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“An investigation by a joint commission of Union and Gohhian legal AIs has been performed and found that your actions were within acceptable bounds of the law, Sergeant Kiseleva,” the drone told her.

“As a result, no negative marks will be added to your record, and your duty sidearm is being returned to you.”

Kiseleva accepted the drone’s words with a nod and the compartment on its underside opened, lowering her sidearm.

As soon as she had seen the drone approaching with the underslung cargo capsule, she had known this would be the result.

Strapping the sidearm back into place, and turning away from the drone, she saw Apollonia Nor land clumsily nearby, breathing hard.

Today, Kiseleva had her chasing a ball that bounced with its own volition around the zero-g dome.

“I got it!” Apollonia said, panting.  Her face was covered in sweat and she was hunched slightly, but she was holding the ball.  It still jerked left or right, attempting to escape.

“Good,” Kiseleva said.

This was child-level stuff, but she had been told that Apollonia Nor had very little in the way of formal education, no augments, and was not in the best of health.

She could truly see that, and on some level she wasn’t sure if she could whip this woman into shape in a timely fashion.

She made a notation to Apollonia’s system to change her diet slightly; increase her protein levels and calories, using a few proven additives to perhaps help her build some muscle mass.

Honestly, this Apollonia girl was something of a mystery to her.  She knew that the girl had failed to report for duty during the battle out of cowardice – which wasn’t unforgivable, since it was her first battle and her role was non-vital.  It was not good, but no one really knew how they’d first react in combat.

Jaya Yaepanaya clearly had very high hopes for her, Kai was going along with it, and that all meant something.  So, Kiseleva had decided she was going to push the woman and see how she rose to this challenge.

Thus far, the girl had impressed her somewhat with her desire to perform, even if her actual skill or physical ability did not match.  She at least wanted to do well, and was managing to keep her complaining under wraps.  It was always there beneath the surface, Kiseleva could tell, but she had kept a lid on it.

As for her other qualities . . .

Thus far, Kiseleva had seen nothing of her stranger aspects.  She did feel a certain weight to her presence, but she had long ago learned not to judge people based on something like this.  In search and rescue as well as combat, few people gave good first impressions.  All too often covered in blood or mud or burns to do much of that.

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It had taken her an absurd amount of time to catch this stupid ball.

She could feel it struggling in her hands, and she felt an unhealthy amount of happiness that she’d outsmarted the bastard.

Because it was smart – it hadn’t just bounced, but it had changed direction, even predicted some of her more obvious moves and had controlled its own bounces to frustrate her.

“Go on, squirm you little jerk,” she muttered.

She felt almost dizzy from exertion, but Kiseleva had exhorted her on – and this seemed like something she could do.  There was no real danger here, other than her own lack of coordination and strength as she had blundered around the arena.  And sure, she’d smashed herself into the walls a bit, but oh well!  She hadn’t gotten a concussion this time, so she was all good.

She looked back up at Kiseleva.

“What now?”

“Again,” Kiseleva said.  “This time with more challenge.”

Apollonia felt her mouth open – to exclaim a shocked denial.  She had just caught it!

But she stopped herself.  Dark, no.  No, no, no!

She was not going to start whining again, she could do better.

“Sure,” she said, her voice sounding more strained than she intended.

Kiseleva took the ball, and threw it with a casual ease – yet it rocketed off like a bullet, and Apollonia found herself disheartened thinking that she couldn’t have thrown it that hard if she had put everything into it.

Trying to remind herself that she had no augments, she crouched, knees protesting, muscles burning, and pushed off after it.

There were thick poles descending from the ceiling.  They were padded, but added extra obstacles for her to get around, and surfaces for the ball to bounce off of.

Oh Dark, how was she ever going to catch the damn thing this time?

Grabbing a pole, she watched the ball bounce off a wall and fly away from her to ping off another pole and then at the wall again.

Could she outsmart it again?  Trap it somehow?

She felt too tired.  She shoved off, in a poor attempt at intercepting it.

It evaded her easily, and she cursed as she hit the wall, shoving off hard at a pole, trying to take a different tact.

It went on; every few seconds she was pushing or kicking herself off a surface or pole, her lungs burning.

Stars seemed to be swimming in her vision suddenly.

She’d felt that before, at times, but she’d never experienced it like this.

The stars were not just floating aimlessly.  They were in patterns.  They lit up in sequences, first dark, then bright.

She had no idea just what she was seeing.

She hit the wall, but felt nothing.  It felt like she was in slow motion.

And then suddenly Kiseleva was there, her face caught in concern, speaking, yet Apollonia heard nothing.

No voice, at least.

But she heard a dull roar, slowly growing more dim.

Then it was gone, and she felt wholly different.

Stronger.  She was not looking at Kiseleva, but at a scrawny girl with dark hair who was covered in sweat and looked completely out of it.

Herself, she realized.  She was seeing herself.

She could hear words now, but she did not understand them.  They were in a language she did not know and nothing was translating them.  Even without understanding the thoughts themselves, the orderliness of them began to come out; the thoughts of someone who had become extremely focused through long practice, extraneous thoughts pushed aside or smothered, focused on what mattered at the moment.

Perhaps that was the key, she thought.  The meaning behind the thoughts began to come out.

. . . I overworked the girl, overestimated her health . . .

. . . pulse is thready, but the scans can find no cause . . .

. . . medical drones on their way . . .

She was seeing through Kiseleva.  Hearing her mind.

The glowing lights, she realized, were thoughts.  Neurons firing.  A visualization her own mind had generated.

It felt strangely obvious.

Something hit her arm.  Her actual arm, not . . .  Not Kiseleva’s.

She gasped.

“Nor!  Speak words,” Kiseleva was saying, her voice demanding, anxious.

“I’m fine,” Apollonia mumbled.

“Her pulse rate is elevated but stable,” a drone said.  There was suddenly a swarm of them around her.

“What happened?” Kiseleva asked.

“I saw . . .”  Fisc, how could she tell the woman she’d just heard her thoughts?  How could she even accept that herself?

“I guess I just got lightheaded,” she said.  “Noodle arms . . . ya know?”

Perhaps Kiseleva did not know, or more likely that was just not an answer she was going to accept.

“Come with me to the medical wing,” she ordered.

“Yeah . . .” Apollonia said, still feeling a little too odd to want to resist.  “Take me to Dr. Y.”

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