Dalton’s team, Gemini226, were permanently close to the top spot, while the middle of the table was in a constant state of flux. No one really cared because everyone was concentrating on the simple red line and the two teams that sat below it. Aries226 had slipped beneath it more than once, and they were currently only two points above it now.
It was Friday morning of the third week, and Josh sat opposite Caitlin — or rather Lisichka, as he had to keep reminding himself.
They had just spent three days learning how to survive in the wilds of pre-colonised America. Josh never wanted to see another nut, berry or uncooked piece of fish ever again — not to mention the constant threat of grizzly bears and timber wolves. He devoured the first serving in total silence while Caitlin sat and slowly stirred her bowl of oats.
‘Have you thought about becoming a vegetarian?’ she asked as Josh sat back down with his second plate of sausages and eggs.
‘Nope.’
‘It’s just that meat won’t always be that easy to come by.’
‘All the more reason to enjoy it when you can.’ He smiled and forked in a mouthful of scrambled egg.
Bentley shuffled into the seat next to Caitlin with a small bowl of sliced fruit and a glass of orange juice.
‘Seriously?’ Josh exclaimed between mouthfuls.
‘Ignore him.’ Caitlin put her spoon down. ‘He’s having a caveman moment.’
Bentley smiled in a way that said: ‘It’s okay, I’m used to it.’
‘Why do they bother teaching us all this survival stuff?’ Josh asked, forking a sausage and biting off one end.
‘Because some of us will be staying?’ Bentley shrugged, pushing the fruit around the bowl as if looking for a hidden sausage.
‘No. I mean why not just intuit everything we need to know?’
Caitlin glared at Josh.
Bentley leaned forward and whispered: ‘Because intuiting is like cheating! You’re using someone else’s knowledge. Being a Dreadnought is about thinking on your feet, using your own instincts — not the previous experiences of someone better than you.’
‘Plus we’ll get thrown out of the academy,’ Caitlin added. Josh could feel the heat in her cheeks from the other side of the table.
‘Okay. I just thought it would be quicker, that was all.’
‘Quick can get you dead,’ chanted Bentley, imitating Corporal Vedris.
‘Well, we need all the help we can get right now.’ Josh nodded to the leaderboard. Aries were only just above the red line. ‘Two days to go.’
‘We’ll be fine,’ Bentley said confidently. ‘Darkling’s got a plan.’
‘Let’s hope it’s better than the last one,’ Caitlin grumbled.
‘So it’s weapons training today, right?’ Josh said, squashing a sausage between two pieces of toast.
Bentley stared longingly at the last morsels of Josh’s breakfast. ‘Or herbal remedies with Voynich — it’s a split option.’
‘He’s a good teacher,’ Caitlin remarked, trying to sound convincing, but they all knew it was an excuse. She had avoided every single combat lesson in the last three weeks. Josh had begun to wonder whether the memories he’d shared with her hadn’t worked. She’d disappeared after dinner every night and Josh assumed it was to practice the techniques he’d shown her from the fight with the strzyga, but he daren’t ask. Like a friend after a drunken one-night stand, there was an uncomfortable awkwardness between them ever since she’d taken the memory.
‘Do you have a problem with personal space?’ Josh pushed his plate away, clearing the table between them.
Caitlin looked up from her bowl. ‘What?’
Bentley quickly finished the last of his fruit and decided it was a good time to leave the conversation.
‘Well, I know combat training involves getting physical, and I wondered if you don’t like getting too close to people?’
‘What kind of question is that? I’m just not into fighting.’ Her cheeks were beginning to burn.
‘So, what happened to being that girl?’
‘I’m not ready.’
‘I bet you are. I tell you what. How about I go veggie for a whole week if you come to fight club. You can even have the first shot.’ He stuck his chin out.
She pushed her spoon around her bowl, pretending to gather up the last of the porridge.
‘You won’t pass basic training if you haven’t been through combat,’ he added. ‘Do you want to prove all those who said that girls couldn’t cut it were right?’
‘No.’
‘Come on! You know we need every point we can get!’ he added, pointing at the leaderboard with his knife.
‘Alright! I’ll come. But don’t make a big thing about it.’
41
Vorpal Combat
Corporal Vedris looked formidable in her skin-tight, black combat gear: part ninja, part SWAT officer, with a long black staff tucked under one arm. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, accentuating her sharp cheekbones — she struck an imposing figure in the middle of the training floor.
The room was borrowed from an Austrian military college. Sabres and regimental banners hung from the oak-panelled walls, and the portraits of generations of fencing champions looked down on them with the arrogance of a forgotten Prussian aristocracy.
The wooden floor was sprung, like a gymnasium, its varnished boards deeply etched with decades of duelling scars. Running down the centre of the room was a fourteen metre strip of tightly stretched canvas, ‘the piste’, as Vedris called it. Laid out on the floor around it were rows of well-used leather mats, some of which looked stained with blood.
Vedris went through a series of fluid acrobatic moves that brought her closer to the group. She was so fast, so strong, and looked if she could snap your neck with one finger.
‘Today you will learn the basics of self-defence. There will be times when your body may be the only weapon you have to work with.’
Josh groaned inwardly. He was more interested in weapons. The previous lessons had covered guns, bows and swords — all of which he found he was quite good at. It seemed a little mundane to go back to kung-fu.
The nine members of Aries226 who had chosen combat over herbal remedies were ordered to line up on both sides of the fencing strip. Darkling made sure he was standing opposite Josh. He grinned at him like a heavyweight boxer trying to psych-out his opponent before a fight.
‘We will begin with the basic defence moves. You will each pair up with the person to your left and follow my lead. Lisichka, you will be my partner today,’ Vedris ordered, throwing the staff to Caitlin.
Caitlin caught it one-handed and glowered at Josh as she stepped onto the canvas. This was obviously his fault, and she was going to make him pay for it later.
Bentley moved into Caitlin’s place beside Josh, who couldn’t help but smile at the look of disappointment on Darkling’s face.
They all paired off and moved to the nearest floor mat. Bentley picked up the wooden pole that was lying on it and span it around his arm clumsily, more of a danger to himself than anyone else. Josh wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to have paired off with Darkling instead.
Vedris assumed a defensive stance. ‘Okay. Now Lisichka, I want you to try and knock me off my feet.’
Josh watched Caitlin carefully, looking for any sign of the skills he’d shared with her: in the way she gripped the staff or how she shifted her feet to lower her centre of gravity, but there was nothing. The other male team members were too busy studying Vedris’ taut body.
Caitlin made a half-hearted thrust, and Vedris blocked it, effortlessly swiping the staff away and knocking it out of her hands.
Everyone tried to copy the move and failed. Bentley accidentally managed to strike Josh in the balls. There were a few stifled laughs from their neighbours as Josh got back to his feet.
‘Sorry,’ Bentley mouthed.
Vedris picked up the staff and threw it back to Caitlin. ‘Concentrate! The
art of deflection is based on using your opponent’s force against them. Again!’
Josh watched Caitlin as she crouched lower, her cheeks flushed red, her fingers whitening around the staff. Her eyes narrowed as she focused and he knew she was trying desperately to summon the moves.
This time Vedris swept her legs from under her with one kick and Caitlin fell heavily onto the floor.
‘Your opponent’s balance as they strike can also be a weakness. Study their stance — the body is only as stable as the feet.’
Caitlin got up slowly from the floor.
Josh only caught a glimpse of her scowl as Bentley came at him again. This time Josh managed to dodge his thrust, and his opponent went down like a sack of potatoes.
Vedris circled Caitlin on the balls of her feet, like a panther stalking prey, her hands performing slow, circular motions as if she were folding invisible sheets. Caitlin, on the other hand, seemed to relax, loosen her stance and roll her head on her neck.
Nobody expected what she did next — except for Josh. One moment she was there, the next she appeared behind Vedris knocking away her legs.
Everyone gasped at once.
Josh smiled — there was the old Caitlin that he knew.
42
Return of the Cat
‘What exactly was that?’ asked Bentley for the second time, walking back to the dorm. Corporal Vedris had required a medic after Caitlin’s surprise attack, and the lesson had to be abandoned.
‘It’s called a Vorpal move,’ Josh informed him.
‘Never heard of it.’
‘You won’t have. It’s a temporal fighting technique that graduates are only taught after initiation,’ Caitlin explained with the air of someone that would rather not discuss it.
‘And you know it because...’ Bentley continued, clearly intrigued and ignoring her reluctance.
Caitlin glanced covertly at Josh. ‘Because my parents taught it to me when I was a kid. Now can we please change the subject?’ Her lips tightened, and she flashed her eyes at him.
Darkling caught up with them, his whole demeanour towards Caitlin changed. There was a note of respect in his voice. ‘Well, Lisichka you can certainly kick ass. Vedris is going to be off her feet for a week.’
‘I doubt it,’ said Bentley. ‘Draconian healers are some of the best in the Order.’
‘Better hope we don’t get marked down for that little stunt though,’ Darkling added, pushing past Bentley. ‘We need all the points we can get.’
‘So?’ Bentley persisted after Darkling was out of earshot.
‘So what?’ Caitlin hissed.
‘Will you teach me?’
Caitlin frowned at Josh. ‘Do I have a choice?’
Josh smiled. ‘Not if you want any peace.’
43
Preparations
The next day Vedris was there, as usual, to wake them. She seemed distracted, agitated, and Josh wondered if it was because of the injury, though there was no sign of a limp. However, she was a little more cautious around Caitlin.
In a tight, strained voice, Vedris reminded them that today was the day of the first reckoning; when the two lowest performing teams would be eliminated. Her tone changed as she announced that they were also going to be honoured with a special visit — the Grandmaster of their guild, Derado, was to make a rare appearance. All candidates would be expected on the parade ground in dress uniform, their boots polished and their dorms spotless.
Over the next few hours, Vedris grew more anxious. She fretted over the smallest things, making them repeat mundane tasks like cleaning the floor, the toilets, anything that kept them busy. Several times Vedris left unexpectedly, reappearing minutes later with new instructions as if she had jumped into the future to see how the inspection had gone.
‘What’s up with her?’ Josh whispered under his breath. ‘She’s acting crazy.’
Caitlin grimaced as she extracted a glutinous mass of hair out of the shower plughole. ‘I believe she’s worked out who I am.’
‘Or her application for active duty’s been turned down again.’
With only an hour to go, Vedris disappeared once more. Caitlin took a knife and went into the toilets with one of the other girls. Ten minutes later she came back with a drastically shorter haircut.
Josh considered it wiser not to comment. She looked remarkably similar to the alternate version — the one he’d left back in the Ministry.
‘Do you think that will fool your godfather?’
‘He’s short-sighted and vain, so he won’t wear his glasses. If I stand behind you, he may not even see me.’
They both knew it was a terrible plan, but neither wanted to think about the alternatives.
Vedris reappeared, her eyes red-rimmed.
‘Get dressed,’ she ordered.
Twenty minutes of fussing over buttons and collars, and the summoning bell finally rang. Aries226 trooped out onto the parade ground in low spirits.
44
Derado
Grandmaster Derado was a tall, thin man with short dark hair and piercing blue eyes. Josh could see by his bearing he was a military man. He had that kind of lean, muscular way of carrying himself that came from constantly being on his guard. The same could be said of every one of the detachment of Dreadnoughts that accompanied him. They were twelve of the meanest-looking soldiers Josh had ever seen. Like time knights, their temporal armour was so black that light didn’t seem to reflect off its surface. Josh saw the tachyon dials embedded into their gauntlets as well as the legendary gunsabres hidden beneath their dark cloaks — weapons that only they were allowed to carry. Bentley was nearly hysterical; these were the closest things to superheroes for him.
The Dreadnoughts moved in unison, surrounding the Grandmaster at all times, while he inspected the ranks of candidates with Vassili.
The training master was wearing an old, faded uniform, his hair combed down and oiled in an attempt to tame it. He’d greeted the Grandmaster like an old friend, reaching up to the taller man and kissing his cheeks. Derado smiled and slapped his old friend on the shoulder.
Their entourage moved slowly along the lines of teams until it reached Aries. Vedris stepped forward to greet the Grandmaster and introduced each member of the team in turn. Caitlin stood beside Josh, and he felt the apprehension emanating from her without needing to turn around.
‘And this is Jones,’ she announced as they stopped in front of Josh.
The Grandmaster extended his hand. ‘Jones. Pleased to meet you.’
Vassili’s eye twitched as he stood behind Derado. Josh wasn’t sure if he was concerned about Josh or what was about to happen when the Grandmaster recognised his goddaughter.
Except she wasn’t there.
‘Something the matter, Jones?’ coughed Vedris. ‘Lost your manners?’
‘No. Sorry sir,’ he stuttered, shaking the Grandmaster’s hand.
Then the world stopped turning.
Everything froze. The banners that hung from the balconies stiffened in the stillness, and birds hung motionless in the blue skies above them.
Time had stopped.
‘You can come out now Kitkat, or should I say Lisichka,’ Derado declared, looking at the space next to Josh. ‘I see you’ve learned a new trick.’
Caitlin reappeared out of thin air.
‘Nice hair. Practical, but perhaps a little too severe?’
Caitlin stepped towards her godfather and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
‘Hello, Godfather. This is a little unexpected.’
‘Is it? I suspect you’re being slightly disingenuous, aren’t you? Vedris here’ — he nodded at the statue-like Corporal — ‘reported your prowess in Vorpal combat yesterday. You broke both her legs, apparently.’
Caitlin tried to look mortified, but she wasn’t really pulling it off.
‘Well, if I had told you I was joining you would have forbidden it.’
‘Not I, my dear. I am simply following your Grandfather’
s orders. May he rest in peace.’
‘Grampy was a dinosaur who thought women were for babies and sewing robes!’
Josh could sense a repeat of the argument he had overheard in the master’s lighthouse.
‘He had good reasons, but that’s beside the point. I haven’t come here to dissuade you.’
‘You haven’t?’
‘No. I come with news. The skull of Daedalus has been stolen. The Copernicans suspect your friend here had something to do with it. They’ve been petitioning me for days.’
Josh found he couldn’t speak or move, and although he was conscious it was as if he’d been paralysed entirely.
‘My spies tell me that this young man is causing something of a stir amongst the Daedalans. They wish to question him.’ Derado leaned in close to Josh’s face. ‘They’re stirring up discord within the Order. They suspect he’s an anachronist, a counterfact — the so-called Nemesis.’
‘Really — but that's just a myth?’
‘Indeed.’
‘And they seriously believe it?’
‘This religious hysteria could lead to no end of trouble.’
Josh felt the master’s grip tighten.
‘You see, I’m more of a pragmatist, Mr Jones. I say what I see, and it strikes me that you are either a threat or an advantage. For the moment I’m going to err on the latter — until I have more data. Just know that you’re being closely watched.’ The veiled threat made Josh’s blood run cold.
The Grandmaster turned to Caitlin.
‘You shall be my eyes and ears, goddaughter. Observe him and report back on anything you deem noteworthy. For the moment you’re safe within the academy — even the Protectorate wouldn’t dare enter these walls.’
The Infinity Engines Books 1-3 Page 50
