Peril

by Joss Stirling

  ‘Yeah, Ade’s got good taste.’

  Meri cleared her throat. Act normal, act normal. ‘Is he OK? I saw him get hurt at the concert.’

  ‘Oh yeah, he’s fine. He’s just keeping the bruising down, you know?’

  She didn’t know as she wasn’t the type to dive into a mosh pit but she nodded anyway. It was a major relief not to have to face Ade.

  Swanny gestured to a door on the far side of the hallway. ‘Kel’s down in the dojo.’

  ‘What’s that?’ She gulped. Had he just said “dungeon’?

  ‘A dojo? It’s a martial arts training room—a gym I guess you might call it.’

  She hugged his jacket a little closer. ‘Thanks. I’ll…um…just go and say hello then.’

  Swanny's eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘Yeah, you do that. Tell Kel I won’t wait up but to lock the door behind you when you leave.’

  Embarrassed now, Meri hurried down the stairs. It was clear why Kel’s housemates were keeping out of her way. They all thought she’d come for a make-out session to compensate for the one she’d missed when Kel left early. Still, if it meant they weren’t suspicious of her, that might be for the best.

  The basement was brightly lit and full of identical doors. From behind one came the hum of a laundry and washing tumbling so she passed that by. She tried the next from which emerged the rhythmic sound of thumping. Peeking in, she saw Kel in the middle of a well-equipped martial arts studio, walls painted a dark red, black wood shelving, wooden rods and protective gear displayed on specially built racks. He was beating, what she could only call ‘the crap’, out of a humanoid sparring robot, the kind she’d seen advertised in high-end magazines but never encountered in the synthetic flesh before.

  ‘I think he surrenders,’ she said as Kel delivered a very fast kick to the groin area of the robot.

  ‘Meri! What are you doing here?’ Kel grabbed a black towel and swiped the sweat from the back of his neck, eyes shining with delight.

  She held the jacket up by the collar balanced on her index finger.

  ‘Oh yeah, I hoped you would pick that up for me. But I could’ve waited till Monday. Still, thanks.’ He took the jacket and threw it onto a weights bench and registered the thump of the wallet hitting the top. ‘My wallet too? I’d totally forgotten, so big thanks are required.’ He glanced over her shoulder. ‘How did you find me?’

  ‘Letter in the pocket.’

  ‘The one from Jenny? That’s my sister by the way. In case you were worried.’

  She smiled. ‘I wasn't worried.’

  ‘Theo waiting for you outside?’

  ‘No. I came by myself.’

  His expression clouded. ‘You walked up here from the station on your own?’

  Meri dug her hands in her pockets. ‘That's what I just said.’

  ‘But it’s not safe. You never know who’s out there so near the common—a girl on her own this late? Not safe.’

  That was undoubtedly true but she hadn’t been thinking about her danger but his. ‘I’ll be careful.’

  ‘That’s right, you will be because I’m walking you home.’

  Her heart gave a little flip of pleasure—and she’d get a chance to talk to him away from this intimidating house. She had a feeling that it would be foolish to raise here the issue of the danger he might be in. ‘Are you sure it isn’t too much trouble? Are you OK now? You were so hot earlier.’

  ‘Meaning I’m not now?’ He arched a brow at her as he stripped off his black T-shirt to pull on a fresh one.

  She laughed, feeling some of her nerves ease. Kel was acting normally; she was the one who had brought her fears into this situation. ‘Well, I guess it was quite hot, seeing you take down roboman here.’

  Kel patted the machine on the shoulder. ‘Meet U-Can-Fight-2.’

  ‘An overly cute name for a robot.’

  ‘Droid, please. That sounds way cooler and more Starwarsy. It’s one of Ade’s favourite toys.’

  ‘And one of yours?’

  ‘I prefer the human touch but he’ll do when there’s no one to take his place.’

  Intrigued, Meri circled the mechanism. It looked a little like one of the dummies car firms used to test crashes but some joker had painted a face on the head—a snarling bad guy. Little light sensors lay just below the surface of the smooth skin. ‘How does he work?’

  ‘I’ll show you.’ Kel tapped a remote. ‘Easy pattern. You hit where the light flashes and he’ll record how fast you react.’

  ‘What, me?’

  ‘Why not? Take off your jacket and I guess you’d best lose the shoes too.’

  Intrigued, Meri did as ordered and stood barefoot on the mat. ‘He won’t hit back or anything?’

  Kel chuckled. ‘No. Robotics haven’t got that far. That’s the stuff of Sci-Fi films to think we’d get anywhere close to a really human-looking machine. It takes a lot of processing power for him to stay on his feet. He’ll brace against you.’

  ‘I doubt there’ll be much to brace against.’

  ‘Wear these.’ He passed her some light leather gloves. ‘Can’t have you going home to Theo with grazed knuckles, can we? Fists for upper body targets, feet for lower.’

  ‘You mean I have to kick him?’

  ‘Absolutely, darling. This is primarily a kick-boxing training rig.’

  She relished the endearment but didn’t say anything in case it discouraged him from using it again. ‘OK.’ Meri bounced on her toes. ‘Come on, big guy: ready to rumble? Be afraid, be very afraid.’

  Kel savoured his amusement as he watched Meri take on the house mascot. She started slow but caught on fast, punching and kicking in a nice fluid rhythm. With a bit of training she’d be a half decent fighter; the chief lack was the absence of weight behind the punches.

  The light went on in the groin area and Meri grimaced.

  ‘Go on, champ: take him down,’ cheered Kel.

  With a distinct look of distaste, she kneed the droid in his theoretical manhood.

  ‘A kick would be better,’ Kel counselled. ‘You come in too close if you use the knee.’

  ‘I’ll remember that…next time,’ panted Meri, ‘I take on a robo-mugger.’

  ‘They’ll be on the streets in a decade or two, I’m sure. Probably some socially maladjusted programmer in his bedroom devising that very thing right now, control alt delete to do a fast snatch.’ He ended the programme and put her stats up on the screen. ‘Not bad. Seventy-five percent accuracy. Force is measured at twenty per cent but for a fly-weight beginner, that’s decent.’

  Meri grinned and flicked U-Can on the nose. ‘Not such a big guy now, are you, buster? Who painted this charmer?’

  Kel held up a hand. ‘I did.’

  ‘And why does it look like Mr Beamish, the sports teacher?’

  ‘Do you need me to join the dots on that one?’

  ‘I guess not. Go on: you show me how good you are.’ Slipping back into her heels, she got out of his way.

  Vanity had Kel programming a really tough routine. The droid could’t hit back like a human but it could change stance, throwing off the rhythm of an inexperienced fighter. Having been in training since childhood, Kel was far from that.

  ‘Press that red button whenever you like,’ he said, passing her the control.

  ‘Ooo, a red button. I love a big red button to unleash mayhem.’ Hoping no doubt to catch him out, she pressed it before she’d even finished her sentence. U-Can dropped to a crouch. Meri squeaked in surprise, but Kel’s foot made contact with the throat, throwing the droid backwards. It balled into a very un-human shape to roll and then spring up, limbs shooting out again.

  ‘That’s so cool!’ said Meri. ‘Go, U-Can!’

  The kicks and punches came quicker and quicker. Kel moved from the analytic phase of fighting to the instinctive where he anticipated without even being sure how he was doing it. He recognized it as the kind of headspace he got into when playing cricket, the ball flying from his hand, following
a prompt from his subconscious awareness of his opponent’s weaknesses. He worked up a sweat again, losing himself in the physical joy of hand and foot meeting the target almost at the same instant it illuminated. The bout ended with a crescendo of rapid strikes to the face and a foot planted in U-Can’s stomach. This time the bracing mechanism couldn’t counter his power and the droid flew onto its back and sprawled in a satisfying starfish display of articulated limbs.

  ‘Game over!’ crowed Meri, clapping his performance. ‘How do I put up your stats?’

  He took the control from her and pointed the remote at the screen. ‘How did I do?’

  ‘Wow: ninety-eight percent accuracy and eighty-five percent force!’

  ‘I was holding back,’ he said modestly.

  ‘The last kick registered as a hundred percent.’

  ‘Except for that one.’

  Meri plucked at his damp T-shirt. ‘Looks like you need another of these.’

  This close, blood still pumping from the exercise, Kel was sorely tempted to haul her into his arms, even if he was a mess. Just friends, remember. ‘I think I really need a shower.’ A cold one. ‘Can you hold on here for a moment while I run upstairs? No one will disturb you, I promise.’

  ‘That’s fine. Me and Buster here will have a chat.’ Meri started pulling the sprawled limbs back to the droid’s side.

  ‘He’s fine. You can just hit the reset button.’

  ‘The red one?’

  ‘Yep, the red one.’

  Leaving her playing with the control pad, Kel raced up the stairs two at a time.

  ‘Dibs on the shower,’ he said, beating Tiber, another of his room mates, to the bathroom just as he came out of his bedroom with a towel around his neck.

  ‘What’s the hurry?’ grumbled Tiber.

  ‘I’m walking Meri home.’

  Tiber made way, not without some cracks at Kel’s expense. After the swiftest shower on record, Kel dressed in a fresh set of clothes. He put his head around Ade’s door. His boss was looking very much like U-Can sprawled on his four poster bed. He’d dimmed the lights, leaving only a string of icicle shaped bulbs lit as they looped around the bedstead.

  ‘How are you feeling, tough nut?’

  Ade groaned. ‘Not so tough.’ He rubbed the egg-sized bump on his head. ‘Did I hear right: you’re walking Mouse home?’

  Nothing stayed private for long in this house. Swanny was probably watching her on the CCTV even now to check they hadn’t let a mad assassin onto the premises. ‘Meri? Yes. She came to return my jacket.’

  ‘Sweet. So you’ll ask her about what she can see, right? Lee and I were both blazing tonight. If she has our vision then she’ll have seen something.’

  Kel wondered just how he could slip that casually into the conversation. ‘She hasn’t mentioned anything yet and you would think she might mention how bizarre you looked?’ He’d worried about that in the back of his mind ever since she’d come in and not said a word about it. ‘Maybe she’d been too far away to see anything, or put it down to the weird lighting at the venue?’

  ‘Or she might believe she was imagining it.’ Ade reapplied the ice. ‘I mean, if the situation was reversed, would you raise it with a girl you were only just getting to know if you thought it was possible that you were going a little mental?’

  ‘No, definitely not.’

  ‘So ask her. You wouldn’t want her to think she was hallucinating, would you?’

  Ade had a point. ‘I shouldn’t be long but you get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  ‘If it turns out she did see the markings, then come and tell me immediately you get back in. Even if I am asleep.’

  ‘Will do.’ Kel turned to go.

  Ade propped himself up on an elbow, dropping the ice on the floor. ‘And, Kel, say just enough OK? Not too much so we have to do something about what she knows.’

  A shiver ran down Kel’s spine. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know that we can’t have people knowing about us. It’s like the Star Trek prime directive—no first contact with those who aren’t as advanced as us, as far as the UV sight goes. We have to keep apart from the rest to preserve our culture.’

  Kel’s frustration swelled. ‘So you want me to talk to her but not? How does that work exactly?’

  Ade shrugged. ‘I dunno, but I trust you to find a way. Test her out. Innocent leading questions.’

  ‘I already know she’s got great colour definition—there’s the painting and she did well on U-Can, spotting even the dimmest target lights.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s the way.’ Ade flopped back. ‘Baby steps. Piece together the evidence before you commit us by full disclosure.’

  Outside the open door to the dojo, Kel paused as he could hear Meri talking. He was fairly certain no one would’ve come down to disturb her, not when they knew she was his guest, so wasn’t that surprised when he found she was chatting to U-Can.

  ‘So what do you think this thing does, Buster?’ There was the sound of a thin bamboo sword swishing in the air. ‘Take that, you jerk.’ She was beating the weight’s bench, not even able to bring herself to hit the droid now she’d made friends with it. ‘I bet Kel can do real damage with this, huh? He’s pretty awesome, isn’t he? Looks so mild and then goes all Karate Kid when he gets in the zone.’

  Kel chose that moment to enter. ‘That’s for kendo not karate.’

  Meri grinned self-consciously, twirling the cane in her hand. ‘Oops, busted.’

  ‘You and your new friend getting on OK?’ Kel picked up his jacket. The droid was upright again and Meri had parked him in his corner, ready for shutdown.

  ‘Yep, me and the big guy are besties now. I found the manual.’

  ‘That thing? None of us have read it.’

  ‘You don’t know all the things he can do then. We’re talking about going on a date, exchanging corny messages, and he’s buying a little robo-dog to take on romantic walks.’ She slipped into her coat.

  ‘He might make a better date than me: no high fevers, no rushing off to save his moron of a friend from a pounding.’

  ‘Ah, yes, but his conversation is so, you know, limited?’

  ‘There is that.’

  ‘And he’s totally lacking in any sense of humour.’

  Kel squinted at the droid. ‘I dunno. I think he has this ironic expression most of the time, like when I act as if I’m doing something worthwhile beating my own best score against someone who’s not programmed to hit back.’

  ‘Still, I can report that he can’t hug for toffee.’

  Taking the hint, Kel put his arms around her. ‘Like this?’

  ‘Yes. Just like that.’ She rested her head on his chest for a second, ear pressed to his collarbone as if listening for his heartbeat. He could have told her it had picked up its pace as soon as she moved in close.

  ‘You know something: you’re no longer eighteen.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You’re eighteen and one day. It’s gone midnight, Cinderella. I need to get you home.’

  ‘OK.’ She didn’t move.

  ‘Now would be good.’ He made a half-hearted attempt to move her.

  ‘Hmm.’ She didn’t sound convinced, and neither, come to think of it, was he. It was incredibly peaceful just standing here with her. He usually liked Ade’s house but it had no quiet places, no soft touches, no long brown hair for him to sift his fingers through. His attraction to her had started as an instinct, an ember that was fast igniting other feelings. This wasn’t something, though, that he wanted recorded on the house security circuits. They really did have to go.

  ‘Come on, darling. It’s very late and Theo will worry.’

  She stood up straight with a sigh. ‘Yes, he will. You’re right. I might be an adult but I think it’ll take more than twenty-four hours for him to adjust.’

  ‘With a dad, there are not enough hours for that. You’ll always be his little girl.’

  She took his hand as they climbe
d the stairs to the ground floor. ‘So what’s yours like?’

  ‘My dad?’ Kel was proud of Rill Douglas but their relationship had inevitably loosened with the distance between them. ‘He’s kind, loving, dutiful.’

  ‘Dutiful?’

  ‘Yes, he’s in a kind of military service—as are all my family. We take our responsibilities seriously.’

  ‘What rank is he?’

  ‘Oh, it’s not your regular military. He’s head of a security detachment. A commander.’ Kel felt himself skimming very close to the edge of what was permissible to say here. ‘A bit like Swanny.’

  ‘Swanny? I thought he was a butler.’

  Kel roared with laughter. When he recovered his breath, he said: ‘I’ll tell him you said that.’

  ‘Don’t you dare. I didn’t mean to offend him.’

  ‘He won't be offended. He’ll be delighted.’ Kel locked the front door behind him. ‘I’ll tell him you thought he was Alfred to Ade’s Batman.’

  ‘This isn’t how I imagined you living.’ Meri gestured to the house. ‘It’s so much grander.’

  ‘Ade’s the one with the money. We get the benefit.’ He made sure the gates were fastened as they stepped out onto the pavement.

  ‘And…and you can come and go as you like?’ She took a sideways look at him. Even if she was attempting to be subtle, her expressions were easy to read. She was fishing for something.

  ‘Of course I can.’ They walked along the quiet street with the Common on one side and a row of large detached houses on the other. A neighbour’s cat streaked across the road and disappeared into the bushes.

  ‘But you’re tied to Ade somehow, aren’t you?’

  Where was she going with this? ‘You could say that, if friendship is a tie.’

  ‘But if that friendship turned sour, you could get out? I mean you can’t know what might happen.’

  ‘I could walk away today if I wanted.’

  The tension left her face and she smiled. ‘Great. Good. So you know you could come to Theo and me if there was a problem, right?’