Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Chief Science Officer/Research & Development) in Time Slows but the Clock Keeps Ticking

Posted by Lieutenant Alexis Bonner (Scientist, Medical Researcher) in Time Slows but the Clock Keeps Ticking

Posted by Lieutenant Dr. Solomon Kane (Chief Science Officer/Research & Development) in Time Slows but the Clock Keeps Ticking

Solomon had sent the fake data files out and the longer the week went the edgier she got. Every noise, every movement of a shadow set her nerves and reflexes to screaming. Alexis didn’t socialize much, but it was to none by the middle of the week. She was either totally immersed in her work or totally unable to focus because everything startled her. Their quarters and the R&D lab was the only places she was willing to go. And the Arboretum because of Frigga. She refused to let GALEN lead her there and back. “GALEN lock my work station.” She patted her leg and Frigga got up and followed her out and they headed to the arboretum.

Less than half an hour later, Alexis and Frigga were back in the lab. It had been a week, and they were well into the second week. She and Solomon didn’t think that it would take Soulis more than 2 weeks to make his plan and come for the orange. As she re-entered the lab her gaze fell on the containment unit and the orange inside of it - still in it’s place. Alexis moved back to her work station. =/\=GALEN unlock my work station.=/\= There was a shimmering flash as the forcefields came down and then she walked over to her table and reached for the ear buds, only to realize that she’d never taken them out. She took them out and set them down. They probably were more hinderance now than help. If Soulis walked into the lab she’d never know until it was too late, the sound of foot steps and the door working filtered out by the program. Frigga moved and curled up under the table. She missed her work and visiting the patients, but Alexis wouldn’t let her go anywhere without her or the steak keeper now.

Bonner

The doors to the lab slid open and Kane walked in. He looked at Bonner and said “Secure all of that and let’s go. C’mon, no time to waste asking questions. Just do it.”

Kane, CSO

Alexis looked up, wary, as the doors opened and immediately relaxed at who it was. Frigga bumped her leg as she passed her, responding to his ‘let’s go.’ Alexis quickly put away materials and samples and turned off the machines and her computer. “GALEN secure my work station.” She walked over to Kane and Frigga and went out the door with them.

Bonner

Kane led her down the passages wordlessly and quickly. Soon they arrived at the holodeck. Walking inside, the door closed and they were in a gym… of sorts. A large roped off square ring was in the center. Heavy bags hung from the ceiling of the room, as did equipment for speed and accuracy…

A boxing gym.

“Strip down to your underwear and put these on.” Kane said and handed her a pile of folded clothes, a pair of lightweight padded gloves, and a padded helmet. “Hurry up, love. ‘Cause you’re gonna kick my ass now.” and he began stripping.

Kane

Alexis took the clothes and looked around for where she was supposed to change. At his insistant ‘hurry up’ she blinked. Oh, change here, like right here. She stripped down pulling on the clothes he gave her and then looked at the helmet for a second to make sure it was turned the right way. Then as she slipped and gloves on she looked at him, “I’m going to do what?”

Bonner

The movement from Kane was swift and accurate, but too forceful. One moment he was standing waiting for her to get dressed, then POP! His glove hand shot forward and punched her square in the face… the blow absorbed (mostly) by the padded helmet cheek and jaw coverings.

Frigga was running around the ring in the center smelling everything. Coming around the corner just in time to hear the POP and see Kane’s hand punch Alexis. She stopped, stunned into sitting and barked, then growled, and then whined. Not sure what to make of the whole thing.

He looked at her and said ” I said you are going to kick my ass, thats what. And you’re gonna learn to do it quick and without distraction. Now that you’ve been hit, you know what its like. Get in the ring. I’m gonna show you how to beat Lord Dingleberry McSmegmastain’s face into meatloaf.” and he climbed up into the ring.

Kane

Alexis rocked back, more reflex than from being hurt. She wiggled her nose and blinked a couple of times in an effort to shrug off the sensation as she climbed into the ring. She’d taken very very basic hand-to-hand at the Academy…she wasn’t good at it. She could explain it, but implementation had been…embarrassing. But she wasn’t thinking about that, instead she was calculating speed to rotation to force for effectiveness of impact. “You only rotated your shoulder 20 degrees, you need at least 40 to get maximum impact, assuming you keep your elbow to wrist to knuckles in line.”

Bonner

Another shot from the left hand hit squarely into her nose, this time hard enough to make her eyes water. “Focus, Lex. He ain’t gonna play nice, and you have to be able to get the first shot in and make it count. Got it? You have to hurt him from jump… and keep hurting him long enough to either get away or call for help. You understand?” Kane asked.

Kane

Alexis took a step back, eyeing him as her eyes watered. She blinked to clear her vision. “I got it. You want me to beat the hell out of him before he does it to me.” She turned her gaze on him, but didn’t quite meet his eyes because she really didn’t think staring into his eyes was going to help her focus. What had her instructor at Academy said? She pushed that away, trying to remember lessons she failed miserably at wasn’t going to help her either. “Show me.” Obviously she doubted she could, but she’d try.

Bonner

Kane nodded.

INSERT TRAINING MONTAGE MUSIC

For the next four hours, Kane and Bonner practiced, sparred, adjusted, sparred, practiced, and sparred some more. Kane didn’t teach her how to fight… that would take far too long. Instead, he taught her how to cheat. How to fight dirty. How to lure him in close only to bend, break, bite, gouge, and gore all the soft and delicate places on one’s body. In four hours he distilled decades of street fighting into the most painful and disgusting ways to hurt someone… and he showed her all of it.

As they sat in the ring panting and sweating, Kane wiped a bit of blood from his lip and said “Good. Now… do that to this guy.” and he stood up and said =/\= Computer, activate assailant one. =/\=

A man appeared, not unlike Soulis in appearance, but different enough it wouldn’t trigger anything. Kane looked at Alexis and said “Go on. Whoop his ass.”

Kane

Alexis just stared up at Kane and then the ‘assailant’ and then pulled herself to her feet. She wiped the sweat from her brow on her sleeve and stepped forwards waiting to see what would happen: not hesitating but assessing. Then it started, and Alexis punched, pinched, gouged, bit, clawed, even screamed painfully into the person’s ear. She had a fleeting thought it was really too bad she was so bad at flirting, she could really lure him in then. Soulis probably wouldn’t believe..WHOA! and she ducked, barely getting clipped. Right…think later. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her toward him, rather than fighting she stepped him, making him unbalanced. She gripped his hand over her arm, brought it up at a sharp acute angle and then stepping back pulled his wrist down and him forward, his nose right into her knee. There was a satisfying splatter of blood and then he dropped. Then she kicked him in the face and the ribs. Whoop his ass? Yes, get her own handed to her in the process…yeah.

It was frustrating being able to see it in her head, after the fact and know what she should have done and not seeing it at the time. But another more pressing thought occurred to her. “He won’t come at me from the front. He never does. He’ll be behind me before I know he’s there.”

Bonner