Since the shuttle left that afternoon, Kate practically ran back to her room to pack her bag. She grabbed uniforms, training clothes, thermal gear, and all the necessities. Personal items were another matter. It was a luxury on any of the space stations. Even room to breathe was difficult to come by.
Kate would get as much room as possible because she was an Alexander. She didn’t like being different, but she knew who she was. And that also came at a price.
“I’ll take just a few,” she thought, looking up at her shelves. One wall of her quarters was covered with shelves, three of which stored only old books.
First, she grabbed Siddhartha. It was one of her favorites, and she thought the calming tone would be the right mood where she was headed. Then she grabbed Jake and the Empire Gem. She could always get lost in that one. She stared at them, trying to choose one more book when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” she said, thinking it would be James. Her mother and father would be there to see her from the grounds, but she would have to say goodbye to her brother before then.
Yori stepped through the door instead. Kate felt a sense of relief, and walked directly up to him and hugged him.
Yori cleared his throat, “I will miss you.”
“I will miss you, too,” Kate told him.
“I brought a couple of books for you,” he said, holding out the Art of War and Foundation. “I thought you might want to take them with you.”
“This one is James’ favorite book,” she said, handing back the Art of War.
“I know,” he said. “But you should know it, too. It’s better to learn these lessons on the page, instead of in life.”
“Understood.” With that, she took both books and placed them in her bag.
“But don’t forget, I have two chaperones going with me,” she added.
“You should still be cautious. They may not always be by your side.”
Yori paused for a moment, and then told her he saw James in the training room on his way there. Without missing a beat Kate grabbed her staff, said goodbye to Yori, and was out the door.
•••
The glass doors to the training room opened and Kate saw James stab one of the training dummies. He slowly pulled his staff back and bowed as if he had faced a real person. Then he turned to Kate, covered in sweat, and bowed.
“Congratulations,” he said.
“You’ve heard then.”
“I think everyone has.”
“I’ve come to say goodbye,” she told him with her staff in hand.
“Be careful, my sister.”
“On my journey?” she asked with a smile. “Or are you ready to spar?”
“Both,” he said.
The two immediately swung at each other clashing staffs like swords, swinging with power and intensity. Then James let his staff slip through his fingers and hit the floor, sending out a shockwave.
It knocked Kate back, but she used the momentum to push herself into a back hand spring. She put distance between them before James’ came around for another swinging attack.
As she completed the spring, she pulled the staff up to her chest and sent out a pulse of blinding light in all directions. James blinked and instinctively slammed his staff to the ground in a counter-offensive.
The shockwave rushed across the floor as Kate used her staff to vault her off the ground and stung James with a double kick. He stumbled back, but noticed the circle inlay on the floor signaling a practice dummy in the floor.
He tapped upon the marker and the cylindrical wooden barrier rose up, stopping Kate in her tracks. He quickly twisted around the left side of the obstruction and caught Kate in the side of neck, stopping less than a centimeter from her trachea. Both stopped fighting.
“Well played, brother,” Kate said. “You remembered this time.”
“I try to learn from my mistakes.”
“I thought you didn’t make any?” she said. James grinned.
The two warriors faced each other and bowed.
“Godspeed on your journey, sister.”
“Take care of the family, brother.”
“I will.”
As she walked away from the training room, she wondered why he was so quick to admit he made a mistake. It wasn’t like James.
Like apologies, admissions of wrongdoing were only signs of weakness. It was one of many things the two disagreed on. Kate thought admitting mistakes was a sign of strength and wisdom. James would argue that mistakes only showed ignorance and weakness. And James was not ignorant or weak.
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