Chapter 9

Kiana sat on her bunk with her laptop open in front of her. She was using it to make her daily call to Michael. His eyes filled with concern the minute he saw her.

“Kiana. What happened?”

To put it bluntly, she was in bad shape. Her left eye was blackened, her lower lip was swollen, and she had a nasty goose egg on the right side of her head just above her ear.

“Master Gwon happened.”

“Master Gwon? They have you working with him? Kiana, I know you’re good but he’s way out of your league. He’s there for the experienced agents and the specialists, not for the teens.”

“I know. But it was his idea to work with me and he says I’m doing fine. And you don’t need to worry, dad. It’s tough but I can handle it. And Master Gwon is amazing. I’ve never seen anyone like him before even back at my school in Anaheim. If I keep working with him I’m going to be unstoppable.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “Unstoppable? Or dead?”

Kiana laughed. “It’s just a few bumps and bruises.”

“A few?”

“I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t look too convinced, not in the least, but apparently he decided to acquiesce and move on. “How’s the rest of your training going?”

“Fine. There’s a lot to learn and it’s a little overwhelming at times but I can handle it. And I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’re going skydiving.”

“Skydiving? Sweet. Skydiving is always a blast. Do you remember the time we went to New Mexico?”

He was referring to a trip they had taken a few years before to a small city just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They had spent a weekend there and Kiana remembered it fondly. It was noteworthy for two reasons: it was the first time they had skydived from a hot air balloon (up to that point, they had always done it from an airplane) and it was also the first time they had worn wingsuits (special suits that had extra fabric between the legs and under the arms that created lift and allowed the wearer to soar through the air like a bird). They had enjoyed the wingsuits so much they had immediately gone on a second trip to Twin Falls, Idaho to try them while BASE jumping off of the Perrine Bridge.

“I remember it well, dad. That was a great trip. One of our best. We need to head there again one day.”

“I agree. Maybe next summer if you’re up for it.”

Kiana nodded. Another trip to New Mexico definitely sounded appealing to her. “I’d like that. A lot. Maybe we could go to Twin Falls again someday, too.”

“Definitely. Just tell me when you’re up for it and I’ll make the arrangements.”

At that point, she wanted to talk some more but decided she better end the call because she was really tired and she needed to get some rest. She was meeting Master Gwon for another sparring session at 8:00 am the following morning and she knew she was going to need a lot of energy to “survive” it.

“I should be going, dad. I miss you. Can’t wait to see you again.”

It was true. She had never liked being away from Michael, even for small periods of time, and despite his frequent absences over the years she had never gotten used to being away from him. Overall, she was enjoying her USIA training, especially her time with Master Gwon, but she desperately longed for the day when she would return to Seattle and be with Michael again.

And undoubtedly he felt the same way about her. “I miss you, too, Kiana. Give me a call tomorrow when you have some spare time. I want to hear all about that skydiving.”

“Okay. I will.”

“And Kiana. No more black eyes, okay? They make you look like a clown.”

She snickered. Michael had always been an expert at teasing her and he never passed up an opportunity to do so. “Thanks, dad. I’ll do my best.”

She hit ‘End Call’ and his image vanished from the screen. Five seconds later, she was sound asleep.