Pandora: Liminal Space Book 2

Chapter Five

Claudia joined them soon afterwards, slightly mussed from her slumber and frowning because Miles had let her sleep in. Garrett watched his father gentle his stepmother's pique until both of them were glowing with affection and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. He took his leave, kissing Claudia's cheek as he went, and headed to the barracks. Something entertaining was bound to be going on there.

He wasn't wrong. The barracks were packed, not just with the Marines who weren't currently on patrol but with a lot of the spare security personnel as well. Apparently there was an exhibition going on. Moving a little closer, Garrett made out the two silver-clad forms going at it on the mat and grinned to himself. Quite an exhibition. It wasn't every day the average soldier got to watch his commanding officers beat the shit out of each other.

They both wore sparring skinsuits that were calibrated to allow just enough force in, sufficient to stagger but not concuss, enough to make a joint twinge but not break. The suits stiffened to take a joint out of play if they judged enough force had been applied, to add realism to a fight, but neither of the combatants was trying to immobilize at the moment. They were going for pure percussive power.

Garrett sat down next to Wyl on a bench at the edge of the mat, soldiers and security staff melting out of his way without him having to ask. "Robbie feeling a little stressy?" he inquired.

"No, Jane is," Wyl replied, not taking his eyes off the pair. "She just got word that her grandmother passed away. Jane doesn't like to let things fester. She had a good cry, then said she needed a good fight and Robbie was the closest she was going to get."

"Closest, huh?" Garrett turned his attention back to the mat. He didn't know Jane Freeman all that well. She'd worked with Robbie in the Fringe and had a similar background, and when Robbie couldn't immediately take the position that Miles had offered him a few years ago, Robbie had suggested Jane as a replacement. Jane Freeman was a tall, powerfully built black woman with a doctorate in psychology and decades of service as a Marine.

She also had a talent for logistics and gettingprojects off the ground, and her service had been invaluable to then-GeneralCaractacus as he'd readied his short, victorious war. She was a good commanderand a gifted tactician, and she and Robbie split their command duties rightdown the center when he came on board, with her planning operations and him incharge in the field. It was a nearly-flawless partnership that proved how wellthey worked together. This morning was showing that they worked against eachother just as well.

Jane was a few inches shorter than Robbie but more flexible in the hips, andshe used her extra reach there to great effect as one of her powerful legs camewhipping around at his head. He moved out of the way but she didn't snap thekick back, just let her momentum carry her around into a spinning side kick.Robbie took her heel to his midsection but grabbed her foot, throwing it intothe air as he swept her plant leg out from beneath her. Jane crashed to the matbut didn't wait for Robbie to close, hooking his ankle and knee with her feetand levering him brutally to the floor before rolling back to her feet. Shewanted to bang, not grapple, and Robbie gave her what she wanted, jamming hernext kick and grabbing her behind the head as he slammed his knee repeatedlyinto her gut. The watchers collectively winced.

"Mother fuck," Wyl muttered.

"Yeah," Garrett agreed. They winced again as Jane got her feet under her andthrust up with an elbow to Robbie's chin, followed by several hooks that sendhim reeling to the side. "This is supposed to be therapeutic?"

"Fuck if I know." Wyl glanced over at Garrett. "You have combat mods, right?"

"A present for my sweet sixteen," Garrett said. "The civilian model, of course,Dad wasn't about to push me to join up. Can you imagine me in the military?"

"Nah, not enough room for your toiletries in the standard kit."

"Not even close." They watched silently as Jane and Robbie beat each otheracross the floor, occasionally tossing in a joint lock or throw that was toogood to pass up, but for the most part just kicking the crap out of each other.The suits were absorbing a lot of the damage, but both of them were slowingdown. "How long have they been at this?"

"About thirty minutes."

Garrett blinked. "Thirty minutes non-stop?" He glanced down at Wyl's lap andgrinned. "Have you had that for thirty minutes as well?"

"I can't help it," Wyl grumbled. "He does this to me all the fucking time; it'snot just the sparring. And I'm not the only one in here sporting wood either,this is better than porn for some of these jarheads."

"Down, boy."

"Shut the hell up."

Five minutes later the match ended when Jane got enough distance to scythe acrescent kick up into Robbie's temple, hitting him hard enough to make the suitflash red, indicating a solid knock-out blow. Robbie was down on one knee,shaking his head a little. He let Jane help him to his feet and theydeactivated their suits, then grinned at each other. The audienceenthusiastically applauded.

"I've gotta get out of here," Wyl said. "He's not done, this was just thewarm-up before they put the Marines through their paces. If I stay here I'mgonna be hard all fucking day."

"Come with me," Garrett suggested. "We can come up with a plan for my ship."

Wyl looked at him, surprised. "You're actually going to let me fix her up?"

"Cosmetic improvements only, for starters," Garrett warned. "The rest is stillin the air."

"Give it time," Wyl grinned as he stood up. "Once you see what I can do to heroutsides, you're going to beg me to go to work on her plumbing."

"We'll see," Garrett replied, mentally resigning himself to handing tools toWyl for the rest of the day. There were worse ways to spend his time.