Fall of Icarus (43 page)

           
Keryn glowered at Penchant, McLaughlin and Cerise, all of who had managed to somehow avoid participating in the training this morning.
 
She knew their time would come soon enough and she smiled at that thought as she laid her head down on the cool ground.
 
Reveling in the cold metal against her cheek and forehead, she didn’t notice someone approach until a shadow fell over her.

           
“You want to grab something to eat or drink?” Adam asked
,
his voice strained as he spoke through clenched teeth.

           
Opening her violet eyes, she stared at the obviously miserable Pilgrim.
 
“I figured you’d spend the next two hours soaking in an ice bath somewhere.”

           
Smiling smugly, Adam ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair.
 
“I thought about it, don’t get me wrong.
 
I just figured you’d be more prone to join me for a meal than you would for an ice bath.”

           
Keryn shook her head.
 
“You really just don’t learn, do you?”
 
The thought of a drink was appealing to her parched throat, but she was afraid that standing would cause too much pain in her already sore back.
 
“I’ll pass, but thanks.”

           
Adam shrugged.
 
“Your loss.
 
I’ll see you in a couple hours.”

           
Though Keryn was tempted to follow him, she was far too comfortable to move from her spot.
 
Aside from the physical damage from today’s hand-to-hand combat, Keryn’s body had been beaten repeatedly over the past few weeks of training.
 
She and her team had endured nearly every conceivable type of training: from heavy and light weapons training to hand-to-hand combat to interrogation techniques.
 
A shiver ran up Keryn’s spine at the thought of interrogation training.
 
Every member of the team had been given a surgical instrument
set to be used
for personal interrogation.
 
Though they had practiced on cadavers, the feel of flesh splitting open at the easiest pressure from the razor-sharp scalpel made Keryn’s stomach turn.
 
The thought of doing that same thing to a living creature made her feel physically ill.

           
As if training for over twelve hours a day wasn’t grueling enough, once she finished work she spent a good majority of her time with Yen.
 
Both were completely engrossed in their work; her with her team and Yen planning both his Squadron and ground assaults on Earth.
 
Neither spoke much of their missions, but when they were together they wanted to spend as little time as possible talking about work.
 
Though the thought of all the time they spent wrapped in each other’s arms did bring a smile to her face, it also contributed greatly to her continued exhaustion during each subsequent day’s training.
 
Her instructors had made a comment about her fatigue and lack of stamina and it was affecting her performance.
 
The simplest distractions were resulting more and more often in her lying on her back, staring at the ceiling.
 
If they didn’t receive their deployment orders soon, Keryn wouldn’t have to worry about Cardax or his smugglers killing her.
 
She would be found one day soon standing on her feet or sitting in a chair, dead from exhaustion.

           
Sighing deeply, Keryn pressed her cheek firmly against the floor, feeling the cool ground saturate her hot, bruised skin.
 
Closing her eyes, she let the coolness soak into her body, relieving tension and washing away the tiring thoughts from her mind.

           
Keryn awoke sharply as the door to the room opened.
 
A familiar shaggy blonde Pilgrim stood silhouetted against the outdoor light.
 
Stepping inside, Adam let the door slide shut behind him.
 
She had no idea how long she’d been asleep, but the fact that Adam had now returned to the training room told her that it had been nearly the full two hours.
 
Trying to push herself up, Keryn realized that all her
muscles which had previously just been sore
were now rigid and stiff.
 
Without stretching before hand and simply falling asleep on a most uncomfortable location, her body had been allowed to heal as it had come to rest.
 
Unfortunately for Keryn, it now caused pain to shoot through her joints as she tried to straighten both legs and arms that were permanently affixed in a crooked position.

           
Grimacing, she turned toward the frowning Adam as he walked in.
 
“You don’t look much better than I feel.
 
Did your lunch not agree with you?”

           
Adam grunted as he walked past her, stopping finally at the curved window and staring out at the stars.
 
Feeling slightly dejected, Keryn turned after him.
 
He barely acknowledged her attention and chose, instead, to continue his musings at the back window.

           
“Adam,” Keryn said, concerned.
 
“Is something wrong?”

           
“Now why would you think anything would be wrong with me?” Adam asked from behind her as she felt strong hands grab her around the waist.

           
Spinning, Keryn’s eyes widened with confusion as she came face to face with Adam.
 
Smiling broadly, Adam winked at her before his gaze moved past her face to the stranger behind her.
 
Turning back toward the first Adam, the one who had passed her and stood at the window, Keryn now found herself facing the featureless black oval of Penchant’s visage.
 
Though Adam laughed heartily, it took Keryn a couple passes of looking back and forth before she realized what had happened.
 
Though Penchant had no expressions on his face, she could almost feel him smiling mischievously at her.

           
Joining Adam’s laughter, Keryn shook her head in wonderment.
 
“You’re getting pretty good at that.
 
You really had me going.”
 
She leaned forward until she was only a few inches away from Penchant’s smooth face.
 
“Of course, now you’re going to make me wonder what else you can do with that body.”

           
“It would never happen,” Penchant said in his gravelly tone.
 
“I hear you Wyndgaarts are a little too rough during your mating rituals.”

           
“What’s all this talk about mating rituals?” McLaughlin asked excitedly as he walked through the door, his arm thrown over Cerise’s shoulder.

           
“Leave them be,” Cerise said condescendingly.
 
“You are only going to encourage them.”

           
“Hell,” Keeling commented as he walked in behind the couple.
 
“If you’re going to talk about mating, you might as well come to the expert.”

           
“If I wanted relationship advice,” Keryn retorted, “I’d be better off asking an Oterian rather than you.
 
No offense Rombard.”

           
The massive Oterian ducked under the doorway as he entered, his horns still nearly brushing the sides of the doorframe.
 
“None taken.
 
Female Oterians are a lower intelligence life form.
 
They’re really only good for mating.”

           
Adam blanched at the thought.
 
“No romance?
 
No seduction?
 
Just ‘get Bessie’s head caught in the fence’ and you’re good to go?”

           
“I won’t act as though I understand the reference,” Rombard rumbled, “but romance is a waste.
 
You mate to produce strong young for your clan, not for a lasting relationship.
 
Why?
 
How is mating done between Pilgrims?”

           
Adam shrugged.
 
“Pretty much the same way.”

           
“I just ate,” Keeling interjected.
 
“Is there any way we could not talk about Pilgrims mating?
 
If you want to hear some good stories, you might as well…”

           
“If you children are done with story time,” the Oterian instructor roared as he entered the room, “then I believe we are ready to pick back up with your training.”

           
The entire team let out a simultaneous groan.

           
Keryn tried her best to stay on her feet at the end of their training, but wound up succumbing to her exhaustion and collapsing into a nearby chair.
 
Her breath was labored as she tried to breathe through ribs that she was sure were broken.
 
Though she had tried to ensure equal time with the instructor for everyone on her team, Keryn had the unfortunate pleasure of being selected to spar against the Oterian for a second round.
 
She remembered a few tricks from their previous combat, but it had mattered little in the end.
 
By the time they were through, Keryn was once again staring at a spinning ceiling from the flat of her back.

           
Now alone in the training room, she shifted positions in her chair, trying to reach the bruise that she knew was spreading between her shoulder blades.
 
If she remembered nothing else from her training, she would always remember that a stern punch between the shoulder blades was enough to stun nearly any race in the Alliance.

           
As she finished grimacing from the pain and opened her eyes, she was surprised to see a large fur-covered hand holding out a glass of water.
 
Looking up, she met the gaze of her instructor.
 
Keryn nodded her appreciation as she began to sip the water, savoring the burn in her raw throat.

           
“Thank you,” she said hoarsely.
 
She took another drink before continuing.
 
“I’m surprised you stuck around.”

           
“I made a promise that I would,” the Oterian said quietly, his voice still carrying in the empty room.

           
Keryn looked up inquisitively.
 
“Promise?”

           
“I’m your last instructor, Keryn.
 
You’ve been trained on every major topic that we thought you might need.
 
My job was to determine if you not only retained that previous knowledge, but that you were ready to face Cardax in battle when the time arose.”

           
“So you were testing us?”

           
The Oterian turned away, though his voice was still clear.
 
“Did you wonder why an Oterian was teaching you hand-to-hand combat?
 
My race has vastly superior strength to the other races of the Alliance, but if you wanted the best combat instructors, you pick a Wyndgaart.
 
So why me?”

           
Keryn nodded, realizing that this was yet another test.
 
“Because Cardax is an Oterian.”

           
“Exactly.
 
It didn’t make any sense to have you learn to fight against a Wyndgaart when your target is an Oterian.
 
You needed to learn my race’s weaknesses, few as they may be.”

           
“But you beat us every single time we fought.”

           
The instructor turned back to her.
 
“You’re right.
 
Fighting isn’t the only lesson I can teach you.
 
I can also teach you humility.
 
You don’t like losing; I can see it in your face.
 
But when you realize that you’re not always going to be the best, you will learn to lean on others for support.
 
All of you were able to hold your own against me by the end of today.
 
Maybe not defeat me, but at least impress me.
 
I have injuries that I’ll be nursing tomorrow as well.
 
But if I were attacked by all of you, not just in hand-to-hand combat
but
with you all carrying your pistols and rifles as well, I wouldn’t stand a chance.
 
You’re a team now, regardless of your individual feelings for your teammates.
 
Use their strengths and you’ll be bringing Cardax back within no time.”