The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link by Daniel Hanks Page A

my dorm, I worried about the match. I didn’t want to fail her.
    * * * *
    Margret hadn’t spoken to me since she’d found out she was to be left at home. I still told her goodbye when I’d set her on the shelf, big softy that I am. She is just a machine. The gym was full when I arrived. A black belt lined us non-black belts up according to rank. Sandra had given me a yellow belt, so I was with the yellows. We sat on our knees and bowed to our teachers.
    A black belt stood and spoke. “This isn’t a sanctioned tournament. It’s for bragging rights only. Only black belts will make contact. If we see you’re with the wrong group, we’ll move you.”
    My first match was with a skinny guy. I went easy on him, at first, then he missed and hit me, giving me a smile as he danced away. I stepped forward and blocked his strike. I touched his chin with my fist, followed up by an elbow strike and a fist to his neck. He tried to kick me, but I blocked it with my leg. Then blocked his arm, again striking his unprotected chest, scoring more points. I won the match.
    My second one was with Tammy. As we bowed to each other, she laughed. “Did you bring your divining rods?”
    Smiling, I said, “I only brought one.”
    She blushed. “Cute. I’m going to knock it into the dirt.”
    She was fast. I could hardly see her strikes, but from her stance, I could tell she had no power in her hits. I knocked her strike aside and stepped forward, driving the heel of my hand toward her chin. She stepped back in surprise, and I followed with a straight hand toward her throat. She stepped back again, then attacked so fast, scoring point after point with her quick jabs. I lost the match. She was awesome.       
    I hung around to watch Sandra fight. She did well, making it to the end. Her last match was with Mattey LaCross, the man who’d made fun of me when I first came onto the ship. Sandra was better. She started with three good shots to his jaw. He backed up, then blocked one of her punches and attacked, striking her twice in the face, dazing her. He pressed his attack, knocking her to the mat. She rolled away from his kick and jumped up with blood running from her face. The referees called the match. Sandra had lost.
    I put my arm around her. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll take care of you,” I said. 
    “Get me to medical, then we’ll get dinner,” she said.
    The woman who met us at medical laughed. “I heard you got your ass kicked. Bring her in here. This will just take second.” She looked at me. “Are you her lover?”
    “Friend.”
    She laughed. “Okay, friend, my name is TJ. If you’re going to spend time around Sandra, you’ll have to learn to take care of her. Grab that cloth and wash her face. Pay attention as I seal this cut.” TJ ran a small tool across Sandra’s cut, sealing it tight and leaving only a small line. “Here, you do this one.” She handed me the tool. “That’s the trigger. Don’t miss the cut.”
    It was above Sandra’s eyebrow. I gently squeezed it closed as I ran the gun across her wound.
    “Nice. Good work. Keep it steady. Great,” TJ said. The cut was now only a line across Sandra’s forehead. I finished washing Sandra’s face. She smiled at me. “Let’s check the rest of her. Pull off her shirt.” I helped Sandra by pulling off her tee and bra. A big bruise was on the side of her chest. TJ handed me cream to rub into it. “Start around the sides and work toward the center,” she said. I kept my gaze off Sandra’s chest, but from my first glance, I saw everything. Working my way to the center, the bruise disappeared, leaving only a small discoloration on her skin. I handed the cream back to TJ. “Well, he’s very polite,” she said.
    Sandra pulled on her t-shirt. It hid nothing. “Yea, let’s go drink beer, Drake.”
    G-four was packed. We joined Brice at his table with several others. Tammy was there and was crowing. She was shitty. She stood, came over to me and leaned