by Simon E Bond
Once he was inside the venue Lei parked the vehicle outside the fighting arena, he had finally arrived he quickly turned off the engine and stepped outside the vehicle.
“Take care Lei, lot’s of misfits around here” Keena said, the on board computer sounded concerned.
“I am sure I can take care of myself, now get some down time I will be back soon” Lei replied.
The headlights on the vehicle dimmed and the engine went silent, outside the cold wind started to blow a gentle breeze. The smog filled air felt like a heavy blanket so much so that Lei placed his hand over his mouth.
The locals within the area appeared to have grown custom to the air quality, but from the look of them their health had suffered because of it. Instantly blending into the crowd Lei walked towards the entrance of the building. In front of him two security androids at the gate appeared to be distracted, trouble had broke out within the crowd.
Looking to his left Lei noticed a gap in a nearby fence he decided to take his moment. Leaving the crowd he squeezed through the gap and crouched low, then climbed over a wall to the other side. Lei jumped down and hid behind two large generators on the ground, they appeared to be supplying the power to the venue.
“Easy enough” thought Lei. For now he was out of view, the high walls and fences stretching around him where is protection. Darkness had quickly fallen, various floodlights started to light up the fighting area within the perimeter.
Packed crowds from above had began to gather behind the tall fences, nearly everyone was inside the venue now. Looking up Lei noticed huge holographic screens come to life all around him, the video feeds started to play corporate brainwashing trash to the masses. Crouching Lei slowly moved forward and stopped underneath a glass window, it was slightly ajar he heard men’s voices inside talking, but the conversation was muffled. Slowly standing up he wanted to peak inside, but that was too risky he had to take his time.
After a moment or two he decided to take his chance, and moved closer towards the window. Behind the glass there was a small room he noticed two scruffy looking men sat at a table, they were both counting credit chips. A pile was stacked high next to them, Lei was surprised, he had never seen that amount of credit’s before anywhere. Suddenly a door opened in the back of the room another man quickly entered, Lei looked on as the man sat down at the table.
Lei noticed something which shocked him he noticed the man’s hand the missing fingers, Lorna was right he was the one. This man murdered Lorna’s family, Lei had found what he was looking for, but for now he needed to get back to Lorna as quickly as possible. Lei moved away from the window and made his way around the edge of the building.
Suddenly from above a voice boomed out from the loudspeakers and echoed over the crowds, the advertisements from the holographic boards quickly changed to the fighters profiles. Studying the images as close as he could Lei noticed the fighters appeared not to be professional, mostly amateur from the slums. Maybe they where desperate to make some credits in order to survive on this planet.
A loud chime noise sounded, this appeared to be a signal for the fight to commence, below inside the ring both fighters appeared from two openings in each corner. They started to slowly move towards each other, second guessing their opponents next move. All around the crowd was desperate for action some started to grow impatient after only a couple of minutes, the two fighters where still weighing each other up, nothing was happening.
The situation was not good considering revenue was a must in this establishment, then suddenly from out of nowhere two huge water cannons appeared out of openings within the walls. Powerful jets of water rained down onto the two men, the force of the water knocked both of them to the ground. It was punishment, but also entertainment for the crowd the early stages needed some intervention. From all around a chorus of cheers suddenly erupted as the first punch had been thrown, below in the ring one of the fighters fell flat onto the concrete floor.
Standing over him his opponent watched on in amusement, he was clearly the stronger opposition. Then suddenly he started to kick and punch the fighter on the ground, blow after blow was dealt as he beat his victim to a pulp. Blood sprayed into the air, followed every time by the sound of sickening thuds that landed harder each time. On the ground the fighter tried in vain with whatever strength he could gather to fight back, but it was futile. Lei looked on in the distance with disgust this was no real fight, this was just a slaughter.
“Death…Death…Death” the crowd slowly chanted.
The beating had now stopped, the other fighter looked down over his battered opponent on the floor, grinning in confidence he knew that he would be crowned the winner. All around the crowd carried on chanting. Another figure entered into the ring Lei looked on it was Thrummer, and he was holding a weapon in his hand. The crowed erupted once more as Thrummer held the weapon above his head, he was controlling the reaction from all around him.
“Silence!” the crowd started to quietened down.
“So be it, the weakest of opponents I have seen in a long time with his head in the dirt.” said Thrummer as he made a gesture towards the motionless body on the ground.
Leaning over the body Thrummer lowered his weapon, the dying fighter slowly lifted his head up and reached out with his arm as if trying to save himself.
Thrummer felt no remorse and pulled the trigger, the head was a mess the blast had turned it into mush, the fighter was dead. From all around the crowd came to life once more with a loud cheer as Thrummer held up the winning fighter’s hand, he had earned credits Khan would be pleased.
The fight was declared over and the crowd started to disappear, two androids began to clear up what was left of the body. Lei decided to leave he had to tell Lorna what he had just witnessed and if she still wanted to go down the fighting route to get at Thrummer. But regardless of how bloody the situation may become he was confident he had trained her well, pushed her far as possible to the best of his ability, she was ready..
****
Meditation was over for now, Lorna was sat on the sandy beach. She slowly started to remove herself away from deep thoughts, becoming aware of her surroundings once more. As Lorna looked at the balcony above she could hear the gentle sound of waves started to meet the shoreline. Above the sun had shone much brighter then usual, today there was less smog on the horizon.
Lorna had completed her latest meditation lesson, this was part of the training that Lei had put together for her. The calmness of her surroundings here would overcome the fear that she would face in the city zones, along with the hidden dangers. Lorna decided to walk back towards the cave, she left the beach behind her.
Once inside the area around her felt desolate without Lei, having each others company made a huge difference to her. When Lei did have to leave Lorna struggled by herself, there was no holographic trash entertainment on the ready, or anything else that could cause a distraction away from her training. Instead she would read through the data archives from Lei’s library, the main topics where literature along with data to strengthen both mind and body.
Lorna’s knowledge had increased substantially in the time that she had been here, but today she felt like exploring something different. Instead she made her way down towards the cave’s subterranean area.
Walking along a passageway Lorna arrived at an open entrance which then led into a small room. Once inside she noticed a vast array of weapons she had never seen before displayed on the wall. Upon closer inspection the variety was big, ranging from swords, laser heavy rifles, and other various weapons.
Lorna studied each weapon closely as she walked along side the wall, but something else had caught her attention. On a nearby table she noticed something glint in the light, looking closer at the object it appeared to be made out of metal. This weapon was different it appeared to be nothing like what was on offer in Lei’s display, curious she quickly grabbed it. The weapon was curved in design almost like a boomerang shape, and along the outer edge
a sharp blade could be seen. The weapon itself did not feel heavy in the slightest, almost as if Lorna was holding a feather. Tilting the weapon towards the light above she noticed there where finger grooves inside the weapon, Lorna placed her fingers inside. Suddenly the grooves slowly closed and a row of blue lights lit up along the weapons edge, within a split second the blade came to life.
“Glad you found a new toy.” The voice startled Lorna.
She quickly turned around, standing in front of her was Lei he had arrived back sooner then expected. Lei was never this early when doing a supply run, she had misjudged him this time.
“Sorry..I was just..”
“Curious?” replied Lei.
“It’s okay, best you try it on for size you will need to get used to it, I should have told you about this collection of mine.”
Lei walked over to some armor displayed in a rack on the floor he pulled out a shield and held it close to him. Lorna was unsure what he was doing, maybe it was another lesson she was about to learn.
“Take a shot at me.” said Lei.
“You sure about this?.”
Lei nodded, holding the boomerang weapon in her hand she decided to give it a try and took a swing the weapon shot away from her grip. It quickly moved in the air at lighting pace, making a quick curve towards the target. At the last second Lei held up the shield to cover his face, the blade hit it with full force knocking Lei back slightly. The boomerang then made it’s way back to Lorna she had no time to move, then within a blink of an eye it landed back into Lorna’s firm grip. The blade then disappeared and the blue lights flickered off, Lorna was left holding the weapon in her hand.
“You will need more practice, but I have every bit of faith in you.” said Lei.
“Thanks.” replied Lorna.
“It is yours, take care of it.”
Both of them walked back into the living quarters, once inside Lei grabbed a bottle of wine from a dusty old rack nearby along with two glasses. Lorna watched on surprised, maybe he had some good news to tell her.
“A toast, I think it is your time.” said Lei after preparing the drinks he then held up his glass, and handed the other to Lorna.
“My time?,” replied Lorna confused.
Lei took a drink from his glass Lorna did the same, the sweet sensation ran down her throat the wine was a good choice. Suddenly after a few moment’s Lorna started to feel light headed and dizzy, something felt wrong.
“I feel…weak..” she said, her speech quickly became slurred. Lei’s face started to fade in and out of view and the room slowly turned black, Lorna fell into his arms.
****
Flashes of lightning lit up the sky reflecting onto the buildings in the street below, rolls of thunder quickly followed. The neon sign above Boppa’s bar glowed dim, only to become more noticeable as the lighting grew more fierce. Staggering in and out of the entrance where local drunks, each one trying to drink away the problems they each had on Old Earth. The Boppa bar building itself was thirty floors high, each of the upper floors consisted of apartments. Most of the building itself looked run down apart from the bar situated on the ground floor.
Lorna was sat slumped at a table with her head in her hands, she still felt sleepy but was slowly starting to come around, she had been out cold for quite sometime. Lifting her head up her vision still felt slightly blurred, the new surroundings started to come into focus. After a couple more minutes Lorna began to see normally again, but where was Lei?
“Lei.” muttered Lorna, she received no response.
“What is going on, where am I?”
“You are in Kyo Boppa’s bar.” a voice spoke, whom she did not recognize….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Simon Bond is a father to five children, three boys. He lives in the United Kingdom with his wife and rock Katie. She has given him the confidence to see past his daily job and to aim for something he can enjoy in his own time.
Simon is a massive Star Wars fan, with the aim of hopefully making his children understand the ways of the force. He also loves sci-fi, horror, and comedy.
Connect with Simon.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/writingstation7
Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00DRKGKAE
Leaving a review is very important to me, good or bad it will help me with my next project. I thank you in advance for taking the time to do it.
Lorna Book 2
Out
November 2016
