Zero Sum Game (32 page)

She pushed off with her hands and swung back upright. The man's arm would be in a cast for a while. A metal baton pressed against Hina's throat. A crewman's breath panted against her ear. The baton holder tried squeezing her throat but it had no effect. She reached behind her, grabbing the scruff of the man's duty uniform, and swung upwards. He came off the ground and crashed into the pipes. He dropped his baton, and Hina dropped him to the floor as well. She picked up the baton, bent it into a disfigured "U" shape, and tossed it aside.

She heard the scrapping of metal against leather a half-second before a man shouted, "Stop!" She turned; he had his service firearm pointed at her, his right arm resting against his left, his aim steady.

The man who had attacked her with the baton still lay at her feet. "Get behind him," she ordered. He backed away on his hands and knees, keeping out of his fellow crewman's line of sight. His eyes widened when he saw his ruined baton. Once among his fellow officers, he stood back up.

The other soldier still trained his gun on her. "Get on your knees with your hands behind your head," he ordered.

Hina raised her hands. She wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't tell them about aliens and battle suits, they would think she was crazy. She stepped towards the gunman and he aimed higher, towards her heart.

"Oh, come on. I'm not your enemy. He is out there and he's going to do something terrible." She walked towards the man, hands still raised.

"Don't talk. Get on the deck. Now." The soldier's aim didn't waver.

She took another step forward. "Your captain. Take me to your captain." She whispered, "Uh…what is it?"

"Captain Ekimori," Voice said.

"Thanks." She spoke to the officer. "That's right, Captain Ekimori." The soldier's eyes widened when she mentioned the captain's name. "Take me to him and I'll explain everything." She took another step forward.

"Shut up and get on the deck like I ordered. Do it now."

The man wouldn't let her talk. Hina's frustration was building, and she dropped her arms to her side and walked towards him. "Geez, will you listen—"

The gunshot exploded in the cramp corridor. Hina had always been afraid of guns, they were dangerous and ugly. Even the mock-up guns sold in toy stores creeped her out. As time slowed in her mind, the bright gun flash bloomed from the pistol's barrel like a time-lapse flower. The bullet moved towards her with slow gracefulness, like a sea creature drifting through the ocean. The scene was beautiful. She thought bullets shot straight, but it spun as it floated towards her. Its passing left a contrail, distorting the air like a heat wave behind it. Then she remembered the men behind her, wondered if they had ducked when their fellow soldier had pulled his weapon. She moved in front of the bullet. It travelled, slow and steady, and she watched it impact against her chest. The metal flattened, becoming a gray pancake, and floated to the deck, like a leaf caught in a slow summer breeze.

All action ceased for a moment.

Belatedly, as time resumed its normal speed in her mind, she struck a superheroine pose: her legs spread apart, hands balled into fists and on her hips, shoulders pushed back. She smiled at the gathered men, who were realizing they were dealing with something they hadn't been trained for. Her simile dropped when she saw the man tighten his grip on the pistol. She put her hands behind her head. "What's above me?" she whispered.

"The deck we came from. The corridor is much like this one," Voice replied.

Hina kept her eyes on the man with the gun as she squatted down. The gun barrel followed her movement but couldn't match her speed when Hina leapt straight up, her hands held above her like a high diver's. Her invulnerable body tore through the metal ceiling and deck floor. She landed on her feet, then stumbled to the deck. Beside her, a hole marred the floor, jagged metal edges pointing skywards. She paused for a moment to peer down through it. Several soldiers appeared, including the gunman, his forgotten weapon pointing at the floor. Shocked faces stared up at Hina. She smiled, then jumped to her feet and ran.

Only her enhanced reflexes saved her as a red shape aimed at her head burst out from a door. She planted one foot forward to stop her momentum and arched her torso backwards; the fire extinguisher missed her nose by centimeters. It clanged against the metal wall. The man holding it stepped out from the doorway he had been hiding behind. Hina backed up, wondering what this new menace had planned.
I don't have time for this,
she thought.
I need to find Shimizu.

The soldier held the nozzle end of the red metal canister and jabbed it at her like a spear. She twisted her head out of the way. He stepped forward, and each time he did, she took a step back. He rammed and she ducked. He continued, thrusting the fire extinguisher like a lance. Every miss made him angrier, and his shots became more erratic.

As the game of thrust-and-dodge continued, a thought occurred to Hina:
I'm invulnerable, why do I keep backing up?
He couldn't hurt her, and she figured a demonstration of her ability might end the stand-off faster. She thought it was normal human instinct to retreat from an attack, but she had to remember she was
super
human.

Hina tensed herself for the next blow. The metal canister struck her face with a dull metallic thud. Her head didn't move; the impact felt like a newborn's swat. He went for her stomach, and the effect was like slamming into a concrete wall.

Hina grabbed the bottom of the canister in one hand and jerked it out of the man's grip. She palmed it in her right hand, then squeezed. At first, nothing noticeable happened. Then metal popped and screeched; her fingers sunk into the metal case as Hina crushed the pressurized can. Unable to withstand the strength of the fourteen-year old girl, the canister exploded with a deafening boom, spraying fire retardant foam in all directions.

The man fell to his knees from the force of the explosion, and the painful stinging of the foam in his eyes. He yelled and clawed at his face, trying to wipe the foam off. It didn't stick to Hina. By the time the pressurized contents had exhausted themselves, Hina was dry and foam-free. The chemical covered the kneeling man and splattered the walls and ceiling. She dropped the canister and jogged past the man.

"Voice, where are the stairs?" She needed to get to the main deck and make her way to the captain.

"Ten meters straight ahead," he replied.

At the foot of the stairs stood another soldier, his firearm strapped in its holster. Hina gave an inward sigh at the next fight coming up. When the man spotted Hina, he didn't draw his weapon. She approached him in small, non-threatening steps.

The man had a youthful face and close-cropped hair, and he kept his hands at his sides. A radio hung from his belt. Hina heard shouts and orders.
Girl, intruder
, and
monster
were repeated several times. She took offense to the last word.

A meter from the stairs, and the young soldier did nothing to block her way. "Aren't you going to try to stop me?" Hina asked, curious.

The man shook his head and stepped away, offering her unobstructed access. "I saw the extinguisher bit, and I've been hearing the reports on the radio. If a bullet can't stop you, there's no way I can." His demeanor wasn't afraid, more like a gentleman offering a lady to go through the door first.

She almost laughed out loud but thought it would be inappropriate. "You'll probably get in trouble from your boss," she said. The young soldier shrugged, as if that was the least of his worries. His nonchalance amused Hina, the man seemed genuinely friendly and she didn't want to get him in trouble. "Give me your gun," she said, holding out her hand.

He paused, suspicion clouding his expression, he shrugged and complied. She grabbed the grip in her left hand and the barrel in her right. With minimum strength and a slight squealing of metal, she bent the barrel downwards. She handed it back to the stunned soldier. "If anyone asks, you tried your best to stop me. It will be our secret."

The man chuckled and smiled at her, which she returned. She climbed the stairs to the landing on A deck. She stopped at the sealed door. She put both hands on the door and pushed. Her fingers sunk into the metal like it was a pillow, the steel rectangle now concaving. The screech of metal rose in pitch, followed by a snap as the lock busted, then the pings of breaking hinges. The door rocketed away. It landed a second later with a distant crash.

Voice said, "Hina. I have to explain. Shimizu has kept the crew alive. He needs them to operate a vessel of this size, and so shall we. No one knows we are off route. This vessel was designed to operate for almost a year before returning to port. The original mission duration was over six months. Our best bet is to retake the sub and pilot it home. There is also the added danger of what will happen if this vessel is damaged. I'm a battle suit, not scuba gear. The temperature and pressures will not kill you. A lack of oxygen, however, will."

Voice likes to lay it on thick, doesn't he?
Hina thought. Out loud she said, "Don't punch any holes in the sub. Got it."

"Hina, I'm serious. If—"

She cut him off. "We'll make it, Voice. Won't we?"

His tone held hope and affirmation. "Yes, we will."

Halfway down the corridor she encountered Fujiya.

CHAPTER 29

Shimizu and Ekimori stood around the lighted table. "Take us to these coordinates." Shimizu pointed to a spot on the topographical transparency of the ocean floor.

"What's there?" the captain asked, confused. It wasn't anywhere near the Arctic.

"A one-hundred billion yen hole in the Earth," he said. "Go there." He gave the captain fish credit when his coordinates weren't questioned a second time. Ekimori relayed them to helm and navigation.

"And then?" the captain asked.

"We'll go down," Shimizu said.

— — —

Fujiya's bulk took up most of the corridor, she couldn't slip pass him. The alien stiffened his back and stood at military attention. "Volon Tru was my friend. He would have done his absolute best to try to stop me. Honor him, by doing the same."

The heartfelt message surprised Hina. It drove home an important point: this was the final. What happened next with Fujiya and Shimizu would determine the fate of her planet. There would be no second chance. She was trapped on a submarine, she couldn't run away like she had in the forest. Fujiya's words gave her an odd sense of comfort. She would do her best to save her planet.

He charged. Hina grabbed the pipe overhead and swung both feet out, catching the large alien in the chest. He sailed across the corridor. He flailed to catch hold of something. He hit the floor, but Hina was already on her feet. She sprung from her crouch and ran down a side corridor. She heard metal crashing and loud cursing.
Such human language
, she thought. She careened around another corridor.

The advantage of a submarine, even one as large as the
Kaiyou Infinity
, was that it was still cramped with limited space. Sound traveled well. Hina had no problem finding Fujiya. She saw him at one end of a corridor; he spotted her too, yelling as he rushed her. She did the same, leaping at the last moment. She drew her knees up and leaned back. She caught him in the upper chest, and they crashed to the floor. She straddled him and held his head in a vice grip between her thighs. He planted a boot in her upper back and pitched forward. She rolled onto the floor and shot to her feet.

Fujiya swung around to face her, the claws of one hand gouging long jagged trails into the wall. He uppercutted, but she dodged, and he hit a pipe, putting a massive dent into it. His roundhouse swing missed as well, and the impact off the metal hatch echoed in the corridor. He jabbed and she blocked it, then followed with a quick punch to his stomach followed by an uppercut of her own that snapped his head back. With Fujiya distracted, she twisted herself between him and the wall and maneuvered behind him. She blocked his elbow jab and kicked him in the knee. He went down to one leg, and she roundhouse kicked him in the head. His battle suit, as well as the natural thickness of his Noigel physiology, absorbed most of the impact, but it still sent him into the wall.

Hina wanted to run, but she couldn't. She needed to face him because she feared him. To overcome him, and that fear, would save her world.

Instead of running, she waited for him to get back on his feet. He charged and swung, she blocked and countered. The fight continued like a dance: they moved and shuffled, swinging their arms, kicking their legs, blocking and thrusting. The dull thuds of bodies hitting each other filled the air, along with the occasional clang of metal being dented and bent.

Hina wasn't a martial artist, she owed much to Voice. His battle programming directed her movements. She swung her arms, but his guidance made her strikes more precise. Her kicks were more lethal under his control, her blocks better timed thanks to his lightning-fast processing. She and Voice were working together.

Fujiya swung his upper body forward, his left hand shooting out in a forward punch. As Hina twisted out of the way, the door behind her swung open. She heard a voice call out, "What's going on?"

Fujiya couldn't stop. His momentum carried him forward, his arm level with the door's round window and the human man's head. The man was looking to his left, unaware of the punch coming his way. She pushed him out of harm's way a split second before Fujiya's fist exploded through the glass, sending shards and fragments tinkling onto the floor and against the walls. The man had been tossed to the other side of the room and lay on the floor in a tangle of limbs. Two other men were in the room as well, pressing against the walls to get as far from the door as possible.

Hina grabbed the top of the door and bent it down. The topmost hinge broke off the wall like a pretzel. The brief cry of metal was followed by Fujiya's yell of anger as Hina slammed the metal on his forearm. He stood there, left arm outstretched, trapped in the broken window like a cigar in a cutter. Before he could pull his arm free, Hina grabbed the top of the deformed door for support and swung her body up and to the side. She sidestepped against the opposite wall and pushed off, her right leg extended away from her and her left tucked in close. Her leg swung around, and her knee connected with the base of Fujiya's neck. His head slammed into the top edge of the door. The door couldn't handle Fujiya's weight and the power of Hina's super kick, and it broke away from the frame. Fujiya fell forward, his left arm crushed between the floor and the door while his body mass fell on top of it. His yell of pain boomed throughout the corridor.