The Pulse Series (Book 1): Pulse (16 page)

I twisted my face at the mention of the doctor.

The general nodded at my expression. "He might not seem like it, but that man has done a lot to help your kind become stronger, more efficient, and safer. He's a little odd and excitable, but his intent is pure I can assure you."

I felt myself nod. I turned toward the broken glass and frowned.

"Sorry about the window."

The smile that came onto his face was more genuine this time. "I expected it."

"What?" I asked with a frown.

He pointed to the chair I was sitting on. "That chair is an eighty year old relic from before I was born. It, along with this desk, were my mother's. From everything I've read about your personality and actions, I concluded that you would come in here angry. I couldn't have you destroying something I cared about, so I had the guards bring in one of the pot plants from the greenhouse in the forest."

I stood with my mouth open. "Y—you planned for me to destroy your window?"

He shook his head. "No, but I decided to hedge my bets. Do you not think it odd that you could storm in here in the condition that you were without anyone trying to stop you?"

I turned to look back at the door which still stood open, and saw two large men in fatigues standing beside the door. They hadn't been there when I had arrived. I shook my head in disbelief.

"I can't believe I was so predictable."

General Walker smiled. "I've been doing this a long time, and there are only a few reactions people have when faced with their first round in the box. Most just accept it and move on. They think because everyone else is doing it, it must just be normal. Those people are not what I consider leaders. Those who question, like yourself, are the ones that I wait for. Those who can use their head and come to logical conclusions without melding into the flock. They are officer material."

I felt a strange sense of pride well up in my chest. I wasn't sure why, but impressing this man made me feel happier than almost anything else had since I had arrived here.

He stood and gestured to the doorway. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, Private Murray."

I stood and smiled at him, before turning and making my way from the building.

I had expected to be angry. I had expected to quit. I had expected the worst, but instead I'd done a complete turn. If you had told me an hour ago that I would have accepted what happened last night I would have called you crazy.

TWENTY

I concentrated hard and pushed down on the ball within my chest. I felt the release of my pulse, stood from my chair, and raised my arms. I faced my palms outward and concentrated on holding the force out for as long as I could.

After a few of the sessions I had learned to feel the force of the pulse as it sat outside me rather than only in my chest. I found that if I concentrated hard enough I could maintain the field out longer than the one second I had when I first started. Holding my hands out in the air like this did nothing physical, but it helped me visualize the field better, which in turn made it last longer.

I felt the influx of energy pushing on the walls I had built, and sure enough they broke and it rushed back into me like waterfall. Although I was trying to hold it out as long as possible, the relief of having it back was something I could almost taste. It had become my comfort blanket.

Doctor Lynn jumped out of the booth. "Wow! You lasted six whole seconds that time!"

I felt my eyebrows raise. The most I had ever gone before was four, and less than that if I wasn't concentrating. I was still only able to hit three seconds if I was moving about, but six seconds was a new record by far.

Doctor Lynn rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me. I felt myself stiffen and my mouth twist into a grimace. To her credit the Doctor noticed right away and pulled back from me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Alex. I forgot you don't like being touched."

I gave her a small smile. "It's okay. I do need to work on that."

"A lifetime of conditioning won't change overnight," Doctor Lynn said with her hands on her hips. I chuckled at her, and she looked down and laughed at herself. "I can't believe how far you've come in only four short months, Alex."

I nodded to her and smiled. "I know. Although to be honest I didn't think it would be this hard."

"Trust me, you're progressing a lot faster than anyone else at the moment. I have no idea how to account for these results."

I grimaced but forced my face back to neutral as fast as I could. It wasn't fast enough.

"Alex…"

"It's just so tempting!" I said, leaning forward with my arms out wide. "We only get to meet three nights a week—how is that real training?"

She raised her eyebrows. "How often are you pulsing?"

"Once a day at least."

"At least?"

I shrugged. "Well over the past two days I've managed to do it twice in one day. Once at lunch and once again before bed."

"And how long have you been doing this?"

"About… three months?"

Doctor Lynn clicked her tongue in thought and made her way back into her booth. She pressed a few buttons on her screen, and after a couple of minutes passed she came back out.

"The math works out. You're progressing at the standard rate if you compare it on a per pulse basis with everyone else. I've just never heard of anyone at your age being able to do it so often." She shook her head and scribbled some notes onto her pad. "This will be fantastic for Vorboyov's studies."

I grimaced at the name, but didn't say anything. I went to my weekly lessons with him without fail, but he wasn't a man I wanted to get to know any better. I know what he had done was good for the war effort, and giving us a better chance at rehabilitating this country. It didn't matter. He was the monster who put me in the box every week.

Doctor Lynn clicked her tongue, drawing my attention back to her. "In light of this news, would you like to meet at the same time every night for training?"

"That's allowed?"

She gave me a frown. "Of course it is. I'm disappointed you didn't tell me this sooner. All that valuable data lost!"

I winced. "Sorry. I didn't even think about that."

"It's okay, we can extrapolate it from your formal sessions." She frowned and tilted her head to the side. "Where were you even doing it?"

I grimaced again. "Um…"

"Ah, I see. Been sneaking into places you're not meant to, huh?"

I shrugged and smiled.

"Don't worry I won't tell, but you have to promise you'll come to me every time you want to pulse. I cannot stress how important it is to keep this in a controlled environment until we know the full effects of your power."

I nodded. "I will. I'm sorry."

"That's fine. You can go for the rest of the night now, I'll have to do some calculations to best estimate your true curve. If I just take the readings from the past few days and…"

She trailed off and walked back into her booth. I turned with a smile and made my way back out of the room and into the hallway, but my smile dropped when I remembered what my next lesson was.

The box.

***

It only took ten minutes from my session with Vorboyov and I was crawling through the window of the building on the far side of the clearing. I shivered and started going through some stretches to throw off the remnants of the 'training'. I was still a little shaky.

A few minutes later I had a set of training mats out on the floor and had unlocked the front door. I didn't risk turning a light on, but the moonlight coming through the windows was enough for now. While I waited for the others to arrive I went through a quick routine I had read in some of the older combat manuals.

Sarah spoke from the door. "Of course she's started without us." I looked up to see her and Thomas hand in hand as usual. I smiled at the pair and beckoned them in.

Thomas raised an eyebrow at me as he got closer. "Do you ever take a break?"

I grinned. "Not on purpose." I took a breath and finished my routine before turning to them. "I have some new things I want to try. Who wants to go first?"

Sarah gave a sigh. "Right down to business. I wish you would relax." I raised an eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll go first."

She stepped to the side of the mats and took her coat off, dropping it on the floor. It had grown chillier in the past few months and the snow season was almost upon us. I wasn't looking forward to training in that.

When she was ready we both took our fighting stances and began to circle each other. It had been a long time since I rushed in without a moments notice. Sarah had been the one to teach me how to wait and see an opponent's weakness, and then use it against them. Thomas had started joining us after our study sessions and he proved his usefulness by showing me some wrestling moves. His family was rich enough to live in one of the upper districts of Miami so he had had access to a wide range of facilities growing up.

When the pair's knowledge dried up Thomas had shown me the old library in the mansion. It had required special permission from the bookkeeper there, but she allowed us to take a book out with us. I had proven to her that she could trust me in the first few weeks, so now she allowed me two at a time.

I had poured through the books on hand-to-hand combat several times each. It was still amazing how many varieties of fighting existed. At first I had tried to learn as much as I could, but I soon realized that all I was doing was being average at everything, and good at nothing. For the past six weeks I had focused my energy and time on learning correct foot movement and positioning. The take-downs I studied focused on speed and agility rather than strength. The key was to cater to your strengths, not try to brute force your weaknesses.

Sarah took a step toward me and I took two steps fast to the left causing her to shift her weight for a moment. I watched the way her body twisted as she readjusted herself to a defensive position and got an idea. If I could throw her balance off, even for just a moment, it would give me a chance to attack.

As I was about to execute my plan she caught me off guard by lunging forward and throwing a fist at my face. I twisted away at the last moment and managed to get my palm onto her arm, deflecting her momentum away from me. If I'd prepared for the attack I would have been able to use her momentum against her, but my focus meant all I could do was keep my own feet under me.

It crossed my mind that she had just used her own manipulation against me. She was all about seeing the weakness in others, and since she had taught me the same, she knew I could see her weakness. She was well aware that I knew she would wait until I attacked first to decide what to do. Using that knowledge she launched an attack first to take me off guard—which she had done well. If I wasn't as fast as I was I would be on my back right now sporting a black eye.

She amazed me at the depth at which she thought, but now that I was aware of it I could replicate it. Two could play at that game. I stepped forward to attack, but paused.

I know Sarah. I know her thought process. She was manipulating me again. She knew I would come to that realization and try to use it against her. I decided not to let her know, and followed through on my attack.

As I stepped into her guard I noticed something I wouldn't have otherwise if I hadn't been looking for the trap. Her right ankle was twisting in an awkward way, and I could see what she was going to do. Her body was faking a twist that I would have used against her, but her feet would have taken her on a different path. She could have used that leverage to cause me to fall off balance.

I felt myself smile as I turned against her plan and wrapped my back leg around hers and pushed hard. Her feet weren't in the position to shift away from the sudden change in my attack, and her eyes widened. The force of the shove lifted her into the air, and I would have fallen too if I hadn't clutched her shirt as I pushed her away, righting myself in the process. A surprised gasp was all she managed before I slammed her down into the mats.

"Wow." Sarah looked up at me from her position on the mat. "You saw it didn't you."

I grinned. "Finally I get you!"

Sarah mirrored my grin. "Good. You can see moves ahead."

I frowned as I pulled her up onto her feet. "Wait. Why didn't you just tell me that's what you were trying to do?"

Sarah held her hands up in front of her chest and clasped them together. "Because, young apprentice. One cannot open the door for you. One can only shown you to the door. You must open it on your own."

Thomas started cracking up as I glared at my friend. She managed to last a few seconds before giggling herself, and then losing the battle and bursting out in laughter.

I huffed and pointed to Thomas. "You're next."

I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help the burst of pride in my chest as a small meep escaped his throat.

Yes. Extra training had been a good idea.

***

Sarah turned to me, her mouth open wide. "Oh gosh, I forgot your box session was tonight." I grimaced at the reminder, and felt Sarah's hand on my shoulder. "Which one?"

I sighed. "Dogs."

Sarah shivered, and I heard Thomas sigh. I looked over at him and he shrugged. "I hate that one."

I nodded. "I'll be alright."

Sarah looked into my eyes. "Promise?"

I smiled at her and nodded. She stared at me for a few moments before nodding and taking her hand off me. It had taken me a while to get used to the different methods used, and I still had nightmares about them almost every night. Sarah was worried for me, but there was nothing to be done. I would get used to them sooner or later. I hoped for the sooner.

Thomas gave a cry of frustration. "Crap. I forgot I had to do the laundry tonight. You ladies mind if I shirk my cleanup duty here for one somewhere else?"

Sarah pretended to contemplate this for a few seconds, before smiling and giving him a nod. "You better make it up to me."

"Oh I will." He walked up and kissed her goodbye, then left to go to the barracks.

Sarah turned to me as we started packing up the gear from the evening's training session. "So what's the go with Bradley?"