Fire and Ice

Chapter 4 [] Ender

"Freeze right there!" several soldiers yelled in unison. Kayleigh dropped immediately, rolling into fighting stance. Before she could throw any punches, I picked her up by her waist, effectively lifting her off the ground. She's really light.

"Ender!" she yelled, "Let go of me!" She wriggled around trying to free herself. My superior height kept her from gaining leverage.

"Now is not the time to fight them," I whispered. She stopped struggling immediately.

"Ok," was her quiet reply. The soldiers were staring at us from the other ends of gun barrels, silent. I put her down gently, and they swarmed her. Protecting the outside world from her. She was forced out of the room and I didn't see her again for two days.

†††

Soldiers escorted me from Ender's room all the way back to my cryopod. An old man with Graff etched into his nameplate stood staring wistfully at my cryotube.

"You gonna lock me back in there for another eternity?" I bite out. He turns around and looks at me.

"No," he replies simply. "We want you to help us."

"Why should I? You're not members of my military, not my superiors, and, the cherry on top, you have driven my team and I apart. Permanently."

"I know. You have no reason to help us, but we're losing the war. Humanity is on the brink. Our planet is overpopulated, and the formics want to take over. We are trying to protect humanity itself."

"By doing what, exploiting children? Like Ender? Or the others he mentioned: Beans, Aly, Dinky, Peter, and Hot Cross Buns?" The Colonel put his head in his hands.

"Those aren't their names," he sighed.

"So sue me," I snap.

"Please! Admiral, will you just cooperate?" His use of my official rank startles me, and I take a step back. "I wouldn't have unfrozen you if I knew there was any other way to win, but there isn't. We can't win this war without you, and you can't let humanity perish. Please." His eyes soften on the last word and he looks close to tears. Part of me wonders if it's just for show. But he's right. I have no choice. I wouldn't say no even if I did.

"I'll help," I say, carefully neutralizing my voice and features. "I'll need three days of rest and recovery, with access to your gyms, simulators, and my old suits and ship, located in the compartments of my cryotube. I'll also need to observe your simulator battles with Ender and his jeesh."

"Done," Graff jumps in quickly. "Anything, Admiral." I raise my eyebrow at him. He looks questioningly back at me. I sigh.

"Am I sleeping in the cryotube or do I get quarters?"

"Quarters, yes. We'll see what's available, there might only be small quarters left-"

"That's fine," I interject dismissively. "Whatever's open is good."

"Then Allison will escort you there." I turn and see a soldier step forward. She heads towards the door. I run over to my cryotube and open all compartments, pulling out all of my stuff. I then hurry to follow Allison as she walks briskly towards my room.

†††

My days to rest pass almost without incident. I spar bots and people alike, refine knife throwing, accuracy with phasers and arrows, and refresh fencing. My scythe is polished, and practiced with.

I watch the battles as Ender commands them. He is an excellent strategist, and an even better commander. He wins every battle, but the battles never end. Day after day, he fights, he pushes, he forces them back, but they just stay put.

Aside from that, all else goes well.

[][][]

Two days after Kayleigh was escorted at gunpoint from my room, I come across her in the gym. She is doing a handstand and appears to be meditating.

I walk up slowly, so as not to startle her. I walk around her slowly. Her form is impeccable.

"Watcha doin'?" she asks, breaking the silence. I smirk.

"Oh, nothin'. What about you?"

"Oh, about the same." I laugh gently at her reply.

"How long have you been in this handstand?" I ask.

"Since about 0330 hours." I calculate. She's been holding it for almost six hours. My mouth opens slightly.

"How," I stutter out, "it's been six hours!"

"Only six?" Kayleigh pouts. My mouth gapes open, and as if sensing my reaction, she continues, "During my training, my superiors made me hold handstands and various yoga type poses for long periods of time to work on focus, or being able to control my body, or meditation, or whatever garbage excuse they came up with that day to make me suffer. No one else had to do it, just me."

I brush my hands gently across the bottoms of her feet, just to make sure she's telling the truth. No wires.

Out of nowhere, my hand is in the crook of her knee, her other leg wraps around my neck. The leg twists violently, pulling me down, effectively knock me over and leaving Kayleigh standing upright. She offers me a hand.

"Wanna spar?" I take the hand.

"You know it."

[][][]

Kayleigh skips over to the mat happily before squaring off into a fighting stance.

I feign left but Kayleigh catches me, swiftly tossing me on the ground and backbending gracefully over my torso. I swipe my leg out, kicking at her feet. She hops back, allowing me to pull myself to his feet. My fists fly towards her face, but she ducks my punch, falling softly to her left and knocking my legs out from underneath me. She allows her legs to continue their motion, flipping herself upside down, into a handstand, and finally back to her feet. She doesn't pause to allow me a chance to get back to my feet, instead bending over me again and wrapping something around each of my wrists. She backs away, allowing me to finally stand up.

I lunge at her, but she touches the side of one of my wrists as I try to punch her, and then my hands fly together. I gently pull on them, trying to separate my hands, but they won't detach. I yank and tug, but they won't give.

I looks up to find Kayleigh smirking. I hold up my wrists. She shrugs, sauntering to the nearby wall. Her head perks up when she gets there, and she casually pulls out a handheld phaser. She aims at the ceiling and fires. A cable emerges instead of a phaser bolt, and she rises gracefully to the rafters.

"Ender?" a voice says behind me. I turn to find my Toon Leaders standing in the entryway. I try to wave, but remember too late that my hands are stuck.

"What're you looking at?" Bean asks. "And why're your hands cuffed?"

Almost as if in response, a knife comes flying from above me, wedging between my wrists and allowing me to separate my hands again. The Toon Leaders are on their guard, looking up at the ceiling. I follow their gaze and see Kayleigh standing there, casually, as if it were solid ground. She hops down, and rolls off her momentum when she hits the ground. She's wearing knee-high black boots now, which greatly contrast with her white exercise clothes. She saunters over to me, grabs the knife and cuffs, half salutes Petra, Bean and the others, and sauntering out without saying anything. Everyone watches open-mouthed as she leaves. I'll need to talk to her later about those boots.