The Girls From Alcyone (2 page)

Decades of disciplined training had kept him so lean and hard-muscled that he appeared to be chiseled from stone. He wasn't always horrible. He was actually often pleasant and nice to her, but right now, she hated him.

"You slow the progress of the entire group, young one," he scolded. "Do you think everyone will appreciate two extra laps around the track in the rain today because of you?"

No; that would only mean more beatings from the other girls. Even as he spoke, they stood by their bunks, regarding her with raw contempt.

"Come on, it won't be so bad," Suko said. She reached out a hand and yanked Sigrid out of bed.

Sigrid was a little in awe of Suko. She had such an easy grasp of things. She excelled in all their classes, especially math where Sigrid felt completely hopeless, and she never seemed to tire or falter during the brutal physical activities that made up much of their days. She was tall for her age, at least three inches taller than Sigrid, and very pretty. And all the girls liked her—something Sigrid couldn't even dream of.

"Less talking, more attention," Rosa said, pointing to the spots at the foot of the bed where he expected the girls to be standing. "All of you, two minutes to dress, then outside."

Sigrid groaned and her shoulders slumped. It was the same instruction every morning. The girls would run ten full circuits of the academy field, return to the dormitory, bathe, dress and be ready for a modest breakfast before the hours of lessons began. Tardiness and lack of cleanliness were not tolerated and always punished.

Sigrid couldn't believe she'd ever been excited about attending the Academy. It had all sounded so incredible back then—a trip in space, new friends, an entire new planet to explore. Now, Sigrid only wanted to be home in her own bed, to see her mother and father again. But that wasn't going to happen. The Kimura Corporation owned her and it was her duty to serve them, doing their bidding until her family's debt was repaid in full. The next years of her life would be much the same: lessons, training,
beatings,
more running and more lessons.

Sigrid had barely finished tying her bootlaces, still struggling to pull up her pants, when Suko pulled her by the hand. With Sigrid firmly in tow, Suko trailed the other girls heading for the training grounds outside.

A blast of rain greeted Sigrid as she left the dorm. The wet wind sent a chill through her, jarring her awake as it whipped at her hair and face.

"Nice day for it," Suko kidded.

Sigrid snorted a laugh. As miserable as she felt, Suko was always able to lighten her mood, and side by side, the two girls started off on their morning run.

The rain threatened to turn to sleet, or even snow, in the late winter cold, making the muddy ground icy and slick. Sigrid's legs felt weak and her shoes skidded in the slush. She feared she might fall and muddy herself—that would be just great—but Suko steadied her.

The training area was in the center of a large courtyard, framed by the four main buildings that made up the Academy. The buildings were all two-story structures with tiled, pointed roofs, connected by a six-meter-high wall that wound its way around the entire perimeter. Outside the walls, the high, snowcapped peaks of the Northern Mountains loomed on all sides. There were no roads leading to the Academy; the only way in and out was by air.

Sigrid heard one of the instructors shout, "Move it, ladies," as she forced one tired foot in front of the other.

"Come on, you'll feel better after
brekkie
," Suko said, treating Sigrid to an encouraging smile.

The other girls lapped Sigrid—some more than once—as she hobbled along unsteadily. By the time she reached the dormitory she was soaked and frozen, her lips blue. The other girls were already bathed and eating—all except Suko, who stayed with her until she was washed and dressed.

She was late for breakfast, of course, and extra lessons were assigned to the entire class as punishment. Sigrid knew her
real punishment
would come later, delivered by the other girls. She didn't know what form it would take, but her classmates would make her pay, just as they always did. She could see them already sizing her up, figuring out how best to make their feelings known.

Her answer came that night. She had just finished brushing her teeth and was making her way back to her bed when one of the girls thrust out a foot to trip her. Another girl pushed her roughly from behind sending Sigrid tumbling to the floor, scattering her towel and toiletries. The other girls gathered in a crowd, laughing at her.

Sara stood over her. Her thin brown hair hung loose over her face, and she pulled it back behind her ears as she sneered at Sigrid. "Why is it that y
ou're
the slowest, but
we
always get punished?"

Sigrid knew there was no right answer—a sarcastic answer came to her lips, but she didn't have the courage to utter the words. Instead, Sigrid ignored her and began gathering up her dropped items. Sara kicked them away and pushed her back down.

"Come on. Get up," Sara said, challenging her.

Sigrid was too weary to fight back. The outcome seemed inevitable, Sara would pummel her, as she always did. Sigrid just wanted them to go away. She hated the school and she hated them. She wanted to go home. Her sudden burst of tears took her by surprise, only deepening her embarrassment and humiliation.

"Crybaby," Sara spat. She went to kick her again, but she suddenly found herself sprawling as Suko pushed her from behind.

Sara leapt to her feet and spun around, charging back, but Suko stepped forward, placing herself between Sigrid and the other girls. There was a warning tone in her voice when she said, "Leave her alone!"

"Why do you always stand up for her?"

Suko didn't answer; her fists were clenched and her chest rose and fell quickly. Someone tried to grab her arms, but she elbowed the girl in the stomach, then punched another of Sigrid's tormentors in the face. Blood flowed freely from the girl's broken nose as she ran away crying and cursing.

The other girls backed away, eyeing the trail of blood between the bunks. Suko gave them as menacing a look as her eleven-year-old
body could muster. She helped Sigrid up from the ground and picked up the towel, soap and toothbrush from where they lay scattered.

"Thanks," Sigrid said. She was suddenly very aware of the tears on her face and she tried to wipe them away quickly, as if that would hide them.

"Bunch of fuckwits, all of them," Suko said as she led Sigrid back to her bed. "I don't know what their problem is."

"Me," Sigrid said with a little shrug.

Suko laughed and hugged her. "You have to fight back. She's just a bully. They all are."

"I know." Sigrid blew her nose loudly in her sleeve and sniffed. "But there are a lot of them."

"Yeah, but they'll always have to go through me."

CHAPTER THREE

Bullies

From The Journal of Dr. Lisa Garrett

July 11, 2343

RE: Project Andraste

Dear Hitomi-san,

I write to you, even though I know, as always, that these letters won't get to you until after the fact.

I am pleased to report that all the girls are responding well to the Genetic Recombinant, with no signs of ill effects and
no
signs of rejection. Please inform Dr. Wolsey of that for me—I'm sure we'd both enjoy seeing the man eat a little crow for once. It seems clear now that we were correct in our selection of the subjects, all of whom show a similar genetic predisposition to the Recombinant. We have already monitored a tremendous increase in aptitude, intelligence, strength and reaction time. Felix seems to have his hands full. Thank you for that recommendation by the way. The man is a godsend and I'm not sure where I'd be without him.

We are still years away from introducing any of the bionics or the Control Module, but I'm pleased to say that the foundation is being laid.

I just wish you were here to see what we've accomplished. You deserve as much credit as anyone in this.

Yours truly,

Lisa

* * *

Sigrid felt completely self-conscious and was having trouble maintaining her focus. She couldn't stop thinking of the thirty girls, all watching her, waiting for her to fail. She really needed to focus more on the girl standing across the mat from her.

The girls sat in a large circle on the padded floor of the gymnasium. They were all dressed in the same
judogi
—the loose, belted coats and trousers—that Rosa had them wear for their martial
arts classes. Rosa's belt was black, although the girls all wore belts of different colors and grades. Months of relentless training and instruction still found Sigrid stuck at yellow. Despite Suko's extra help and tutoring, Sigrid knew the other girls were leaving her behind.

Today they were studying an ancient form of Jujitsu, and it was Sigrid's turn on the mat. Her opponent was a much taller girl named Mei. Sigrid liked her well enough, although she'd like her a whole lot more if Mei would stop beating her with the wooden katana she held.

"This is Jujitsu, Ms. Novak, not arm-wrestling," Rosa chided. "You must use your opponent's force
against
her."

Sigrid frowned—he could say the same thing over and over, but it wasn't helping. Sigrid was unarmed while the other girl had a sword. She couldn't take her eyes off the thing, dreading yet another walloping.

"You must
draw
her into your sphere of defense."

Sigrid thought Mei was doing a pretty good job in her sphere… "But—"

"Again!" Rosa said, clapping his hands as he backed away from the center of the mat.

Sigrid failed to evade the first attack and paid for it with a bloodied lip. One of her teeth felt loose, as well. She touched the back of her hand to her swollen mouth and it came back red. Her opponent took some pleasure in this and gave her a menacing smile before launching another swing at Sigrid's face.

The speed of the attack took Sigrid by surprise—but she somehow managed to parry the thrust this time, lashing out with her own leg and kicking Mei in the sternum. Mei stumbled backward, but came rushing back at Sigrid with a wild over-the-shoulder chop. Sigrid sidestepped the swing and clamped down hard on Mei's wrist, twisting as hard as she could. The
bokken
fell to the ground.

Mei looked completely surprised. Clearly annoyed, the older girl grabbed at Sigrid's wrist, but Sigrid brought her hand, palm-up, twisting and thrusting down, breaking the grip before landing a solid blow to Mei's chin. Even Sigrid gasped, surprised at her own skillful execution of the move.
I'm winning!
she realized. Her heart beat faster; she'd never beaten anyone—ever!

Sigrid grabbed for the girl's collar and kicked hard at her ankles. She pushed with all her strength, determined to knock her down, but Mei was far bigger and stronger. Sigrid's clumsy attempt at brute force failed and Mei pushed her backwards, planting her foot hard in her stomach. The attack sent Sigrid tumbling onto her rear, winded.

Mei fell upon her instantly. Thoughts of a
victory
were quickly dashed as Sigrid tried desperately to block the fists that flew at her face. Mei landed several blows, bruising her further and bloodying her nose.

Then Suko surprised all of them. She leapt up and grabbed Mei by the collar, hauling her off Sigrid; who was now completely shocked as well as shaken—the girls were
never
to interfere with another match.

"Ms. Tansho!"
Rosa bellowed. All the girls froze. "This is not your fight."

"But she was—"

"Ten laps around the compound."

After a quick, worried look to Sigrid, Suko bowed to Rosa and darted off to do her laps. The other girls grew quickly silent, fearful that Rosa might send them out to run more laps as well.

Rosa clapped his hands and gestured for the girls to continue. Sigrid couldn't believe what Suko had just done for her—she fretted her friend would get in terrible trouble. She was still watching Suko jog away when Mei charged and flattened her with a diving tackle. Mei seemed in no hurry to get off her, either, as she lay on top of her, crushing her chest.

"You have no focus, young one," Rosa barked. "Ten laps for you, so that you may think about your failure."

Sigrid groaned and tried to pull herself out from under the older girl who was making things as difficult as possible. She heard a pleased snicker from Sara.

Mercifully, Rosa also heard it. "And you may join her as well, Ms. Skarsden, since you find this so amusing. Ten laps—
go
!" Sara mouthed several curses, but stood and bowed to Rosa before slinking off to join Suko and Sigrid on their run of shame. "All of you—you
must
learn that when one of you falters, you all falter. Ten laps each."

The girls sat stunned for a moment.

Rosa clapped his hands so loudly it sounded like he'd fired a shot. "Go!"

The girls moved slowly to their feet, bowed and skulked off, none of them daring to groan or complain.

Sara caught up to Sigrid easily, and slowed, glaring at her. Sigrid saw the hate in her eyes; she knew Sara was plotting something particularly foul.

Sigrid didn't expect it to come so soon, though, as someone pushed her hard from behind. She almost caught her footing, but a loose rock was her undoing and she stumbled sideways. Sara clinched it by giving Sigrid an extra shove and she skidded hard to the ground, face first, skinning her knees and the palms of her hands. The cut on her lip reopened and she tasted blood and dirt.

As Sigrid lay there, she thought the ground felt oddly comfortable. If only she could just lie there for a moment. She rolled onto her back and found herself staring up at Suko; her head blocked out the sun, creating a halo around her black hair and ponytail.