TWENTY-SIX


 

With tournament round one over, Sam brings us together in the stuffy tutorial room with stiff-back chairs to review the fights in 3D.

Two recruits wash out: the one Dara fought, and another. I’m surprised Amy survives the cut. She’s a better fighter than how she performed. I was lucky. None of my group washes out, though I’m surprised Margarite survived. On video she turns out to be scrappier than I imagined. Her opponent underestimates her and fails to press her advantage. Just before the buzzer, Margarite blasts into an attack that takes her opponent down. Judges give Margarite the win. I’ll have to watch her.

When Sam dismisses us, I call and text Janine. No response. I’m anxious to find her to understand what’s going on.

Sam grabs me. “Not so fast, Number Two Grunt.”

Dara’s waiting in the lobby, no doubt to psych me out for Thursday’s fight or to drag me to her stupid party. Either way, I’m not disappointed when Sam pulls me down the corridor.

We enter the infirmary. “What is it, Commander?”

Instead of hooking me up to an IV, she injects me with some of her nano-meds. “You’re bruising around the face. You won’t want your mom and sister to see you this way.”

“I was pathetic today, Commander. I’m capable of more.”

“You lost focus. You also showed me you’re capable of reaching deep when you need to. I don’t think you realize how hard you hit Amy. I’m surprised you didn’t kill her.”

I’m petrified at that thought.

“We didn’t wash her out, because she’ll recover for Saturday’s arena. We’ve seen enough to believe she’ll perform well. We don’t wash girls out to punish them. We wash them out to avoid losing them in the final test or in combat.”

“And you’re afraid I’ll ruin your record?”

Sam laughs. “I’m proud of our record because I’m proud of my girls. Forget the record. Are you sure you want to continue? In the arena final, you’ll have a large audience, including family. You distract too easily.”

“I’m sorry, Commander.”

“Cut the bullshit. Do you want to become a mech?”

No! “I stand ready to deliver, Commander.”

Sam shakes her head and tosses the needle into the hazmat bin. “You’re incorrigible. Come on, you have work to do.”

Sam keeps me afterward; detention for disappointing her and myself. She takes me to the gym where we put on haptic fight suits. I follow her into the ring, imagining a night where she turns me into a bloody pulp and puts me back together with her meds so I can do it again.

Still in dress uniform, Sam stands across from me, looking a lot like Amy. Is that why Sam matched us up?

“Okay, as exhausted as you are,” she says, “you’re going to stand and defend against my attacks while I quiz you on the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents.”

Sam assumes a boxer’s pose. “Dara.” She jabs.

I block and sidestep. “She’s big, powerful, intimidating, charges relentlessly.”

Sam kicks, hits my side. I tumble against the ropes.

“Focus,” Sam says.

But focus and multi-tasking seem at odds. I block a thrust at my throat. “Her biggest weakness is relying on intimidation and strength at the expense of creativity.” I attack.

Sam grabs my wrist and drops me to the mat. “I said defend, not attack.”

“You said I need to attack more.”

Sam helps me to my feet. “Right now I want you to concentrate on me while scanning your memory about competitors. You don’t have time to prepare for each fight, although it gets easier as the tournament progresses. Then in the final you’ll know. But that won’t help you in the arena or in combat. Now focus.”

She gives me name after name, then attacks, using tactics of that recruit. I force myself to stare into her dark eyes to anticipate her moves. My mind turns to a mush of names and faces of my 15 remaining competitors along with what they do well and poorly. I struggle to keep my arms up to defend as I drag myself around the ring. My stomach tells me I’ve missed at least one meal. If we had windows, I’d expect the morning sun. Still Sam grills me.

She attacks with new moves. “What about Annabelle Scott?”

“She lacks focus,” I say. “She isn’t as strong as other recruits, in particular Dara. She gets distracted because she doesn’t want to hurt sister recruits.”

Sam jabs. “What about strengths?”

I fall back and without false modesty say, “I don’t know what she has to help her win.”

“Then you fail.” Sam lunges at me.

Sidestepping, I thrust out my right arm and plant my foot. Sam goes down with a thud.

“I’m sick and tired of your questions.” I jump her and go for a pin. She pulls away.

Sam stands and helps me up. “Good. Now what are Annabelle’s strengths?”

I catch my breath. “When you arouse my anger, I dig deep.”

“Exactly. You need to channel that anger so you can dig deep and focus earlier in the fight, before your opponent has a chance to defeat you or cause you serious injury.”

“Why are you taking so much time with a misfit like me, Commander?”

She climbs out of the ring. “Come on, let’s get you some grub.”

I change into my blouse and skorts, and follow her to the cafeteria. I feel sorry for Sam. She seems lonely, isolated, spending evenings and weekends on base by herself.

She heats up another batch of chicken stew and sits across from me. “You remind me of a young woman I once knew. She was full of ideals and fight, though not in a physical way. We trained together. She became an effective marine.”

Staring at the steaming stew, I think of my birth mother. “What happened to her?”

Sam shakes her head and sighs. “She died during the war. Got ambushed. If I place too much expectation on you, I apologize. She was a dear friend who wanted kids after the war.”

“I’m sorry.” I don’t know what else to say.

“Not your doing. Anyway, if you want out of the program, I won’t try to change your mind, but if you want in, you have serious work and not much time.”

* * *

On Wednesday, Sam has the 30 remaining recruits train hard on simulator, physical conditioning, and sparring. No more mech suits or VR. I spar with each of Renee’s group and then against another group.

Wednesday night I hide in the infirmary while the others leave. Then I return to VR to relive the fight habits of my 15 competitors. I’m dying to talk to Janine, but after the scare in round one, I concentrate on training.

On Thursday, after a morning of warm-ups and preparation with my team, I call and text Janine not to come. I don’t need her distracting me again. I hear nothing.

Standing in the arena dugout with fifteen other recruits, I see onscreen more warriors gathered in the stands, making bets, along with 14 recruits who lost in round one. No visitors, no Janine. Was she a mirage I wanted to see? It’s not like her to ignore me.

For the first group of four fights, Sam matches Vivian against Dara. Vivian puts up a good fight for a minute and a half. Then Dara clobbers her. Vivian goes down and remains still. When Dara drops on top to pin her, Sam calls the match. I don’t think Dara injured her enough to wash out. I hope she performed well enough to stay if she wants to.

Freckle-faced Hannah fights Dara’s big friend Capra, takes a beating, and goes down. I’m sad to see two of my teammates lose. Brandy, Margarite, and I fight in the second group of four. At least I don’t get Dara.

Sam matches me against Zoe, a mousy girl with scraggly brown hair. She’s been quiet, hiding in the shadows of other recruits, yet I’ve seen her explode during fights.

Inside the ring, we bow. The buzzer sounds. There in the stands is Janine. My eyes water. Not again. I blink to make the mirage disappear. It doesn’t.

Zoe attacks. I punch. She deflects and drops me to the mat. I bounce to my feet and pounce on her. She throws me back and charges. I attack; she chops. Everything I throw at her, she deflects and hurls back at me. She’s as scrappy a fighter as I’ve seen in VR.

I replay my ordeal with Sam. Repeat Zoe’s strengths and weaknesses. Defend against her repeated attacks. She mastered every martial art thrown at us by the simulator. Focused and disciplined, she attacks in bursts. Otherwise she keeps her body compact and protected. She’s quick on her feet, with a strong right jab and a quick kick off a spin. She’s versatile, changing moves as she comes at me.

I dodge another attack. I’ve seen her in VR. I guess she’s seen me. Her eyes betray her an instant before each move despite attempts to conceal. I spot Janine in the stands. Focus, Annabelle, focus.

Zoe launches a patterned attack. I grab her leg, throw her to the mat, and drop on top of her. She pushes me off. We wrestle. I hope I’m giving a better performance than on Tuesday. Don’t want to do anything stupid. It would be easy to let Zoe have this. Then I won’t have to fight Dara. I’d be free to concentrate on the arena.

Zoe drops me to the ground and goes to pin me. My face mashes against the canvas floor. This could be it. I see Janine in the stands. She’ll know. I thrust up and throw Zoe back, catching her off guard. I tangle her arm in the ropes and twist her around until she can’t move.

The referee calls the match. My heart thunders like I’m having a heart attack. Fool, you had an out. I look up into the stands and can’t find Janine. What are you doing to me?

Crawling out of the ring, I realize there are only eight of us left. Brandy’s out. Margarite remains, the weakest member of our team.

Brandy shakes my hand and pats my shoulder. “Congrats.”

“Sorry you’re out,” I tell her.

“I’m not.” Brandy looks over at Dara.

Did she chicken out? Did Zoe let me win so she wouldn’t have to face Dara? The amazon has become an even more dominant fighter. She’s mastered simulator moves with more power behind them.

* * *

Before I can duck into the infirmary or bathroom, Dara grabs me and nudges me toward the exit. “You did well today. A lot of people had their money on Zoe and me in the final.”

“I don’t think anyone’s betting against you.”

Dara laughs. “Don’t wimp out on me tonight. We have a lot to celebrate. And don’t forget to wear a patch.”

I nod. “I’ll try, but I have to do something first.” I need to see Janine and find out why she’s avoiding me.

To escape Sam holding me another night, I leave the base with Dara.

Janine’s appearances leave me disturbed, particularly when I don’t hear from her. Did I see Janine, or is my mind playing tricks on me? That’s something I need to find out face-to-face.

I text, call, and leave voicemail, asking if she’d like a ride home. I don’t hear. I break off from the pack when we reach downtown and head for the cop station. When I enter the usually noisy central hall, there’s a hush quieter than church. I look around and don’t see Brooks or Janine. All other eyes fall on me.

Scarlatti bounces toward me with her smell-me look. “Well, if it isn’t little-miss-know-it-all. Come to gloat?”

“I came to see if you had work for me. If not, I’ll wait for Janine.”

“She’s out with Brooks. Don’t pretend you didn’t know the office pool had you washing out today.”

That blow practically doubles me over. I know Voss hates me. I assume it’s because Mom opposes the governor who appointed Voss. I expect the same from Voss’ puppy. But the others? “I’ll wait outside.”

“Captain wants to see you.”

I wander up the dark stairs to find Liz emptying another mug of watered down, caffeine-free coffee. Yuck. Now that Sam has given me the real thing, this isn’t even mud.

Liz doesn’t look up as I go in. Voss sits at her desk and acts busy while eyeing me. How much did she lose betting against me? I hope she doesn’t punish Janine for this. The thought slams me. Did Voss put Janine up to distracting me?

“Sit down,” she says. When I do, Voss stands over me. “You think you’re better than the rest of us.”

Where does that come from? I’m rebellious, yes. I want to see my birth mother and George and Morgan. But I’m far from thinking I’m better. If I did, I’d have Dara to put me in my place, as well as Sam.

“No comeback today.”

I eye the hibiscus plant where I hid my valuables earlier. “Captain, I don’t know what I’ve done to you.”

“Don’t you?” Voss retreats behind her desk but doesn’t sit down. She fidgets with controls to her keyboard. “You don’t have what it takes to be a mech. You don’t have what it takes to be a cop, either. I see you on the other side of the law. In which case, you’ve made some powerful enemies.”

I hang my head. “I’m ashamed and sorry for breaking into your office, Captain. I’ve never done anything like that before and never will again. I didn’t ask to be tracked to security, but I want to do well at it.” Are you using Janine? I can’t think how to ask that won’t come back to hurt my sister.

Voss glares at me and fidgets. “I’m sure you think so. Either straighten out or you’ll end up in Nashville, or worse.”

“I understand, Captain. Do you have anything for me tonight?”

“Not until you finish your mech fantasy. Now go.”

I scurry from her office and down the stairs.

I reach my cycle and wait for Janine. When Brooks pulls up in her ridiculous bug-car, I get off my cycle to greet them. I don’t know what to say to Janine. Something has come between us that could tear at the fabric of our bond.

Brooks gives me a thumbs-up. “I knew you had it in you.”

“You’re in the office pool?”

She grins. “I’m cleaning up, thanks to you.”

“Don’t bet too much. I don’t see anyone beating Dara.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.”

When Janine joins us, Brooks says, “I’ll check your sister out and let you two catch up.” She hurries into the station.

Janine grabs my hands and looks up at me with her doe-eyes. “Don’t hate me. Sam invited me to the tournament.”

“Sam? Why?”

“She said you needed something only I could provide. I feel terrible about distracting you.” Tears fill her big brown eyes.

Her confession dissolves my anger. This innocence is why she doesn’t belong in mechs. I hold her. “Don’t cry, Babe. Sam’s teaching me to focus despite distractions. You’re the biggest distraction I have.”

“Then I won’t come.”

“I’m doing this for you, Babe, for us. Sam’s right.” I surprise myself with this revelation about the vulture. “I’ve been weak. I’m losing because I can’t focus on defeating my opponents. I’m not very good, but she thinks I have a chance.”

Janine looks away. “I wanted to tell you. That’s why Sam took my wrist-com and gave me this one. It only has Mom’s number. I don’t remember yours and I didn’t want to tell Mom and–” Janine looks up with sweet moist eyes. “I’m so proud of you.”

I hold her tight. “It’s okay, Babe. I couldn’t understand why you didn’t respond to my messages or why you showed up for the fights and disappeared.”

“Sam doesn’t want the others to see me or they’ll think she’s playing favorites.”

When I reach my cycle, I turn to Janine. “Babe, I’m scared. The next rounds will get worse. If I survive, I’ll have to face Dara.”

“You wanted to give up today, didn’t you?”

“Let’s go.”

“Take me with you.” Janine’s mouth forms a sweet little pout.

I should take her home, but I miss her, and I don’t want to go home.