“Good enough to fight aliens?”
“Not quite, but it won’t be long.”
“Meaning I’m grounded for the moment.” His lips turned down.
“Unfortunately, yes. We can’t afford to lose you by sending you out too soon in the field. But now that I’ve taught you some basics, you can practice. Tower can provide dummies with limited motion for you to spar against. I’ll advise Aquarius to also make some time to give you a real opponent.”
“You taking off again?”
A heavy sigh left Aries. “I must. As mentioned, the aliens’ ability to heal and clone themselves even from the smallest ofpieces means we’ve a long battle ahead. I can only hope the doctor’s research bears fruit.”
When Aries left, Grayson headed to his place for a shower and a change before going to the dining room for some food. He ate alone, the large space empty.
After the meal, he thought of heading to Leila’s lab, but would she welcome his return? She’d made it clear she didn’t socialize. He ended up in his apartment, watching television, the various new reports all about the aliens. The news anchors indicated a lessening in attacks, likely due to the Zodiac Warriors clearing out hot spots. However, how long would that calm last? Probably only as long as it took for any stray chunks to grow into new killing machines.
A knock at his door surprised, and he couldn’t help gape when he saw who stood on the other side.
“Leila? Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I, uh…” She appeared flustered before managing to murmur, “I thought I’d check on you. How did your training session go?”
“I’m fine. A bit sore. Aries is a tough teacher. I thought I could fight. He showed me otherwise.” A wry admission.
“Don’t feel bad. He’s got centuries of experience.”
“Centuries?” he gasped.
“I take it no one told you yet that the warriors enjoy longevity. Tower dwellers do as well. One of the perks, you could say.” She offered a slight smile.
“Well, that’s cool.” It occurred to him they spoke in the doorway, and he stepped back with a wave of his hand. “Want to come in?”
“Actually, I came by to ask if you’d join me for a meal. I thought you might like to hear about the tests we ran.”
He wasn’t about to tell her he already ate. “Would love to.”
“Oh, Tower.” Her soft murmur had him wondering until he followed her gaze and saw a table set for two, replete with a wine bottle chilling in a bucket, two plates of food, and lit candles.
“Guess Tower didn’t want to make you climb those stairs after your busy day.”
“Maybe.” She sat down across from him and sighed. “I am tired, but in good news, we did learn some things.”
“Such as?”
“Blue isn’t interested in communicating at all, despite Asterion’s best efforts.”
“It is technically a baby.”
“A baby that would viciously tear into me or Asterion if given the chance. It only calms if there’s no one in the room, but it spends that time seeking a way to escape.”
“How did your research go? Find any weaknesses?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure if it’s a feasible one. I’ve learned it won’t absorb anything with high concentrations of omega-3 because it acts as a paralytic.”
“That sounds promising.”
“It could be, but I’ll need to run more tests. It is one thing to douse an exposed piece of tissue, another for a creature with no open sores. I don’t know yet if the skin will absorb the omega-3 and have the same effect. Not to mention the practicality. To douse an alien actively attacking would be difficult.”
“So, not feasible for someone fighting one face-to-face, but what if you could load one of those crop-dusting planes and have them drop a load in an area where they’re rampaging?”
