Snap
This is chapter 10, have you read chapter one yet?
Whap… Whap-whap… whap-whap-whap. Someone was in the rec room.
Simonee crept to the open hatch and peered around the corner.
Whap-whap… whap-whap-whap-whap-hnnn.
It was Estrella beating on the big red punching bag. The bag jittered with each blow until—wham—she launched a knee in low and it whipped against the chain.
Whap… whap-whap… bam! Three jabs and roundhouse finished the set, and she nodded at the door. “Hey, new-girl, am I overrunning your practice time?”
Shit—not as sneaky as she thought. Simonee had spent the whole day coding something for Darla, and was on her way there but—
She stepped into the room.
“Oh, no—I was just... watching.” She swallowed. “And, it’s Simonee.”
Estrella’s mouth twitched up, but her eyes slitted. “Right. Do you spar, Simonee?”
She stepped away from the bag and onto a mat, feet spread, knees out.
Simonee threw her hands up. “Oh… oh no… I don’t fight.” She chuckled. “I don’t really know how.”
Which was true—she could make a fist, sure. She could even punch, but without a pair of spiky brass knuckles on her hand, it wasn’t much to worry about.
An eyebrow shot up. “My reports on the Enceladus Station incident say otherwise.”
Shit. She backed toward the door. “No-no, really. My contributions there were... greatly exaggerated.”
Simonee rubbed her shoulder—at the ache that hadn’t quite gone away. “I didn’t come out on top.”
“Self-deprecation won’t curb rumors.” Estrella turned to the bench and grabbed up some gloves. “You should probably learn then—here.” She tossed them.
She shouldn’t have caught them, but she did. Her throat went dry, belly cold.
Now what? “Um... okay.”
Okay? Something had her stepping forward, fingering the wrists of the gloves—blushing. Estrella was an attractive woman—hot, she was hot—her stance, her dark eyes, and the way the sweat on her face glistened under the lights... and that unitard.
So, she was really going to let Estrella practice punching her in the face. Which was, to be fair, probably better than the conversation she needed to have with Darla—she hadn’t had the courage to let her down yet.
“Good—I need a partner; I guess you’ll do.” Estrella stepped up and grabbed one of the gloves. “Here, like this.”
Simonee watched, ears pounding as Estrella wrapped her wrists and tied her tight, and explained the technique.
Estrella took position at the center of the mat, legs spread, fists out. “Okay, let’s start with your stance—like this.”
Simonee stood in front of her, trying to match her feet and hands, but her butt seemed to stick out too much, and her feet rolled in.
And somebody else was watching. “Well, isn’t this just the cutest thing?”
Simonee scowled at Mariem there leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed. A smirk cracked the corner of her mouth.
“I need someone to spar with, so I’m showing Simonee here some basics.” Estrella slapped her fists together. “Come on, eyes forward.”
Simonee snapped back—but the thrill was gone.
Mariem laughed. “So you can spend the next hour beating the crap out of her?”
And that wasn’t nice—Simonee spun. “What if I want to learn how to fight? You never offered to teach me.”
Mariem shrugged away from the doorframe. “You aren’t a fighter; you hate the very idea of fighting.” She nodded. “And you’ve barely finished healing from the fight you had with that old lady on Enceladus Station.”
Simonee huffed and fought the straps on her gloves.
“That old lady had a gun.” She managed to get one glove off; it dropped to the mat; she attacked the other. “But you’re right. So how about you be her partner instead and I’ll just take notes.”
Simonee stomped over to a bench along the wall and sat, arms crossed. Mariem’s attitude rubbed her wrong, but she was grateful for the save anyway.
Estrella rolled her shoulders, and kicked the gloves on the mat at Mariem. “Well?”
Simonee nibbled her lip.
Mariem’s tongue clicked. “I don’t know.” She lifted an eyebrow. “The last time we did this, you went out on a stretcher.”
“Oh, I remember,” Estrella said. “But you cheated.”
Mariem snorted. “Did not.” She cocked her head. “You put a choke hold on someone three times your size without leverage.”
“You went below the belt and took out my leg!” Estrella growled.
Mariem laughed. “Which was technically above my belt at the time.”
Estrella sunk into her stance, eyes narrowed. “You. Broke. It.”
Mariem slapped her thighs. “Oh, come on, that was a decade ago. How many times do I have to apologize?”
“Either until you mean it or you pick up those gloves and give me a rematch!” Estrella barked.
“Fine,” Mariem said, stepping up to the mat, kicking off her boots. “Let’s see if you’ve lost your edge sitting at that big comfy desk.”
She wiggled her hands into the gloves, and wrapped them tight.
Simonee leaned on her knees and bit at her nails as Mariem swaggered into a loose stance. Mariem towered over her, but the steel never left Estrella’s eyes. Simonee’s chest fluttered—Oh my.
The two women circled the center. Estrella floated on the balls of her feet, each step evenly placed like a cat. Mariem stalked loose, confident—cocky. She was playing too much the luchadora here.
Estrella stuck out a gloved fist and Mariem lazily tapped it in turn—and the match began.
Estrella opened up with a series of jabs that Mariem knocked away, grinning. Estrella jabbed again, again, again—Mariem batted them away.
Then she jabbed deep—hmmpf—fast. Estrella dodged with a roll at the shoulder, and snapped a quick jab to the inside of Mariem’s elbow. Mariem shook out her arm. Her smirk curled into a snarl, and the swagger became a prowl—shoulders tucked.
Estrella feinted right, left, jabbed. Mariem swung into her but Estrella ducked in and got two hits on Mariem’s ribs.
Mariem rubbed her side, chuckling. “Is that all you’re going to do? Jab me to death?”
Estrella shrugged. “A point’s a point.”
Mariem’s eyebrow went up. “Points? Bitch, I’m here for tap out or KO.”
Estrella pursed her lips. “Then quit flopping around and actually fight me.”
Simonee’s knees got tingly.
Mariem lunged, and Estrella spun one deep solid punch to her lower back. Mariem stumbled and coughed.
Mariem pounded her gloves together. “Alright. Try that again, shorty.”
Estrella dove in with a volley of hits, but Mariem batted each away, then blocked a roundhouse with a fist to the shin; Estrella stumbled, limping away and finding her stance.
Simonee squeezed the bench, fingertips aching.
Mariem shook her head, teeth bared. “I don’t know why you do this to yourself. This is the one thing you can’t beat me at.” She knocked away another blow. “You just don’t have the reach.”
Estrella jabbed in, feinted around the block and landed a hit to Mariem’s chest.
Mariem danced back. “Ow, damnit!” She rubbed under her arm. “No tit-punches!”
Estrella’s shoulders jumped. “Oops, couldn’t reach your jaw.”
Mariem growled and dove in. Estrella feinted again, took a shot at Mariem’s belly, but Mariem shoved her back with a palm to the forehead.
She laughed as Estrella tried again and she nudged her back.
Mariem held her back again, and glanced back at Simonee. “Hey, Sim, you watchin’?”
“Come on, Mariem,” she shouted back. “Don’t be a bully.”
Mariem jerked a frown her direction, and Estrella took the opening. She locked her wrists around Mariem’s and rolled. Mariem’s stance didn’t hold; she flipped forward, back slapping the mat.
Estrella pounced, straddling Mariem’s chest, knees pinning shoulders. She wailed on her—blow on blow on blow.
Blood burst from Mariem’s nose, but Estrella kept punching.
Now Mariem’s face was swelling up—eyes puffing, lips fat.
Simonee stood. “Estrella, stop! She’s down; you won.”
But she didn’t.
Tears poured down her cheeks. “You big fucking oaf!”
Bam! “You never take anything seriously!”
Biff! “I call you sister, and you brush me away.”
Pow! “You, my dad, you were my family, the only friends I had and you just left me behind.”
Smack! “I had to be the dutiful one. The responsible one.” Slam! “The good soldier.” Bam! “The perfect daughter.” Pfft! “So I put it all into my career, the next Admiral fucking Santiago, youngest in the history of the fleet.”
Slap! “I thought Mom would be proud, instead I got a lecture. She poured me a scotch, toasted my stars and told me I should have quit with you, that none of it was worth a damn thing!”
Bam! “The fuck?” Bam! “I did everything right, but I was still wrong. My career wasted on the wrong right decisions.”
Pfft! “So here I am, chasing you two because in this... emptiness, I just need to know why.” Slap! “And all you did from the moment I stepped through that door was hate me!”
She kept pounding, and crying—then Simonee was flying into her. She glared down at Estrella; their eyes locked.
But Estrella stayed down. “And you said you weren’t a fighter.”
Simonee rolled away. “Mariem?” She fussed over her, rolling a sleeve over her hand and dabbing at the blood under Mariem’s eyes.
Mariem batted her away. “Oh, would you get off of me! I’m fine.”
Simonee tottered back as Mariem bolted up, spit blood, licked her lips, winced.
She turned a puffy black eye at Estrella. “Better now?”
Estrella stared into the distance. “No. Pretty awful actually.” She shook her head.
Mariem snorted. “You should see the other guy.”
Estrella’s chest shook, and she gasped. “Ha!” And she didn’t stop laughing.
“And what’s all this then?” boomed Carlos from the doorway.
Simonee shrugged. “They’re sparring.”
Estrella laughed harder. Mariem spit more blood.
Carlos sighed. “Ah, I see.” He looked at the ceiling. “Gracias a dios. There’s salve in the first-aid kit and an ice pack in the freezer. Then come eat, I made vegan chili.”
He disappeared.
Mariem stood and worked her jaw. Poking at her nose, she palmed it and gave it a wrench.
Simonee spun around, found some towels, and Mariem wiped up the blood. Estrella stopped laughing but still sat leaning one shoulder against the wall.
Mariem reached down. “Coming, sis?”
Estrella looked up. “Huh? Where?”
Mariem jerked her head. “Dinner… his chili’s really good.”
She nodded, took her hand. “I could eat.” Stood.
Simonee gawked. “We need to take care of your face first.”
Mariem grimaced. “Eww, salve will make the chili taste funny.”
“And the blood won’t?” Simonee asked.
“Nah.” Mariem shrugged. “Won’t be vegan though.”
She turned to Estrella. “So, Chiara really said, I was the smart one this time?”
Estrella chuckled. “I paraphrased—there were many colorful epithets, smart wasn’t one of them.”
“Oh, she really meant it then.”
Simonee followed behind. She didn’t know what just happened but the air seemed thinner, and her stomach growled. First dinner, then Darla.
New to Simonee’s story? The Cannibal of Cloud Ball 9 is Book Two of The Girl with the Cybernetic Eye. Book One—The Ice Princess of Enceladus Station—is complete and free to read. Start here.