The room was silent.
And for the first time in a week, so was Kate’s mind. She thought of nothing except how the coolness of the bamboo floor underneath her feet crept its way up her body. Her attention was focused on her surroundings, on the moment, on the present.
Then suddenly her father’s voice began to rise out of the back of her mind.
“Find out all you can,” he said.
Then two words started to get louder, “The Machinists … The Machinists.”
She tried to fight off the memory, but it kept coming back.
“They’ve been hiding somewhere,” her father told her. “For the past ten years.”
His voice echoed in her head, rattling around like a monkey in a cage.
“Find them … you must find them.”
The night before, William contacted her. He wanted Kate to research The Machinists, to search the library for any and all references to the political movement responsible for the death of Io’s parents.
They had resurfaced, and William wanted to know everything about them.
He asked her to work with the Alexander’s Historian, Lucas, to find out everything about their past. He asked her to investigate every mention of them over the past ten years and find out where they’ve been hiding since the execution of their original leader.
And, he wanted her to use all that information to determine where they were now and what they were after. Most importantly why they contacted Io.
“What are they after?” he questioned. “I must know what they’re after.”
She had come to the training room to clear her mind. Instead, all she could do was begin to map out the day, the week, the month.
She also came to spar with her father.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” was the last thing he said. Now, all she could do was hope he would arrive soon. Meditation was no longer enough to keep her mind clear. She needed a distraction.
The doors to training room opened and Kate quickly stood up. She turned to face him, only to see someone else.
Sun stood in the entrance to the training room with her staff in hand.
“What are you doing here?” Kate demanded.
“I’m here to spar with you,” Sun responded.
“Where’s father?”
“He couldn’t make it,” she said.
“Why not?”
“He had things to attend to,” Sun told her.
“So do I,” Kate said.
“Should we postpone our session then?” she asked.
“No,” she said reluctantly. “Do you need to warm up?”
“Just give me a moment.”
Sun walked to the center of the room, stopped and stood straight and tall. She closed her eyes and spun her staff around in front of her. Then she stopped moving the staff, and held it straight out from her torso. At the same time she slipped her right foot out to the side, keeping her leg straight.
She returned to her original position and opened her eyes. “Ready,” she said with a smile.
Kate approached her mother slowly, but swinging her staff quickly from side to side. Sun stood motionless as she approached, watching and waiting.
When Kate came within striking distance, she swung low at Sun’s legs and high near her shoulder.
Sun blocked both strikes with little effort. Both women began circling each other. They moved gently around, calm and attentive.
Then Sun swept in with a low strike, and spun around with her staff to strike a blow from above. As she moved, her staff began to glow a red-hot orange. Kate leaned back to avoid the hit, but exposed part of her torso. Sun came down and missed her, but she singed a small piece of her shirt.
Kate looked down at the blackened fabric, then back up at her mother. Sun smiled at her daughter. With that Kate stabbed at her mother’s torso then quickly swung her staff across her face. Sun dodged the blow, but Kate continued to swing around and shot out a blinding flash of light as she came into her mother’s line of sight.
Sun’s staff had already begun to glow again, and Kate turned to a defensive posture. The two women struck at other, quickly and fiercely. Kate attacked and Sun blocked. Then Sun attacked and Kate blocked.
Flashes of light filled the room like a strobe, and the heat of Sun’s staff left several black burns on Kate’s clothing.
After a time, Sun tired and looked to end the session. She stabbed at Kate’s torso, only to be blocked, and lifted her staff upward to hit Kate in the chin.
Instead of blocking, Kate let her mother push thru the maneuver. When she was off-balance, Kate spun around and hit her in the back, sending her to the ground. Kate held her staff over her mother as she laid on the floor, poised for the final blow.
“Very well,” Sun said, holding out her hand. Kate took it and helped her up. “Thank you. I needed that more than I realized.”
Kate nodded.
“May I join you again tomorrow?”
Kate hesitated, but eventually said, “You may.”
Sun walked out of the training room without turning to look back. Kate watched her exit, then sat down on the floor and again tried to clear her mind.
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