Heart of the Nebula (9 page)

“
And what if you’re not
there to save me?”

Her words stung him more than she could have
realized. He drew a sharp breath as he remembered his sister
Stella, and how he’d failed to save her.

“
Let’s start with the
basics. Suppose someone grabs you by the shirt, like
this.”

He took her hand and brought it to his
chest, just below his shoulder.

She obediently grabbed onto his shirt, the
way someone would if they wanted to drag him against the wall. Her
grip was surprisingly firm.

“
See, from here, you have a
lot of options,” he explained. “First, you could strike his face
with the heel of your palm, hitting either the nose or the chin.”
He demonstrated on her as slowly and gently as he could, taking
care not to hurt her.

“
What if that doesn’t
work?”

“
If you hit at the right
angle, you could easily break his nose. But chances are, you’re
probably not going to be as strong as the person attacking you.
Striking is just a way to distract them so that you can break their
grip, like this.”

He reached for her hand with his opposite
one and took her by the wrist, pressing his thumb against the back
of her hand.

Controlling her by the wrist, he rolled her
hand and gently hyper-extended her hand, making her release her
grip. As her arm locked, he turned and pushed into her elbow with
his opposite arm, making her stagger toward the wall.

“
Ouch!”

“
Are you all right?” he
asked, suddenly letting go.

“
No, I’m fine—that was just
really effective. Can you show me again?”

He repeated the move, taking great care not
to hurt her. She cooperated with him quite well, staying relaxed
and not pushing back.

“
Can you do it again, this
time a little faster?”

They went over the move again. This time,
she collapsed to her knees as he pressed against her elbow, and the
only way to keep from hurting her was to follow her down to the
floor. In less than a second, he had her in an arm lock with her
face planted against the mat.

“
Okay, okay!” she said,
laughing. He carefully released her and helped her to her
feet.

“
All right,” he said. “Your
turn.”

Her clothes were too tight to give him much
to grip, so he placed his hand on her chest, well above her full,
round breasts. Keeping her at arm’s length, he waited for her to
try out the move.

“
Let’s see,” she said,
hesitating as she thought it out. “First, I want to strike you,
like this.”

She swung up at him with the heel of her
palm, moving much faster than he had.

The strike stopped within less than an inch
of his face, making him flinch. He staggered back just as she
grabbed his hand, and the next thing he knew, his face was pressed
up against the wall with his arm in a solid arm lock.

“
Like this?” she
asked.

“
Ow!” he said. “That’s
good—really good.”

She released him and stepped back, curling a
strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m a fast learner.”

“
I’ll say. You got it in
almost the first move.”

“
Can I try it
again?”

They went over the move again, thankfully a
little slower. This time, James made it a little harder for her, so
that she needed coaching. It took her a few tries to get the arm
lock, but she managed to break his grip every time.

“
You’re a good teacher,”
she said, after they’d practiced it almost a dozen
times.

“
Well,” he said, blushing
again. “Most people lock up or get really tense when you try to
teach them a technique, or treat it like some sort of contest to
see who’s stronger. That’s bad, though, because the more you tense
up, the more likely you are to injure yourself.”

“
Do I seem
tense?”

“
Not at all. If anything,
you’re one of the most fluid people I’ve ever seen.”

She stepped up close to him, making his
heart skip a beat. “Fluid,” she said as if tasting the word. “Is
that a compliment?”

“
Of c-course,” he
stammered, suddenly aware of their close proximity to each other.
She put a hand on his chest and smiled.

“
I’m glad my father chose
you for this mission.”

Before he could respond, she stepped back
and turned around, running her fingers through her hair. It was
just as well, since words entirely failed him in that moment. His
heart pounded like a runaway chain reaction in a power reactor, and
his legs all but turned to jelly.

“
What if someone comes
behind me?” she asked, glancing at him over her shoulder. From the
look in her eye, it was clear that she wanted him to grab
her.

He hesitated, unsure what to do. Something
told him that he was heading on a dangerous trajectory.

To hell with it,
he told himself.

He grabbed her by the waist in a solid bear
hug, trapping her arms. “If someone’s going to come at you from
behind,” he said, “they’re probably going to do it like this.”

“
Oomph! So what do I
do?”

“
First, drop your center of
mass as low as you can. That’ll keep them from dragging you off,
like—”

She dropped suddenly, nearly making him fall
to the floor. He caught himself just in time and struggled to haul
her back.

“
Good! Now turn your side
into me and try to push me away with your elbows—that’ll free your
hands.”

She did as he said, ramming an elbow against
his grip until it broke. Then, grabbing him by the arm, she pulled
him forward and slipped beneath him, sending him headfirst into the
mat. He caught himself and rolled just in time, but before he could
get up, she pushed him onto his back and straddled him, pinning
down his shoulders.

“
Like that?” she asked,
grinning.

Realization struck him like a blow between
the eyes. “You—you’ve trained in this before.”

“
A little,” she admitted,
her grin widening. “But you have to admit, it was a fun
lesson.”

Apparently, it was a little too fun for her
to release him. He struggled to get up, but she held him down so
well that he couldn’t get any leverage. Resorting to a trick he had
learned against his sister, he reached up and tickled her in the
armpit. Instantly, she collapsed on top of him in laughter. He
rolled her off to the side and stood up.

Did I just tickle the
patrician’s daughter?
he wondered. Thank
the stars no one else had seen him do it.

“
Oh, wow,” she said as she
stood up. “That was perhaps a bit too much fun.”

“
Just how proficient are
you?” James asked.

Her eyes lit up. “How proficient do you
think I am?”

Once again, blood rushed to his cheeks. He
shrugged and made an equivocating motion with his hands.

“
I don’t know. Black belt,
maybe?”

“
Good answer. I have a
first degree black belt in Rigelan jujitsu.”

“
And you wanted me to show
you some self-defense moves?”

“
Well,” she said, pulling a
strand of golden-blond hair out of her face, “I wanted to see what
you’d do, and you didn’t disappoint. You really are a good
teacher.”

Why is she looking at me
like that?
James wondered.
Is she coming on to me?
He’d never been very good with women. The fact that he spent
so much time on duty certainly didn’t help. But there was something
different in the way Sara was looking at him—something that
definitely looked like interest. It made his legs go numb and his
heart hammer something awful.

“
We’ve got a few days
before we get to Gaia Nova,” she said, glancing at him tentatively.
“We should, ah, get to know each other.”

Stars of Earth—she
is
coming on to
me.

“
Uh, yeah,” he said, his
mind suddenly blanking. Inwardly, he cursed himself for being such
an idiot.

“
You must be pretty busy,
though. I’m sure a lieutenant like you has a lot of
duties.”

“
Not until we get to Gaia
Nova,” he blurted. “Do you want—do you want to have dinner
sometime?”

She smiled. “Well,
we
are
on a luxury
yacht after all. When were you thinking?”

“
Uh, tomorrow night maybe?
How does 1800 sound?”

“
Tomorrow would be fine.
There’s a private dining room on the lower deck. I’ll talk with the
captain about reserving it.”

James could hardly believe what was
happening. He nodded dumbly, afraid that if he opened his mouth, he
would say something stupid and make her change her mind.

“
All right, then. See you
tomorrow at 1800, Lieutenant.”

He stood there for a couple of moments until
he realized that she wasn’t leaving—he was. He’d finished his
workout, after all, and she’d barely begun hers. With considerable
awkwardness, he nodded and left the gym, nearly tripping over his
feet on his way out.

* * * * *

Kyla crept up to the open doorway and peered
around the corner. She could hardly stand up straight, she had to
pee so bad. At least there was a bathroom just outside the door to
the cargo hold. Trouble was, it sat at the end of a long, well-lit
corridor.

After looking both ways, she dashed out into
the open space. Her bare, dirty feet pattered against the cold tile
floor, making her heart race with terror. With her hands jammed
between her legs to keep herself from bursting, she reached the
bathroom and slapped her palm against the access panel on the wall.
The door slid open with a jarring hiss, but she slipped inside and
shut it again before anyone saw her.

She relieved herself as quickly as she
could, then pulled out the empty bottle from her pants pocket and
filled it up at the sink. With that done, she took a moment to look
herself in the mirror. Her grubby black hair stood out against the
immaculate porcelain wall behind her, the blue and purple floral
designs contrasting sharply with her dirty gray clothing.

In every possible way, she did not belong
here—on this ship, in this society, among these fabulously rich
people, whoever they were. When they reached port again and she
could slip away, she would feel… safe? No, not exactly. At ease,
perhaps, but when you lived below-decks in the slums and access
tunnels, you never truly felt like anywhere was safe.

She pressed her ear against the door and
counted to ten, waiting to make sure that no one was there.
Satisfied, she keyed the door and slipped out before it was fully
open. A quick glance in either direction confirmed she was safe,
and she walked quietly down the corridor back toward the cargo
hold.

As she neared an open doorway, however, she
couldn’t help but peek inside. What she saw made her gasp.

It was a luxurious dinner suite, with a
comfortable couch ringing the edge and wide, starry windows along
the walls and floor. A table stood in the middle, with a beautiful
floral arrangement in the center.

It looked magical.

She glanced guiltily over her shoulder, as
if she’d committed some terrible crime. No one had seen her,
though—and if she was careful, no one would have to know she was
here. All she wanted was a closer look, just a peek. With another
quick glance in both directions, she ducked down and slipped into
the open doorway.

Up close, the room looked even more magical.
Unlike the hallway, where the horribly bright lights stabbed at her
eyes and made her cringe for fear of getting caught, the lights in
here were dim, with the stars’ soft glow shining up from all sides.
The floor was completely transparent, and a long, nearly continuous
window ran along the wall above the couch, curving upward to the
ceiling like the bottom of a bowl. At first, she found the view a
little disconcerting, as if she was in danger of falling through,
but she soon got used to it. The table was magnificently set, with
glimmering silverware and plates made of crystal. But by far, the
most exotic thing about the place was the flowers. Kyla closed her
eyes and leaned forward to smell them—real, live roses, not the
cheap imitations sold in the bazaar. They smelled like rich
perfume.

The roses made her realize just how grubby
and disgusting she was. Her clothes reeked of sweat and grease, her
bare feet were scarred and calloused, and her dirty hair was ratty
and uneven. She would never spend a comfortable evening here,
enjoying the company of the rich and beautiful. Her place was in
the projects below-decks, with the rest of the scum.

She clenched her fists in anger at her
troubled thoughts. Why did it have to be this way? Just because her
mother—

“
Attention, passengers.
Please be advised, our next jump will occur in ten seconds. Thank
you.”

The sound of the voice over the loudspeakers
sent a cold chill down Kyla’s spine. For a hair-raising second, she
feared that someone was behind her, watching. Fortunately, a quick
glance at the door confirmed that no one was there. Still, she
needed to get back to the cargo hold, before someone found her.

After peeking outside, she dashed out into
the corridor, her feet pattering along the cold tile floor. Within
moments, she was back in the shadows where she belonged.