“Level eight needs clearance from Ching himself,” Nirvana explained to Zane.
“How many levels are there?” he asked.
“Eight,” she grinned at him.
“Access denied. Please hold, a security officer will attend to you shortly.”
Nirvana broke into laughter. She could imagine Ching’s expression when the request was put through to him. She could have just called him to request an escort which was the standard procedure when bringing a guest into the headquarters, but she wanted to push his buttons.
Her CommsB lit up. It was Ching. She chuckled and took the call.
“Stop your shit. I’m busy,” he growled, earning more laughter from her. “I’m sending Gayle over.”
“Ok, thank you.”
Ching ended the call with Nirvana still grinning at her CommsB.
“Which level of security clearance do you have?” Zane asked quietly.
“Me? Eight, though I don’t know about now,” she added quickly, “but it was eight.”
He nodded and looked away pensively, making her think about what she’d just said.
She had no qualms about Ching revoking her security rights. She didn’t need it since she lived outside of the headquarters, but it was convenient.
Gayle hurried over to greet Nirvana and Zane. They took an elevator to the floor where the comms room was, and Gayle led them to a private booth.
Nirvana recorded a message for Dein, with Zane sitting beside her, updating him on their progress. Then she recorded another message for her crew, asking them to meet her. She encrypted the messages to her crew in case the message parcels got lost.
The parcels would be sent to Liberty Station, a neutral space colony set up by three business moguls just fifty years ago. As Chikara, Nayrie, and Panderon were planets with a central governing system, they did not allow casual entries on their planets. Travelers could rest at Liberty while waiting for their visas to the respective planets to be processed.
Inter-planetary communication was also done via message parcels sent to the post office in Liberty. Registered users would be notified when they had message parcels waiting to be picked up at the post office.
“Are we really going to hold a wedding?” Zane asked after Nirvana recorded a message for her crew.
“No. They’ll figure out I want some kind of meeting and they will know I’m in Athar because I asked them to bring their own alcohol. Alcohol is not produced here; it has to be imported from other planets. Every time we take a break in between jobs, my crew and I split up to do our own things. I’ll usually send a message parcel for everyone to assemble once I get us a new job,” she explained.
“How do you know where everyone is?”
“I don’t. We make it a point to check in with the post frequently.”
“How are you going to explain about me?”
“Tell them the truth.”
Zane kept very quiet. Nirvana knew he was fighting himself again because his eyebrows were doing the twitchy thing.
“Zane, the reason why my crew and I work so well together is that we never hide anything from each other, and we always tell the truth. I don’t want to keep anything from them.”
He nodded.
After they sent the message parcels, Gayle escorted them to the hangar to look for Dawa. Nirvana was very pleased with the space craft Dawa had bought them.
It was a sleek, disc-shaped space craft that was painted in gunmetal grey. The cockpit was at the top of the spacecraft, with the artillery control room below it. The middle section consisted of sleeping quarters for two, storage, engine room and pantry, all built in a circular alignment with the center being the common working area.
Nirvana introduced Zane to Dawa and started discussing the space craft. She and Dawa were going over the upgrading of firepower and engine strength of the craft when she suddenly remembered Zane. He had been standing behind her, following her around quietly all the while.
“So what do you think?” she asked, feeling apologetic that she had forgotten all about him.
“Oh!” Dawa looked at Zane. It seemed like he too, had forgotten about Zane’s presence. “I’m sorry I only addressed her. I didn’t know you were interested in the technical details.”
“I was listening.” Zane smiled. “There wasn’t a reason for me to talk. Please carry on. Don’t stop on my account.”
“Zane’s a technician in the military. He’s actually more qualified than I am to talk to you about the ship,” Nirvana explained to Dawa.
“Yes, now that you mention it, I recall Ching telling me. Oh! You were going to show us where the tracker in the Peregrines are usually installed!” Dawa’s eyes lit up.
Zane nodded. Dawa led them excitedly to where the Peregrine was kept, and Zane showed him the slot where the trackers were installed. Dawa was fascinated by the advanced technology on the Peregrine and asked a lot of questions which Zane answered patiently. It pleased Nirvana greatly that Dawa wasn’t hostile towards Zane even though Ching was his best friend.
She slipped away from them to admire her newly acquired spacecraft. Although she inherited Marian from her father, she always felt that it belonged to her crew rather than her alone. They took turns “babysitting” the ship when they split up for their vacations. She wondered who the ship was with now. She was toying with possible names for her ship when her CommsB blinked.
“Ching,” she answered.
“I’m heading to the training room. Do you want to spar?”
“I’d love to. Be right there.”
Nirvana walked over to the Peregrine. Both men were still deep in conversation. They didn’t even seem to realize Nirvana had left earlier. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m heading over to the training room. Zane, do you want to stay here or come with me?”
“You’re meeting Ching?” Dawa asked.
Nirvana nodded.
He grinned and told Zane, “Let’s go. Everybody loves to watch them fight.”
“We’re not fighting,” Nirvana frowned. “We’re sparring.”
“Semantics.” Dawa packed his tools quickly and walked briskly over to the nearby sink to wash his hands. “You do know your sparring sessions are recorded right? So that those who miss it can watch it later.”
Zane’s eyes widened when he heard that. “I need to watch this,” he said excitedly.
Nirvana rolled her eyes, and they headed to the training room.
The training room was more like a mini arena with a few rows of seats surrounding the floor. Two large racks of weapons lined each end, one opposite the other.
The seats were already filled by the time the trio walked in.
“See? I told you.” Dawa nudged Zane. “We considered secretly selling tickets to their practice sessions, but they’re too impromptu. They practice in the middle of the night sometimes.”
“Zane! Dawa! Over here!” Eryn shouted from a row of seats. Apparently, she had reserved some seats for them. “I’m excited! It’s been years since I’ve seen them fight!” she gushed.
Clearly, Zane and Dawa weren’t the only ones who were hyped up.
“Is there anyone taking bets?” Zane asked Dawa, who winked at him and placed a finger to his lips.
Nirvana shook her head and headed to the changing room to put on her fighting suit. The suits prevented the fighters from getting hurt since the weapons they used were real. There were also built-in sensors in the suits which would show the amount of damage the opponent had inflicted.
Atharians loved a good fight. They held fight competitions every year at a proper arena. Nirvana took part for fun one year and made it all the way to the finals where she met Ching, who had been the undefeated champion then.
It was the longest fight in the history of Athar, providing the spectators with non-stop action for almost two hours. Ching remained undefeated but Nirvana had fought well enough to make an impression. He asked her out for a drink that night, and they ended up in bed together. It marked the start
of their relationship.
She didn’t take part in any more competitions after that since her visits weren’t regular, but they drew an audience every time they sparred.
Ching entered the changing room already geared up. He walked over to help Nirvana with her suit when he suddenly remembered they were not together anymore. “Damn it, sorry. I forgot.” He was about to turn around to leave the room when Nirvana stopped him.
“We’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just helping me with my suit.” She frowned at him. Pressing the chest protection over her breasts, she turned around to let Ching secure it with the piece on her back.
He sighed as he helped her adjust the suit. “Your boy might not like the idea of me seeing you half-naked.”
“My boy knows you can’t erase ten years of history overnight.” She went on to remove her pants. “How’s it going with Eryn?”
“She’s…” Ching paused in between assisting her with her leg armor. “She is amazingly mature for someone her age.”
“I told you.” She smirked at him and bent down to pull up the pant suit.
“But she’s insecure about you.”
“Me?!” She stopped to look at him.
“She knows we can’t erase ten years of history overnight too,” he told her wryly, zipping her pants up. “We had a talk.”
Nirvana looked at him in astonishment. “You?” She gasped and placed one hand over her heart. “Talk?”
Ching flicked her nose and glared at her. “I learned my lesson, alright? It’s…we’re just starting out, so I might as well do it right.”
Nirvana patted him on his back and smiled, nodding her head. “What did you talk about?”
“I told her that I will always love and care for you.”
Nirvana froze.
Ching didn’t look at her and continued to work on her shoelaces. “I explained to her that our relationship had gone to the point of no return. I can’t see you as just a friend. You’re a lot more than that, but I won’t go as far as to say that I will see you as my sister. I thought, maybe an ex-wife with whom I’ve parted amicably,” he chuffed.
Nirvana laughed. “That’s a good one! How did she take it?”
“She was alright. She understood for real, not just in the condescending way.”
“Thank you, for telling me this.” She held Ching’s face and gave him a kiss on his forehead. “I like the ex-wife analogy. I shall use that too. Very clever. I would never have thought of that.”
Ching grinned at her. “Let’s go. Everyone is waiting.”
When they entered the arena, the spectators broke into cheers. They were just short a commentator for the fight. Ching picked his usual bo and Nirvana took the twin sai. Dawa put his fingers in his mouth and gave a shrill whistle to signal everyone to quieten down.
Ching and Nirvana bowed to each other and got into position.
Chapter 20
Zane had expected them to circle around each other first, but Nirvana sprinted towards Ching the moment the gong sounded. He held his breath as he saw Ching swing his bo with full strength towards her. Nirvana caught Ching’s bo with her sai and used the momentum to swing herself up to trap his head with her legs. He ducked in time and flung her off his bo. Ching was so strong that Nirvana was airborne for a short while before she rolled to a crouching stance.
“They go all out,” Zane gasped.
“Of course. That’s what makes it exciting,” Dawa said, eyes fixed on them. “Even with the protective gear you can still see cuts and bruises on them sometimes. Eryn is on standby.” He patted her back.
Ching charged at Nirvana before she could stand up and for a while, she was just deflecting his moves from the floor.
Zane tensed up, watching Nirvana seemingly at a disadvantage until she suddenly dropped her sai and grabbed Ching’s bo instead. She flipped herself up and landed with her knees on his shoulders. She had intended to clutch and twist his head, but he had already dropped his bo and grabbed her wrists, foiling her plans.
Ching did a forward flip while gripping onto Nirvana’s wrists. She would have landed face first onto the floor with her hands trapped in his if she hadn’t pushed off from his shoulders and twisted her body. The movement caused Ching to lose his grip to break his fall.
He leapt up and grabbed Nirvana’s sais, since they were now closest to where he was. He flung them outside the fighting zone and rushed to pick up his bo. Meanwhile, Nirvana had run off towards the weapons rack to grab up two long daggers.
“Aren’t they something?” Eryn gushed.
“They look like they are trying very hard to kill each other,” Zane said in between his gritted teeth. His fingers had turned numb; he was clenching them too tightly. He was supposed to enjoy the fight, but it had triggered too many unpleasant memories.
Hayashi made his sons fight death row convicts in the stronghold’s arena every year. The only way to win was to kill the opponent. The convicts would be pardoned if they won the fight, so understandably, they fought with no holds barred. The dead son would be put into the M.T.Tomb ─ a machine that used medical technology to revive the dead.
Although Zane knew he would be revived every time he lost a fight, it was still a harrowing experience to be beaten to death. Among his brothers, he’d lost the most fights and spent the most time in that machine.
Before every fight, he would pray hard that the machine would malfunction and fail to revive him; because on top of an excruciatingly painful recovery, he had to suffer his father’s insults for losing a fight.
Zane tolerated watching Nirvana and Ching spar for a little while more until it was too much for him. He didn’t know how to appreciate a fight when the woman he loved was getting hit and thrown around. Nirvana did her fair share of damage to Ching, but every hit was a hit too much for Zane. He excused himself and rushed out of the training room to catch his breath. His heart was beating so fast that he was sure he would be hyperventilating soon.
“Zane?” Eryn called to him but his head was spinning. “Walk with me.” She held his arm and led him away from the training room. He didn’t know where she was taking him. His mind was in too much of a mess to process anything, so he let her take him wherever she wanted.
She took him to her office in the infirmary and got him to sit down on the couch. Then, she made hot drinks for them and handed one to him. He thanked her, and they sipped their drinks on the couch in silence.
“I wonder who’s winning,” Zane asked, after his nerves had settled.
Eryn keyed a message in her CommsB. “We’ll find out. Wait for Dawa’s reply. Did the fight trigger something?”
He nodded but didn’t elaborate. He was grateful that she didn’t pursue it further. Her CommsB vibrated, and she checked the message.
“Nirvana’s winning.” She read the rest of the message and giggled.
“And that’s funny because?”
“Dawa said Ching started losing focus when he saw that both of us were no longer in our seats.” Eryn grinned at Zane.
It should be a relief to hear that Nirvana was winning, but it didn’t make him feel any better.
“Do you need a jab?” Eryn asked, nodding at his trembling fingers.
He shrugged. “Usually goes away after a while.”
“A while as in a couple of minutes, couple of hours or couple of days?”
Zane sighed. “I think I’ll take the jab.”
She got up and went to the cooler at the corner of the room. She keyed in a code to unlock it, took out a vial of liquid and fitted it into a gun-like injector.
“I’m giving you the lowest dosage of sedative, but you may still feel sleepy after a while.” She pushed up his sleeve and shot him with the injector.
The medication burned for a moment, but he could feel his heartbeat slowing down. He could also breathe easier. Amazingly, the soreness in his muscles started to dissipate.
“You can take a nap on the couch; I think the fight will last for a while.” A
s soon as Eryn finished her sentence, her CommsB started blinking wildly. She accepted the call but before she could say anything, Ching barked, “Eryn! Where are you?”
“Infirmary with Zane.”
“Why are you there with him?”
“Because he needs medical attention!” she snarled and ended the call. “How rude!”
“Sorry.”
“Whatever for?”
He shrugged.
“It’s nice when he gets possessive and all, but it’s hurtful when he actually thinks I might cheat on him,” she complained.
“You’re together?” Zane asked.
“I suppose. I don’t know.” She threw her hands up in exasperation. “We talked about it. He didn’t really specify our status, but he started showing up at my place a lot and acted like I belonged to him. I guess maybe we are.”
“It’s a new relationship. It’s normal to feel insecure,” he chuckled.
She rolled her eyes. “Give me some credit at least. You’re new in your relationship too. Why don’t you feel any form of jealousy?”
“I do. I just hide it better than Ching.”
The door suddenly burst open and Ching entered the room with Nirvana following closely behind.
“What happened?” he asked gruffly.
“Are you alright?” Nirvana knelt down in front of Zane and held his hands.
“PTSD,” Eryn answered, glaring at Ching.
“I’m so sorry.” Nirvana cupped Zane’s face. “I should’ve thought of it before I asked you to come watch.”
Zane shook his head. “You wouldn’t have known I was so weak I couldn’t even stomach a sparring session.”
“A man’s strength has nothing to do with that,” Ching said, his tone significantly mellowed. He slumped down on the floor in front of the couch. “You need to treat me now,” he whined to Eryn. “I took a beating from her.”
Nirvana sat down in between Zane’s legs and rested her cheek on his knee. “You need to treat the both of us. I’m pretty sure I have some large bruises all over.” She suddenly reached out without warning and kicked Ching.
“Ouch! What was that for?”
“For being distracted, then distracting me. That has got to be the worst fight we’ve ever had. They’re going to load up the videos on the Athar Net and everyone is going to see how we fought like wankbots.”
Fatal Extraction Page 10
