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Small
and black, he realised it was a training cube. The tiniest and
easiest of the training cubes in fact.

Well
it sprung from her grip like a bullet, then shot across the
room.

He had
barely a second before it changed direction abruptly and headed
straight back for Nida, travelling at blinding speed.

Travis
jumped forward, grabbing the cube as he did, his right arm
exploding in yellow energy as he turned his TI onto
full.

Though
he managed to catch the cube, he couldn't stop it, and it dragged
him forward, his boots squeaking dramatically across the
floor.

“Turn
it off,” Carson commanded, spitting his words
desperately.

“I
can't,” Travis spoke through clenched teeth, tension making every
muscle in his neck protrude outward. The tiny training cube in his
hand kept pulling him forward, right towards Harper.

“Turn
it off,” Carson now screamed. He still had an arm around Harper.
She was practically limp in his grip, her right arm hanging loose
against his, blood covering it and splashing against his
boots.

“I
can't,” Travis said, yellow energy cascading up his arm, indicating
his TI was at full capacity.

It
would ordinarily take little effort for someone like Travis to turn
off a TI cube, let alone such a small one.

But he
couldn't, and he clearly gave it everything he had.

The
cube kept dragging Travis forward as it forced itself towards
Harper.

If or
when Travis let go of it, the little cube would punch forward with
such speed, it would likely rip through Harper's chest.

Realising that in a cold wash of dread, Carson thrust Harper
back and through her open bedroom door. Then he reached up and
closed it.

He
watched the doors swish shut with a whispered hiss.

He
stared at them.

He had
barely a second to turn towards Harper. She lay still, his free arm
still pinning her to his side.

She
was awake and breathing erratically, but her right arm was a bloody
mess against her stomach.

Before
he could reach down to check on her, something slammed into the
closed doors, forcing them to buckle forward.

He
jumped, doubling back.

He
watched the metal bend and twist as a small cube-shaped dent
appeared in it.

The
training block was forcing its way in, right through the closed,
reinforced doors.

He
swore loudly, then snapped his attention back to Harper.

She
couldn't be doing this. Not only did she have precious little
ability with her TI implant, she was practically out cold, yet the
block was still moving.

He
stared at her quickly, realisation dawning on him.

Her
implant.

It had
to be malfunctioning.

It was
the only thing that could explain what was happening and what had
happened earlier today.

He
reached down, just as the doors gave a groan.

As
quick as he could, with sweat covering his brow and building up
between his fingers, he pushed the top of her singlet
down.

All TI
implants were embedded just below the throat, and he quickly found
hers with trembling fingers.

He
then commanded his own implant with a quick and powerful thought,
sending a pulse of yellow energy through his palm. It pushed down
against the small, round, silver implant that was flush with her
skin.

He
would try to turn it off. And if that didn't
work . . . Christ, he'd have no option but to
rip it from her throat.

It
wouldn't kill her, but unless he stopped that training block, it
would rip through her like hail through a spider web.

He
waited, unable to breathe, barely capable of thinking, and poised
with so much tension raking his body his bones could have
shattered.

He
waited for the implant to turn off. With a click, it
did.

But
the block didn't stop.

He
turned his head in a snap to see the doors still buckling under the
cube's force.

He
stared at the sight, surprise ripping through him.

Then,
just as the doors threatened to give way, the groaning
stopped.

Silence filtered in.

He
heard Travis swearing from the other side, and with a heavy breath,
Carson realised it was over.

“Are
you alright?” Travis screamed at him.

“Fine,” Carson shot back.

Then
he turned.

And he
stared at her.

She
was still awake, but only barely.

She
was on her back, her body twisted in an uncomfortable arrangement,
her head lolled to the side as she stared at her bloodied right
palm.

“It's
okay,” he dropped to his knees beside her, his palm hovering over
her badly injured arm.

She
looked up at him, wheezing as she laboriously turned her
neck.

She
would be in incredible pain.

“A
medical team will be here soon,” he promised her, then he sat back
and screamed at Travis to get the door open and get a doctor here
now.

When
he returned his attention to Harper, he saw how strange her
expression was. It wasn't twisted in agony, only
confusion.

“You'll be okay. Your implant malfunctioned. I've turned it
off. You'll be okay,” he repeated, possibly for his own benefit.
“Just lie there and try not to think about the pain.”

“It
doesn't hurt,” she answered, her voice filled with a far-off
quality.

He
bristled, the hair on the back of his neck standing straight.
“What?”

“I
can't feel it,” she mumbled, still breathing hard. “I can't move
it,” she added, still staring at her hand.

“You'll be fine. You're just injured,” he promised
her.

“It
feels like stone,” she managed.

He
shivered.

There
was a horrible, sorrowful edge to her tone.

“Hey,”
he leaned down, ducking his head close to hers, trying to distract
her, “the medical team is coming. Everything is going to be
fine.”

She
looked up at him, her hazel eyes wide.

Her
expression stilled him. No, it reached into him and imprinted
itself upon his mind. If he closed his eyes, he'd still be able to
see her horribly pale cheeks and drawn, thin, blue-tinged
lips.

“It'll
be alright,” he said one last time.

“No it
won't be,” she whispered.

Then
she blacked out, her head slumping to the side.

He
checked her, confirming she was still alive. Then he stood up and
stared at the door.

It was
destroyed.

Completely warped.

In a
second, there was a thump, then another, and it buckled
in.

Travis
came rushing through, a medical team just behind him. “What the
hell just happened?” Travis stared at Carson with pale shock
slackening his usually confident expression.

Carson
placed a hand on his mouth, locking it around his lips. It took him
too long to realise his fingers were covered in Nida's blood, and
it was only the distinct tangy smell of iron that made him shiver
and pull his hand away.

The
medical team set to work immediately.

Carson
was struck with the realisation this was the second time he'd seen
Harper packed gently on a hover stretcher today.

This
time, however, he was going with her.

As a
thin-lipped doctor surveyed her arm, she stood and nodded at him to
get out of her way.

“Hold
on, I'm coming too,” Carson announced. Before the doctor could
protest, he put his hand up and shook his head. “That's an order,”
he said simply.

“What
the hell is going on?” Travis breathed heavily as he stood out of
the way and let the stretcher and doctor pass. He shot Carson a
pleading look. “I couldn't stop that training block. I mean, I used
everything. I couldn't turn it off. I couldn't even slow it
down.”

Carson
tried to nod, but he couldn't. Instead, he stood there and shivered
for a moment. “It was her implant. It malfunctioned,” he said, but
his voice sounded hollow.

“Implants don't malfunction,” Travis croaked back, “not the
new ones.”

“Well
this one did,” Carson swallowed, his Adam's apple pushing hard
against his high collar. “That block only stopped once I turned her
implant off.”

Travis
looked sickened from his shock, but he finally nodded and pushed a
trembling hand through his hair.

It was
his right hand, the one he usually used to manipulate TI
objects.

It
probably hurt like hell, Carson realised. “You should get that
checked out,” he nodded at Travis' hand.

Travis
looked at it, then nodded. “I intend to. But right now, I need a
real stiff drink.”

Carson
gave a sharp, bitter laugh. “So do I. But it can wait. You stay
here and—” he began.

“Explain to anyone that asks what happened to that door,”
Travis nodded at the badly warped metal.

“Yep,”
Carson nodded. “I'm going to go to the med bay with her. I want to
be there when she wakes up,” he added needlessly.

He
didn't have to be there when she woke up; Carson barely knew
Harper, and their interactions to-date all revolved around her
injuring herself.

But
that didn't matter; he wanted to be there anyway.

Travis
shrugged his shoulders and shot Carson a knowing look. “Alright
then. You run off and I'll deal with the aftermath,” he mumbled as
he poked the warped door with his boot.

With
that, Carson gave his friend a quick nod, then picked his way out
of Cadet Nida Harper's room.

As he
did, he briefly glanced around at it.

It was
neat and clean, or at least it would have been before a training
cube had smashed it up.

There
were several paintings on the walls, and a holo photo of Nida with
a smiling man and woman who were probably her parents. She had a
big, friendly grin on her face, and her arms were scooped around
the both of them.

He
turned away from the photo sharply, realising it was an invasion of
her privacy, and walked out of the room.

Alicia
and his date—Bridget—were standing in the lounge room, their faces
ashen with fright.

He
barely knew them, and he'd only agreed to accompany Travis on this
double date because the guy had twisted his arm.

Still,
he offered them both a sedate smile. “We're going to have to
cancel,” he said quietly.

“What . . . what happened?” Alicia asked
quickly, her words barely audible as she spluttered through
them.

“Accident,” he mumbled, his tone reserved. “Everything will be
fine. Harper . . . is going to the medical bay,
and Travis will stay here to clean things up. Everything will be
fine,” he added needlessly as he backed away through the
room.

“What,
you're leaving?” Bridget asked through a quick blink.

“Sorry, I'm going to see how she is,” he answered briefly. He
lifted a hand in goodbye, then practically ran from the
room.

Then
he headed as fast as he could to the main medical bay of the
Academy.

There
he waited as doctors saw to Cadet Nida Harper.

He had
a lot of time to think.

Yet
all he could think of was the moment she'd burst from her door,
straight into his arms, blood covering her right arm as her hand
had clutched that speeding cube.

It
seemed to take longer than usual for the doctors to fix Harper up,
and the hours drew on and on.

But he
didn't leave.

He
just waited until she finally woke up.

Cadet
Nida Harper

She
woke with a start.

She'd
been dreaming again. That same damn dream. She'd been back on the
planet, her hand covered in writhing blue energy.

As her
eyes shot open, she stared at the ceiling, breathing
hard.

It
took her way too long to realise the ceiling wasn't
hers.

Then
she heard someone stand sharply by her side, their shoes squeaking
over the floor.

She
turned to see Carson Blake.

She
blinked back her surprise.

“You're in the medical bay,” he said clearly and slowly, “you
were injured. You're fine now though,” he actually sighed with
relief as he noted that.

“What?
What do you mean I'm in the medical bay?” she asked, her tone high
with disbelief.

Then
she realised with a quick glance past Carson that she was indeed in
the medical bay. She'd been here enough times to recognise it
easily.