Decker didn't feel anything as the thin force field pricked his finger and then funneled a drop of blood up into the nurse drone's receptor.
"That's it?" Decker asked.
"That's it," said the drone. "For now."
* * *
The gymnasium was surprisingly spacious given that it was located on a starship. The floor and ceiling were a matte grey and the walls were polished mirrors which gave it the impression of being even bigger.
Decker's instructor was already there waiting for him when he arrived.
"Hello, Decker," he said. "I told you we'd have a rematch if you came."
It was the voice from before. The man he fought in the woods. Aranarth.
He wore a cloak, which Decker knew by now marked him as a ranger. It was fastened with the black dragon insignia that seemed ubiquitous around here. He otherwise dressed in the same plain white training gi as Decker. He had a messy beard and worse hair that reached his shoulders.
Decker was glad to finally be able to put a face to all the hate.
"You must be Aranarth," said Decker.
"Ranger Aranarth to you," said Aranarth.
"And I guess you're the one who's going to teach me to fight?" asked Decker.
"I am going to teach you respect. Then I am going to teach you discipline. Then, if I haven't killed you already, I will teach you how to fight."
"When do we-" Decker wanted to say "start" but Aranarth had already punched him in the gut so hard it knocked the wind from him.
"I already told you in my letter," said Aranarth, "I am your enemy. Never let your guard down around your enemy."
"I thought you said you were going to start with respect," wheezed Decker, doubled over.
Aranarth swept Decker's legs and he fell on his back hard.
"I am," said Aranarth, "don't talk back."
* * *
The woman cut an impressive figure in her ranger's cloak a deployed suit less the helmet. Decker had never seen a fully kitted out ranger in person.
Her natural looking blue hair made Decker guess she was from Centauri Ring like him.
"Okay," she said with a friendly smile, instantly confirming his guess with her accent. "I'm Ranger Xing, you can call me Aurora if you like. I'll be your firearms instructor. First off I want to get a general sense of your skill level so what kind of gun are you most comfortable with?"
"I've never shot a gun before," admitted Decker.
"Never?" asked Xing, narrowing her eyes.
"Nope," said Decker.
"Not even in a virtuality?" asked Xing, incredulous.
"I'm not really into virtual reality. I like real reality," said Decker.
"Well there are loads of guns here too!" insisted Xing. She sighed.
She held out her hand and a rifle seemed to slip into it from nowhere. She pulled it right out of hyperpsace like it was nothing. Decker had heard about that kind of thing but it was still amazing to see in person.
Xing began explaining the weapon to Decker in the tone one would use with a child one didn't particularly care for.
"This is a Perjurer-class automatic railgun. It uses magnets so there is no recoil. This," she pointed to the barrel, "is the shooty end. Only point it at things you want to die. If you accidentally shoot your own head off try not to damage any of the equipment."
Decker took the weapon. He held it like he had seen in works of fiction and looked around for approval. When he looked back a holodisplay projected out of the back of the gun, showing all kinds of information about the state of the weapon and the properties of what it was pointed at.
"Do you want the wall to die?" asked Xing, tersely.
"No," said Decker, still holding the gun.
She pushed the barrel down towards the floor.
"Then don't point a gun at it."
* * *
The saucer-shaped drone used a force field to attach the harness to Decker. One strap went tightly around his waist, and two more up over his shoulders like suspenders. A final strap went under his arms and held a standard AG module at chest level. Smaller AG modules were found at strategic points around the harness to supplement the primary one and give the harness a high level of maneuverability.
Decker found it immediately uncomfortable.
"Why can't I just use one of those suit things?" asked Decker. "Can't those fly?"
"Those 'suit things' are, as individuals, all smarter and more important than you," explained the drone. "It is a waste of their time and beneath their dignity to teach you how to fly. It's a waste of my time too, for that matter, but someone has to do it."
The two stood in the landing bay, full of shiny Partisan-class Escorts. It had the highest ceiling of any room on the Sic Semper Tyrannis so it was the best pick for flight training.
"It's thought activated," said the drone. "Give it a go. Ease up slowly."
Decker shot up to the ceiling like a bullet, slamming into it and plummeting to the floor. The drone caught him in a force field before he hit the ground. He was out cold.
* * *
"Psychic powers?" asked Decker. "Really?"
"Yes Mr. Decker, really," said the old woman, who still hadn't told Decker her name. He was afraid to ask at this point.
She held a white strip in her hands with a glowing blue adhesive back.
"Just play along and we'll get this screening over with."
"Whatever," said Decker, putting his hands up in defeat.
The old woman affixed the white strip to Decker's forehead to monitor his brain waves. Then she sat back down at the other end of the table.
The old woman drew a card from a deck in front of her and held it so that she could see the front and Decker could only see the blank white back.
"Now, tell me what's on this card," she said.
"Is it a dog?" guessed Decker.
"It's a playing card."
"It is the 4 of dogs?" guessed Decker.
"Please take it seriously Mr. Decker."
"Fine. Is it the Jack of Hearts?"
The old woman turned the card around. It was.
"Oh Tellus, this is stupid that doesn't count it was just a guess."
The old woman picked up a new card.
"What's on this card?" she asked.
"The 4 of dogs," said Decker defiantly, crossing his arms.
* * *
Sitting on a table was a computronium block connected to a control pad and a machine tower. Snaking out of the tower was a bulb containing a lens of some kind, probably a field projector.
"Do you know what this is? It's one of the most illegal machines you can build under Cooperative law."
"What is it?" asked Decker.
"It's a coercive remote neuron stimulator," explained Aranarth.
"A mind control device," said Decker.
"That's right!" said Aranarth, as though praising a clever child. "I'm going to use it to make you hurt yourself. You're going to try and resist."
He was already typing something into the control pad.
"You're kidding, right?" asked Decker.
Decker could feel the vague sense of psychological discomfort that characterized a mind-scan.
"I am not," said Aranarth. "Fight it as best you can."
Decker slapped himself in the face with his right hand as hard as he was capable. Then with his left. It happened so suddenly. Decker didn't feel any different but he had no control over the actions.
"How will you resist me when you believe in nothing, Decker? You're a puppet to the whims of a superior will."
Superior will. Decker wanted to laugh. All Aranarth had was that sprelling machine.
Getting a running start Decker slammed himself into the wall, full speed, head first.
* * *
The old woman came to find Decker before he turned in to his tiny quarters for the night.
"I have something for you," she said.
She handed Decker a tablet.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It contains the foundational texts of our order. The A.R.C. canon, as it were. Everything from military ethics to fundamentals of hyperspatial physics to meditation techniques. Read it. Learn it. Don't bother downloading it we'll be jamming any brain implants you have when we test you. You're expected to actually know this stuff, not just catalog it."
Great, thought Decker, I was going to sleep but this is better.
* * *
The air was alive with electricity and they had to speak up to be heard over the hum of the powerful force fields lining the floor, ceiling, and walls of the long firing corridor.
The field was starship grade, the same as the Sic Semper Tyrannis's own defense fields, and could safely dissipate the energy from any small arms fire. The energy from projectiles striking the shield was harmlessly converted into visible light.
At the entrance to the corridor stood Decker with his railgun pointed at the ground with Xing standing safely behind him. At the far end of the corridor was a practice hologram.
The hologram was of an Old One in a full suit of battle armor. These floating personal fortresses looked almost exactly like Old One starships. Even after all these centuries they were still the iconic enemies of humanity.
"When you're ready," Xing yelled over the force field.
Decker took aim and fired a wild spray of automatic fire. He waved the gun around to try and make sure he hit something even if his aim was. off. All around the back wall the field was exploding with color, red and orange, with the occasional hint of yellow.
When he was finished a holodisplay appeared showing his accuracy. Xing sighed and shook her head.
"We're not leaving here until you can hit the broad side of a barn," she said.
"What's a barn?" asked Decker.
"A building that any fool could hit the broad side of!" snapped Xing.
* * *
Decker had been flying around near the ceiling of the landing bay in slow circles for about a half hour. He felt he was getting the hang of it.
"Not bad kid," said the drone. "Come on down."
Right, thought Decker. He went in for a smooth landing.
The AG cut instantly and he fell from the air, crashing into the ground in a heap.
* * *
"The foundation of all fighting skill is hand to hand combat," explained Aranarth. "To fight at an elite level you must first become a weapon."
"That's the corniest thing I've ever heard," said Decker.
"Your inability to engage with anything is the source of your weakness," said Aranarth.
Decker tensed. He knew a comment like that would be followed up by an attack. He was not disappointed. Decker tried to leap back in time to avoid Aranarth's kick but he wasn't nearly fast enough. He still took nearly the full force of the attack.
Decker fell to the ground, attempted unsuccessfully to roll with the attack, and popped back up just to time to be knocked off his feet by an elbow.
* * *
The gym was pitch black and Decker was covered in bells. Every tiny movement would be translated to a ringing of the bells but if he remained perfectly still he was invisible in the darkness.
Decker took in too deep a breath and one of the bells tinkled almost imperceptibly. He was instantly knocked off his feet by a kick, causing a cacophony of bell jingling.
"Up," said the voice of Aranarth, equally invisible, "again."
* * *
Decker was bruised and exhausted from a week of brutal training. He moaned when he entered the gym and saw Aranarth sitting there with the mind control device.
"That thing again?" he asked. "You really get off on this sprell don't you?"
"Someone is the sovereign of your body," said Aranarth. "I wonder if it's you? Or is it whoever can build a powerful enough machine?"
"This is babbleskite. Of course you can make me do anything with that machine. That's why the technology is illegal."
"There's a lot of darkness out there in the galaxy," said Aranarth. "Far more frightening things than anything dreamed of by human imagination. If this thing here," he patted the machine, "is your limit then go home now."
"Get it over with," said Decker, through gritted teeth.
Aranarth stood up and picked something up off the table. It was a glass of some kind of sludge. He walked over and handed it to Decker, who reluctantly took it.
"What is this?" asked Decker.
"Something unpleasant. Try not to disappoint yourself," Aranarth said, then he took his seat beside the machine and turned it on.
Decker could feel the familiar unease of the mind scan. He immediately tensed his muscles as hard as he could, trying to use this to resist the compulsion he knew was coming.
The arm holding the glass suddenly untensed, and Decker calmly drank the contents. He immediately vomited them back up.
(Chapter continues in Part II)