…[ MATIVO ]…

I tried visiting the Martian Colonies, but it didn’t work out for me. They were all nice and all that, but there were a lot of people packed in small spaces. And unlike in my ships, I didn’t have personal quarters to go and hide from it all. There was always the option of booking a room at a hotel and staying there. But that would defeat the whole point of going to Mars in the first place. So after only a few seconds in one of the Colonies, I had asked one of the pilots to take me back. It would eat at his time, flying me back and returning to the Martian surface again, but hey, I was paying him.

The first thing I did with the free time I had acquired was visit my lab, after lazing around in my quarters. I still needed to work on my ­not-diamond attack. If I could call it that. It was more like presenting a stone to the floor. Or dropping, you could go with that too.

Sadly, no one was present. They had all gone to visit the wonder that is the largest human colony outside Earth. Maybe they were checking out how colonies were built and run, to help prepare for when we came across habitable celestial bodies on our next big expedition. Even I didn’t believe that, no one was getting on that ship just to settle on another piece of rock while the ship went on to discover other great things. But I was planning on building colonies on all habitable celestial bodies we came across. Maybe not on the first expedition, but still.

I started preparing myself for a test, which was a bad idea without at least two people for observation. But I needed to work on my attacks and I didn’t think I would get enough time to train and practice when we got back to Earth. I thought of not using the added energy pack, as I carried it in with me. I didn’t attach it though, leaving it on the rest chair. If I needed it, I would use it.

There was what I needed to work on, but I still couldn’t ignore my other skills. I started easy with a mixed flavor of kung fu and shaolin martial arts forms. They helped prepare my body for the more advanced forms I had created from re-watching the Avatar animation over and over again. While the workings of what I used and what was on the Avatar animation were distinctly different, the forms helped my body get used to the idea of fighting while still trying to move energy from within to without.

When I felt ready, I activated the chip and started to actively incorporate the energy flow of my intentions into the air sparring I was performing. It was boring at first as I was unable to conjure up a proper foe in my head; what with finding that Sylvia had been behind all Union interests in my work. So I started looking for new opponents until I settled on the rovers on Europa.

The scene changed to the rugged icy surface of the moon, and the rovers became akin to transformers. Taking on humanoid bodies. I had no issues dismantling them then. Their metallic bodies proved no match for my superior martial prowess. They put up a nice fight, but they ended up into broken pieces and the surface of Europa turned to towering ice spikes interposed with pools of steaming water.

I had finally worked up a proper sweat, and as I came out of my self-induced simulation I noticed that I might have gone a little overboard. I no longer had enough energy to move onto my next object: the diamond.

I picked up Jacy’s energy pack and attached it to my side. Seconds in and I already felt reenergized. I might not like it attached to my torso, but it still delivered. I took a short break as I waited for my body to recover somewhat.

The next session began with light exercises, training my body of what I felt would be right way to propel the diamond forward. After having learnt that I was not in actuality creating a real diamond anymore, I was afraid trying to picture it the same way I did before might not work. But without knowing what exactly it was, I had no idea what else to think of. I finally settled back on the diamond I knew. It worked before, I thought there was no reason for it not to work again.

Picturing indivual carbon atoms and then joining them together to form a small diamond; tens, thousands, millions, billions. Whatever amount it took to get the right size of diamond. When it felt enough, I released the intention and felt the energy flow. Unlike the more common air, fire, water and even ice, creating the diamond intent took several seconds. Precious seconds I couldn’t afford in a fight. I might have to incorporate it with something else. To take care of those seconds. The upside was that the results were immediate, a sharp noticeable drop in energy and a clunk on the floor happened less than a second after the intent was released.

It hadn’t moved that much compared to the previous times I had tried, but the distance had increased noticeably. And so had the diamond. It looked like a true diamond. Looking at my energy reserves told me I could do that three four more times. But I stopped after only two more tries. The distance remained the same, and so did the conjured up diamond.

As I shut down the chip and took the seat for rest, the door to the test room opened. How fast I reacted surprised even me. It was the fastest execution of intent I had ever performed. I had issued an intent before the chip had even notified me of the successful complete activation of the nanobots. And everything had worked perfectly.

But the door had closed faster than I could blink. It was a good thing I had used air-force instead of a blade and the person’s reflexes had been so sharp; as it turned out to be Jacy.

“What are you doing?” She asked with a tiny emotion to her voice. Was that panic? “We came to clean up.”

“When did you guys come?”

“We arrived around ten minutes ago.” She was still the only one talking. “I got an alert that you had activated the chip. But when I saw where you were, I notified the others and we came here as soon as we were done with our other business.”

“I hope I didn’t ruin any of your plans?”

“No. You didn’t.”

“Can we come in now?” Park asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, you can.”

“You haven’t shutdown the chip yet.” Mbithe reminded me.

“Come on. You know I have better control over it now.”

“Protocol, Mativo. Protocol.” Always a stickler to the set procedures.

I shut down the chip again, and slumped down back on the resting chair. I didn’t even recall standing. A few seconds later, the door opened again. This time, more cautiously.

…[ JACY ]…

Jacy was still a little shaken inside, and it showed. One of her hands was trembling slightly. The moment she had opened that door, her body had screamed at her and she had reacted as fast as she could, trying to close the door. But she had not been fast enough.

A force like being hit with a sledge hammer had slammed at her, knocking her back and somehow helping her finish closing the door. She had thought she might have broken a few ribs, but other than superficial bruising she seemed fine. Physically at least.

“Have any of you figured out the wide area attack that Dominic talked about?”

The question brought her back to the present, and she cursed herself for not even knowing who had asked. At least it wasn’t Dominic.

“I’ve being raking my brain and still coming up blank,” Mativo said, already back from the washroom. Just how long had she been spacing out?

“We’ve got the idea of it,” Mbithe said. “With how bombs work. But those need something to be ignited. You want the explosion without the explosive, right?”

“Yeah. It was the only way I could think off that might let me get out of it alive. Theoretically, of course.”

They had argued for hours before settling on that as the somewhat safest option they had. Before they thought of something better.

“A shockwave is all we need. What about the intent you just used; that felt forceful enough” Jacy said, remembering all too well. “And I didn’t even get the whole impact.”

“I don’t really recall the intent itself. It was force I wanted. But the execution was all instinctual.” He looked somewhat sorry, and not sorry. And she didn’t really blame him either. “I don’t think I could replicate it if I tried.”

“It was also your most powerful air attack to that distance yet. It was a few meters outside your normal range.” Andrew said.

“How would a wide area attack work even? I normally rely on my limbs to direct my attacks. For this I would need to create a circle around me and then push it out in all directions.”

“Use both hands?”

“That would just make it bidirectional.”

“What about spinning?”

“Could work.”

“No. I think it would take most of the forward moving forcing out of it.”

The discussion went on for half an hour before they called it quits. And began to head out to the Gym Deck.

“Where are you going now?” Mativo asked as they reached the elevator.

“Sparring.”

“Shit. Should have waited for that.” He waved them as he turned for his quarters. “Maybe I will join them after an hour of rest.”

The last part was murmured as he walked to his quarters. But they heard still, waiting for the elevator to come. They would spar for about an hour or two. If they stayed long enough, he would find them. otherwise, too bad. There would always be next time. Even if it would be on Earth.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

There were several people in the various sections of the Gym. The number too high for a crew that was supposed to be visiting Mars. It could be they had already done what they wanted on Mars before coming here. It was more than five hours since the first shuttles landed on Mars.

At the sparring section, there were six people there already. Three of them from the Bridge; Chantel, Matt and Mũsango. Jacy had also seen Cindy somewhere, either the bikes or the treadmills.

“Huh! Look at that, the Commander’s personal entourage decides to grace us with its presence.” Jacy knew Mũsango wasn’t being serious, but the statement still rubbed her nerves raw.

“You, with me.” She didn’t even wait to see if Mũsango was following her, making straight for the ring.

“Hey, it was meant to be a joke.” Mũsango pleaded but still followed her to the ring.

“Sorry Mus. She just has some bruises she needs to rub off.” Park was snickering as he said this. “And you just offered yourself up.”

They circled each other as the others paired up and got in their own rings. Some had to wait for rings to clear up to get their turn. Mũsango and her were of similar height, she was still taller, closer to Mativo’s than Jacy was. And she wasn’t bad of an opponent. Not everyone on the ship was a good fighter. They were trained fighters, but there were things that couldn’t be trained. And Mũsango proved a good choice to help get some of the energy out of her.

She went through a few more bouts as the minutes ticked off. Forty minutes or so later, she saw him approaching them; the source of her woes for the last few hours. The sparring had masked the pain from the bruises, but she could still feel the phantoms.

“Glad I found you still here. I thought I might have rested too much.” Mativo took a seat near her and Matt, and some other people that were resting. The number of spars had decreased as people got tired. “Wouldn’t want to be one of those people who walk into a Gym and then walk out again without doing anything.”

“You could have joined Cindy on the treadmills.” Matt pointed out.

“I’m not a marathoner.” And that was true. Mativo preferred high intensity activities; a star that burned brightest, but only for a short while.

“Want a go with me?”

“You look a little sweaty.” He noted.

“Of course I do. I’ve been sparring for the last forty minutes.” She calmed herself, not wanting to rise her voice. “Besides, I’ve had more than five minutes of rest.”

“If you say so.” He placed his jacket at the corner as he got into one of the free spar rings. She might have been a little tired, but with him here, she felt invigorated.

She got into the ring and moved opposite him. She bounced slightly as she watched him perform a few stretch-warmups. Mativo was a fast finisher. Like very fast. If he got the chance, he would take her down within the first few seconds. His reasoning was, ‘If I am fighting you, I want to kill you. And not beat you up.’

“Okay.” When she nodded at him, he took a boxer’s stance. Elbows in, chin tucked behind the fists, and moved.

She easily danced back and left, avoiding his first two jabs. She moved forward, throwing her first jab, only to find herself on the mat on her back. Mativo’s right hand tightly gripping her throat, a knee to her sternum. She was dead dead. The current developments they had made in the lab tests made the hand to her throat could have killed her in so many ways. And if that failed, the knee would have proved deadly too.

He stared at her for a moment, as if searching for something, before he rose and stepped three steps back.

“Fuck,” she exclaimed as slowly got up. She had never truly gotten past the first attack. Delay it, yes, but not avoid. But this had been way too fast.

“That was slow.” He said as he got back into his boxer’s stance.

“I know.” Maybe she was more tired than she had thought. But she wouldn’t back out. She would see it through. She steeled herself and got back into her own stance. Bouncing on her toes to get the blood flowing.

Stay away from him. She told herself. But you still need to land punches and kicks. It was always tough for her in the physical unarmed bouts. But she still won. She had to win today.

She moved first this time, going for a quick one-two-three forcing him back two steps. She took a step back, taking a breath, then moved again as he seemed to be about to move. She succeeded her jabs with hooks and punches, keeping him from going for his own attacks. She was too close, if he did that it would be another quick finish. He swiftly and smoothly evaded some while blocking others. As she felt her arms begin to tire, she quickly pulled back. Easily taking five steps in her quest for space.

But he was hot on her. And she was fast on defense and quickly giving ground. The few punches she blocked rattled her. Compared to them, hers didn’t feel like they had delivered much power behind them. He threw what she thought was a long hook and she moved her arms to block only to realize too late it had been faint. He dropped low with a leg sweep, and her attempt to clear off the sweep just made it easy for him to sweep her off her feet.

As she landed, she quickly rolled back, narrowly avoiding the follow up leg stamp. She followed with a leg sweep of her own, but only managed to wobble him slightly. She didn’t get discouraged by that as she came up with an uppercut forcing him back. She followed him with a combination of punches and kicks. It forced him a few steps back, but he quickly regained that with his own attacks.

Finally, they had gotten past the initial confrontation. In her joy, she pushed again with renewed vigor forcing him back, and as he was switching stances, she took a risk and went for a jumping full body kick. She was hoping to put him on the ground. Then she might pounce on him. But he was quick to react, already turning away from the kick, but not quick enough. As she landed on her back, she quickly somersaulted to her feet. Only to find him also on his feet. He might have gotten up faster than her. But he was already breathing hard, same as her. They had been at it for a few minutes now.

She was feeling good about herself as they circled each other. They engaged again almost instantly, trading blow for blow. Kick for kick. As they kept at it, she fast realized her blows and kicks weren’t pushing him as back as when they started. But his were still strong. She needed to get a decisive win fast. She shoulder bumped him on his sternum as he got closer, but that got her nothing. But the fact he hadn’t caught her then meant that he was tiring too. Albeit slower than her.

She took a step back for a breather, thankfully he didn’t pursue immediately. Key word being immediately. She blocked his two jabs but moved in as she tried to avoid a straight punch. She ended up in a choke hold. She quickly leaned forward, using his weight to throw him over her and down hard on the mat. It wasn’t hard enough though, as he came right up and about with a kick that would have took a few teeth had she not pulled back. she moved back in again as he got back up, throwing quick jabs and hooks to keep him on the back leg. Kicks whenever possible. He got his balance and went on the attack again. But when he overstretched with a kick, she quickly caught the leg sweeping the other out from under him. She brought him down into a leg hold and held on until he tapped out.

She held on for a few more seconds for good measure before letting go. She lay down next to him, smiling to herself.

“I’m getting rusty.” He complained.

“That you are.” She agreed with him. He was soon sitting up and helped her stand up as he did. They made their way off the ring.

“I didn’t know you were that good,” Matt said.

“I just got lucky.”

“That makes it eighty-three to eighty-one,” Dominic said as they joined them at the rest area, a few spots on her body already turning sore. It was more like it, even Andrew didn’t turn her as sore as Mativo did.

“What?” Matt asked.

“Wins.” Was all Dominic said.

“They have fought each one sixty-four times?” This surprised Matt a lot.

“Fist fights, yes.” Mbithe clarified for him. He asked another question to that, but Jacy stopped paying them attention as she turned to Mativo.

“I’m having a problem.”

“With what? You are still ahead, by two now.”

“No. Not that.” Jacy said after figuring out what Mativo what talking about. “My bioaugmentics. I’m having problems with my trials.”

“I thought everything was going greater. What happened?”

“Nothing really. I just decided to start human trials. And no one seems interested to be my test subject.”

“Where did you look for test subjects?”

“Here.”

“In the Gym?”

“No! The ship.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I thought they would appreciate my work more. Thereby increasing the chances of them agreeing to be part of the tests.”

“Seriously, can you hear yourself right now? I should be the one saying something like that. Shit, this means I have to be you here.”

“What do—”

“Shhh! I’m trying to think not-like me.”

She waited. And waited. For what felt like hours. Before he finally spoke again.

“Okay. I think I got it.” He started again, with a poor imitation of her voice. “This is the wrong subject area. You are not looking for people who appreciate the science behind the technology, but those who appreciate what the technology itself does for them.” He paused before continuing in her voice again, he had been reverting to his voice at the end. “You need people who don’t have limbs and need them. Your real goal for this project is a luxury. But the needs will get the luxury. The needs first.”

“You lost me at the end there, wise-me.” They laughed, as she failed miserably to imitate him. She had spoken with a British accent, which he somehow didn’t have, even though he pronounced most of his words the way they did. It was a conundrum she had been unable to figure out.

“The scientists on this ship don’t need it, but the cripples on Earth need legs to walk again; hands to hold something again. Those will readily agree to test them for you.”

“But… you are right. I first need to show them it works before they can even think about trying it.”

“Exactly. You are asking them to lose a limb, for a technology that isn’t even guaranteed to work.” He raised his finger to stop her argument to that statement. “They still don’t know whether or not it works. And that is all that matters to them. Remember, there are three universal fears to all humans: being buried alive, dismemberment, and… I forgot the third one. How could I forget the third one?” he sounded angry with himself for that.

“Maybe because it isn’t such a universal fear as you had thought?” She tried to assuage him.

“No. It is. When I first heard it, I agreed with all three of them. I shouldn’t be forgetting about it.”

And as Mativo got entangled into that mess he called a brain, she went back to watching the ongoing bouts. Others had joined, some had left. And the bouts still continued. It was possible they would keep ongoing for hours before there was no longer anyone left to spar with.

She had a few more bouts before calling it. Slowly she made her way to her quarters, thinking about what she had talked about with Mativo. The thought of Earth reminded her that they were only days away from it. Their expedition had finally come to an end. She wondered what she had to show for it; they had no trophies, just photographs showing them in different parts of the Solar System. She had already decorated her quarters with them. but she would soon be taking them down, in preparation for clearing the ship. Most of them looked like they had been photoshopped. Like she had never been there at all. She decided that the real treasure was inside. The knowing. Out there, in the cold fridges of Neptune, she had raced a shuttle as fast as light itself. She had fallen onto the lakes of hydrocarbons on Titan, apparently she couldn’t fall in. Flown like a bird. And many other things. She had done all that. And two three years in the future, she would embark on an even more exciting adventure. She didn’t want it to ever end. And if the biologists had any say in the matter, it may never end.

…[ MATIVO ]…

I ended up spending the rest of our stay at Mars in my quarters. There were no ongoing missions that required my attention; the last mission had been at Venus. The ship’s crew was already used to running the ship without any constant input from the Senior Officers. Not that Robin needed much handling while she orbited around Mars.

That gave me the rest of the week to do whatever I wanted, within reason of course, on the ship. And I did have some crazy things I had wanted to try out. And without much of the crew to be there to see me, I finally had the opportunity to enjoy myself to my heart’s desire. Safe to say, it was a very pleasant week. Well, most of it at least.

I soon ran myself out of the energy to keep doing the unspeakable crazy things my mind could conjure. I blame my unwillingness to do something more than once for my short lived time at utopia. I made my way back to quarters and spend the remaining days, hours really, catching up with messages from Earth, who send messages when we were days away? And getting some much needed rest, right after.

I woke up minutes to departure, very tired and with no energy and willingness to get out of bed. I spend several tantalizing seconds entertaining the idea of not been at the bridge for the departure. But I hadn’t missed any departure while I was on the ship, and didn’t want to break that on the last minutes of the trip. Because we were literally minutes away from Earth, we would be on ground in less than an hour.

I got out of bed and made a mad dash for the Bridge. The advantages of having my quarters on the same deck as the Bridge paid off as I made it to the Command Seat with more than a minute to spare. But just barely.

“And here I was, enjoying myself for being allowed to bring us home,” Cindy commented as I calmed myself down from the sprint.

“Hehehe, next time Second. Next time.”