The Ninth: Invasion (6 page)

“I’m guessing there won’t be any maid service on this trip,” Cain said, clearing a bunk he had selected.

“I’ve had worse,” Owen said with a smile.  “Not much, but worse.”

“I can see why Tyra wasn’t looking forward to returning,” Sanderson said with a shudder.  “Ronald, do you know any details about the Governor and his wife?”

“Not many.  She generally doesn’t like to talk about her life before she arrived at the academy.  All I know is that she is embarrassed by her father and despises her mother.”

“I’d be careful if I was you,” Cain warned as he sat on his bunk.  “I think momma’s got plans for you,”

The bunk immediately gave way, crashing to the floor.  When the surprise faded, Cain burst into laughter.

“Do you happen to know her name?”  Dante shuddered.  “I don’t even want to think what would happen if we referred to her as ‘momma’ at dinner.”

“Probably best to call her Mrs. Lucchesi, or just stick with ma’am,” Sanderson said as he tested his own bunk.  “Might be wise to go so far as Governess.  They seem to be
big
on appearances here.”

“What was your first hint?” Humphrey mumbled with a smile.  “The jewel encrusted
thrones
were a dead giveaway for me.”

“I didn’t know your last name was Murdock,” Owen said casually.  “You don’t happen to be related to
the
Murdocks, do you?”

“Afraid so,” Ronald said, dusting off his own bunk.  “Hope this doesn’t color your opinion of me.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Owen said with a smile.  “My family’s got yours beat.  I’ve got stories that’d make even
you
turn green.  We’ve changed since back then.  Been farmers for five generations now.  Wouldn’t hurt a fly.  Maybe one of those blasted buzzards that harass us around harvest but nothing more than that.  If
we
can get out of the shadows of our ancestors, anyone can.”

“I don’t believe it,” Dante said in surprise as he looked Owen over.  “You’ve never mentioned you came from a famous family before.”

“We don’t like to talk about it much, but I’ve got my own reasons.  Not sure how Hiroko would take it if she knew.”

“Are you kidding?” Dante asked in honest surprise.  “She’d probably love the idea of dating a guy from a well-known family, even one with a checkered past.”

“Wait, you two are dating now?” Brent asked.

“The two have been thick as thieves since the exams.  During training she knocks them down and he fixes them up. ”  Dante started chuckling.  “They make quite the pair.”

“You guys are as bad as the girls,” Doug said, sitting on a collapsed bunk.

“Could be worse.”  A lanky trooper spoke whom Brent had a hard time placing.  “Penny won’t stop talking about how brilliant Brent is.  She and Liz argue constantly about who’d make the best match for him.”

“So you
do
speak!” Cain said with a grin.

“Infiltration training.”  The trooper smiled back.  “Being a loud mouth isn’t exactly encouraged.”

“So, do we call you Mr. Sneaky, or do you have a proper name?” Sanderson asked.

“Oh, I like that!”  Cain burst into laughter.  “I hereby dub thee Mr. Sneaky!”

“Frank Springate.  Although I don’t really care what you call me.  I’m just along for the ride.  Penny convinced me to tag along; had no idea I’d be planetside so soon after signing up.  Have to admit the Gauntlet was the most fun I’ve seen in years, so overall I’m happy she talked me into it.”

“I remember you now,” Humphrey mumbled.  “That Williams girl introduced you.  You certainly don’t make much of an impression.  I had nearly forgotten you were part of the squad.”

“I’ll pass that along to my instructors.  In infiltration we call that a complement,” he said with a slight nod.

“Before someone asks, could we
pretend
to be men for a minute and not ask him if he has feelings for Penny?”  Doug groaned.  “This whole focus on relationships is starting to make me sick.”

“What’s your problem with a little investigating?” Cain asked with a grin.  “Don’t tell me you’ve got some kind of unrequited love or something.”

“Don’t make me barf,” Doug groaned more than said.  “I’ve been in the same division as Liz and Marie for far too long.  After that morning when Brent met the pair, they haven’t stopped talking about it.  Before long, he was all my division talked about.  Rumors they’d heard about what he’d done and possible parings.  The entire division was reduced to little schoolgirls playing gossip and matchmaker.  I can’t take it any more.”  Doug let out a long drawn-out sigh.

“I knew he was popular,” Humphrey mumbled, “but I had no idea it was
that
bad.”

“Tell me, Mr. Sneaky, do you have feelings for the fair Penny?” Cain asked in a feminine voice, obviously taunting Doug.  “We are all just
dying
to know.”

The squad burst into laughter as Doug started pounding his head against a cockeyed bedpost.  Getting settled hardly took any time, as no one dared take out any personal possession in such a run down shack.  Leaving the stuffy building, they watched the Protectorates spar for a while.

“They are giving me an idea,” Cain said at last.  “Owen, you said your family was worse than Ronald’s back in the day, right?”

“Why do you ask?”  Owen raised an eyebrow.

“Did you have any special training?  Any secret techniques passed down generation to generation?”

“You’ve been watching too many 3Ps.  We are farmers, not ninjas.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Well, my grandpa would occasionally try to teach us something, but it never made any sense to me, and dad absolutely forbade all fighting.  I had to agree to avoid combat training for my dad to even let me sign on to the military.  Come to think about it, my dad would probably skin me alive if he knew I went through a combat exam twice.”

“Then it’s settled.  Ronald, how do you feel about a practice match before dinner?”

“Now, wait just a minute,” Owen protested.  “I never agreed to anything like that!  Weren’t you listening?  My dad would kill me.”

“Then it is a good thing we are on the other side of the Commonwealth,” Cain said with a devious grin.  “Think about it.  We already know Ronald is tough.  Cassandra told me he once beat the tar out of a trooper from the SW.  You are bound to lose, but there’s no shame in being beaten by someone so skilled.”

“So what’s the point in us sparring in the first place?” Owen asked.  “For a bookie, you are doing a terrible job on selling this proposition.”

“You wound me!”  Cain staggered back a step as if physically struck.  “Well, we have nothing better to do, and I for one am interested to see exactly how well your family lineage stacks up against Ronald’s.”

“He does have a point,” Humphrey mumbled.

“What point is that?” Owen asked, surprised.

“We have
absolutely
nothing to do.”  Sanderson yawned, still managing to look poised despite it.

“Fine, I give,” Owen said, tossing his hands up.  “But when this is over, one of you is taking on the victor.  If I have to entertain everyone, we all have to take turns.”

“Sounds fair to me.”  Doug jumped up and started stretching for a match.  “Plus it would be nice to do something besides talking about our
feelings
,” he added in the same feminine voice Cain had used.

The squad laughed as Owen hesitantly took up a position opposite Ronald.  Ronald took a complicated stance that demonstrated his years of training.  Owen tried to make sense of the odd stance, studying the one outstretched arm while the other hung limp with his legs rigid.  Owen stood normally, shaking just a bit – suddenly regretting agreeing to the whole thing.

“Let’s get this makeshift tournament started!” Cain shouted.

The volume of his voice surprised everyone.  Even some of the Protectorates stopped what they were doing in surprise from the sudden burst.  Despite what Cain said, neither party moved.  Owen and Ronald continued to stare each other down, neither taking a single step toward the other.  A small crowd of Protectorates gathered around the idle match.

“Well, someone do
something
,” Doug said impatiently.

Ronald shrugged and moved toward Owen.  Owen raised his fists in defense but didn’t move.  Cain burst into laughter as they were once again staring each other down, Ronald a single step closer.

“What’s the commotion about?” Tyra asked, with the rest of the squad following behind her.

“We’re having an impromptu tournament,” Cain answered with a grin.  “If they ever actually start that is.”

“Is that Owen fighting?” Hiroko asked in surprise.

Owen took his attention off Ronald for a second as he looked toward the approaching girls.  Ronald launched his attack at his distracted opponent.  He easily swept Owen’s feet out from under him.  As Owen started to fall, Ronald swung his right hand with incredible speed.  Brent couldn’t believe his eyes.  Owen moved even faster than Ronald had, grabbing the striking fist and swinging himself around.  Using his weight as he fell, Owen caught Ronald off balance and forced him to the ground.  Ronald hit the ground face first, Owen on his back.  Ronald was pinned with his right arm behind his back.  Owen was as surprised as Ronald was.

“Guess I did learn something from gramps after all,” Owen chuckled nervously.

The squad and the Protectorates stared at him in amazement.  As he helped Ronald up, Doug quickly took his place.  When their match started, Doug rushed him.  Taken by surprise, Owen closed his eyes.  In an instant, Doug was pinned on the ground in the exact same fashion.  Brent felt a hand on his back.  Without warning he was being shoved into the next match with Owen.  Cain started the match and Owen tensed.  Brent rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking things over.  Calmly, he slowly approached Owen.  He smiled as he put a hand gently down on nervous young man’s shoulder.  Owen looked at the hand confused, completely at ease.  With the hand on his shoulder, Brent casually pushed Owen over.  He simply fell on his back without a fight.  Cain burst into laughter.

“What was
that
?” Hiroko shouted.

“Leave it to Brent to do something outlandish.”  Kindra started laughing alongside Cain.

“But he defeated
Ronald
.”  Erin was almost shouting in disbelief.  “How could Brent just push him over?”

“Simple.”  Brent helped Owen up.  “His amazing defense is a reflex.  He can’t use it by himself.  He has to be taken by surprise for it to work.”

“How’d you know that?” Doug asked, rubbing his shoulder.

“It was obvious.”  Brent shrugged.

Most of the squad broke into laughter.  The gathered Protectorates didn’t know what to think about what they’d just seen.

“Okay, who’s up next?” Cain asked.

The squad exchanged glances.

“Oh, come on,’ Cain pressed.  “Surely someone has the guts to at least try a match with Brent.”

“I’ll do it,” Doug said.

“You’ve already had your chance.”  Cain shook his head at Doug.  “We need a new challenger.”

“What about Frank?” Penny asked.  “Back in the SW he was the best in singles combat.”

“Perfect!  Mr. Sneaky, if you’d please.”  Cain gestured toward Brent.

Penny giggled at the nickname as the lanky trooper shrugged and took his position.  Brent used everything he had learned back in the academy to take a solid defensive stance.  When Cain began the match, Frank moved with amazing speed.  Brent realized in an instant he was completely out matched.  Frank feinted to the right as he landed a punch squarely against Brent’s left leg.  He backed away from Frank, trying to ignore the pain.  Behind his opponent, he noticed a familiar face in the gathering of Protectorates.  It was the young boy he had helped.  The boy was silently rooting for him, his fists clenched so tightly the knuckles were turning white.  Frank attacked again.  The feint was to the right, so Brent moved to dodge a blow from the left.  To his surprise, Frank quickly struck his right leg.  The feint wasn’t a feint but the real strike.  Brent tried to keep his distance as Frank continued to press the attack.  He started to notice a pattern as Frank landed one blow after another.

The feints were random, but Frank always attacked in the same pattern, left, right, left, left, and right – always aiming for the legs.  Frank’s torso would shift with incredible speed at the last second as he attempted to keep his true target a secret until the last possible moment.  Aiming so low tended to expose Frank’s head.  Brent suddenly had an idea.  Frank feinted to the left.  He knew from the pattern the true attack was coming from the right.  He quickly thrust out his left elbow.  As Frank shifted his torso to strike at Brent’s right leg, his chin impacted the exposed elbow.  Frank let out a yelp of pain as he fell to the ground.  Brent spotted the young boy.  The boy was on the verge of shouting in triumph.  As he helped Frank to his feet, he was still rubbing his jaw.

“Somehow, I think our tournament is over,” Marie said.

“Don’t think we’ll find a volunteer after
that
,” Cain said, unconsciously massaging his own jaw.