“Suit up,” Aunt Sleak said, already in her sparring gear.
Naero looked around in the big training room. They were all alone. She put her pads on. “What’s this all about Aunt Sleak? I’m off duty.”
“Just get those pads on, spacechild.”
A tone in her voice made Naero’s blood glacier and crystalize. Aunt Sleak had that affect on people, just from the intensity of her voice.
Aunt Sleak turned and met Naero’s eye straight on.
Her sudden glare. Withering. She already knew about Ellis.
Naero wished suddenly she could split out of her form like an Ichikan mimic and assume a new shape or identity. Intel always had surveillance on Ellis. The two guards. The little tryst on the floor hadn’t gone unnoticed. It was foolish to think it would.
That brief glare told Naero all she needed to know. She was really in for it now. Nothing she could do but take her lumps.
Naero got a few blows in before she went down. That didn’t matter.
Aunt Sleak overwhelmed her defenses and threw her to the ground. Hard. Suddenly it was a bit like fighting Baeven. She knew her aunt had been holding back in the past, but she had no idea how much.
Naero rolled to her feet, buffeted by low kicks as she crouched.
Their precision and speed pummeled her, and knocked her back into the wall.
Training with Baeven turned out to be good for something. At least he taught her how to take a beat down
“What in the hell were you thinking?” Aunt Sleak finally screamed at her. “I don’t care how good-looking he is. He’s a Matayan. One of their princes. This is not going to happen. The two of you will never be left alone again.”
After getting beat up, Naero’s own temper flared. She spread her arms wide in denial. “So he’s a Matayan. So what? What’s the big deal? You sound as bigoted as they are. He’s not all that bad. Did you ever think that with all this talk of new alliances, he might be able to help our side and his own people at the same time? They’ve got their backs against the wall. They’re desperate.”
“His people kill our people, Naero–every chance they get. They killed your parents and everyone with them. And we’ve killed plenty of Matayans in retaliation. We are enemies. Blood enemies.”
“And when will that change? Never? We have a platinum opportunity to reverse that. Can’t anyone see that? His people need help.”
“They won’t find any from us. This isn’t about diplomacy, and you know it.” Naero tried to rise. Aunt Sleak rammed her back onto the mat with a heavy foot.
“You want to learn about sex, spacechild? Well that’s just great. Pick one of the crew. Take that lander boy for a spin. Go hire someone at one of our stops to throck your world. Knock yourself out. But stay away from that Matayan bastard. Before you screw the sons of your family’s slayers...I’ll kill you myself. You got that?”
Naero glared back. “Got it.”
“Good.”
A big, athletic Intel self-defense instructor stepped in, ready to spar.
Aunt Sleak let Naero up and motioned to the Intel instructor. “Continue this session. Push her hard.”
She didn’t even look back, adding, “You’ve really disappointed me, Naero. I thought you were smarter than this.”
Naero took her stance, her bleeding lips tight.
As far as she was concerned, that instructor was in serious trouble.