She grunted.
"Is that wise?"
"Probably not, but I don't have a better idea, do you?"
Silence crackled over the line.
"You can do this, Kira." There was certainty in Jin's voice, even if she detected a trace of fear.
Fear was okay. It kept you sharp. Made you faster. Letting fear overwhelm you was not good. Panic made you miss things.
"If you could hack the course, that would be great," Kira said.
"You think the drones can slow the primus down," Jin guessed.
He didn't wait for her to answer, already thinking out loud. "The settings the last time you ran one of these were too low to do more than irritate it. I think I can boost their power."
Jin went quiet as he worked.
Kira rounded a bend in the trail, trees rushing by as the shimmery haze of air marking the boundary of the course came into view. Whatever Jin was going to do needed to happen fast.
"I'm in the system. Programming the drones to a higher setting will be easy, but I’ll be locked out of their controls as soon as the course starts. It will be extremely painful, possibly debilitating if you're not fast enough to evade their fire."
Kira allowed herself a bloodthirsty smile. She loved it when a plan came together.
The simple gate of the course appeared twenty feet away, the welcome sight of it marred by the presence of Maida and her initiates next to it.
Kira raced toward them, considering and discarding her options. Trying to change course now ran the risk of the primus fixating on those in front of her. Maida might be able to hold her own, but Kira didn't know the other woman well enough to say for sure.
Confusion crossed the initiates’ faces until they caught sight of the primus chasing her.
Maida screamed, "Shield."
The initiates hesitated for only a second beforekishields popped into existence.
Runes around the gate lit up as a chime sounded, announcing the course's start. Maida's eyes widened in realization, her gaze moving from Kira to the course. She cursed, whirling and yanking a practice blade out of the closest initiate’s hands.
Kira drew closer, only feet separating them.
Maida twisted, tossing the sword at Kira. It tumbled through the air, almost in slow motion.
Kira snatched it up.
The primus's presence grew larger behind her, until she could practically feel his breath on her neck. Some instinct warned her.
Kira sat, sliding through the gate as the primus sailed over her. He tumbled to the ground and rolled.
The gate snapped closed, the intangible barrier around its perimeter hardening until it was impermeable, locking the primus and Kira inside. There would be no escape until she crossed the gate on the other side of the course, a good three miles away.
All around her, drones woke up, coming out of their hiding places, one goal in their mind. Seek and destroy.
Kira tested the sword's weight before eyeing her foe. "Let the games begin."
TWELVE
The primus climbed to his feet, thunder filling his throat.
Kira watched him carefully, even as her senses detected faint flickers of movement as the drones started toward them. There was a swarm of them forming, many more than the last time she'd stood on a course like this. Their nearly inaudible buzz shook the leaves as they started their run.
