Page 21 of Mongrels United
And he was suddenly wary about taking anything at all for that, not even one of Camilla’s little pills.
Damn Rim and his untimely dawning of a conscience!
Chapter Nine
Grady had her AI wake her a little earlier than usual, slipped on a gown and headed out into the compact kitchenette area to print and assemble Kailash’s favorite breakfast.
She could hear him snoring through the door to his room, which made her smile. The sleep of champions.
When breakfast was ready, she asked Kailash’s AI to wake him.
Kailash emerged, stumbling and rubbing sleep from his eyes. His hair stood on end, too.
He sniffed. “Pancakes and chocolate gravy?”
“And bacon and eggs,” Grady told him. “My treat.”
“Mmm…Protein!” He thumped his fists against his chest.
She laughed and poured the coffee. “Come and eat before it gets cold.”
He slid onto the stool on the other side of the counter and pulled the plate with the biggest serving towards him. “What’s the occasion?”
“I heard about your win, last night.”
Kailash dropped his knife and fork. “You should haveseenus, Grady! It was like something just clicked.” He frowned. “Sometimes, any way.”
“It clicked often enough to score the one goal that counted,” Grady assured him. “The rest will come.” She ate hungrily. She had skipped dinner last night. Or maybe she had eaten a handful of something from one of the bowls of treats than often littered the common table late in the day. She couldn’t remember. “Did you guys try something new?”
Kailash nodded, his mouth stuffed full. He chewed furiously, swallowed. “I found old games. Reallyancientgames. A topman and groundsman pair doing theseamazingthings. Tactics I’ve never seen before, not in any game in recent history. It was the most innovative stuff, but no one seems to be using it anymore.”
“And that’s what the team did? Used their tactics? Who were they?”
Kailash rolled his eyes. “You won’t know them.”
“Try me.”
“Quiver and Crave.”
Grady smiled. “You’re right, I’ve never heard of them. But that means that most people haven’t, and that’s a good thing, right?”
“For us, it is,” Kailash said, his enthusiasm firing up. He held up his hand at his waist. “Quiver was about this big.”
“No one’s that short,” Grady protested.
“Okay, well maybe she was a bit bigger than that, but she looked pretty short next to Callon Crave, but that’s the point, see? They worked with the disadvantages they had and turned them into unique advantages. She was acrobatic, in zero gee, and could slide through holes no one else saw. Not strong, but flexible and fast. Crave was tall and strong, but he wasn’t overloaded with muscles, the way the professional groundsmen are these days. Which made him faster in two gee.”
Grady made her mind veer away from very tall, very muscular figures. “You’re built like Crave, Kailash. Bet you never thought of that as an advantage in the heavy zone before.”
“Nope.” Kailash opened his mouth to speak again.
Grady’s pad gave off one of the rare alerts that sheneverignored, a triple ping in a high pitch that would cut through almost all noise. Including, she suspected, one of Nash Hyson’s Dere Street parties.
It was the Civil Division’s station ID.
“Jackalyn, you’re either up very early, or up way too late,” Grady said when the call connected.
“Sorry to start your day so early,” Jackalyn Westcott said, in her deep, breathy voice. Her round face didn’t look apologetic.
