A Pale Light in the Black

by K. B. Wagers

  A slow grin spread across her face. “Oh, this is going to be fun. No wonder they’ve kept him a secret. They think they’ve got a ringer. Sapphi?”

  “They must,” Sapphi replied, “if all the effort they went to hiding him is any indication. I am already on it. Lieutenant Tivo Parsikov. Two years out of the Naval Academy, but only been in the SEALs for a year. Dominated the ring in the boxing circuit for the academy, though. There’s video.”

  “Look at the range on him,” Max murmured as she and Nika joined the group. “His legs are almost as long as I am tall.”

  “His hands are the size of your head, Jenks.” Tamago’s comment was a little breathless and Jenks snorted in amusement even though the sight of the man had her own heart racing a little.

  “If I thought they’d let you within ten meters of him I’d say go break his heart, Tamago.”

  Tamago grinned. “I’ve got my ways past whatever blockade they try to put up. Might try it anyway.”

  Jenks chewed on her knuckle while watching the Navy team move across the floor. The excitement that always accompanied the Games had just ratcheted itself up a notch. There were some obvious challenges with this new Navy fighter—specifically, his reach and height meant she was going to have to move in close to land punches, and she was pretty sure she didn’t want him grabbing her and choking her out with those hands of his.

  Jenks: Hey, Luis. Can you pull anything you can find on a Lieutenant Tivo Parsikov? I’ll owe you.

  Luis: Navy’s fighter finally appeared?

  Jenks: Yup. He’s . . . large. *grins*

  Luis: *groans* Give me a little bit, I’ll see what I can find out.

  “Hey, Commander, feel like taking a walk?” She smiled at Rosa’s curious look.

  “Sure. Max, come with us.”

  “Where?”

  Rosa pointed across the arena. “I’ve got a sudden burning desire to check out the sword rings. Hey, D’Arcy, you want to see the sword rings?”

  “You know I do,” he replied with a wicked grin.

  “Rest of you stay here.” Rosa started across the mats, Jenks catching up with a hop and a skipping step. “Do I need to remind you two that this isn’t a bar?” Rosa asked, and Max groaned while Jenks chuckled.

  “Naw, we’re good.” She kept the swagger in her walk as they rounded the sword ring and Rosa fell into a detailed discussion with D’Arcy about the specs.

  Jenks pulled on Max’s hand and the pair leaned on the ropes, both women staring across the space at the gathered Navy team until several of them, Parsikov included, turned to look.

  “Damn,” Jenks breathed. He was large. Not solid like Luis but more rangy with those long arms and legs. Shaggy black hair and a pair of blue-gray eyes that were surprisingly friendly. She watched as Chau said something and Parsikov responded, shaking his head and holding up a hand.

  “And he’s coming over,” Max whispered as the man ducked through the ropes of the sword ring and crossed to them.

  “Ladies,” he said, dropping into a crouch in front of them and holding his hand out to Max first. “Tivo Parsikov. Lieutenant Carmichael, it’s nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Max said, taking his hand.

  “Jenks.” Those storm-cloud eyes turned on her and she couldn’t stop the grin that spread over her face.

  “We’re at ‘Jenks’ already?” she asked, taking the offered hand. Tamago had been right, it was the size of her damn head, but it was that smile on his face that was making her stomach do all sorts of interesting dance moves. “I haven’t kicked your ass yet.”

  Tivo laughed, the sound booming out into the open air, and Jenks knew more than a few eyes were locked onto them. “I guess I’ll be calling you Petty Officer Altandai Khan for a while, then.”

  “You think?”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “I should hope so—I’m a legend. Meanwhile, we’ve been left in the dark about you. It’s a shame, isn’t it, Max?”

  “A tragedy, even.” Max was grinning.

  He still had a hold of Jenks’s hand, and was running his thumb over the backs of her knuckles. “Looking forward to this, Petty Officer Khan,” he said, finally releasing her and pushing to his feet and walking away.

  “Back at you, Lieutenant Parsikov,” she replied, reluctantly pulling her gaze away from his ass so that she could blow a kiss in Chau’s direction. The commander’s grin faded, and Jenks had to suppress a laugh as she looped her arm through Max’s, waved to Rosa and D’Arcy, and headed back across to their team.

  “Holy shit, Max,” she whispered when they were more than halfway across the floor. “I was expecting evil jerk guy, but instead—” She fanned herself.

  “Even I could hear the sizzling between the two of you, but I want no part of it,” Max replied.

  “I’m still gonna kick his ass, though.”

  “Well, I should hope so.”

  Jenks heard D’Arcy laugh from behind them.

  “Good evening, folks! I’m Pace McClellan, and here with me as always is Barnes Overton for TSN—The Sports Network. I hope you’re all ready for the beginning of the hundred and first iteration of the Boarding Games! We’re excited to be here. There are five amazing teams about to go head-to-head for the championship trophy and a year’s worth of bragging rights. A lot of familiar faces, but also some newbies we are very curious to watch.”

  “I’m especially excited to see what Lieutenant Maxine Carmichael is going to bring to the arena, Pace. We had the opportunity to watch her compete in the preliminaries. Obviously Petty Officer Khan still rules the cage for the moment, but Carmichael is one to watch in the Boarding Action.”

  “Absolutely, Barnes. Many of you were with us last year when the NeoG team—composed of Interceptor squads Zuma’s Ghost and Honorable Intent—suffered a devastating loss by only three points to the Navy team. I’m sure they’re wanting to avenge that loss, but it’ll be interesting to see if they can. Not only does Zuma’s Ghost have a new player, but they lost their best swordsman.”

  “Too right, Pace. And a shout-out to Commander Nika Vagin, who was grievously injured in an attack on Trappist-1e a few months ago. We’ll miss seeing him compete.”

  “I’m already hearing rumors that he’s going to be back in the sword ring, Barnes. Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of Vagin. Zuma’s not competing alone, though; they’ve got a new squad with them—Dread Treasure. In charge there is Commander D’Arcy Montaglione, and if this guy’s background doesn’t make the competition a little nervous, I don’t know what will.”

  “What we do know, Pace, is that this is going to be a heck of a ride!”

  Boarding Games—Day One

  “Don’t mess with it,” Rosa said, batting Jenks’s hand away from her uniform. “It’s even.”

  “This is the worst part of the Games. Why do we have to dress up in these things?”

  Rosa chuckled as she moved on to Tamago.

  “Because it’s as much for show as the rest of it,” Max answered, and Rosa didn’t have to turn around to know she’d also knocked Jenks’s hand away from her collar.

  “It itches.”

  “The more you fuss with it, the more it will itch.”

  In some fashion Rosa was glad for Jenks’s annual “why do we have to wear these” gripe session. It gave Max something to do besides fret about the fact that they were about to walk out in front of hundreds of thousands of people in the arena itself and hundreds of millions watching all over the galaxy.

  “We good?” Rosa asked D’Arcy, and he nodded, smiling when she reached out to adjust the row of medals on his left breast.

  “This is going to be like going through a wormhole, isn’t it? We’ll blink and be on the other side.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Enjoy it when and as you can. It passes as quick as spark to flame.”

  “Poetry from you?”

  She smiled again, brushing an imaginary piece of lint from his shoulder. “Sc
ripture, if you can believe it.”

  “I’d hug you, but we’ll mess up our uniforms.” He winked.

  Rosa dragged in a breath, exhaling all at once and holding the emptiness for a moment before she inhaled again. “Thank you for being here, D’Arcy. There is no one else I would rather have at my back than you and your team,” she murmured, and then turned to the others before he could reply. “Circle up, Neos.”

  They all circled around her and Rosa felt her heart shake for a moment when she met Ma’s eyes. He reached out and put his hand on hers. “We go out into the black,” he said.

  “To protect the lost,” Sapphi continued.

  “And weary travelers far from home,” Locke and Garcia said together and shared a grin.

  “We go out into the black.” D’Arcy’s rumbling bass was in Rosa’s ear as he reached past her, putting his other hand on her back.

  “Without thought of return.” Akane’s clear soprano rang through the tunnel and Rosa knew the other teams were watching them.

  “Because it is our duty to stand between.” Tamago filled in the gap on Rosa’s other side.

  “Those who need us,” Huang said.

  “And all the things on silent wings.” Murphy’s eyes were shining with unshed tears.

  “That come to steal their lives away.” Jenks met Rosa’s gaze and then Max put her hand on the top of the pile.

  “We are the sentinels, always ready to defend the pale light that shines in the black.”

  “We are the NeoG,” Rosa looked around, nodded once, and dropped her hand. “Let’s go win this thing.”

  They lined up. Their hovering handler had thankfully been unwilling to interrupt, but now they escorted the NeoG team up the walkway. Rosa took another deep breath, shared a smile with D’Arcy, and headed out into the roar that filled the arena.

  Max shook her arms out as she walked in a circle. The excitement of the opening ceremonies yesterday was still spiking through her and it looked as though it was going to carry her through this fight.

  The early-morning crowd was thin; a few spectators wandered around the stands, most of them clustered around the cage end of the arena as they waited for the first matches to start.

  Ma’s fight was later in the day, so he was watching Dread’s pilot, Huang, and Lieutenant Commander Locke during their race. The hacking competition didn’t start until tomorrow, which meant Sapphi and Garcia had the day off. They were hanging by the team area, heads pressed together while they studied something on a shared screen only they could see.

  Nika and Luis were nearby, having a quiet conversation over cups of coffee. The smell of it was driving her a shade mad.

  “Hey.” Jenks waved a hand in Max’s face. “You focused?”

  “Yeah.” Max gave a sharp nod, eyes straying to the cage as the official in charge walked around it checking the walls.

  “Hands.” Jenks shook out the first wrap and began winding it around Max’s left hand with quick, precise movements. She moved on to Max’s right, wrapping it in the same bright green fabric. “Give me the rundown on Montauk.”

  Max pulled her gaze back to Jenks. “She’s fast, watch for the spinning back kick. She’ll take my head off with it if I drop my guard.”

  “Guard up.” Jenks’s hand flashed out and Max blocked it, bringing her right hand over to catch the follow-up punch. A glow of pleasure filled her chest when Jenks grunted in approval. “So much better. You’ve come a long way, LT. You’ve got this fight. You’re smarter than she is. Use that creepy prescience of yours and hit her first. Make it count, ring her bell, and get her off-kilter. Never let up.” She patted Max’s butt as Rosa came over.

  “You ready?”

  “Let’s do this,” Max said, and headed for the cage.

  There was music over the speakers and Max was dimly aware of the announcers saying her name as she took the trio of steps up into the cage.

  “Lieutenant Carmichael, I’m Travis Vance, your official for the fight.”

  “Nice to meet you.” She smiled and shook his hand, turning as her opponent came up the steps.

  Spacer Emery Montauk wasn’t fresh out of basic training, but she looked it with a round baby face and deep green eyes. She was Max’s height with the same long arms and legs, and even worse, she moved like she was comfortable in her bones. She shook the ref’s hand, and then held her hand out to Max for a quick, impersonal greeting.

  “You’ve both signed off on the rules,” Travis said. “I expect a good, clean fight. Good contact. Back off when I say hold. We’ve got three rounds or until someone goes down for good. Tap and to your sides.”

  Max tapped her fists to Montauk’s and then deliberately turned her back on the woman, sauntering back to the NeoG side of the cage with an insouciance she did not actually feel.

  It did what she expected, though, and the crowd, small as it was, burst into laughter and applause. Jenks was grinning. Rosa shook her head with a laugh.

  Max turned and lifted a hand to the audience. They reacted with a second round of impressively loud cheers.

  “Play to the spectators, Max.” Something Jenks had told her months ago rang in her head. “They can’t award you more points, but their support can make the difference when you’re on your knees about to lose.”

  The whistle blew and Max brought her hands to her face, slipping her mouthguard in and meeting Montauk in the middle of the cage. She already had the woman off-balance. Her opponent expected a hesitant, nervous fighter based on her performance at the preliminaries, but Jenks was right. She’d come a long way since then.

  “Barnes, I don’t think anyone expected that to start off this fight. Carmichael turned her back on Montauk and then came out of the gate with a punch that further threw the Navy fighter off her game.”

  “I think I felt that punch. We all know Jenks is a heavy hitter, but it appears Lieutenant Carmichael is no slouch in the force department when she decides to be. That was one of the best first rounds to start the Games in I don’t know how long. I’m almost not mad you made me get up at such an ungodly hour, Pace.”

  “Hey, I warned you this was going to be a fighter to watch. For anyone just tuning in, you are in luck. We’ve still got two rounds to go here in the cage match between Lieutenant Maxine Carmichael of NeoG and Spacer Emery Montauk with the SEALs. Our referee, back for his tenth year, is Travis Vance. He’s signaling the start of the second round.”

  “Montauk is a good fighter, Pace. She made it to the third round last year before Master Chief Ma laid into her with an uppercut that knocked her out, but she can’t seem to get a handle on Carmichael’s moves.”

  “The fighters in the prelims had the same issue, Barnes. Montauk with a nice spin kick there that Carmichael couldn’t quite get out of the way of fast enough. The glancing blow to her right thigh is going to be a point for Navy. The fighters have backed off for a minute to catch their breaths, much to the disappointment of the crowd.”

  “Sorry folks, if you’re looking for no-holds-barred fighting you’ll have to wait and tune in to Jenks’s fights later. Carmichael is clearly a deliberate fighter. She’s weighing the options of moving in again, and it seems Montauk isn’t going to rush against this unorthodox style.”

  “Too right, Barnes. That shot knocked Carmichael’s lead down to two points and I’m sure she’s calculating in her head just how to maintain that lead for the next round.”

  “Looks like Montauk’s not going to be content to let Carmichael run the show here. She’s moving in, Pace . . . but Carmichael avoids her and drops Montauk with a sweep that bounces her head off the mat!”

  “That woman is a ghost. Montauk is struggling to get back to her feet. Parsikov and Tole are watching the clock a little nervously, hoping the time will run out before Carmichael can finish her off or the ref waves it over.”

  “This is where you see Carmichael’s inexperience, Pace. She should be pressing her opponent. You can see Jenks shouting at her to do just that. But it’s
too little too late because there’s the buzzer for the end of the second round.”

  “Saved by the bell. Carmichael’s still ahead on points. That sweep put her up by five, Barnes, and from the way she’s been moving I don’t think Montauk is going to be able to make up that lost ground in the last round of this fight.”

  “I agree. Unless a miracle happens this is going to be a NeoG victory. While we wait for the rest period to wrap up, Pace, let’s talk a little bit about Lieutenant Carmichael.”

  “The name says it all, doesn’t it?”

  “You’d think, but she’s the first Carmichael who’s gone into the Near-Earth Orbital Guard. We all know the story about how everyone in the family is expected to serve the CHN or LifeEx Industries in some capacity, but with few exceptions, the Navy has been the home for the Carmichael family.”

  “I’ve heard some rumors her parents weren’t particularly happy about her choice, Barnes, but from what we’ve seen so far I think the NeoG is counting themselves lucky.”

  “Commander Rosa Martín sure is. She’s got a reputation for training up some of the best and brightest in the NeoG. If you’re going to make a joke about that not saying much I’d advise you to do it well out of earshot of any fans at the Boarding Games. All right, looks like Travis is signaling the fight crews to get on back out of the cage and Jenks is, of course, jawing at Parsikov.”

  “It’s no secret that the SEALs brought him in to unseat Jenks from her undefeated throne, but she doesn’t seem the least bit intimidated by him.”

  “Pace, I’m reasonably sure Jenks isn’t afraid of anything, but I am sure looking forward to that fight if it happens. For now, though, we’re about to start round three in this fight between Montauk and Carmichael. If you’ve just joined, Carmichael is up by five points and has been easily avoiding most of Montauk’s attacks. As expected, Montauk is coming off the buzzer on the attack. She’s moving in on Carmichael, who’s easily defending against these punches.”

  “Oh—Carmichael drops an elbow there and that’s going to leave a bruise on Montauk’s left arm that’ll last for a while. You can put a bet down on Montauk catching up here, but Barnes and I would both advise against it.”