THE RING ACADEMY: The Disappearance, Part 5

V. The First Trial

Imogene’s nerves were fraught with tension, her shoulders so tight she could feel it in her jaw. Malcolm’s advice hadn’t stopped moving through her mind: You have to win. When she stopped in at the check to register, she couldn’t do much more than grimace and answer with one word responses. 

“Here’s your number.” Nine. “Hold out your arm,” the feminine Gillick told Imogene, her mottled purple skin smooth despite the multi-shaded spots. Imogene did, and the Gillick attached the black cuff to her wrist. “This is so your location is registered during the trial at all times.”

“My partner?”

“Meet at the course.” She looked down at her AI. “Number 10. The cuff should vibrate to make the connection.”

“Who is it?”

The Gillick ran her webbed hand down the list. “Hasn’t checked in yet. I only have a number until the registrant provides AI information.”

Imogene nodded. “Okay, thanks.” She turned and moved through the crowd and into the throng to find her place and her partner. She was hopeful she’d have a good partner; it could be the difference between finishing or forfeiting, and the latter she couldn’t afford to do. With all of the talk last night about someone having it out for her - possibly someone in the Federation, and with Sirkuhl Glyn’s threat, she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps maybe someone might fix the race, handicap her with a partner, change the obstacles. If she thought about it too much, it made her feel like her lungs would come out through her mouth. She took a deep breath and weaved her way through the crowd at the edge of the far edge of the Grove. 

“Imogene!”

Jenna waved.

Imogene took a deeper breath with relief at seeing her friend. Then noticed Vempur stood next to Jenna. Their cuffs were tethered. 

“How did that happen?” Imogene asked nodding at their wrists.

“No idea,” Vempur said drawing up his arm. Jenna’s followed. 

“Whoa. Remember we’re connected,” she reminded him. “Who’s your partner?”

Imogene shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Think it’s Tsua?”

Vempur shook his head and pointed. “Nope. He’s tethered to Ripley.” 

Imogene followed his pointing hand and found Tsua connected to Ripley. Tsua waved. Ripley looked pissed. Tsua might have been off the charts with his mental and cognitive performances, but his physical abilities left a lot to be desired. “Ripley might kill him.”

Vempur laughed. “Naw. She’ll carry him to finish if she has to.”

Imogene was able to laugh at the mental image. “I’m going to go look for my partner. I have to go toward the front with the first group.” She looked at Jenna’s number, 22. “Have you seen Kade yet?”

Jenna shook her head. “Not yet, but he’s probably in the top ten like you. Good luck kicking his ass.”

Imogene smiled. “Yeah. I’ll need it.” 

She continued on through the group until she heard her name and turned back thinking Vempur was calling her back. It wasn’t; it was Malcolm jogging across the field toward her. And could he look more handsome? His athletic physique was showcased with clean lines in their matching black uniforms that hugged every curve and line of his body. She didn’t have a single question about his form since his wide shoulders and chest, his tapered waist, his muscular arms and legs were contoured in the slick fabric. She groaned deep in her chest, but wouldn’t allow the sound out to indicate her struggle with this attraction.

 “Kade,” she greeted him. 

“Malcolm,” he corrected and then assessed her with his gaze as he walked the last few steps to her. “You look -” but he didn’t finish. He just smiled.

His perusal  made her feel warm, and she knew he’d be able to see her blush so she turned her head away to pretend to look for her partner. 

“Where were you at Morning Protocol?” He asked. “I looked for you.”

He looked for me? She thought and glanced back at him. “I checked in my cadets and then returned to my quarters for some visualization exercises.”

“Needed some time to think about me, then, Ima.” Malcolm stopped in front of her.

“About beating you.” She offered him a flirty smile and then scolded herself for flirting. Focus, Imogene, she snapped internally. 

Her wrist buzzed.

She looked down and watched the tether cord leave her cuff, snap and connect to the matching cord of Malcolm’s cuff. 

Her eyes flashed from her cuff to his, her mouth opened in surprise. “What?”

His eyes were just as wide. “Didn’t see that coming.”

“Did you do this?” She asked for some reason angry about it though she wasn’t sure why. His partnership was the best possibility.

He shook his head. “How? You seem to think I have these magical powers with the administration, and a snitchy relationship with those officials. What the Carnos, Ima?”

“Why would we be paired?” Her heart was beating frantically, pounding against the inside of her chest. 

He tested the tether and yanked her toward him. She jerked forward but caught herself. “Not bad.” He looked around. “I don’t know, but it’s smart.”

“Because we’re top in our class?”

“Exactly. Come on. Let’s see who’s the competition is. I’m guessing Dylman is one.” Kade started moving through the crowd dragging Imogene but then stalled for her to catch up.

“If we’re partnered, he might be with Sollen.” Imogene fell into step with him. 

“Or Kitta.” 

Side by side they closed the distance between where they were and the section they were assigned discussing the pairing possibilities with those in the top ten. Their predictions were almost perfect. 

Malcolm turned to Imogene. “This is the best case scenario.”

“Why?”

“Imogene - because we can win. You and me, together.”

“Why pair us? One and two? Doesn’t it ruin the competition?” She asked.

“It could - if we were working together.” He smiled and wiggled his dark eyebrows. “But everyone thinks we hate one another.”

“For the record, until about twenty-four hours ago, I did hate you.”

He crossed his arms drawing her arm up as he did so. 

“This isn’t very comfortable.” Her arm hung in the space between them tethered to his.

“Hate is a very strong word, Ima.”

“Why pair us?”

He uncrossed his arms. “The trial is about siphoning leadership.”

“The other partners don’t hate one another,” she said looking around at the other pairs. Though her disdain for Kade had always been loud and public. He was right. Everyone knew.

“Let’s think it through.” He spoke aloud his eyes moving about the other partners. “Put your strongest two candidates together to see if they can work together. If they can’t, they might need solitary positions, or positions that don’t require teamwork. Perhaps they fail, unable to work together and then fall in the ranks eliminating them from prime positions. Or, they win, and are one step closer to the top placement.”

“Or partner the two you think hate one another and guarantee they fail.”

“Guess we’ll have to prove them wrong.” His smile worked magic casting a spell on her insides which seemed to turn inside out.

“I guess so,” she said and looked away.

“Ima?”

Her eyes met his brown ones. They were standing so close out of necessity with the tether that Imogene noticed his eyes had traces of bright copper in them. 

He leaned toward her.

Imogene’s heart palpitated in her chest, and she tried to keep breathing normally he was so close. She could turn her face, and touch her lips to his skin if she were so inclined. She remained still.

“I’m glad you don’t hate me anymore,” he said.

She cleared her throat. “I’m sure that could be remedied.”

He chuckled.

The first signal rang about the perimeter of the Grove indicating it was time to take their marks.

***

Six hours later, after the climb of the Mountain, the gorilla warfare maze of the Villa, the swim through the Swamp and the obstacle minefield in the Grove, Imogene and Malcolm crossed the finish line first. Their tethers disconnected the moment they crossed, returning them to their independence. Exhausted and ecstatic, Imogene threw her arms around Malcolm. “We did it. Oh my stars, we did it.” She was smiling and pressed a cheek to his shoulder amazed at how well they’d worked together.

Malcolm wrapped his arms around her. She could feel his strength wrapped around her ribs, his hands pressed against the small of her back.

Then she realized what she’d done and stepped back as if she’d been burned. “Good job, partner.”

Malcolm offered her a tentative smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah,” he said. “Partner.” Then he seemed to remember himself and his smile strengthened. “We should go celebrate.”

“Well done, cadets,” a voice interrupted.

“Sirkuhl,” Kade saluted.

Imogene acknowledged her superior as well.

“Impressive,” he said. “Officials took note.” He nodded and his eyes attached themselves to Imogene’s face. “Excellent showing, Sol.” His smile was feral. “Keep up the good work.”

Imogene suppressed a shudder. 

“You too, Kade, though your performance doesn’t surprise me as much. I must say, when I saw you two were paired, I did pause with concern.”

“Sir?” Malcolm asked.

“Just a surprise, Kade. I thought you might drown one another when you got to the Swamp.”

The tiny hairs on Imogene’s neck prickled.

“Well sir, I did contemplate shoving Sol in front of ammunition in the Villa, but then realized I’d have to either drag or carry her back.”

“Same here, sir,” Imogene said, though hearing Malcolm say it hurt more than it should have. 

He chuckled. “Carry on.” The Sirkuhl walked away.

Imogene started away from Malcolm, but he grabbed her arm before she was out of his range. He turned her back to face him. “So? Celebrate?”

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “With someone who just expressed the idea of killing me crossed his mind but he didn’t want to have to cart me back?” She pressed a finger to her cheek bone and looked up at the sky as though thinking. Then she leveled her gaze on Malcolm, even and serious. “No thanks, Kade.”

She turned away but he didn’t let go of her arm. 

Instead, he started walking and pulled her along with him.

“Let me go, Kade.”

“I would, Ima, but I can’t trust you to come with me, and I need to talk to you. Privately.”

“Kade.” She knew she could have yanked her hand away and he would have let her go, but she was curious. 

“Stars, Ima.” He swore. “It’s Malcolm.”

They walked past the Pillars, down the walkway past the complex bathing rooms, down the steps toward the center of campus where the Baskin Monolith stood surrounded by rolling hills and trees. Malcolm led her into a mall covered with greenery and milsk blossoms where there were benches and privacy and when they got there, he dropped her arm. 

Now, if she wanted to leave him, she could, but she didn’t want to. Instead, she watched him. He sighed, ran a hand through his dark hair and turned on her. “I didn’t mean it and you know it.” He was obviously frustrated with her. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him so upset even with a loss to her at some competition - not since they were younger anyway. Usually he took it in stride. “You agreed - said the same. Playing it up for the Sirkuhl.” He paced back and forth and then stopped to look at her. “I didn’t want him to think anything was different.” His arms flew out to his sides.

“I know,” she said and looked down. She’d overreacted, hurt, but irrationally so. “I know.”

“I don’t-” He clamped his mouth shut cutting off his thoughts, and huffed his frustration before turning away from her. He put his hands on his hips, and his head dropped forward. It didn’t make sense to her, but his countenance appeared rejected. 

She resisted the urge to go to him and lay her hands against his wide back. After a time of silence, she said, “I don’t always trust the people in my life. It’s easier to just assume the worst.”

He didn’t move.

She moved forward so they were shoulder to shoulder facing the thick vines of the milsk. She reached out and touched one of the wide white blossoms. “I’m trying here. I’m just not very good at it.” She leaned forward so she could see his eyes.

He glanced at her, seriousness riding his brow and making it heavy.

She smiled though it was small and slight. “Vempur, Jenna and Tsua had to work pretty hard to get me to open up because of my weird trust issues. Adding someone new to the mix isn’t easy.”

He took another deep breath then said, “that isn’t surprising, Ima, with everything you’ve gone through. I’m sorry for what I said to Sirkuhl. I didn’t mean it.” He turned to face her. “I said it so the Sirkuhl wouldn’t suspect we were -” he paused on whatever word he’d initially thought and finished with, “allies. I didn’t meant to hurt you.”

“Thanks for that.” She studied her hands. “Me too, if it matters. I didn’t mean it either.” She turned to face him and looked up from her hands to his handsome face. “I think we worked pretty well together. I mean, we beat the trial and came in first.”

He stepped closer and Imogene’s breath caught in her chest. “It matters,” he said, his eyes moving over her features; she could almost feel it like a caress. “It matters because you matter.”

Imogene’s insides melted. Poured right from her shoulders and pooled into her feet. She thought about all the feelings swirling through her. Feelings she’d had about Malcolm for a long time and stamped down into a hiding place she carried around inside of her. Feelings she hid in anger and bluster. The hiding place suddenly opened up, however. She could blame its revelation on their victory, the heightened emotions about what had just happened, and maybe under different circumstances, she wouldn’t have been so bold about revealing her vulnerabilities to him, but she didn’t think for once in her life; she just moved. 

She stepped forward and laid a hand on his chest; she slid it up until she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and drew him closer. “Kiss me, Kade,” she said.

“Malcolm,” he growled his name and then the palms of his hands were warm against her face. When his lips touched hers, Imogene didn’t think at all.

To Be Continued…Next Monday: Part 6



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