Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets (14 page)

Challenger after challenger faced
him, and each was taken out with machine-like precision.

She must not have noticed
Sebastian coming in, but suddenly he was at the front of the line.
David smiled, and took up his defensive stance, treating Sebastian
like any other. The other bouts finished, and all eyes were on this
matchup.

Word must have gotten around the
school, because more and more people poured in to watch. Aisha
found herself being pushed to the front.

David and Sebastian faced each
other across the mat. Diametric opposites, David stoic and focused,
Sebastian pandering to the crowd and posing.

Brashly, he turned his back on
David and gesticulated to the crowd, getting them to cheer. If
nothing else, Sebastian was quite the showman.

His eyes caught Aisha
’
s and he made the sign of drawing a finger across his
throat. He then pointed directly at her and smiled.

Some eyes slipped her way, but
when she tried to look at them, they
’
d
look away. Nobody wanted to be associated with
Sebastian
’
s enemy. She tried to slip away
through the crowd, but they pulled together, stopping her. Now his
plan was apparent. He
’
d beat David, and
then call her out.

He snarled a little and turned to
instantly attack David. The surprise didn
’
t work; David was ready for him. He parried the blow,
and turned to counter. Sebastian was ready for it, and met it with
a parry of his own. While David was momentarily stunned, Sebastian
turned his shoulder to hit David
’
s
jaw.

David was rocked backwards, and
Sebastian pressed the attack. David managed to hold him off,
parrying with desperation. Finally, he got a counter blow, which
hit Sebastian in the midriff. Sebastian grunted hard, and doubled
up.

Don
’
t be
fooled, David, Aisha almost screamed.

David came out of his stance and
approached Sebastian. “Are you okay?”

In a fluid flash, Sebastian turned
his bo lengthways and brought it up, hard and fast, directly into
David
’
s chin. The blow was so strong that
Aisha saw David leave his feet. He was instantly out. Sebastian
wasn
’
t taking any chances, and he swung a
haymaker, connecting with the side of David
’
s head.

David hit the ground, limp. His
body stiffened up, his hands forming claws. Aisha ran from the
crowd and dropped and cradled his head. She reached into his mouth
and grabbed his tongue, to prevent him from swallowing
it.

David opened his eyes, dazed.
“What--”

“
It
’
s
okay,” she said. “You
’
re going to be
okay.”

She turned to the crowd. “Somebody
call the infirmary!”

“
Oh look,” said Sebastian.
“Someone else on my mat. I guess that means you have to fight me,
Little Black Girl.”

He tossed her the bo.

“
Or are you afraid of your
superiors? There
’
s no shame in running
back to your little hole.”

“
He needs help!”

“
No, little girl,” snarled
Sebastian. “
You
do.”

Even though she was still
kneeling, cradling David
’
s head, Sebastian
swung at her. She ducked, but it wasn
’
t
enough to make him miss completely. The blow was like a bright
light, and she fell sideways, still cradling David
’
s head.

“
Nicely done,
”
mocked Sebastian,
“
but
there
’
s no
second-time lucky.
”

He lifted to swing again, but
before he could hit her, Aisha heard a voice.

“
No!”

A half-smile appeared on
Sebastian
’
s face. Patrice walked out of
the crowd onto the mat.

“
Enough,” he said. “David needs
help. And I am not going to let you just hit an unarmed
girl.”

“
The arm is right there. She can pick it up
if she wants,
”
mocked Sebastian.

“
No,
”
said Patrice, evenly.
“
Not today. This fight is over. Step
aside.
”

“
No way,” snarled Sebastian. “And
you know the rule. Step onto the mat, and you have to win
it.”

He tossed his Bo to Patrice, and
reached to pick up David
’
s one. He took
his defensive stance. “Let
’
s do
this.”

Patrice stood straight, looking
into Sebastian
’
s eyes.

“
I said
‘
No,
’
”
he said, trying to keep the emotion out of his
voice. Aisha could hear the undertone of anger.

He took the bo and snapped it over
his knee.

“
I am not doing this, Sebastian,”
he yelled. “Stop this, now!”

“
No,” said Sebastian, “not this
time.”

He swung, catching his new
opponent hard to the side of the head. Patrice staggered sideways,
and Sebastian hit him again, and again. A fourth hit, and Patrice
went down, dazed.

Sebastian stood over him and swung
the bo down, like an axe. Patrice rolled so it hit him on the side.
He tried to get to his feet, but Sebastian knocked him down again.
He swung low and wide, hitting Patrice on the chest.

Aisha heard him gasp, and the
cracking sound that could only be a broken rib. Patrice rolled onto
his knees, gasping in pain, and Sebastian hit him on the back of
the head. The force of the blow rolled him onto his
back.

His eyes met Aisha
’
s. She could see the pain there, the fear.

Sebastian saw it too. He prowled
around Patrice, twirling the bo over his head. “It
’
s so much better seeing you like this, Little
Patrice,” he said. “Good to see you going down, Little
Canuck.”

He was going to hurt Patrice.
Beating him wasn
’
t enough.

She had to
do
something.

The broken bo lay near her. A plan
formed in her mind.

It felt like time was crawling.
She watched as Sebastian raised his bo. Patrice lifted his hands --
part in defense, part in pleading.

She picked up the bo that Patrice
had snapped. The end was splintered badly.

Sebastian began
his downswing. Patrice
’
s eyes -- those beautiful eyes that were full of intelligence
and compassion -- widened in terror.

There was only one thing she could
do. It might be the end of her time in the school, but she
wasn
’
t going to let Sebastian hurt Patrice
any more.

With all her strength, she stabbed
Sebastian in the back of the knee with the splintered end of the
bo.

He screamed and broke his
swing.

With all her strength she twisted
the bo. She felt it splinter further, and heard the sound of
tendons ripping. Sebastian screamed and twisted around to see her.
She saw the snarl of hate and pain on his face. He tried to change
his swing to hit her, but she twisted the bo again.

“
No,” said Patrice. “Aisha,
don
’
t”

But she did. Lifting the bo with
all her strength, she pulled Sebastian
’
s
leg from under him. He passed out from the pain before he hit the
ground.

She looked back
at Patrice
’
s
eyes. She could see his pain. More than the broken ribs. More than
the blows he had received from Sebastian.

It
’
s what
she had done. It
’
s what she had gotten
herself into.

“
I’
m so
sorry, Patrice,” she said. “I
’
m just so
sorry.”

His eyes rolled, and his skin went
pale. “Aisha,” he said weakly.

“
I’
m
sorry, Patrice. I never knew this would happen.”

“
Aisha,
”
he said again, but his eyes rolled again and he
passed out.

Always remember that the
difference between an adult and a child, or the difference between
a human and an animal, is one’s willingness to take
responsibility.

By that I mean that you need to
own your situation. For good or for ill. Too many people are
extremely talented, and they think their talent is enough, and that
others will do whatever is necessary for everything to be
completed, freeing them up to express their talent in an optimal
way.

That is not taking responsibility.
My dear daughter, be responsible in everything that you do, from
the smallest detail to the biggest impact.

Be more like the uneducated,
unprivileged person who works hard to provide for their family,
than like the exceptional person who does well at everything, but
exudes disdain for everyone around them...

Of course, as soon as
it
was all over, the authorities came into the gym and started to
enforce some order.

“
You
’
re
too late,” said Aisha, her head spinning from the blows she had
received from Sebastian.

With her adrenaline surge coming
to an end, she just felt dizzy. Sleepy, even. She just wanted to
lie down. Soo-Kyung ran out of the crowd and cradled her head in
her arms.

“
Aisha,” she said, urgently. “Look
into my eyes.”

She tried, but her friend was
blurry. “Tired,” said Aisha. “Just want to sleep.”

“
No! Stay awake, stay with
me.”

A medic pushed Soo-Kyung aside and
started shining a light into Aisha
’
s eyes.
It hurt. It all seemed too far away, and she just decided to leave
them, to drift off and be comfortable.

“
Concussion,” said the medic. “Bad
one. Better get her to the infirmary. Try to keep her
awake.”

She felt a pinch on her arm.
Soo-Kyung pinching and twisting. It hurt. But she didn
’
t care.

“
I’
ll get
you for that,” she said, but wasn
’
t sure
if it was out loud. After that she felt herself floating away,
caring less and less, until everything turned black.

***

She woke in a strange bed, with a
strange face looking down at her. “You got a thick skull,
that
’
s for sure.”

“
Where am I?”

“
Infirmary. I
’
m Doctor Anderson. You came in last night with a
doozy of a concussion. Good news is we gave you a CAT scan, and
you
’
re all clear. Nothing to worry about.
Head wounds are weird like that. Sometimes life threatening,
sometimes just a good night
’
s sleep.
Luckily for you, you
’
re in the
latter.”

He spoke a lot, that doctor. After
a while, his words just blurred in her mind. She got the gist of
it. The blows from Sebastian
’
s bo were
enough to give her a concussion, but she wasn
’
t too badly hurt.

“
You
’
ll have a headache for a couple of
days, of course,
”
said Anderson, peering at her over the rims of his
glasses,
“
and
some light sensitivity. But you
’
ll be fine. You
’
re made of stern stuff, Miss
Parks.
”

“
Thanks,” she croaked. “My
friends?”

“
Which ones? The other concussions
or the mangled leg?”

“
Concussions.”

“
Ah, so the mangled leg was your
handiwork, was it? I heard a girl did it to him. His ego will never
live it down, but between you and me the little pillock had it
coming.”

She laughed a little.

“
I see,” he said, a mocking tone
in his voice. “Remind me to play poker with you some day. You are
so
easy to read.”

“
The others?”

“
Well, Mister Smith got the worst
of it. We brought him in at the same time as you”
--
he looked at his watch -- “a good eight hours ago,
and he hasn
’
t woken up yet. We gave him a
CAT scan, and there
’
re signs of brain
trauma. We just have to wait. Usually these things work themselves
out, but we have to wait and see.”

“
Oh, Patrice,
”
she said, not realizing it was out
loud.
“
I
’
m so
sorry.
”