As much as she wanted to be a part of whatever battle was going to take place, she couldn’t. Not until she had all the training. Every type of training there was. Maybe a full exoskeleton battle suit, complete with laser cannon. If I could bite her and turn her into a Rijitera, I freaking would. Anything to keep her safe. God, she would be terrifying as one of my kind. She’d give my mom a run for her money. If only it was that simple.
“I will have Rema set up a training schedule for our girl’s,” Ohem murmured to me.
I leaned my head into his arm and nodded. It was all we could do for now. It would do a lot to keep us occupied while we waited for our arrival on Detritus. I looked over my shoulder at Sam and Callie, still seated against the back wall of the bridge.
Callie was still hiding her face behind her knees to keep her stomach contents where they belonged, and Sam was rubbing her back and making comforting noises at her.
I looked back at Ohem and blew out my breath. “Maybe we wait until Callie doesn’t feel like she’s dying.”
Ohem chuffed. “The glowing liquid that Ghix is trying to give her will cure her of the jump sickness.”
Patty sighed and pulled away from me to march over to Ghix and snatched the medicine from his hand, making the spider doctor squawk in surprise. She smacked the back of Callie’s head with her palm. Callie jerked her head up in outrage and Patty struck. Callie’s mouth had been partially open with whatever she was about to yell when Patty had hit her, making it easy for Patty to grip her jaw and dump the glowing green gunk down her throat. Patty dropped the glass and slapped her hand hard against Callie’s mouth until she stopped coughing and gagging.
Once she was sure that Callie had swallowed it all and wasn’t at risk of throwing it back up, she released her and stood, brushing her hands together in a job well done motion and then casually walked back to us. Callie was busy trying to light her on fire with her eyes as she walked away, but judging by the smile on her face, Patty didn’t give a shit.
See?Scary.
Callie stood to follow but then paused, her face brightening for a moment before settling into a begrudged scowl. She continued her forward motion until she stood in front of us, her arms crossed. “While I don’t appreciate the method, I suppose I’m thankful for the results,” she said, fixing Patty with narrowed eyes.
I had my lips pressed tightly together, but despite my best efforts, snorts of laughter still escaped. Callie slowly turned her head toward me and bared her teeth. I pulled my mirth deep inside and smothered it until it died. Best not antagonize her further. She was liable to bite me too, and I had been bitten by enough human women tonight, thank you very much.
Callie gave me a last glare before she returned her attention to Patty, who shrugged with a grin. “You were being a baby and needed to take your medicine.”
Callie sighed, dropping her arms to her side. “You’re a real bitch,” she said with no real venom, the twitching at the corner of her mouth belying her stern expression.
I slapped my hands together and smiled at them. “Since you feel better, it’s time to hit the gym, ladies,” I laughed at Sam and Callie’s confused expressions.
Chapter 19
Callie’s fist connected with my ribs with a dull slap, and I grunted at the impact. I wrapped an arm under her armpit and tossed her across the mat. She landed with a whoosh of escaping breath and stayed down. We’d been at this for four hours. Callie was well trained and the nano’s had given her an edge, but fighting with me was a losing battle and she had gotten angry and sloppy the longer I smacked her around
“How many times do I have to tell you not to move in close? Stay outside of my reach. Quick darts and then retreat! Tire me out! Why the hell would you let me get my hands on you?” I ground out through clenched teeth. My irritation was leaking out into my voice and I took a breath before walking to where she lay prone and crouching down next to her. “If that had been an actual fight, Callie, I would have ripped you in half. Stay away from me until you are confident you have a good shot. Throat, knees, or eyes. Those are my only vulnerabilities in my human form,” I said quietly, slumping back onto my butt and resting my arms on my raised knees.
Hopefully, the weapons’ training went better. With armor and extensive training with the various weapons on board the ship, they might stand a chance in the coming war. Callie wanted to fly the nimble ships Ohem called a Ùll, which literally translated to harass.
Callie had started calling them Magpies. I didn’t think it was quite a deadly enough name for the mean-looking ships, but what did I know? I wasn’t a pilot. She’d been in one simulated training session so far and the very stern bossman pilot had been impressed. She’d floated into the gym on cloud nine and then I’d tossed her right off it in our sparring session. Guilt pricked at me when I looked at her defeated face.
“I thought if I got close enough it would make it harder for you to hit me,” Callie mumbled.
She had her arm thrown over her eyes and was turned partially away from me. I reached over and tapped her shoulder. She turned to look at me from under the protective covering of her forearm.
I gave her a small smile and shrugged. “It puts you right in biting range. Never get close to the teeth.” I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, “We have to get you girls to use your smaller size to your advantage. Quick and nimble. We just don’t have enough time before the drop onto Detritus,” I said slowly, watching her out of the corner of my eye.
She sat up and blew out a breath. “We can’t go down onto the planet with you, can we?” she asked with resignation.
“No. I’m sorry, Callie. I don’t know what’s going to be down there. It would be risky to bring you three with us,” I said.
She nodded and got to her feet with a grunt, turning to look down at me with a shrug. “It's okay, I understand. We’ll continue training on the ship. I may never take you on hand to hand, but I’ll be the best pilot these aliens have ever seen. See how much your strength matters when I’m shooting missiles up your ass,” she said with a grin and extended a hand to me. I laughed and slapped my hand into hers, letting her pull me to my feet.
“They’re rail guns, actually.”
I turned and spotted a very wrung out looking Sam walking towards us from her mat. I cocked my eyebrow at her question and she smiled. “The weapons on the Magpies are rail guns. High velocity projectiles that use electromagnetic force to fire a metal rod. It uses its own mass and kinetic energy to inflict a massive amount of damage. It’s much more effective than a missile,” she explained and bent over to brace her hands on her thighs. “I am so not cut out for fighting.”
I patted her back in sympathy. We pushed them hard today. They were all going to be bruised and sore tomorrow, just to go through it all again. Patty was still dodging Aga’s swipes and getting more and more frustrated by the fact he was barely trying and still getting in front of her repeatedly. I gave Sam one more pat and left them to approach Patty’s mat. I stopped right at the edge and crossed my arms.
Patty feigned right and rolled out of Aga’s swing, right into his kick. It sent her flying across the mat. I stepped to the side to catch her. She impacted into me with a grunt and I helped steady her on her feet once she got her breath back.
She brushed me off and pointed a finger at Aga with a snarl. “Let's go again!”
