Laila, Spock's Granny (Book 1: Vulcan Gladiatoress and Klingon Slave)

New School 2

I was a bit at a loss, too. Verson had not agreed to it all yet and yet Gahris' master made final decisions already.

Gahris was still puzzled: "Is she staying with us?"

Verson looked at me and Gahris: "Yes, you will stay here. Master Nerek has made me a nice offer and I have agreed to it." I'm not sure if I comprehended correctly and seeing the question marks in my face he added: "I have sold you to master Nerek, he is your new owner."

My jaw clapped open and I was speechless. I was not used to myself being treated like a piece of merchandise. I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times, until I could muster some words: "What with Surak?"

"I did not sell him."

"Can I say goodbye?"

"No, not personally, you're not coming back with me. I will tell him your farewell", he unemotionally threw at me.

I was at a total loss in regards to my mission. How should I possibly rescue my mom now? She was 6 weeks away on a far off planet. Same applied for Surak. I wanted to get him out of there as well, he should not have to die on Hitora. I was at a loss and the only thing I could do for now was survive. With all options to see my mom having dwindled, tears were coming from my eyes.

Misinterpreting the reason for my crying, Nerek padded me on my shoulder and said: "You will not have a bad time here."

Throughout the week, I trained with Gahris for the upcoming fight. He told me, we would only do three rounds and I was surprised, why we would not do more, but it turned out, that these three rounds already were enough. The first problem was to memorize the whole choreography, the second was to act on it. We started off slowly, very slowly and then increased speed. We did it with wooden weapons to minimize injuries and it had been a good choice. I contracted enough bruises and skin abrasions. The Gorn was fine in contrast, his reptile scales were far more resilient. Every little frickin' move had to be on the right spot at the right time. Finally on Saturday, our performed fight was a success. People loved Gahris already and they started to love me as well.

During the next three years, Gahris trained me. He focused again on endurance and technique, but it soon became apparent, that I would never become a great gladiator, but essentially remain a titty and butty show for the Klingons. At least essentially. No matter, how refined my technique was, no matter my endurance, I just lacked the power, the force. A professional 55kg Vulcan girl gladiator could simply not stand against an 85kg professional male Cardessian or 100kg Klingon or 120kg Gorn. If my opponent was not a good gladiator, I could play them, but if they were good, they could simply overpower me. Overpower my blocks and thus still hit me, overpower my stand and drive me backwards until I fell, overpower my grip on my weapon and rip it off me with brute force.

Verson had taken the bi-hander with him back to Hitora, but the weapons workshop here at the school made me an even better one. My new bi-hander was lighter than the old one, more suitable for a girl, more suitable for duels. The craftsman in the workshop had it designed on the computer. The core had been made from a 3-D printed stainless-steel web. It looked like a net of interlaced strands, which made it very light without sacrificing rigidness. The cutting edges at the tips were made from super hard carbon steel with REM enhancement, which were hell sharp. The cutting edges had gotten connected with the core through laser welding. The blunt part of the edges, the ones covering 2/3 of the blade were from an aluminum-ceramic-composite and were replaceable. The material was about as light and flexible as aluminum, but as hard as ceramic. When blocking had marred the blunt edges too much, I could replace them. The sharp edges at the tip were protected with plastic covers during normal fights. The sword only weighed 1,7kg, which was light for a bi-hander. With my fighting style, it became a very serious weapon. The only other weapons I had to fear, were two swords or sabers and the Klingon scimitar, the Batleth. Two swords required a real master to wield them effectively and the Klingon scimitar only few used, because it lacked the necessary show effect. From that perspective, I was well off with my new bi-hander. With my 168cm I was not a short Vulcan girl, yet I was a short gladiator. The long bi-hander made up for my lack of arms lengths. So at least from that perspective, I was not at a disadvantage. The bi-hander gave me equivalent reach.