Dogfighter Gospel created by Damien Phoenix and Phoebe this chapter by Nathan Baxter Log Eight: Pianissimo Lullaby The voice swam to him, as he lay eyes open in the dark. 'Just thought that I'd call and tell you the news, Jake,' it had sneered, dripping with false sympathy. Jason Melvatio had been a friend of a friend. They had known each other well enough, but never been close. Something about Jason's demeanor, his willingness to ignore the rules, hadn't sat well with Jacob. When Jason, more than a little drunk, had tried to rob a shopkeeper who had refused to accept his credit card, Jacob had turned him in, and that was the last they'd seen of each other. 'When the boss asked for a fleet target, I told him that [] had a lot of Fleet dependents. He liked the idea, thought it'd take the wind out of your'all's sails.' The arresting green eyes on the screen had flashed. 'I'd like you to know I was thinking of you the whole time. Consider it an early Christmas present.' He snarled and hit the light switch. He wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. { * * * * * } Kenji had already been practicing when Nadia came in. She wondered, with irritation, whether he had determined her schedule and arrived ahead of time to impress her with his dedication. But, as she watched him for a moment, she was compelled to admit, even if just in her own mind, that he knew his katas too well for this to be just a momentary whim or courtship bid. She had known that the man was more serious than he chose to appear, but this was still quite unexpected. His movements were perfect as he ran through the standard Aikido set, before moving on to an exercise she didn't recognize. The style hadn't changed, just the pattern. The new kata flowed and shifted, swirling so eloquently that she could almost see the other half of the make-believe fight dart and bounce from place to place, battering at Kenji's defense with dozens of lightning jabs, each of which was diverted harmlessly, splashing aside. Then it ended, quickly, abruptly. Kenji shifted one of the ghost strikes just a little farther than he had previously, then struck. One, two, three, he sent the blows out, shattering the overextended opponent's defense and sending him crashing down. The sudden change of styles was so startling, so unexpected, that Nadia started involuntarily. It was so completely the opposite of everything that he had done previously that no defense was possible. And that, she realized as he turned to face her, was the entire point. { * * * * * } Ayako sat on her bed and stared at the photo on the dresser, occasionally taking a sip from the glass in her hand. She didn't know what time it was. She could have looked at the clock on the wall, she knew, but the picture held her in too deep a thrall. "I don't understand," she whispered to the empty room. "Why would you do something like that? What possible reason could excuse..." It wasn't so much that he had left her. She wasn't enough of a romantic to believe that what they had shared was one of the great romances of all time, but... The memory flashed to her, of when she had first seen him, sitting in the galley smiling with his friends. Such a warm smile. Had it all been in her mind? { * * * * * } Kassidy St. Claire slept the sleep of the just, and Jiang Tong that of the very tired. { * * * * * } Jacob walked slowly through the hanger bay, carefully checking each cradle. 'We're almost halfway full, now...' he thought. 'If we keep this up we'll have a full complement within the month.' Wouldn't that be an irony. The very rear rank held Nadia's slab-like Bulldog gunship, which loomed over the smaller craft in front of it like a lion over a hyena litter. Before it were arrayed his and Ayako's Mantises, wicked looking fighters rendered chipmunk cheeked by their dual plasma guns and autocannons. Then the new arrivals: the silvered pregnant-barracuda silhouettes of the Dirty Duo's Whitehawks seemed to crouch, ready to leap from their places, into space. He thought of the battle past, where all these had worked together, and he thought of the battle to come, and smiled. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Author note type thingies: Stupid report. Well, my apologies for not giving something plot advancing, and for doing a poor job of a character development piece, but I had about two or three different projects to juggle last week. Cya!