“Nothing?” he responded and proved it seconds later when his companion’s foot caught him on the side of the head.
“You’re supposed to duck,” the AI told him, a disgusted look on his face.
With a wry grimace, he pushed from the mat. “Duck…and then what?”
Remy demonstrated and took him through the basics of avoiding a strike.
“Move your feet,” he nagged and ankle-tapped him every time he stood still. “Move your feet! You’re not a pillar of stone.”
By the end of it, he wished he was.
He was relieved when the AI called a halt for lunch but not so relieved when he added, “We’ll meet here in an hour.”
“For theory?” he asked hopefully, and his instructor gave him an evil grin.
“Oh, no, John. After lunch, I’ll teach you about the white room.”
“You lied.” John snarled as he tried to scramble off the metal plating of a battle cruiser’s deck.
“I did not,” Remy retorted and shot the three pirates who pushed through the hangar doors.
“This room’s anything but white!”
“I suppose that is true.”
“Well?”
“If you don’t keep your head down and fire your blaster as much as you’re shooting your mouth off, you’ll find out what I meant much earlier than I intended.”
“You knew this would happen?”
“Of course I did. I planned it.”
“You planned it?”
“It is a training session,” his instructor told him and raced toward the cover of a shuttle. “It needs to be planned in order to be effective.”
“How is this effective?” He stood to follow him as a squad of Dreth rappelled over the edge of the catwalk above.
Three blaster bolts struck him in the chest and one caught him in the head. His world exploded in shards of red and black and a moment of excruciating pain.
When it faded, he was surprised that he lay flat on his back and without any pain at all. For a very long moment, he remained exactly where he was before he opened an eyelid with exaggerated care.
“No way,” he murmured, pushed onto his elbows, and looked around.
Remy lounged against a very white wall.
“This is it?” John scrambled to his feet. “This is the white room?”
“Yes.”
Confused, he looked around. “We go here when we die?”
A faint smile lit his companion’s face. “Yes.”
The boy stood, dusted his palms against his thighs, and patted his chest where the blaster rounds had hit. His hands were still trembling.
“Was all her training like that?”
The AI’s smile grew into a grin. “Is,” he told him. “All her training is like that.”
John stumbled back to lean on the wall but it seemed to have vanished. The world twisted around him and he landed hard on metal flooring. Red and orange lights strobed around him and blaster-fire raged over his head.
Remy’s voice issued from the comms system. “Now, where were we?”
“I hate the Dreth,” John groaned two days later.
“You made it out of the hangar,” his instructor said encouragingly.
“Two steps!” he protested. “I got two steps before the ceiling caved in and dropped a Dreth on my head.”
“It’s a favorite trick of theirs.”
Wearily, he closed his eyes. “Didn’t you say there were theory lessons?”
“I wanted you to familiarize yourself with the system first.”
“I’ve died a hundred times,” he muttered. “I think I’m familiar with that part of the system now.”
“Are you saying you want theory lessons?” Remy asked and amusement etched his features.
“Or lessons on how to fight better,” he suggested. “After this, I don’t know how I beat those guys who were chasing me. I don’t know anything about fighting.”
The AI’s amusement faded. “Tomorrow, you’ll meet your instructors.”
“Tomorrow?” he asked. “What time is it?”
“We have attempted to escape the hangar for almost four hours.”
“Ugh.” John flopped back onto the floor.
Remy spun the world around them to return him to the pod. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“Like I’ve been run over by a Dreth.”
“You’ll feel worse tomorrow.”
He groaned. “I thought I would meet my instructors.”
“You’ll probably meet only one.”
“One? Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
“For combat training,” the AI added.
John’s heart skipped with apprehension. “Ohh…”
“His name is Lars.”
Chapter Four
Lars started slowly and took John through the basic kata until his muscles ached both inside and out of the pod. The bodyguard also suggested he sleep in the medical pod where Remy could run basic fighting programs through his head while he was asleep.
“Dream training,” he explained. “Stephanie found it most effective. In the meantime, you need a sparring partner while I show you how to improve your technique.”
The AI joined him and neither of them returned to the Dreth ship the next day or the day after. By the third day, he almost wished they had.
“Up!” the instructor commanded and made a curt gesture with his hand.
The young Talent scrambled to his feet but before he was halfway up, the man swept them out from under him again.
“You need to get yourself clear before you try to stand,” he told him.
He wondered how he would do that, but Lars was already repeating the gesture.
“Up.”
This time, he flipped himself back. Unfortunately, his opponent followed.
When he tried to roll to one side, he thought he was clear and tried to stand but a boot in his gut lifted him off his feet. This time, he didn’t stop when he landed.
The last time he’d done that, the man had brought a foot down onto his chest. He wasn’t about to let that happen again. He rolled frantically and scrambled to his knees and onto his feet from there before he lowered into a guard position.
Lars gave him the briefest smile and returned to the center of the mat. “Good. Let’s start again.”
A few moments later, when he’d pinned his young opponent to the mat, he grinned. “And again,” he said.
It was a relief when Remy called a halt to the session and pulled John out for lunch.
“You’re improving,” the AI told him as he ate.
“Not enough,” he replied and shoveled as much food into his mouth as he could.
“Eat slower or you’ll give yourself indigestion.”
“Yes, Mum.”
“I am not your mother.”
“Yeah? Well, that’s a relief.”
The AI did not respond, and John returned to the pod room and his virtual training shortly after. He went through the avatar room quickly, dressed in training fatigues, and looked around expectantly.
“Ready,” he informed the AI.