Stars of Blood and Glory (19 page)

The young man leaped forward to strike, but
Roman parried and sidestepped easily, delivering a swift and
powerful counter. The man tried to dodge, but he was too slow. One
of the other soldiers, a white-haired corporal who looked about
Roman’s age, stepped forward with a yellow sash and swung it at the
floor. “Point!” he shouted, and the men cheered.

Rina folded her arms and watched in
interest as the match continued. The younger opponent circled at a
much further distance now, darting back and forth while Roman
assumed a more defensive stance. The young man lunged forward with
a jab, but Roman deflected it. He lunged forward with another jab,
then leaped out of range as Roman deflected it and attacked with a
counter. They circled each other again. Around the edges of the
mat, the men laughed and shouted boisterously, thoroughly
entertained.

Then, Roman sidestepped just as his opponent
lunged forward for another attack. He tried to leap back, but Roman
was already there. With one smooth cut across the floor, he swept
the man’s feet out from under him, then surged forward and jabbed
the end of his staff into the man’s stomach while he was down.
“Double point!” shouted the corporal, and the crowd erupted with
cheers.

Rina frowned. From her vantage point, it
looked as if the pujilion had stabbed through the man’s body and
into the floor. When Roman stood up, however, she saw that the foam
staff was actually collapsible—the younger soldier wasn’t hurt at
all. Roman bent down to help him up, and the two men touched
shoulders and slapped each other on the back in a show of good
sportsmanship.

“
Do we have another?” Roman
bellowed.

This time, a man about his size stepped
forward, tall and barrel-chested with arms almost as thick as
Rina’s waist. He took the staff by the center and whipped it
through the air, so fast that it practically whistled. The men
cheered, and the man assumed a fighting stance, knees bent with his
body low to the ground.

Roman held his pujilion at the ready, but
before he could make a move the man shouted and charged. The staffs
cracked again and again as they made contact, first one man
attacking, then blocking the return and launching into a
counterattack. Sweat streamed down their faces, and for a moment it
looked as if neither man would yield. Then, quick as a thought,
Roman saw an opening and lunged to the side, striking his opponent
in the stomach before he could block. “Point!” shouted the
corporal.

The two men took a step back and warily
circled each other. The soldiers shouted and cheered the fighters
on, some of them pulling out cash datachips and slapping them down
to make bets. Romans opponent gripped his staff with white-knuckled
hands, and with a resounding shout charged forward in another
attack.

The whip and crack of the pujilion staffs
mingled with the shouts from the crowd to fill the room with noise.
The two men bore down on each other with ferocious intensity,
neither one letting up. Eventually, the younger man forced Roman
back against the edge of the mats. Roman clenched his teeth and
tried to step aside, but his opponent gave him no opening. With
muscles straining and veins popping out across his arm, the man
gave one final shout and pushed Roman off of the mats entirely.
“Point!” shouted the corporal, and the crowd went wild.

Roman got back in the ring as quickly as he
had been knocked out, though. His opponent stepped back to allow
him on again, but before he could charge, Roman bellowed a deep
war-cry and lunged forward.

Once again, the two men surged to the attack,
staffs grinding against each other. Rina watched with interest as
they both started to stumble and show weakness. Roman dropped to
one knee, and a collective gasp arose from his men—but when his
opponent lunged in for the attack, he caught the man’s staff in
midair and twisted it, pulling the man down. As he crashed bodily
to the floor, Roman leaped to his feet and jabbed downward with
both staffs, screaming in victory.

“
Double point!”

The men around the circle leaped to their
feet and jumped up and down, cheering. It had become so wild in the
gymnasium, Rina wondered whether the men ever saw any other form of
entertainment on the ship.

“
Who is next?” Roman
bellowed.

None of the men stepped forward, though many
slapped their comrades on the back and tried to encourage them to
take the challenge. When she saw that no one would stand up to the
old man, Rina surprised herself and walked through the crowd and
into the circle.

“
Let me give it a try,” she
said.

Hoots and catcalls filled the air, but Roman
smiled in approval and tossed her the staff. She caught it and
whipped it back and forth between both hands, testing its weight
and balance. When she jabbed it in the floor, she was surprised to
find that it collapsed quite easily—and sprang immediately back to
shape.

Roman waited for her to face him, but when
she did, he lunged immediately forward in a ferocious thrust. Rina
ducked and leaped aside, but he anticipated her retreat and
adjusted his attack accordingly. Rina managed to deflect it, but he
forced her back until she practically tripped over the men, falling
out of the ring. They laughed and cheered, but helped her back to
her feet and slapped her on the back. “Point!” shouted the
corporal.

Rina stepped warily onto the mat. This time,
she moved too quickly for Roman to catch her. Anticipating his
thrust, she made to the right then darted to the left, ducking
beneath his counter and rolling to her feet behind him. He spun
around too quickly for her to take advantage of the distraction,
but she used the extra time to regain her bearings and get a sense
of the field. She held her staff behind her back as he turned
around to face, and when he charged her again, she spun into attack
and jabbed the staff into his side.

“
Point!” shouted the corporal,
and the crowd went wild.

Roman nodded to her in respect and took a few
steps back, assuming a defensive position. She circled him
cautiously, refusing to let him lure her into an attack. The
shouting of the crowd grew louder and more boisterous, but Rina
ignored it, focusing instead on her breathing and the feel of the
pujilion in her grasp.

Not bad for first time,
came an unspoken
voice in her head.
You fight well for an officer.

“
For an officer?” she said aloud,
but Roman was already lunging forward at her. Without thinking, she
dropped to one knee and pointed her staff straight at him. His blow
slapped her hard on the side, but his momentum threw him onto her
weapon. The men leaped to their feet and cheered louder than
ever.

The referee hesitated for a moment and
frowned. “Point each,” he finally ruled, waving the sash in the
air. “Sudden death!”

That was low,
Rina thought-spoke
through the datalink implant.

Roman chuckled and returned to
his defensive stance.
There are no rules in war,
he transmitted to her through his own
neural implants.
You must be like water, ever changing.

He lunged, and she deflected and sidestepped,
returning with a counter and leaping nimbly aside.

What game are you
playing?
she
asked, circling him again.

I am too old for games,
he answered, cutting
the air with a slice that passed only inches from her
face.

That should make you
predictable, then,
she said, spinning past him and dropping cat-like to dodge
another cut.

Perhaps,
he said, pressing her back with
a series of quick jabs.
But you do not get to be my age without learning
some very useful tricks.

As she tried to jump aside with a counter, he
let go of his staff and grabbed onto her own, wrenching it from her
grasp. He swung down to strike, but she dove between his legs and
rolled back to her feet behind him, spinning around on all
fours.

All around her, the men went crazy.
“Impressive,” Roman said aloud, then kicked up his own staff from
off the floor and tossed hers back to her. “We finish this fight
fair.”

You’re putting on good show for
the men,
he
thought-spoke to her as they circled each other again.
They have not seen
fight like this in many years.

Is that why you’re drawing it out?

Who is drawing it out?
he asked,
grinning.
I
am enjoying myself. Are you?

He faked a lunge and nearly caught her as she
dodged. Fortunately, she managed to get her staff up before he
struck her, and anticipated his follow up quickly enough to dart
aside.

Do you do this to every new recruit?

Of course!

He shouted and charged, sweat streaming down
his half-cyborg face. Thinking fast, she jabbed her staff into the
floor and leaped, angling her center of balance just above it. The
spring as the staff returned to its shape gave her just enough
momentum to clear his attack, sending her in a somersault over his
head. She twisted in midair and swung around to swat him across the
back, landing lightly on her feet behind him.

Point.

The men surged onto the mats, cheering and
screaming. They grabbed hold of her and held her aloft, chanting in
a language she didn’t understand. The sudden attention caught her
completely by surprise, and she didn’t know what to make of it at
first, but when it became apparent that they meant well by it, she
smiled and let them carry her around the room.

“
You are good fighter,
Lieutenant,” he said. “Truly, you are one of us now.”

The resounding cries shook the bulkheads and
reverberated throughout the room. She smiled again, and for a
moment she almost believed it was true.

Almost—but not quite.

Part III

Chapter 11

“
Sir, the
Miyamoto
has just returned from its
mission.”

“
Excellent,” said Katsuichi,
leaning back in his command chair. “Put Commander Takahashi through
at once.”

Outside the forward window, the blue-green
world of New Vela II gradually faded, replaced by a blank squarish
image as the window became a screen. The image blinked and
displayed a sleek starship bridge, with a gray-haired commander
standing in the center. He looked directly at Katsuichi and bowed
deeply, his chest almost horizontal to the floor.

“
Your Imperial
Highness.”

“
Commander Takahashi,” said
Katsuichi, nodding. “What is your report?”

The commander stood up straight, his uniform
crisp and immaculate. “Your Highness, it gives me great pleasure to
report that we have carried out your orders with success. Five
Hameji ships have been destroyed or disabled, with minimal
casualties on our side. The details are being transmitted to you
now.”

The officers around the bridge
glanced at each other with wide, hopeful eyes. Though they were too
well-disciplined to chat while the transmission was in progress,
Katsuichi knew that Takahashi’s report would soon become the talk
of the ship.
Good,
he thought.
Let them hear some good news for a change.

“
Excellent work, Commander. Did
you succeed in slowing their advance?”

Takahashi hesitated to answer, though only
for a split second. “Your Highness, I regret to report that we did
not.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I am sorry, sir. Our scouts
report that the Hameji have been receiving a steady stream of
reinforcements. We now estimate that their forces number twice what
they did at Eyn-Gatta.”

Katsuichi frowned. Around him, the hopeful
glances of his men and women turned to looks of fear. He leaned
forward, his face impassive.

“
Very well, Commander. Have your
forces pull back to New Vela and join with the rest of the
fleet.”

“
Sir,” said Takahashi, bowing
deeply once again. The transmission cut out, and the window faded
to full transparency once again, revealing the lush green world
below.

“
We cannot defeat the Hameji
here, your highness,” Kenta whispered in his ear. “And if this
system falls, Shinihon will certainly be next.”

“
I know,” said Katsuichi,
stroking his chin in thought. As his men glanced fearfully up at
him, he felt as if a crushing weight had been placed on his chest,
or that the walls of the ship were slowly closing in.

Outside, a constant flow of glittering
starships streamed away from the doomed planet. Instead of standing
up to the Hameji, the Federation had ordered an evacuation. Most of
the heavy battleships were now seeing the millions of refugees to
safety, abandoning New Vela’s defenses in the process. It was as if
the battle had already been decided before it had begun.

But we can stand against
them,
Katsuichi wanted to scream.
Commander Takahashi took out five of their
ships—man for man, they’re no better than us.

Without a strong leader to pull them
together, though, the Federation was already doomed to fail.

* * * * *

“
Secondary jump drive is fully
charged,” said Lieutenant Yuri Avanadze. “We’re ready to go on your
mark.”

“
Go ahead, then,” said Danica
from her command chair.