Fighting Chance (6 page)

Mahoney’s eyes lit up with excitement. She was a naturally
athletic woman and craved the rush that she got whenever she performed crazy
stunts or stepped into the ring. What with all of the wildly swinging emotions
and the intense sexual tension between her and her captor, she was more than
ready to burn off some energy. She almost bounced as they followed behind him
through the door.

The room was large and open, much like a small school
gymnasium. The floor was firm, but made of the same springy material of her
bedroom, and it felt good under her restless feet. The noises of grunts, metal
clanging against metal, and the smell of testosterone-laden sweat had her
jazzed up and she couldn’t wait to see what kind of training equipment they
used. Mikael came to a stop a few yards inside the door and surveyed the scene
in front of them while the women flanked him on each side.

“Oh, my,” breathed Jessica, her hand fluttering at her throat.

“Oh, yeah,” Mahoney added, her body eager for a challenge.

The scene could have come from the set of any of their
movies that they’d seen or worked on. At least a dozen warriors, all of them
shirtless, bronzed, and bursting with muscle, were sparring with each other or
with life-like, white plastic androids. Some of them brawled with their big
fists, and others were dripping blood from slashes received during a fight with
wickedly curved swords. Some of the men were distracted, much to their physical
detriment, by the sight of two beautiful humans and their commander. It didn’t
take long for each warrior to come to a standstill and stare at their audience.

Mikael held his body in a dominating and authoritative
stance, his muscles popping and his face stern. “I would like to introduce
Katsuko Mahoney and Jessica MacGregor. I present them so that you all may know
that they are under my protection and you are to guard them as you would me. Do
I make myself clear?” his voice boomed across the room causing a faint echo to
bounce off the walls.

As one unit, all of the warriors clasped their hands in a
fist to the heart and bellowed, “HOO-AHH! YES, COMMANDER!”

He relaxed his rigid posture and announced, “At ease!” The
men all immediately picked up where they left off with only the occasional
furtive glance back at the women.

Mikael watched Mahoney’s face and saw the longing and
tightly-wound energy coursing through her body. She was beautiful and fierce,
and he was utterly fascinated by her. Leaning his head down closer to hers, he
asked, “Would you like to train, Katsuko?”

“God, yes!” the words burst from her lips, her feet already
moving her from side to side in a loose jog.

The deep bass rumble of his laughter sent chills skittering
up her arms. “Do you prefer a training bot to begin with or would you like a partner?”

Mahoney was already striding across the open space to stake
a claim in an empty spot. “Neither just yet, I think,” she called out absently.

Jessica and Mikael watched her as she stretched and warmed
up her muscles for several minutes and then did breathing exercises for a few
more. When she jogged in place and shook her arms out, Mikael was appreciative
of the sight of her lithe body. But when Mahoney began to move, her arms
snapping and feet lifting to kick above her head, he was mesmerized. Her
movements were fluid, controlled, and deadly. She seemed to have disappeared
into a world of her own as she changed styles to a new one that was similar,
but different to the snake fighting he had watched earlier.

“Which one is this?” he asked Jessica, who was still
standing at his side watching with him.

Jessica studied her for a few more moments, before she
answered, “This one is called white crane Kung Fu. It’s similar to the snake,
but if you watch closely, you can tell the difference. Look at her hands when
she punches. Do you see how her five fingers come together at a point? That is
to simulate a bird’s beak. When she is doing the snake, her thumb nestles
between her middle finger and ring finger to form a snake’s head.” She showed
him her own hand as an example. “I’ve been to a few of her matches, so I’ve
gotten pretty good at telling them apart,” she added to her explanation.

He nodded thoughtfully, too absorbed in her graceful
movements to take his eyes away from her. He wasn’t the only one, either.
Slowly, one by one, the warriors dropped all pretense of ignoring her and
instead crowded closer to watch her curiously. Mahoney didn’t even notice. She
was so focused on her training that she didn’t realize she had become the
center of attention.

Their murmurs and hushed questions started out as a low
background music to the sounds of Mahoney’s breathy exhales and the sounds of
her feet hitting the floor. The chatter soon swelled until Mikael could hear
their exclamations. “What new training is this?” and “How does she move so
quickly?” and still others watched her movements with lust in their eyes.

Finally, one brave warrior raised his voice above the
others. “Commander, what is this woman doing on the training floor?”

Mahoney executed one last roundhouse kick before she came to
rest to face the crowd. Mikael answered, “Katsuko Mahoney is a trained warrior
on her home world. I have invited her to participate in our exercises. If you
watch her closely, you may even learn something.” His tone was light, but not
teasing.

The brave warrior stepped forward, his skin coated with
sweat and veins pulsing on his arms. “What could we learn from a female this
small? Her odd dancing would be no match against the strength of a T’Kalan
warrior.”

Mahoney rounded her body to face the speaker. He was big,
maybe 6’3”, and full of the confident swagger that made her itch for a fight.
“I think I just found my first sparring partner,” she announced, a feral smile
tipping up her lips. Looking to Mikael, she asked, “Do you have any boxing tape
or fist wraps?”

Mikael couldn’t hide his excitement and pride as he directed
Jessica over to the replicator with whispered instructions. A few moments
later, she raced across the floor to place a small bundle in Mahoney’s hands.
With practiced efficiency, she wound the flexible material around her hands
until she was satisfied with the results and then tossed the roll back over to
her friend.

The warrior appealed to his superior. “Commander, I do not
wish to harm your female. You know how we train. If I were to inadvertently
hurt her, it could go badly for both of us.”

Mikael’s jaw clenched, but he replied, “Katsuko will not
pull her punches, so I do not expect you to do so, either. If she gets hurt,
there will be no disciplinary repercussions. Do not hold back. That is an
order, warrior.”

Mahoney flashed him a dazzling smile full of gratitude. She
was humbled by his faith in her fighting skills. Turning back to the hulking
warrior, she promised, “Don’t worry, big guy. I’ll go easy on you.”

As they began to face off with each other, circling and
looking for an opening, another voice called out, “I would reconsider, if I
were you, Zandar. You have not seen speed such as hers before.”

Mahoney spared the speaker a quick glance, but she
recognized him all the same thanks to the distrustful pale gray eyes. A wicked
chuckle bubbled up from her chest as she called out, “How’s the chest wound,
buddy?”

A low growl from his corner failed to ruffle her nerves.
Zandar, watching her feet closely, announced, “Enough of this. Let us end this
quickly.”

Zandar moved in, his huge arms swinging for Mahoney’s face,
but she bobbed and weaved effortlessly to avoid each hit. Catching his right
arm in a hook with one leg, she used the downward momentum to swing her other
foot around to crash into the side of his head. He hit the ground hard while
she danced backward, waiting for him to recover.

Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, he stumbled to
his feet and roared a challenge. His rage made him careless as he barreled
toward the smaller human. Every time he swung, Mahoney was there, under his arm
to deliver a punishing blow to his stomach or a sharp jab to his neck. His
frustration continued to mount as she evaded his every move, dancing forward to
sting at him with kicks and punches, before ghosting away out of reach.

She was barely breaking a sweat while Zandar wheezed like a
bellows. When she hooked her foot behind his to send him crashing to the floor
for the third time, she said, “Are you done playing around now? I’m getting
bored.”

Icy brown eyes met hers and he snarled with injured pride.
He hauled himself to his feet again and staggered around her, looking for an
opening. He made to dive for her middle and Mahoney lifted her foot to deliver
a downward chop. When her foot was halfway down, he swung his torso under her
foot to come up standing on the other side. He caught her heel in one hand and
grinned evilly. Before he could revel in his victory however, she used his hand
as a fulcrum to jump up with the other foot and flip backward out of his reach.
He followed after her and she stepped into his body, grabbed his right arm with
both of hers, and used her forward momentum to bring his arm with her as she
swung around to his back. She rode his body down to the ground, twisting him
arm up higher, and landed astride him as he hit the floor. A sickening pop made
Jessica stifle a scream that was drowned out by the sound of Zander’s pained yell.

Mahoney stood quickly and backed away, her body in full
fight mode. When it was clear he wouldn’t be getting back up, she glared at the
speechless warriors and demanded, “Who’s next?”

The men looked at each other warily, none of them especially
eager to fight the woman. Finally, Mahoney rolled her eyes and pointed into the
crowd. “You and you. Let’s go.”

Reluctantly, the two men stepped forward, shooting worried
looks at the commander. When he just raised his eyebrow expectantly, they
assumed a position in front of her several feet apart. After a respectful bow,
she arranged herself in a fighting stance with legs open and crouched and her
right elbow resting on her left arm and her hand in the form of a snake’s head.

Mikael’s eyes lit up with anticipation. The two warriors
watched her warily as her hand weaved back and forth as if searching for a
target. While their eyes were distracted, Mahoney launched into an attack. Her
pointed jabs were lightning fast as she snuck under their swings to zip in and
land punishing blows to the chi point below one of their Adam’s apple while
swinging her foot to the side to catch the other in his stomach. They redoubled
their efforts to catch her while she whipped and struck just out of their
reach.

After five more minutes of fruitless endeavors, one of the
men called out to her, “You wouldn’t be so lucky if you were up against our
blades.”

Mahoney stopped and arched an eyebrow. Before she could
reply, however, Mikael ordered, “Arm her with a weapon.”

The men murmured and exchanged excited glances while a young
warrior trotted over to a case that displayed several different types of
swords, daggers, and blades of all lengths and sizes. He picked up several
different ones, testing their weight, until he found the ones he wanted. The
blades were identical, curved, and wickedly sharp at over two foot in length.
The handles were worn smooth from use, but still solid. He trotted back over to
Mahoney and presented them to her for her approval. She weighed them in each
hand and gave them an experimental swing before nodding affirmatively.

“Oh, man. Shit’s about to get real!” Jessica squealed as she
pivoted and trotted to the replicator. “Kitt, access the Earth database and
send the specifications for buttered popcorn and Diet Coke to the replicator.”

“Accessing. Specifications for snack food buttered popcorn
and carbonated soda have been sent,” he replied in crisp tones.

Jessica retrieved her snack and took a seat on the
sidelines, her eyes wide and expectant. Mikael didn’t move a muscle. It took
every ounce of his control to keep from storming the floor and whisking his
little warrior out of harm’s way, but he resisted the impulse. His warriors
would not respect her and her skills should he intervene. He reminded himself
over and over that the medical unit was only a few rooms away should she be
wounded.

When the two men were armed with one lethally sharp blade
each, they faced off against their opponent. Mahoney was calm and still as she
struck a pose with one blade pointed over her head and the other extended from
her waist. With a fierce cry, she darted forward, her blades twirling and
flashing, as she engaged the warriors. Steel met steel with a spray of sparks
as she parried their thrusts and struck out toward their vulnerable spots. The
sounds of battle pierced the air as the men grunted and growled while Mahoney
shouted “Hai!” In a breathtaking move, she bent backward as the two swords
flashed mere centimeters above her face. Before they recovered their swings,
she dropped into Chinese splits and sliced two identical lines across each of
the warrior’s bellies. The cuts were shallow, but it achieved her purpose. Each
warrior stumbled back and hissed as blood seeped from their wounds to run down
their abdomens.

“First blood: Katsuko Mahoney!” Mikael boomed, pride evident
in his voice.

The warriors redoubled their efforts to score their own
hits, but they were no match for her speed and flexibility. Jessica sucked in a
shocked breath when one of the warrior’s blades sliced through Mahoney’s shirt
to leave a jagged cut, but no blood bloomed from the site. Within ten more
minutes, both men dropped their weapons, heaving with exertion and bleeding
from multiple wounds, and signaled defeat.

Mahoney, ever the professional, placed her right fist
against her open left palm and bowed low to each of them.  “It was honor to
train with you. You are fierce and worthy opponents.”