In a frantic rush, Scott popped open his cockpit canopy and scrambled out of the g-couch for a look at the thick cable connected to the Shadow Fox’s head. It ran down to the switch box on the floor where Aaron and Deacon had their chairs. Sparks were shooting out of the universal connector beneath the Shadow Fox’s left ear, but the fire was taking place at the switch down below. Regardless, Scott quickly reached into the cockpit and cut power to the access port before climbing onto the cherry picker platform that had been left parked alongside the Fox’s head. He then cautiously tapped the cable’s connector. When he didn’t get zapped, he twisted the locking ring to open and pulled the cable out of the socket. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of burnt plastic, then checked the connector on the Fox’s end, though he’d need proper diagnostic equipment to test how well it still worked.

Exhaling heavily, not quite relieved, Scott then dropped his end of the cable to the floor below. After shutting down non-essential cockpit systems and leaving others on standby, he looked across at the Lighting Saix standing to the right of the Shadow Fox. Lidiya had opened her cockpit canopy and was shrugging her shoulders at Scott.

“What happened?” she asked. “I got warnings on screen and then the sim died.”

“Fire down below,” Scott explained, “and I had sparks coming out of the data port, so we had to shut it down.” In afterthought, he asked, “Did you win?”

Lidiya thrust a clenched right fist into the air. “I had him on his knees.” Lowering her fist, she then waved her arms in exasperation. “This is the closest we came to winning. It’s not bloody fair. Argh!”

Scott agreed, but he wasn’t vociferous about it. “We’ll pick it up tomorrow. We’ll get another chance then.”

Lidiya climbed out of her cockpit onto a second cherry picker platform beside her Lightning Saix’s head. “Good. Because I’m done. My legs were cramping up. Four hours is my limit.” She looked confused. “Hey what time is it?”

Scott pulled out his data-slate from a G-suit pocket. “A little after six.”

“Great. Then I’m going for a run.” She started lowering the platform but then stopped it. “Do you…ah…wanna join me?”

Scott’s brain did a double-take leaving him silent for a long moment. But then he thought it over. The pit building had a few gyms above the accommodation floor, and he’d used one of their treadmills yesterday for a five-kilometer jog that helped take his mind off his troubles with Lidiya after their argument the previous evening. He could do with another run, having spent four hours in the cockpit, but he just couldn’t make up his mind in time and Lidiya grew embarrassed. She waved a hand wildly in the air.

“It’s cool. Forget about it. Sorry.”

“Wait!” As soon as he said it, he wondered why he’d said it at all. But now he needed a follow up. He couldn’t leave the girl hanging…so to speak. “Just—just give me a few minutes. I’ll meet you back at the suite.”

Lidiya closed her mouth and blinked slowly, still looking embarrassed. She then swiftly turned away and pulled down the control lever that resumed lowering the platform to the cherry-picker vehicle below her. Puzzled by her reaction, Scott looked down at her from the Shadow Fox’s cockpit.

“Hey?” he called out to Lidiya. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she replied over a shoulder, not looking at him. “I’ll—I’ll see you back at the apartment—I mean the suite. I’ll see you back at the suite.”

Scott glanced at the Lighting Saix. “Hey, did you lock down your Zoid?”

The platform had dropped to the cherry-picker by then and Lidiya was climbing down the ladder to the hangar floor. “Aaron can do it. I’ve got to go. I need to get ready.”

Scott watched her jog past the Shadow Fox on her way to the rear of the Zoid bay where the loft elevator awaited her.

What’s the rush? he asked himself, soon distracted by Aaron calling up to him.

“Ronin, can you come down here?”

With a quick wave to Aaron, Ronin climbed out of the cockpit again and onto the platform beside the Fox’s head, then rode it down to the cherry-picker below him.

***

After leaving the hangar loft, Lidiya took an elevator up to the accommodations floor and walked the short distance to the apartment suite allocated to Team Wildcards. She tried to relax along the way, but her heart had entered a rebellious phase and wouldn’t listen to her.

“Urgh,” she groaned, then slapped her cheeks none too lightly. “Get a grip.”

She then entered the keycode at the door to the suite, and once inside made her way quickly the bedroom she was using. Putting together her attire for a jog normally required little effort. Just find something comfortable and decent to wear, with enough support so that her chest wouldn’t hurt when she jogged. However, this wasn’t a normal run. It was one thing to show up at a gym where most of the occupants were men. She was accustomed to being appraised for lack of a better word. But those were strangers – men she had no interest in – whereas Ronin wasn’t a stranger.

With a heavy, heartfelt sigh, Lidiya sat on the edge of the bed and hung her head.

“…what am I doing…?”

She sniffed the air. Then sniffed herself.

“…urgh…I need a shower….”

With another heavy sigh – more a grunt – Lidiya rose and went through the luggage she’d brought with her from the Gustav. She found a clean pair of tracksuit pants and compared them to the running shorts she’d bought a month ago when passing through a town whose name she’d since forgotten. A conflict broke out across her face as she wavered between practicality and aesthetics.

“The sun has set. It’s gonna be cold. Tracksuit it is.” However, she then regarded the running shorts. “What the Hell was I thinking? Could these be more boring?” Tossing the clothing aside, she rummaged into a second luggage bag. “They’re here somewhere…in here…somewhere…in here—yes! Found you.” She held up the ruffled, hemmed skirt that had bike shorts underneath. “Better—wait, I can’t wear them like this.”

With another frustrated growl, she hurried off to the bathroom to make use of the shower, then ran back out because she’d forgotten her toiletry bag with all her creams and most importantly…her razor. Then she practically flew back into the bathroom, aware that the clock was ticking, and she didn’t want to make Ronin wait for her.

***

Scott ran the onboard diagnostics a fourth time, each one running for longer and deeper as he selected more intensive modes, until he was satisfied that the power surge which fried the switch hadn’t come from his Zoid. With the last of the diagnostics done on that part of the Shadow Fox’s systemry, Scott climbed out of the cockpit and onto the cherry-picker platform parked beside the Zoid’s head. With a hand on the guardrail, he called out to Aaron and Deacon below him.

“That surge didn’t come from the Fox,” he reported. “It has to have been the batteries in the switcher.”

Deacon was wearing gloves as he pulled the batteries out of the switch box. They resembled thick slices of burnt toast and they smelt almost as bad. “Probably,” he muttered, looking at the blackened batteries with dismay.

“That box is dead,” Aaron decided. “We’ll need a new one.” He ran a palm across his face, exhaustion getting to him for a long moment. “And we’ll need another network cable.”

Deacon stared suspiciously at the switch. “If it was the batteries, why did we see sparks coming out of the Shadow Fox’s open panel?”

Aaron started to shrug but reconsidered and crossed his arms instead. “I agree.” He looked up at Ronin. “You saw those sparks.”

The ex-Backdrafter visibly wilted and hung his head and shoulders, seemingly at a loss. “I’ll find more diagnostics to run….”

The sound of soft footsteps drawing fairly close made Aaron turn around in a fright. He was relieved when it was only Lidiya, and chastise himself for being jumpy, but then he gave his sister a good look and asked, “Why are you dressed like that?”

Lidiya was busy tying her long, black, curly hair into a ponytail with a pink bow clip that kept snapping open. “Damn thing.” Taking it off, she glowered at it before holding it out to her brother. “Can you fix this for me?”

“Fix what?” He took it from her outstretched hand, turning it over as he studied the simple mechanism. Then he searched around for a pair of pliers he’d left lying around. Finding them, he used the pliers to twist the latch a little so that the clip would close tightly. “Here.”

“Put it on.” Lidiya bundled her hair into a ponytail and turned her back toward Aaron. “Come on.”

“Does the word please not exist in your vocabulary?” He closed the bow clip around her hair. “There.”

“Thanks….” Lidiya then shook her head and sighed in relief when the clip stayed put. “I’ll buy a new one tomorrow.”

Aaron nodded, then frowned at his sister. “Where are you going dressed like that?”

Lidiya wrinkled her nose at him. “I’m going for a run.”

Oh, you can’t be serious, though he was certain that she was.

Lidiya was wearing a hemmed skirt that barely reached her thighs. Luckily, it came with bike shorts underneath though they looked more like hotpants – very hot pants – that did little to hide her slender, yet toned legs. Up top, she wore a cropped tank top, sports bra combo that tightly hugged her modestly sized breasts, drawing attention to them and Lidiya’s taut midriff. The whole outfit was pastel colored, contrasting with her lightly tanned skin, and Aaron didn’t know where it was safe to look at his sister, eventually dragging his attention to her face as he pointed to her exposed belly.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Like that?” he asked her. “What happened to the trackpants and hoodie top you bought a couple of weeks ago?”

“Nothing happened to them.”

Aaron dropped his frown. “And where are you going for a run?”

“Out there.” She pointed in the direction of the open hangar doorway and the pitlane beyond it. “There’s plenty of light out there. And it’ll be cool this time of day.” She then looked around the hangar bay. “Where’s Ronin?”

“Up there,” Deacon told her. “In the cockpit.”

Lidiya looked bemused. “What?”

“He’s in the cockpit,” Aaron said, “running diagnostics on the Shadow Fox’s data ports.”

“Why is he doing that?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

Deacon cleared his throat before explaining, “Because we’re trying to trace where the power surge came from that made the Shadow Fox’s access port throw sparks.”

Aaron noticed Deacon replied without looking at Lidiya. He palmed his forehead as he regarded his sister. “Why don’t you use the gym? It’s climate controlled and not far from our rooms.”

“I don’t want to use the gym,” she snapped as she strode past him to the cherry-picker parked beside the Shadow Fox. The four wheeled vehicle had a control panel from which the platform could be raised and lowered, allowing Lidiya to bring the platform down so that she could climb onto it. Aaron worriedly watched her then use the control panel on the platform to raise it back up to the Shadow Fox’s head.

This is going to get messy, he thought to himself.

***

Inside the Fox’s cockpit, Scott heard the platform go down as he was busy sorting through which diagnostics he could run to find the source of the power surge. Seconds later, he heard the cherry-picker platform come back up and he assumed it was either Deacon or Aaron arriving to check up on him.

“I’ll be done shortly,” he said, barely glancing left out of the cockpit. “Just give me a minute to set these diagnostics running.”

“A minute?” Lidiya asked. “Wasn’t that like half an hour ago?”

Scott snapped his attention to the platform and saw Lidiya with a stoney face and arms folded under her shapely bosom promoted by the revealing training outfit she was wearing.

Holy….

He gaped at her, speechless, and fought the urge to gaze at her all over, which was no easy task. Forgetting to swallow made him choke and cough for a short while, but it saved him by serving as a distraction. While he was getting his breathing back under control, he ended up looking away from her for a several seconds and that helped him regain his mental footing. However, even though he wasn’t looking at her, he could still smell the sweet, perfume scent coming off her body.

Damn it—she smells nice.

Feeling trapped, he steeled himself and put all his effort into meeting her cold gaze. “Half an hour?”

“Yes, half an hour,” she responded.

“For what…?” he asked, wondering why she was wearing an exercise outfit that drew much attention to her svelte figure. By a herculean force of will, he was able to keep his eyes locked on her face, which was why he saw the hurt look that briefly cracked her icy cold façade.

Uh oh.

Lidiya slowly wet her lips before saying, “You were going to join me for a run.”

Double uh oh.

He’d forgotten and she didn’t look like she wanted to hear excuses passed off as explanations. He quickly set the diagnostics to run in sequence, then clambered out of the snug cockpit inside the Shadow Fox’s head. “I’m sorry. Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you at the gym above our suite.”

Scott stepped onto the cherry-picker platform as the cockpit canopy came down behind him. He then started to reach for the lever to lower the platform to near ground level. Unfortunately, Lidiya was standing close to it, looking very unhappy while facing away from him, leaving him momentarily in quandary.

“Lidiya, would you please lower the platform.”

Silently, she reached out and pulled back on the lever. As the platform descended, Scott decided to make amends. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”

“I know you did….” She sighed, her shoulders slumping a little. “Apology accepted….”

She may have said so, but she was clearly bummed.

Scott decided that was enough said for now. If he apologized again, it might flip her emotions the other way and make her angry. I’ll have to make it up to her. That much was a given since he wasn’t so oblivious not to notice that she’d made an extra effort with her outfit and appearance. But seriously, what is going on here? He rubbed his face with his hands, feeling extra weary of a sudden. Maybe this run will be good for both of us. He could use the opportunity to get to the bottom of things between them before the situation grew anymore confused for him.

As the platform touched down onto the cherry-picker, Scott stepped aside for Lidiya to descend the ladder first before he followed her down to the hangar floor. Walking over to Aaron and Deacon, he explained the diagnostics he’d left scheduled to run. It didn’t escape him that Aaron looked a bit jumpy, his eyes darting looks at Scott and Lidiya.

Yeah, we definitely need to sort this out, Scott decided as he hurried off to change into some running gear.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he assured Lidiya as he walked by her in a rush. “Meet you at the gym?”

She bit her lower lip, seemingly anxiously, then rushed to say, “Why don’t we run up and down the pitlane?”

Scott skidded to a stop. “The pitlane?”

She bit lower lip again. “Why not? It’s long. Two kilometers. We can run it twice.”

The length of the pitlane wasn’t the concern that occupied Scott’s thoughts as he lost the fight and drank in the lovely picture she cut. She’s going to draw a lot of attention out there. Some of the pitlane hangars may have their doors open. Numerous teams and mechanics would be working late to prep their Zoids for the first day of battle tomorrow. Lidiya would definitely be noticed as she ran up and down the length of the pitlane—

Wait a minute!

Scott’s thoughts slammed to a stop.

Am I jealous?

He blinked sharply, surprised at what he was feeling. “It might be cold out there. We should use the gym.”

No—that’s not good either. There will be guys at the gym.

He thought for alternatives in a hurry.

We can run in the hangar bay. The rich kid isn’t around. Yep—it’ll be safe here.

Before he could strongly suggest they run laps inside Bay-42, Lidiya started backing away toward the open entrance to the hangar. “The sun hasn’t set yet, so it’ll still be warm out there.”

“No, I really think we should—”

“I’ll go check,” she said as she retreated, spun on her heels, then jogged away lightly. “Wait for me,” she threw over a shoulder.

It was then Scott noticed he’d reached out for her. Ah crap. Sheepishly, he lowered his arm only to catch the complicated look Aaron was giving him. Think of something! “Ah—I don’t think the pitlane’s a good idea.”

Aaron slowly nodded. “Nope.”

“The gym might be crowded.”

“It may be…,” Aaron vaguely conceded.

Scott pointed at their surroundings. “We can do laps in here.”

At that, Aaron looked slightly baffled, but then he turned to regard his sister hurrying toward the entrance to the hangar. Scott couldn’t help looking at her as well, his gaze drawn inexorably to her shapely backside.

She’s your teammate! What are you thinking?

Fortunately, Aaron was of like minds with Scott. “Yeah, doing laps in here might be better…a lot better.”

***

Lidiya slowed down to a fast walk as she neared the hangar’s threshold and the pitlane ahead of her. She didn’t dare look behind her to see if Ronin was watching her. But that didn’t stop her imagining him doing just that, which led her to wonder what part of her would attract his attention the most. Her butt or her legs?

Stop it! You’ll drive yourself crazy!

Stepping a couple of feet into the pitlane, Lidiya felt the cool air from the hangar’s interior mingle with the warm air that blew in from the desert. The sun was setting low to the west, and as the shadows grew longer, the pit building’s exterior lighting began turning on, throwing a flat, blue-white light up and down the length of the two-kilometer pitlane. Looking both ways, Lidiya wasn’t aware she was biting her lower lip as she noticed there were lots of areas in shadow despite the extensive exterior lighting. In addition, many of the hangars had their doors open, casting their light out onto the pitlane, but the darkness grew stronger as the sun continued to fall westward. It made her faintly uneasy, a wee bit uncomfortable, and she grudgingly decided to go with Ronin’s idea.

Maybe we can get treadmills that are side by side.

It wouldn’t have the same atmosphere, yet it would have to do.

Stifling a sigh, she started turning to head back into the bay when something abruptly caught her eye – a dark shape within a larger patch of darkness mere feet away from the hangar entrance where the pitlane spotlights failed to reach. Abruptly, the shape moved, and Lidya yelped in fright as she jumped back a couple of feet. With her heart beating like a war drum in her chest, Lidiya swiftly raised her fists as she assumed a fighting stance that was more bravado than real courage.

“Hey—come out before I beat you up,” she yelled.

The dark shape slowly backed away. Peering hard at it, Lidiya was already convinced it was a person lurking in the patch of shadow between the two hangars. However, something about how they moved made her suspect it was a woman in there. Liking her chances better – unless the other party was armed with a weapon – Lidiya took a step toward the shadow that was quietly retreating. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you too much. Come out so I can see you.”

The lurker in the darkness stopped before possibly turning around. However, they then definitely ran away. Unfortunately, they had to cross areas that were well lit as they fled, and Lidiya saw it was a woman, short like her, but seemingly fair haired, and wearing dark clothing – perhaps a G-suit – that hugged her slim figure. Whatever she was wearing on her feet – shoes or sneakers – made no sound as she made a swift escape. For a few heartbeats, Lidiya royally considered chasing down the unknown woman. After all, she was dressed for a run, but she was in for another surprise that made her jump in fright when Ronin suddenly called to her from behind.

“Lidiya? Are you okay?”

She turned around with a hand to her chest as her heart thumped away and she saw his worried expression.

“Lidiya?” Ronin approached her, looked uncertain, then hurried up to her. “Are you all right?”

She didn’t say anything, held onto her fright, and shook her head stiffly.

I’m a damsel in distress. Be a man. Come on—comfort me!

Again, Ronin looked hesitant before reaching out to take her by the arms.

“Hey, Lidiya—are you okay?” Aaron cried out as he rushed out of the hangar with Deacon on his heels.

Instantly, Ronin stepped back and aside. “She’s here. She’s unharmed.”

The urge to throttle her brother almost got the better of Lidiya.

It was perfect—PERFECT—and he had to ruin it!

Clearing her throat, she made a cautious show of slowly calming down. After clearing her throat, she pointed southward down the pitlane. “There was someone in the shadows. I thought they were going to come at me but then they suddenly ran away.” She looked at Ronin with a show of gratitude. “They may have heard you coming. I guess you saved me.”

Ronin frowned, then swiftly walked past her to stare hard in the direction of the pitlane entrance well over a kilometer away. He stood still for long, long seconds, eventually asking Lidiya without facing her, “Did you see them? What did they look like?”

“I”—she frowned at something she heard in his tone—“I didn’t see their face. But I’m certain it was a woman, maybe young, with light hair—I mean blonde hair.” Annoyance briefly got the better of her and Lidiya spoke in a rush. “It was hard to tell. She ran away fast, and I that’s all I saw.”

It was then that Ronin finally turned to look at her, but she wasn’t expecting the unreadable look he gave her.

What’s he hiding? she asked herself.

It lasted only a couple of seconds before he suddenly expressed concern again. Walking up to her, Ronin gently took her by the elbow and escorted her back into the hangar bay assigned to Team Wildcards.

“It’s not safe out here,” he decided, speaking in a hushed voice. “Why don’t we do laps in the hangar bay? Plenty of open space.”

What? She doubted her ears for a second. But only for a second. “Forget it,” she bluntly declared. “I’m done with this place. Enough surprises for a day—no, a week!” She huffed loudly. “I’m going to the gym.”

From behind her, Aaron said, “Didn’t I suggest that earlier.”

Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!

He’d ruined her moment for her. She wasn’t going to forgive him any time soon. “I changed my mind.” She swallowed quietly. “Scott, you’ll escort me. Won’t you?” She got no reply, so she threw him a quick look and saw him lost in thought.

If he’s not thinking about me, I swear!

Lidiya gently placed her fingers over his hand as he continued holding onto her elbow. “Scott, you’ll be with me, won’t you? Won’t you? Hello?”

“Huh?” He blinked sharply as he returned to the here and now. “Ah, sure. Sure.”

She frowned unhappily. “You didn’t hear a word I said.”

“No, no.” He shook his head. “No, I heard you. We’re going to the gym, right?”

Lidiya lost the fight to stay calm. Annoyed, she pushed his hand off her elbow and strode ahead of him to the loft’s elevator at the back of the hangar.

Why…why is NOTHING working out?

She was of two minds. Give up on her plan completely. Or forge ahead and salvage what she could. She decided to go for the latter, but it was a close decision, and she worried that whatever she salvaged wouldn’t be worth all the trouble she’d gone through. That made her question what it was that she was after? What was her ultimate goal?

Once again, she stepped onto the elevator platform that went up to the loft’s balcony. But as she was joined by Ronin, she failed to notice that she was as lost in thought as he was and looking equally troubled.