Cutlass Sharpened (21 page)

Once the pieces were whole, new information
stored in the material began lining up. Data was corrupted due to
innumerable cracks, but his mind seemed to have just the right kind
of adhesive and solution to patch everything back together as best
possible.

All this occurred in ten seconds. As the
vambrace began absorbing into its original shape there was left
behind a flawless disk of pink holding hundreds of facets to show
off its beauty.

Stephanie picked it up on the palm of her
hand and said “Wedding day.” Lights showed up and created the
hologram and music of Jessica and Stephanie’s wedding and honeymoon
all captured and stored in the gem. “Cancel.” It went dormant. “I
see you learned something.”

“
I did. It was like when I
was learning what is taught in schools. The fifteen screens this
makes.” He touched the tablet. “My subconscious figured it all out,
but I saw it all mentally.”

“
This proves there
is
little limit to what it
is capable of. How much did it tire you?”

“
Not as bad as when I broke
down your show to make coms or tried cooking a strip of
meat.”

“
Conservation of energy. The
more required, the more it’ll extract.”

Oliver continued helping Stephanie further
her research, noting Stone and the others whispering with Jessica.
He could still hear, but didn’t show he could. Jessica nodded,
pulled out her own tablet from a pocket and began tapping away.

At ten in the morning Stephanie officially
said “Thank you for all the help, Oliver. I’ll let you know what I
find out. Babe, you ready?”

“
Sure thing. Have fun,
boys.”

Deegen said as soon as the
two women moved off “Since we have just a week, Ms. Menann gave us
full access to the training room. Usually we get just three hours,
but since you need it more than anyone else, we got
full
access.”

They hurried back inside the ship and hopped
a ride on the elevator to the lowest level. Level ten. Reaching it
showed Satellite waiting among two other animals. One was an golden
eagle and the other was a large grey wolf.

“
Oliver, these are our
companions. You already know Satellite.” Stone said as the falcon
landed on his arm.

“
Mine is Bell.” Deegen said
as the grey wolf loped over and bowed slightly. The animals were
greatly intelligent.

“
And
this
is Visor.” Steven said proudly as
the large eagle landed on his shoulder.

Hunters, nearly all, had companions. Animals
genetically modified with humanlike intellect and had telepathic
abilities with only their human partners. As an added bonus they
too had the additional chromosomes though their psionic prowess was
in telepathy. Birds were mainly companions since they could speak
clearly, but wolves were no less intelligent though they were
difficult to understand as their tongues and muzzles couldn’t
articulate certain letters like B, V, Y.

Some called them Neo-companions or
Neurologically Enhanced Human Companions.

The training room had a full running track,
holographic target capabilities, gravitational adjustments for a
wide range of situations. Weights and wooden weapons were up on one
wall. A pool also circled the track. Walls were still wooden, but
were covered in thin protective matting. One area held sand and
another was a rock climbing wall.

“
Let’s set the right mood.”
Deegen grinned as he tied his hair back. He walked over to the wall
holding colorful displays. He punched a few buttons and music began
blasting. Music that set the soul afire. The beats gave one so much
energy they had no choice other than to move. Stone, Steve,
Satellite, Bell and Visor got into it by rocking their heads and
grinning like maniacs. “This should be appropriate.”

Stone noticed Oliver’s clothes reverting into
battle mode, the cape unfurling and cloaking him. He said “You have
yet to learn how to run and feel what it is like. Go to the track
and wait for my signal. I want you to run just as fast as you can,
Brother.”

Deegen stood by the displays as Oliver moved
to the track and said “I’m going to crank the gravity. Tell me when
it feels right.” Oliver signaled he was ready and Deegen used his
finger on the screen to push up the bard controlling gravity around
the track with lines. The increasing lines went from white to pink
to bright red when Oliver grinned absently. “SHIT! He’s standing at
nine point six gees!”

“
It feels real good.” Oliver
meant it. He could no longer see himself flying off and into a
wall. He could only jump about a meter from a standstill straight
up before slamming on the ground. Stone and the others knew without
a doubt they’d be unable to stand, let alone retain consciousness.
“Can I start yet?”

“
Have at it.” Stone
allowed.

Oliver knew proper running techniques and
took an athlete’s staggered running start, but absorbed his cape
before he took off at a shot. Music infused him with the need to
push harder, go faster and leave nothing behind. He hit the curve,
feet pounding the track and still he pushed. Faster, stronger,
harder.

Steven lifted his armor’s screen and let its
velocity instruments to ask “Boys, how fast is he running? My
screens must be off.”

“
UNBELIEVABLE!” Deegen
yelled. “One hundred and four point nine two nine kilometers per
hour. That is as fast as a cheetah! And he’s doing it at over nine
gees!”

“
Renee, you should be
reading this.”

“
I’m right here.” She said
coming in at that moment. “Stephanie just told me what you all
planned.”

“
How the hell can he run so
fast!?” exclaimed Shorty.

“
His tendons and ligaments
are far more elastic and tight. Extra cartilage act like cushions
as well as springs. Think of them like springs. Our ligaments are
thin, but his are
much
thicker. Whatever planet he adapted to was harsher
gravity-wise than any of us could dare to relax and live on. He is
fast, but doesn’t he seem to be enjoying it? Look at that shitty
grin.” He winked at her in the next pass he did every few
seconds.

Oliver ran for ten minutes before coming to a
stop and bent over to catch his breath as sweat dripped off the tip
of his nose. He heard Renee say ‘Bring it down.’ And slowly he got
lighter and lighter, gradually adjusting. “I like that.”

“
I like running too.” She
explained.

“
So what’s next?”

“
Balance building.” Stone
informed. “Deegen, give us zero gravity.”

“
Whoa!” Oliver lost all
sense of direction as he began flipping end over end. Only the pool
and sand pits were unaffected by the rooms shift. In one pass he
found Renee with her arms and legs spread out and she looked
completely at ease. The animals also seemed in full control of
themselves. The only one grounded was Deegen at the
controls.

Getting dizzy was not fun. It started making
him feel sick and knew why. His insides were floating like the rest
of him, unable to know direction.

He followed the example of
others and jerkily spread out his arms and legs. Things slowed to
much more manageable levels. It was still disorienting as
everything was askew. Eventually he contacted the wall and wanted
to stick and suddenly his boots latched on. He wasn’t alone as
Stone, Steven and Renee all stood either on a wall of what
was
the ceiling. “Your
objective is to catch me.” Renee said without further adieu. “All
the while Steven and the others will knock you around.”

“
Come on, Renee. Give Oliver
some incentive. Men with something to strive for always fight
harder.” Visor the golden eagle chirped.

“
True. Fine, Oliver, if you
catch me I’ll give you a… kiss.” She laughed at his deer in the
headlights expression. He wasn’t alone, every set of eyes turned on
her. “What? It’s not like everyone doesn’t already know he wants to
be my mate thanks to a bunch of people with too big mouths. A
little sexual frustration will make him work harder.”

“
I’ll do it only if you
promise no psionic cheating.”

“
Have it your way, Oliver.
If you catch me I’ll give you a big
wet
kiss. But only in here. Outside
this room and we’re back to no touching.”

Oliver grinned, bulged his thighs and sprang
right at her.

Renee didn’t move as she grinned brightly. He
overshot and she didn’t have to move. The next time he was dead on.
She leapt and moved like a dancer and before he could come at her
again Satellite tackled his little body into Oliver’s exposed back
and used enough force to send him in Bell’s direction where four
feet slammed in Oliver’s gut. The wolf showed off her teeth in a
mocking way. Finding a wall, he moved right for Renee again, but
not before Steven blindsided him with a sharp elbow to the ribs,
grabbed by the waist and kicked away.

Hours and hours passed when gradually Oliver
learned the slightest movements made the biggest changes in no
gravity. Pounding music taught proper timing and it made dodging or
doing counterattacks more efficient. Body awareness gradually
developed. Still, he got no closer to claiming his prize. Renee
taunted him the entire time. Blowing kisses were bad, but slowly
glossing rosebud lips with her tongue was maddening. She was an
insufferable and infuriating woman.

Oliver fell in her many traps and not once
did he get near enough to snatch a single red hair.

“
It’s time for dinner.”
Renee suddenly said, ending the session.

Deegen slowly replaced gravity so everyone
could settle back. It was strange returning to weighted conditions.
He said. “Not bad for a session.”

Oliver though came to a decision as he went
to a water fountain to get a much needed drink. “You all go on
ahead. I’m going to keep working in here. If I need you I’ll give
you a call.”

“
Don’t kill yourself!” Renee
shouted as she left the training room.

“
Do be careful, Brother.”
Stone said. “Oh, before I go. Go grab one of the exercise balls
with a five kilo weight. Toss it up and down in different
gravities. I’ll help adjust to different gravities. I know it
helped in my training.”

“
Thank you for the advice.”
Everyone filed out and Oliver worked on training his body to learn
muscle memory. But first he returned to zero and first learned to
move.

Chapter 6

“
Has he been here all night
again?” Renee asked as she came up to the training room to find
Sparky and his mate Rose outside the door. Rose was a pink scaled
Drake much smaller than Sparky, as is normal for female
Drakes.

“
You expect something
different?” Stone said first.

“
You gave Oliver an
incentive that was a prize he cannot let go. This whole week he’s
trained and you, my friend are screwed.”
Sparky hissed a chuckle.

“
Doubt it. He hasn’t touched
me yet.” Renee shrugged. “He’s barely slept ten hours all week.
Sleep deprivation will not help him.”

“
Should I tell her?” Stone
smirked.

“
No. Let it be a
surprise.”
Rose told him
privately.

“
Tell me what?” Renee
stopped tugging on her flight suit and stared in suspicion. When
the three didn’t acknowledge her she snarled “Bite me.” And pushed
them aside to make the door open.

Immediately her eyes fell on the naked chest
that had her raw from wet dreams and was the cause of a great deal
of masturbation. His body though was marred with dozens and dozens
of purple and yellow bruises. Renee’s heart gave another sudden
lurch as it took on a mind of its own at such a specimen of
testosterone. In the week of needed repairs his scalp had started
growing thick brown hair, but was months from an ideal length. At
her request he spent some time under the solar lamp beds which
turned his pale skin a mouthwatering bronze had had her wanting to
lick the sweat off his eight pack abs. His eyebrows were coming in,
but he had thick eyelashes she would kill for. At the moment he was
pulling himself from the pool, water cascading off the hard lines
of a sculpted body.

Aside from learning how to move, Oliver was
being taught to fight. The cause of all the many bruises. Like
first attempts to jump out on deck, fighting was just as pathetic
to witness at first and often would someone cringe as he was
cracked over the head or body over a clumsy mistake. He was awful
with quarterstaffs, but less so with wooden swords like his own he
never let out of sight.

Renee remembered how she found him still
working the next morning after the first shot in the training room.
He’d worked all through the night, using holographic simulations to
fight against. He’d done so every night when she, the Hunters and
companions chose to leave. It had become a home for him. A home
rarely left in seven days. He did take breaks to help out Stephanie
and complied with Renee’s medical checkups, but all free time was
left in here.

By day three he had mastered zero gravity
chasing and Deegen started sudden shifts to the gravitational
fields from zero to four gees and all in between. Renee and the
Hunters were accustomed to it, having similar training. Theirs was
for combat, but hers was as a medic and Phantom in event of a ship
in danger and had gravitational instability. Oliver, when
confronted with the change of weight, struggled to change, but
overcompensated and veered off course. She knew he set the console
to randomly change the gee forces even after Deegen left the
display.