Showdown Part 4 (Gabrielle)
June 4, 2009 by sharppointythings
Anna had figured out the dust cloud. She knew where she was now and thus knew where to find Ty. She crept through the cloud until she came to where he was hiding. As she popped out from behind an asteroid she yelled “Found you!” and let loose with a burst of deadly fire. Ty just moved away, dodging asteroids and her fire alike.
“Hey Anna!” he yelled to her. “I’ve just thought of a game. Let’s play ‘Duck, duck, goose. I’ll go first.”
There was a trick here. Anna scanned her readouts frantically looking for what he’d done.
“Duck.”
A rock exploded off to Anna’s right. Her ship rocked in the blast, but it was too far away to do much damage.
“Duck.”
Something exploded off to her left. It was much closer this time.
“Goose,” Ty said grimly.
An asteroid exploded right underneath Anna’s ship. The blast flung her into another asteroid and then she ricocheted before she could get control back. She wrestled with her ship while Ty’s laughter rang in her ears. Anna scanned the damaged report and saw that her radar was now completely useless. Oh, well, she still knew where she was. She guided her bent and mangled ship closer to Ty’s.
“I like ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’”, she said and then sent a burst of static over the comm that would confuse even the best radar. Now they were both flying blind.
******************
Ty sat down next to Anna and started eating off her tray. She reached over and snagged something from his and grinned at him. Yep, sometimes a relationship had even more perks than you’d banked on. Ty slid closer to her to make some room for someone else to sit at the already full table.
The conversation was loud and excited and about all the usual. The instructor’s mustache, the bad food, the ugly Marines, who’s standing was rising or slipping. Ty was in the thick of things enjoying his piece of the spotlight as always. But he broke off when Anna got up to take her tray back. He really liked watching her walk.
Anna put her tray in the dirty stack and started back to the table. But someone called her name and she smiled and walk over to a different table. A tall pilot trainee stood up and offered her his place at the table, but she shook her head and pointed at where Ty was sitting. The other pilot said something to her and she laughed. She rested her hand on his arm and looked at him sideways. Then she said goodbye and walked back to the table she’d been sitting at.
Ty’s head nearly exploded. He was furious. That was the walk she only used for him. She’d walked toward this other, tall pilot and he’d made her laugh. Ty had never been able to make her laugh. He didn’t react when Anna sat down next to him. His entire world had focused on a tall, handsome man his girl had been laughing with. He watch the other pilot finish eating and get up from the table. Then he got up and followed him into the hallway.
The other pilot never saw him coming. Ty sucker punched him in the gut and hit him twice more as he was still gasping. Ty grabbed him by his hair and looked him in the eye.
“You stay away from my girl.” Ty had never been so angry before. “You hear me?”
The tall pilot still hadn’t gotten his air back, but he nodded so Ty let him go and stalked off down the hallway. She was his. Always would be.