Tarik: Entry Level Warfare (7 page)

“Run out there and touch the orb.”
Lamb
 ordered.

“Won't I be shot?”

“I'm sure of it.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Oh yes, you will more than likely die.”

“You want me to die just to touch some orb?”

“No. I want you to ask me questions.”

“So, you ordered me to go in there knowing I would die but you don't actually want me to do it?”

“Correct. Are you still going to go out there?”

“Hell no I'm not going out there!”

Lamb let out a healthy laugh. “Very good
Tarik
! Your second lesson and maybe the most important one, you are a free man. You can choose not to do something. It may mean you get fired, it may mean you go to some prison colony, it could have any
number
 of consequences but it is always going to be your choice in the end. I want you to use lesson
number
 one to make that choice, ask the questions, get the details and decide on your course of actions. Completing your objective is obviously preferred but if you die today who will be left to complete the objective tomorrow?” Lamb deactivated the range. “Our time is almost up for the day. I want you to think about the first two lessons throughout the day. See how they apply to your life. Find situations where doing one or other could have changed your life.”

“Yes sir.”

“Very good. You are dismissed.”

“Instructor
Lamb
, just one question, if I may.”

“I welcome it
Tarik
, what do you wish to know?”

“Why do you call me by my real name when everyone else calls me Jimmy?”

“Because I believe in you
Tarik
. You're not a mindless drone, you're not a glory hunter, and I believe you can do this with proper instruction.” Lamb walked away and disappeared back into the shadows.

As
Tarik
 left he thought about the small mechanic who kissed him yesterday. She seemed like she believed in him, giving him the benefit of the doubt as she put it. He wondered why those were the only two people who acted that way.

Tarik went to his first assigned bathroom to clean. As he mopped the floor he thought about when his leg was crushed and the mistakes he’d made then. He was free floating and had a hook into a rock about the size of himself, using his pack to propel himself backwards to the rig. The rig boss stood on top to the rig selecting other rocks for his crewmates to grab. As
Tarik
 reached the lip of the rig the rock started to break apart. Tarik cut his propulsion, to adjust his hook and save the haul, as he did so his momentum carried him towards the crusher. The heat of the rig must have caused some of the ice in the rock to break apart. The rock split in the middle,
Tarik
 
realized
 how close he was getting to the crusher and pushed the rock off to his left side. Then he turned on his propulsion to stop him just before he got to the machinery. The rock broke in half as he was a foot away from the crusher. The top half of the rock floated harmlessly to the rig wall, the bottom half continued its push forward smashing
Tarik
’s leg into the opening of the rock crusher.

The whole ordeal resulted in two months off work, a corporation paid surgery, and a performance improvement plan for when
Tarik
 did go back to work. His performance improvement plan putting him on the short list to be let go. His peers told him it was all part of mining, his boss told him he should have known better, and he told himself
he would do
 better.

Tarik asked himself ‘what if I had known the rocks had large concentrations of ice?’ It would have changed where he gripped the rock. Then he asked himself ‘Should I have asked if the heat from the rig could affect the rock?’ That had never even occurred to him. Tarik finished his mopping and moved onto the next bathroom considering where he would be today if he only asked the right questions.

Tarik finished his cleaning duties and went to midday meal, again the
Dome
 was empty and
Tarik
 wondered where everyone was hiding. Normally a ship this size would have a crew of hundreds, but so far
Tarik
 guessed the crew was closer to forty. Several areas of the ship were still blocked off to him; looking at the map he’d say over sixty decks housed computers and machinery. An alert came to him stating that the ship was changing to ball formation and leaving the system shortly, besides a few loud bangs and clanks
Tarik
 wouldn’t have even noticed the change. Tarik finished his meal and set off to meet his next
instructor
.

Tarik entered the
training
 room just as his countdown reached zero. The room was a glossy black all around him, it extended in a pie wedge from its doorway all the way to the outer wall of the ship, nearly a quarter of a mile from his estimate. Tarik could tell the end of the ship because of the single pane window at the end which showed the red giant as it ate a comet. Two pools of water, on either side of a walkway, looked like they ended in the void beyond. In the middle of that walkway, in all her feminine glory, stood
Goddess
. Tarik felt anxious to meet her, his excitement batted down repeatedly by her threat of punishment.

“Come over here.” Goddess ordered. Her voice reminded
Tarik
 of smoke, doing a fine job of clouding his
judgement
.

Tarik walked the pathway only occasionally glancing into the pools. “Come to me.” She said as he was only a few feet away.

When he was but a few feet away, Goddess kicked
Tarik
 in the stomach hard enough to cause him to double over. The shot caught him in the solar plexus; Tarik couldn’t help but gasp for air.

“Follow me.” She said as she started off at a jog for the end of the pools.

Tarik stood back up and did his best to keep up with her, the pain in his stomach subsided as he neared her. Just then she picked up her pace, leaving
Tarik
 struggling to keep up again. As
Goddess
 neared the end of the pool she turned right and took a previously unseen pathway at the end of the pool. Tarik glanced down as he approached the turn to make sure he didn’t fall into the pool, when he looked up again
Goddess
 was already at the end and continuing on the pathway that extended past the walls and must have surrounded the circumference of the entire ship. With every stride
Tarik
 took
Goddess
 left him further behind. Her long legs pumping like pistons,
Tarik
 admired her backside and pushed himself harder to catch up to her.

Tarik felt more than saw the pathway incline; as his
speed
 started to slow he noticed a crest so he pumped his legs hard in hopes of an easier run on a downslope. Reaching the top of the crest he pushed off as hard as he could, now running at top
speed
 he saw the pathway dip again. Before he knew it
Goddess
 charged back up at him. Tarik couldn’t slow down and the space was too tight for him to pivot away from her.
Goddess
 lowered her shoulder and hit
Tarik
 in the midsection sending him back up the ramp to land on his back. Tarik gasped for air again, holding his ribs all he felt was pain.

“You're too slow, pick up the pace.” Was all
Goddess
 said as she turned and started to run along the path again.

Tarik picked himself back up, felt his knees wobble and quickly sat back down. Using the wall to steady himself he caught his breath and started to run after her again. The path rose and fell several times,
Tarik
 only catching glimpses of
Goddess
 as she ran. Every time
Tarik
 felt he was going to be sick,
Goddess
 would allow him to see just a bit more giving him hope that he could catch up to her, at which point he would choke it down and push harder.

Rounding a bend
Tarik
 saw
Goddess
 standing there with her
hand on
 her hip waiting for him to get to her. He started to slow down, just a few paces from her now and weary of any more physical attacks. Goddess dove sideways and a splash echoed through the
training
 room. Tarik went to the spot she previously occupied.

Goddess was beneath the water motioning for him to jump in, her hair swirling around chaotically. Tarik took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly and jumped in feet first. When he felt his decent slow he opened his eyes searching for her. After a few twists and turns he felt himself running out of air and made his way to the surface. As
Tarik
 breached the surface and opened his mouth fully to take in a deep breathe he felt himself being drug back down by his pant leg. Swallowing a mouthful of water
Tarik
 struggled for air and was brought level with
Goddess
 as she dragged him further down into the pool. Tarik could hear her muffled giggle as she let him go and swam away. Tarik kicked hard for the surface again, keeping his feet moving to avoid being ensnared. When
Tarik
 breached for the second time his body tried to
force
 itself to breathe and vomit at the same time causing him to choke more on the same water he was trying to expel. When he finally caught his breathe he swam after
Goddess
 who was already half way across the pool.

Tarik had limited experience in the water; he couldn’t even remember the last time he had swum. A near drowning experience in his youth had turned him off to it, it’s wasn't fun for him. He did however commit himself to this job and every job has aspects you won’t like. He swam after
Goddess
 placing himself in the fixed state of mind he counted every stroke and every breath. Half way through the pool he glanced up and saw
Goddess
 standing at the end of the pool, already drying off. He ducked his head back down and didn’t raise it again until the edges of the pool narrowed in on him.

Reaching the edge of the pool after what seemed hours of swimming he half pulled half slid out of the pool and onto the floor. He flopped over to his back and just breathed heavily for several minutes.

Goddess walked over his body and straddled him. With her face leaning over his, the tips of her wet hair stuck to the sides of his face. Tarik looked down at her breasts, he wanted her badly but he couldn’t even bring himself to move his arms let alone make love to this woman. He hated his exhausted body at that moment.

“Next time we go at double the pace, double the distance.” She grabbed his face in one hand pressing into his cheeks. “I hope it was worth the price. If you're willing to pay more, perhaps you will get more.” She let go of his face and grabbed his genitals with her other hand. “Then again, maybe not.” She let go of him and stood up. “Rest tonight; you will need your strength for tomorrow.”

Goddess stepped over him as if he were not there anymore leaving him panting still on the floor. Tarik stared at the ceiling until he started to get cold; he had no idea what to make of the encounter. Unsure if he should work harder or avoid her at all costs, was she inviting him to pursue her more or insulting him as she grabbed at his manhood. Tarik felt enough strength return to him that he decided he really just wanted to sleep right now so he limped off to his room.

        A
timer
 went off alerting
Tarik
 it was time for the end of day meal. He debated on
whether or not
 he had the strength to get to the D
ome
. He was as hungry as he could ever imagine but the thought of moving his legs anymore that day made him want to pull the cover
over his head
 and sleep for the rest of the day. Just as his mind came to the conclusion that he wanted to sleep for as long as possible, his stomach let out a grumble that it had disagreed.

        Tarik forced himself to his feet and slowly got dressed, his entire body hurt. Muscles he didn’t even knew he had screamed in protest as he pulled the jumpsuit over his shoulders. His legs felt like noodles with bricks at the ends. On unsteady feet he made his way to the
Dome
 his mind in a haze trying to ignore the shooting pain every time his feet hit the ground.

Tarik reached the doorway to the
Dome
 and heard screaming within. Forgetting his pain he rushed into the room unsure what he would find.

Tarik burst into the room and flexed his muscles expecting to fight someone. Fists balled he surveyed the room. In one corner Daze was being held back by
Instructor
 
Lamb
, her face was red with anger; Lamb looked as if he were bored more than anything else. In the other corner a thankfully clothed Rye was being restrained by Bink. Rye had a bloody nose and screamed as loud as she could for Bink to let her go. It was obvious she was drunk as she waved around her hands, auburn hair wrapped around her finger tips. On the third story overlooking the Dome sat a Gorrex. The Gorrex looked like it was ready to leap down and strike.