Two months into their training schedule the reporters arrived. Codi spotted them during the morning warm up and her blood roiled with a combination of disgust and apprehension. They ranged from soft-skinned, suited men with the eyes of hawks to glamorous over-dressed women who made her stomach turn. Her run-ins with the press during last year's competition hadn't been her finest moments. Sitting down and stretching out her legs, she looked to Ripple.
"What are they doing here?" she asked.
The other girl sighed. "Just part of the media circus. It's normal for them to show up around this time. They like to do features on the fighters and the academy. Probably helps that you're here."
"They can do that? Aren't we supposed to be...I dunno, keeping this all secret from the other academies?"
"You watch too many films," Gareth laughed, standing a few feet away rolling his neck from side to side. "Battlecast is a Tier One academy. There are a lot of sponsors who want to see us on the air; get their money's worth. Those idiots aren't allowed to go prowling round the academy on their own. The instructors usually give them a bit of a walk around the gymnasium while we're training and set up some interviews."
"Didn't even realise they ranked academies," Codi replied.
"Brax-Delta was a Tier Five. They wouldn't have even gone near you." Gareth smirked. "Welcome to the big leagues. I'd get ready – they'll definitely want to have a word with the great underdog from Kantha."
She glowered at him. "Terrific."
"Some of them are analysts," Ripple explained. "They're compiling packets on the people likely to land in the top 50 in placement. They'll visit on and off from now right up until the Gauntlet, keeping an eye on who's been cut from the team and who's looking like they might do well. It's just another part of the preseason. Try not to think about it too much."
Easy for you to say, Codi thought, but she kept further misgivings to herself. In truth a small part of her had been expecting this. Her meteoric rise from a faceless orphan kid on a backwater colony to the poster child for the most watched sporting event in human history was liable to turn a few heads. The thing was, she didn't particularly enjoy the attention.
She tried to ignore the gaggle of reporters as they stalked the training groups. Some of them were clearly new, having to be herded around by exasperated academy staff, while others seemed to know the ropes and flowed easily through the controlled mayhem. They stayed out of the way, but they were just present enough to let the Battlecast hopefuls know they were there. None-too subtle cameras trailed around with them – some hand-held, others automated floating gadgets that followed their owners like pets.
It didn't take long for Codi to realise that several of the more experienced reporters were making repeated passes over her group. She did her best not to acknowledge their prying gazes, focusing on helping Leela master a series of arm locks.
"Heads up," she heard Gareth's voice in her ear. She released her young training partner and turned to face him. Instead of elaborated he simply pointed back over her shoulder. Following the gesture, Codi felt her stomach knot when she saw Bronagh Llewellyn striding purposefully towards Group Cyan.
"Oh, hell," she muttered.
"I think it's your turn to please the cameras," Gareth chuckled. "Are you a good liar?"
"Not really."
"Then I guess just tell the truth and try not to say anything too offensive."
"No promises." Codi grimaced at the mere prospect of an interview. Sure enough, however, the head instructor came straight over to her and she had three reporters in tow. She put on a winning smile that succeeded in sending a shiver of apprehension down Codi's spine.
"Miss James, can we borrow you for a little while?" Bronagh asked, though Codi was well aware the question was a nicety.
"Sure," she answered, straightening up and inclining her head to the reporters. "I take it these guys are itching to know the story of my life?"
Bronagh's smile widened. "Something like that."
"Okay, let's get it over with."
Codi saw the flash of irritation cross the instructor's face, but she ignored it. When it came to training she was happy to put her volatile nature in a box, but she held these media harpies in very low regard. Whatever power they thought they wielded, she knew her fighting skills would speak for themselves when the time came.
To her surprise, the interview took place informally, with the backdrop of academy training still going on behind her. Maybe it was for the atmosphere. Whatever the case she felt very exposed when the first man took his turn.
She recognised the badge on his white suit jacket – a golden depiction of the solar system. He worked for Sol-Net, Earth's premier broadcast company and it showed. His hair was clipped into a short, perfectly symmetrical dark crop and try as she might she couldn't see so much as a crease in his clothes. A cylindrical camera bobbed up and down in mid air just off his right shoulder with its lens locked on her. She suspected the Sol-Net executives had kicked a substantial amount of money into the Battlecast coffers to ensure their man got first dibs on all interviews.
"Good afternoon, viewers," he began, moving forward so that he stood in the frame of the camera too. His voice was smooth and refined after decades of media work. "This is Elias Sonnengrad reporting for Sol-Net, and I have a special treat for you today. I'm here at the Battlecast Gauntlet academy and I have the pleasure of being joined by the one and only, Codi James." He turned to her and smiled, revealing teeth so bright she almost recoiled in surprise. "Codi, many thanks for agreeing to talk with us. I know you're a busy young woman."
"I didn't have a whole lot of choice," she shot back and was gratified to find the reporter hesitated for an instant before pressing on.
"I see your reputation is well-deserved," he laughed good-naturedly. "Well I'll try not to take too much time away from you training, but I'm sure you understand that there are a lot of people out there who are just desperate to learn about Battlecast Academy's newest shining star."
"I've heard that."
He addressed the camera again. "Last year, Codi James tore up the rulebook. Hailing from an unknown academy on the outskirts of colonised space, she stamped her mark on history by coming second place in her debut season against all the odds."
Codi squirmed awkwardly under the gushing praise. She was only seventeen; still struggling to adjust to the celebrity status that had been bestowed upon her. When she joined the Gauntlet last year it had really been because she had nowhere else to go.
"So let's jump right in," Sonnengrad continued. "It's no secret that you had some fiery run-ins with fighters from this very academy, in particular Bruno Varlin. My first question, therefore would have to be, why Battlecast? I suspect you could have gone anywhere."
"It made sense at the time," she answered carefully. "You'll know that the Brax-Delta Academy folded last year. I didn't have any reason to go home. They offered me a good contract – I can't go into specifics obviously – so in the end it was just the smart thing to do."
"I see." He nodded as if in agreement, then his gaze seemed to wander longingly around the room. "I imagine it's quite a shock to the system, moving from a Tier Five academy to a place like this. How does it feel to be here?"
She smiled thinly. "It was pretty overwhelming at first, but you get used to it."
"Any settling cracks?"
"I moved around a lot back on Kantha." Codi couldn't keep the mischievous smile off her face. "Let's just say the school system didn't agree with me. I'm used to being the new kid. This was the best option open to me when last year's competition finished. It was either come to fight for Battlecast or go back home where, frankly, I'm nobody."
"A very pragmatic decision." Sonnengrad looked deep in thought. "But I have to wonder, there must be some of the bitterness from last year still cooking under the surface, no?"
"Maybe at first," Codi admitted. "But we've been here for two months now. We've moved on. We've all got more important things to worry about than old grudges."
"Indeed. With that in mind – and I know it's early days," Sonnengrad said. "But you were the runner up in last year's contest with a fraction of the support and resources. And Bruno Varlin has graduated up to the senior divisions. With all that, you must have a pretty good feeling about your chances of winning this year."
"I feel the same way I felt last year," Codi answered instantly. "I'm just here to do the best that I can. If that happens to be better than everyone else, then good for me. It really is that simple. I'm not the only person in this academy." She made a sweeping gesture to the training going on behind her. "There are a lot of veterans out there who've got just as good a shot as me."
Sonnengrad nodded sagely. "I certainly wouldn't argue with you there."
"Who knows," she continued. "Maybe there's another dark horse from some little academy tucked away in the corner of space. That'd keep things interesting, don't you think?"
"They say lightening never strikes twice in the same place," Sonnengrad returned. "But it would certainly be entertaining!" He shook his head with a knowing smile. Then, suddenly, as though someone had flicked a switch, his tone became serious.
"Now, Codi, I understand that you are still relatively new to the Gauntlet competition, but it's no secret that Battlecast have been the dominant academy in colonial space for the past decade, taking eight of the last ten championships." He said it with an air of something approaching suspicion. "There is a growing portion of the Gauntlet community that feel Battlecast's uncapped resources, sponsorships and monetary backing are turning the competition into a one horse race. They feel that the competition is stagnating, and that something should be done to level the playing field. What would you say to that? How do you feel about the state of competition in the Gauntlet?"
Codi hesitated. Sonnengrad was right; she was still new to the corporate power games that went on behind the scenes in the competition. "Err...well I know Battlecast is considered the biggest and the best," she stuttered. "I mean, that's why I'm here, but nobody's unbeatable. There are plenty of fighters from other academies that have a shot at winning."
"Words that have been said year after year," the reporter replied smoothly. "But Battlecast keeps on winning. They have a pool of resources and talent that no other academy seems able to match. Some people feel that the rules governing academy spending need to be revisited to break what is perceived as a stranglehold on the competition."
Codi felt her patience beginning to thin. "I came second last year without a sponsor, from an academy that barely had the money to put a team together in the first place. Doesn't that answer your question?"
"Far from it, I'm afraid," Sonnengrad chuckled. "You very nearly cause the upset of the century, and now look where you are. Some critics have said that your appointment here at Battlecast is just further proof that they are monopolising the competition, scooping up all the promising fighters from smaller academies because they can afford to. They drain talent and resources from outer rim academies like your very own Brax-Delta. Would you consider that to be true?"
"No, I wouldn't," she snapped, the accusation stinging like she'd been slapped. "If you ask me, it sounds like an excuse."
"And why is that?"
"Because having a big payroll and high tech gadgets will only get you so far." She folded her arms and shook her head with contempt. "Sure they have all the fancy gear here and all the money, but there's a lot more to the Gauntlet than that."
"So you don't think there's a gulf between an academy like Battlecast and a small outer rim institution?"
"Of course there is!" She fought to keep her temper from running free. The man was trying to push her into saying something that would undermine the academy, or her position there. She was new to the game, but she wasn't stupid. "But that's not the reason fighters from Battlecast win the competition. Everyone here is committed – they've got a drive to win and that's more important."
"These 'critics' of yours just want to blame someone other than themselves, and I'm sorry but that's just not how it works. In the Gauntlet the buck stops with you." Codi looked the slimy reporter in the eye and spat out her final sentence with undisguised venom. "This place runs on more than just money and machines. It runs on passion. People need to get used to the fact that if someone wants to beat Battlecast they have to be better."
For a long moment Sonnengrad looked stunned at her outburst. Then a slightly bewildered smile crossed his face.
"Miss James," he said. "You might just have a point."