“However.”
She looked up. “Yes?”
“We still have to get back to Goethe Prime, and after that there's no telling how long it will take for us to gather information from the data chip. Ideally we'd be able to put you through a complete boot camp, but I don't think that's going to be possible. But if you're willing to learn I can have my bodyguard cadre teach you essential skills.”
“I'll do it,” she said immediately. This might be her only chance, and Lauren wouldn't miss it.
“Bear in mind that attending lessons isn't going to be good enough. You're going to need to show me that you've learned the proper skills.”
“I'll do it. Whatever it takes.”
Nina smiled again, and Lauren thought this one had a gleeful, almost vicious edge to it.
“Wait to see what's required of you before you start making proclamations about what you will and won't do. Every single one of my bodyguards served in a special forces unit. They're experts at all forms of warfare, and they're not going to take it easy on you.”
“Even so, I'll give my best effort. I'll find some way to pass your test.”
Nina shrugged. “Well, like I said I don't fault your conviction. You might fail, but at least you have the spirit to try. Be warned though, spirit alone isn't going to get you through this. You need to have some actual skill as well.”
Lauren could only nod. Who knew what kind of tests her host was planning?
THEY MADE it through the jumpgate undisturbed, but Mirko had other things to worry about.
“So let me get this straight. You want us to give training to someone who has absolutely no military experience and teach them up to our standard?”
“Of course not. There's no way that she'd be able to learn that fast,” Nina said. “I just want you to put her through enough training so that she's not a liability if she's on the ground with us. She doesn't have to be able to beat the Eizen Naval Commandos by herself.”
“I wouldn't be surprised if you made her live up to that standard.”
“Huh, I'm not that mean. Or delusional. There's no way she's going to be able to learn the kind of skills she'd need to equal the rest of the team in a few weeks. I have my doubts about whether she'll be able to meet proper standards in time. But she wants to go with us, and I'll give her that chance.”
Mirko nodded. “I see your point, but this could be very risky. Both for her and for the rest of us.”
“Then see to it that you minimize the risk for all of us. You can do that, can't you? Or are you just going to let her pass because you feel sorry for her?”
“Of course not.”
“Then I don't see the problem. Put her through the proper training and make sure she's ready to face the dangers we might have to deal with out in the Central Expanse.”
“She's not going to have a specific role in the team.”
“That's fine. I'm not expecting her to be able to storm rooms or anything like that. I just want her to be able to defend herself and not shoot anyone else in the back. Maybe have her able to hold down a position. But her expertise is her Ulic knowledge.”
“You sure don't want to make things easy for me.”
“Your job is to make sure she's ready. I'll leave the process up to you. Delegation is a legitimate way to do it. Besides, what else are you going to do while we're waiting? Play cards all the time?”
“Point taken.”
“So can you do it?”
“Of course I can give her the training you want. Whether she passes it is up to her. But I'll see what I can do to get her prepared.”
A plan began forming in his mind.
CHAPTER FIVE
“So you're the one that's going to be training me?” Lauren asked as they walked down a ship corridor.
Kei shrugged. “One of them, at least. I was assigned to do it today.”
“Assigned? You didn't volunteer?”
He thought she sounded disappointed.
“Well, I think we're going to rotate who's training you. I just happened to be on today.”
“You don't sound very enthusiastic. Are they making you do this?”
Kei didn't respond.
“That's a yes, isn't it?”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly? What else is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “I was just told that I'm going to be training you today. That's it. I'm not unhappy about it or anything. Actually, I'm kind of glad that I got picked. There's not a lot to on this ship, so this is something useful.”
“That surprised me,” Lauren said. “The part about there not being much to do. I was under the impression that this was just a regular yacht.”
“I was too at the beginning, but that's the point. Miss Skare seems to like to keep a sense of mystery about her. And she likes to deceive people as well. I can see why. It makes people keep their guard down around her, and that can be very, very dangerous.”
“I'd imagine.”
“I'm not just saying that. We have a ship full of trained soldiers, and she might be the most dangerous person aboard by a long shot. I've only been with her for less than a year, but even I can see that. She has a sharp mind.”
“She seems confident. And I got that impression when she made these plans,” Lauren said. “Right now she doesn't think I'm good enough to even equal her.”
Kei shrugged. “Well, from what I've heard I can't say that I blame her. You never went through military service during the Interstellar War, is that right?”
“Yes.”
“How's your conditioning?”
“Hm?”
“Your conditioning. Your strength, stamina, those kind of things. Because that's where we're going to have to start, if you can't pass the basic fitness tests. Nothing else matters if you can't keep up.”
“I'm pretty fit,” she said. “Working at archeological sites helped me. And I make sure to stay in shape.”
“Good. Then the fitness test shouldn't be any problem for you.”
“Fitness test?”
Kei glanced over at her and nodded. “Yeah. We're going through the basic fitness test now. If you fail then we're going to spend the rest of the time working on your conditioning. So are you ready for this?”
She sighed. “I guess there's no putting it off until later. Not if I want to be able to meet the testing standards she's going to put out for me.”
“That's the right idea.”
“One question, though.”
“Yes?”
She looked over at him. “What are those standards going to be?”
“I don't know,” Kei admitted. “And right now, I'm not even sure they know either.”
“SEEMS you've gotten yourself in a bit of trouble,” Erik said, “but that doesn't mean you should immediately start chasing after flights of fancy.”
Nina bit back the response she wanted to give and tried to keep her expression steady. Once again she had contacted her father, but he had patched in her brothers as well.
“Flight of fancy or not, it's still something that we need to look into.”
“Why, do you honestly think that Eon Path is trying to dig up some ancient alien super weapon? What do you think this is, the plot of a movie?”
She scowled. “Of course not. Who knows what they're thinking, but I'm not that foolish. They'll be lucky if they can dig up the scraps of something. That's not the point, though. The point is that the data contained within the chip might point us to something important, and we need to search for it.”
Edwin spoke up. “That's a rather large leap to make. We don't know if there's any useful data still uncorrupted. Ulic relics are always finicky.”
“Yes, I'm well aware of that. This is all assuming that we can get anything useful out of it. If not then we're back at square one and nothing happens. But if it is-”
“If it is then what? Do we actually have any guarantees that the locations we find inside still exist? O
ur species was still living in caves and hunting mammoths during the estimated fall of their empire.”
“This is likely a waste of time,” Erik said.
“And what if it isn't?” Nina insisted. “I understand that there might not be anything to go on, but if we do have something then I think we need to search for it. I'm not expecting to find something miraculous, but if it leads us to new technology then that can give us a significant edge.”
“Again, it's a waste of time. We have a backlog of artifacts we're already studying. We-”
“Those are unimportant. They're household items. Luxuries. They're not what we're searching for. This could be a breakthrough we're looking for.”
Edwin said, “There's time-”
“No. No there isn't. Not if we want to get there first,” Nina said. “Eon Path is looking for this, and they seem to be able to get their hands on a lot of assets thanks to their support base of sympathizers. If we want to get there first and get our hands on what might be other there then we need to put this as a top priority.”
“Again, what proof do you have that this is nothing more than a waste of time? Are you an Ulic expert?” Erik asked.
“No, but I'm smart enough to trust people that are,” she replied. “Professor Hallas believed that this was something significant. So does Miss Maxwell, and she's worked extensively with Ulic artifacts.”
Her father finally spoke. “Assuming that the data chip contains the information you think it might, what are you planning on doing?”
“Simple. I want to make an expedition into the Central Expanse to look for it.”
“More time and resources that could be better spent elsewhere,” Erik said.
Nina gave him a withering glare. “I don't need to drag an entire fleet unit with me. If you're so concerned about wasting valuable resources then I'll take care of this myself. The Starlight is more than enough for the kind of expedition I'm planning.”
Erik opened his mouth to say something else, but her father waved a hand at him and he took the hint.
“You do realize what you're asking for and what you're committing yourself to. You're going to be isolated out in the Central Expanse, which could prove very problematic if the rumors about Eon Path are true.”
“I do.”
It was nothing more than guesswork at this point, but Nina had heard rumors that Eon Path was nothing more than a covert operations unit, founded by a nation's black-ops units to sow discord in their enemy's territory and give them deniability. The rank and file of the organization were true believers, but the upper ranks knew its true purpose.
Nina was skeptical of that, especially given her previous run-ins with the group. There seemed to be no pattern, no greater goal to their actions that would serve the interests of any state. And if they were a covert unit she imagined their training would be better. At this point their grunts were little better than thugs, able to intimidate those weaker than them, but faced with actual soldiers they'd wither.
But she could very well be wrong, and even if she wasn't the group seemed to have several powerful backers. They weren't producing their arms and ships out of thin air.
She continued. “There's a chance that there's something out there, and I want to make sure we get our hands on it first. And if we have to spend resources on it, so be it.”
Her father spoke up before any of the others could voice their objections.
“This is dependent on whether we find the information that you're looking for, but assuming we do then mounting an expedition into the Central Expanse is well in your purview. And I will sign off on what you need, within reason.”
Nina nodded.
“Make sure that this is properly planned. I don't want to waste resources on a flight of fancy, as Erik likes to call it.”
“It will be. Who do you think I am?”
“Very well. I'll talk to you more about this when you're back on Goethe Prime.”
Nina sat down after the feed cut out and sighed. The attitude she received from her brothers still rankled, but she had gotten what she wanted. Now it was just a matter of whether the data chip had the information they wanted.
HER MUSCLES BURNED and sweat poured off her body, but she passed the last portion of the test.
“Good,” Kei said. He had gone through the entire test as well to prove it could be done. “That's one obstacle down, at least. Now you just need to be able to maintain that level.”
“Is that what you went through?” she asked.
“During basic training yes. The fitness requirements for Interstellar Rescue were a lot harder. Be thankful you don't have to go through some of those tests like the Void.”
“What's that?”
“They strap you inside a chamber, then put you through thirty seconds of vacuum exposure.”
“Isn't that bad for you health?”
“Of course it is, though it's not as bad as the movies like to make it look. It's really uncomfortable, but it's not like your body explodes or your lungs burst. Unless you hold your breath, but you're told not to do that.”
“What if you do?”
“Then your lungs burst, and hopefully you don't die before they get you into the medical unit. Oh, and you automatically fail the selection course.”
That made her smile. “No kidding, huh?”
He stood up. “OK, now that we've settled that I think we can move on to different things. Shooting is going to be the first one, although you're going to have to learn some hand-to-hand combat skills too. Have you done either?”
“I did judo when I was in school. I'm not sure if that helps...”
“Well, it's something to start with, at least. But shooting is going to be the most important thing for you. That's your most-likely way of dealing with danger.”
“Where are we going to practice?” Lauren asked. She didn't think the ship had a shooting range, but then, it was big enough to accommodate one…
“Follow me. We're going to the virtual reality suite.”
“You have that onboard?”
“Yeah, and it's pretty extensive. One of the best ones I've ever seen. Between the processing power aboard and the amount of power the fusion reactors can generate it's pretty well covered. And it takes up a lot less space than a training arena would.”
Lauren had experienced deep immersion virtual realities before, but they had only been commercial models. The extremely wealthy and the military made extensive use of the higher-end models. The devices allowed humans to transport their consciousness into a virtual world, allowing them to use all their senses in that reality.
Kei pressed his hand to the biometric panel, and the door slid open. As they stepped inside someone glanced over their shoulder. It took him a moment to recognize the short-cropped black hair.
“Practicing?” Gilroy asked.
“We were planning on it,” Kei said. “I'm on training duty today, if you haven't heard.”
“Huh, they stuck you with it? You don't have to knuckle under to them, you know. We're all technically of equal rank.”
“Technically, but is that really true? Soko is still team leader, Griz is the second, and I'm just the newbie of the team for now.”
“Maybe. But you can protest a little.”
Lauren cleared her throat. “Glad I'm such a burden.”
“We don't think you are,” Gilroy said, “but training rotations were never a favorite for any of us. Understand that we all come from special forces units, and we were usually deployed to the front. Training new recruits, well...”
Lauren sighed.
“Don't get down about it. Everyone has to start somewhere,” Kei said. “Speaking of which, we're going to work on basic shooting first. Do you have a neck socket?”
“Do I need one?” she asked, glancing at the plastic and metal implant attached to the back of his neck. Everyone onboard had one except for Nina.
“You don't, it just makes things a little easier. You don't have to put on t
he helmet. IVIN, will she be fine?”
“I won't know until she puts it on,” the AI said, “but she fits within the parameters.”
“Um, good?”
“That means you don't have to cut you hair,” Gilroy said. “So you're going to be working on shooting, huh? Just on the range?”
“That's what I was planning on. No point in throwing her into an actual scenario until she gets a good feel for the weapons.”
“You know what, that sounds interesting enough. Mind if I take the lead for this?”
Kei shrugged. “If you want that would be great. This is your area of expertise, not mine.”
“You can work on your marksmanship too.”
He grimaced. “Am I really that bad?”
“You're a part of the team. That means you need to be held to higher standards. Besides, are you saying that you can't do it?”
“Of course not. You're on.”
Lauren stepped into one of the pods and sat down in the chair. As she settled in the helmet descended and fitted itself to her head. The screen deployed over her eyes, and a moment later she was in the virtual world.
A long corridor stretched out before them, with targets at one end and a long table at their end. Lauren saw three guns placed on top of it.
“Let's get this started, then,” Gilroy said. “We have stationary targets at two hundred yards for now. Standard assault rifle, set to semiautomatic. Put ten rounds downrange into the center of mass. That's your starting point, Maeda.”
Kei nodded and stepped forward. He picked up one of the rifles, brought it up to his shoulder and exhaled. A moment later the first plasma bolt zipped downrange.
“I'm not going to have to do that, am I?” Lauren asked.
“Nope. That's for advanced students. Have you shot before?”
“A little, but not a ton,” she admitted.
“Then we're going to have to train you from the ground up. That's not unusual, though, and don't worry too much about it. Within a few weeks you should be up to standard.”
She watched Kei fire off a few more shots. “Is virtual reality training really going to be enough to get me up to speed?”
“Well, it's not perfect, and it's not a substitute for an actual range. But you'll have time to practice on one of those once we get back to Goethe Prime, and this will help a lot. Besides, we don't have any other way to practice. Space is at a premium on this ship.”
Eon Gate (The Eon Pentalogy Book 1) Page 5
