Chapter One: The Trainer and the Trainee
The bullets kept flying around her head at such an alarming rate, she almost felt like she was in a bullet downpour. The more she dodged, the more they came. The more she shot back, the faster and harder they hit.
"I can't do this," she shouted as four more hit her in back. She felt no pain, but was knocked down again and again. She caught her breath as another shower of bullets flew at her.
"Keep going, you're learning." His calm voice should have comforted her, but all it did was make her feel worse. She was not learning, she was being murdered.
Then, suddenly, as quickly as they had come, they were gone. She felt her back, her arms, her legs. Everything ached. But, at the same time, she felt little pain compared to what she knew she should have felt. He face was wet with sweat and her nerves were shot.
"This is a training exercise," he said as he came over to her. He glared over her body as she was doubled over on the floor. He held out his hand. "You have to believe you can dodge, believe you can fight back. Giving up is not an option."
As he gave her his hand and lifted her up to standing position, the training program shut down, and they were back on the Beacon. She sat in her chair waiting for Dia to unplug her. "You'll do better next time," she began. "He's hard on newbies." Dia was the nicest of the crew. Since Lan had been freed, Dia had been her only friend. Dia had been on the crew for six years, the others, for almost eight. And here Lan was, trying to fit in with her four months of living in the real world.
"Lan," came the strong voice of her trainer, her captain, her sire if you will. Rey had freed her. And, no matter how many times Lan had asked him why he did it, he never answered. "We can begin this program again, if you're up to it." His eyes were watching the screen that showed all on board what was going on inside the Matrix. He stood tall, broad shoulders, strong posture, large, muscled arms—he was pretty much built like a killing machine.
Lan was contemplating. Should she ever try again? Should she even be here? "I was thinking that I might rest awhile," Lan began sheepishly while looking to Dia for some help. "I might go down to help Rand with the…um…the—"
"Fine, we'll try again tomorrow." His resolve was apparent. He turned to her, and looked through her nervousness. She stood there feeling like a mouse caught in a housecat's grasp. Her head hung low, her face showed guilt and embarrassment. "You are free now, start acting like it." And with that, he walked past her to give orders to Dia and Travel.
Lan began to walk down to where Rand was, but was stopped by Dia. "You're going to be alright. It's a new thing for you," she began in her maternal voice. "But, I think it might be good to do a few training programs on your own."
Lan looked up at Dia. Her face was calm, nurturing. "Yeah," was all Lan could muster. The reality of things was starting to get to her.
"Maybe on your shift tonight, I could run a few shooting and fighting programs."
"That would be helpful." Lan said and turned to walk to her destination again.
"You'll be fine," Dia said as Lan walked trying to muster some confidence that she was indeed going to be fine.
