Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure by Mark Tufo

most l ikely confiscated from a Bally or a twenty-four hour fitness center. I didn’t think there’d be too many people at the gym these days anyway, trying to find ways to feed yourself would definit ely take precedence over muscle- building. I lifted weights with a vengeance , but even that was undone by my single-mindedness on the tread mill. I ran three half marathons that final week, I possibly was going to die soon , but I wouldn’t be wind ed when it happened. That earned a laugh, I was starting to get desensitized to the whole fiasco, I knew in my soul I couldn’t beat Drababan one on one, he was the prototypical fighting machine. He was huge, he was skilled, he was faster than me , and possibly smarter . A nd he had faith, something I had lost somewhere down my long and winding road. I had no desire to make it easy on him, I wasn’t reveling in self-pity, I just knew the outcome. Oh , hell yeah , I was still going to try , but if I had any money I would have put it on him. The treadmill was my solace it kept me sane, or at least a near proximity to sanity . W hen I was on it , e verything melted away — Beth, Deb, Paul, Indian Hill, my family — they couldn’t keep up with me when I ran. Drababan was going to win, but I was determined to make sure that I was honored higher than any other warrior he had ever encountered. That’s what I was training like a demon for.
    “Drababan, come on in , ” I answered effortlessly as my odometer turned to eight miles.
    “I do not wish to intrude on your workout routine, Miiike ,” Drababan answered almost sheepishly. Yeah a wolf in sheep’s clothing maybe.
    “What brings you here at this late time ? ” At least I thought it was late.
    “Your recovery seems to be going exceedingly well.”
    “Did you really come to see how my training is going?” I said looking in to his eyes for the true meaning of his surprise arrival.
    He glanced to the far wall first and then looked me straight in the eye. “Tomorrow is the day.”
    I pulled the safety clip out of the treadmill and it came to a halt “Tomorrow , huh?” I answered as best I could between the rapid beats of my heart. I knew the outcome, that didn’t mean I was looking forward to it.
    He glanced away again. He mystified the shit out of me .
    “What’s the matter , Drababan ? I t almost looks like you care.”
    “Miike, we must fight to your death tomorrow.”
    “Drababan, don’t sugar coat it.” I didn’t e ven wait to see i f he would understand what I had just said.
    “You , hu-man , are the closest thing that I have to a friend on this ship.”
    If I hadn’t been holding on to the side rails of the treadmill I probably would have f allen over, that and the fact we were talking about my imminent death, I suppose.
    “Friend?” I answered, but I guess that wasn’t so far out of the realm, we had talked for hours about our home worlds and growing up and the battles, I had at times forgot that this eight foot behemoth was my adversary . “Yeah , I guess the same goes for me too , Drababan, I hadn’t really thought about it before, but you’re definitely the closest thing that I have to a friend here too.” How much that really meant in the greater scope of things , I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t displeased when he came around.
    “I hope that your fight is a valiant one, I would greatly like to place you atop of those that I honor.”
    Hell , now he was a mind reader. “I’ve got a surprise or two lined up for you my friend.”
    Drababan stood straighter with my loose use of the word ‘friend’, he took it much more literally than it was intended but if it made him hesitate five- tenths of a second longer than normal before he skewered me, that would give me ti me for one last vision, and it would most likely be Beth.
    "I hope that you take solace in the fact that you will at least die on home soil." Drababan told me.
    "What?"
    "Have you not been told? The fight is to take place on your