiences, passing on whatever advice they could to the young girls. Some of them were still frightened and homesick, but the older girls' presence seemed to calm them.
Finally, it was time for the younger ones to continue their lessons, so the three girls took their leave. The visit made Sigrid feel strangely sad and homesick herself, but not for Earth and her family. She was missing this place here, and she dreaded having to leave it again. A dark foreboding came over her accompanied by a pain in her gut she'd not felt for some time. The return flight to the Annex didn't lighten her mood any, either.
When they arrived back at the wide hangar entrance atop the glacier, Sigrid's heart sank one notch lower. Blocking the entrance was a parked transport ship. Painted in the black and red colors of the Kimura Corporation, the transport was far too large to enter the hangar and lay on station outside.
Sigrid heard an order over her comlink; she was to proceed immediately to Dr. Garrett's office. Suko and Leta received the same order. All three looked to one another, anxiety etched on their faces.
"Who do you think it is?" Leta asked.
Sigrid stared up at the ship. It was definitely an interstellar-job. When her eyes passed over the registry numbers painted on its side, her optic module fed the information automatically into her database and the ship's ID popped up in her HUD. It was registered as the Agatsuma, out of Kappa Aquarii. Home of Kimura Corporation.
Sigrid felt a cold shiver course through her. "They've come for us."
* * *
Two Mercenary Marines stood guard outside Dr. Garrett's office—the first sign that something was up. A young corporal retrieved Sigrid's pistols, along with the two knives she kept in her boots. Sigrid would have felt less naked if they had asked her to remove her clothes.
Most of the other girls were already gathered in the reception area; Sigrid observed as one by one the girls were called inside while the other girls waited for their own turn in silence.
Sigrid was the ninth to be called. Dr. Garrett did not greet her as she came in. Dr. Garrett always had a friendly word for Sigrid, ever since the very first time they'd met at her parents' apartment on Earth. The fact that she said nothing set alarm bells ringing in Sigrid's head. Sigrid swallowed hard.
Seated behind the polished stainless steel desk was Shinji Kimura, Deputy CEO of the Kimura Corporation. She'd never met the man before, but her optics scanned him, displaying his ID from her database. Shinji did not appear much older than Dr. Garrett, although she knew his age to be forty-two. His face was sharp and angular, and his eyes were narrow and a dark shade of brown. He sat stock still, facing her with a blank stare. She could tell he was studying her. He may not have had her bionic optics, but she could see things registering in his eyes, calculating, collating.
Two men with equally humorless dispositions stood to either side of him. No one had said anything as either greeting or introduction. Sigrid wasn't sure if they were waiting for her to speak. An uncomfortable minute passed. She decided to bow in greeting; she would at least be polite.
Sigrid was in mid-bow when she saw the man on Shinji's left shift his weight on his right knee. The motion was subtle and swift, but the threat registered instantly in her PCM; the motion was calculated, the solution presented to her. This was the Master Control Program at work. Not controlling her actions, but feeding her vital information and sending her systems into action, reacting to her instinctively.
Even before the shuriken left his hand, Sigrid was already moving. Her optics registered and tracked the weapon, her PCM calculated the velocity and trajectory of the small but deadly Ninja Star. Sigrid reached up, slapping both hands together as she caught the razor sharp throwing knife between her palms, eight centimeters from her face. She'd already anticipated her next action; her
weight was already shifted forward, and she hurled the shuriken with all the deadly force she could muster back at her assailant. The knife hit him squarely in the chest and the man keeled over, face first, dead by the time he hit the floor with a sickening thud.
The man to Shinji's right drew his sidearm. Too slow. Anticipating the first shot, Sigrid sidestepped, and rolled under the trajectory of the next one before he'd even fired. She came to her feet in front of him and swiftly kicked up, sending the man's pistol flying upward before bringing her heel down hard on his neck. The force of the blow sent the man crashing down. Sigrid was on him, ready to strike, calculating different ways she might deliver the next blow: lethal, paralyzing, maiming…?
"Stop!"
Sigrid froze. Shinji Kimura stood placidly, holding out his hand to her. She was still in combat-mode, not quite certain what had transpired, but the man's body language read calm, his pulse and respiration even and measured. He carried no weapons and seemed to present no threat—even though his goons had just tried to kill her.
Sigrid looked to Dr. Garrett for direction. The woman gave her only the slightest of nods. Not knowing what else to do, Sigrid took the Deputy CEO's outstretched hand.
"Very good, Ms. Novak. Most impressive."
Sigrid stumbled slightly backwards. "This was a…test?"
"Of course."
"Your test is trying to kill me?" Had he done this with all the girls? Sigrid couldn't believe it. "What—what if you'd killed me?"
"Then, you would have failed. If you can't dodge a simple knife, you would be of little use to us."
Sigrid felt her blood rise. "And the other girls? Did they…pass?"
"Most," he said. He sat back down in the chair by the desk. "But only you attacked, Ms. Novak. Your solution was…most unique. While your fellow students all chose evasion, you chose to attack. Where others chose defense, you chose aggression, and with deadly force." He turned to Dr. Garrett and said, "You may tell the other girls to leave, Dr. Garrett." His eyes fell again to Sigrid.