Tarik: Entry Level Warfare (22 page)

Tarik thought about it. He preferred to think of himself as a gentle giant. It was true however that he needed to have a different persona when it was time to be violent.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Tarik said as he thought about it the rest of the way back.

When the ship pushed away from the station Tarik decided he would use ‘Monster’ as his battle sign. It made sense for him to be two different people, and he sure wasn’t going to allow anyone to call him Jimmy again.

Over the next few days things had gone back to normal. The crew no longer stared at him like they were waiting for him to become unhinged. He went back to his bathroom cleaning duties and did not find any bodies. His workout sessions were filled with personal bests of both weight and endurance. He took up running the double marathons with the pilots. Dav was teaching him incredible advanced moves, putting all of his enhancements to the test. Tarik felt great but he knew every time he did that is when life hit him hard. Things hadn’t gone back to normal with Daze, she kept him at a distance. He could not really blame her; their friendship had implicated her as an accessory to murder. How could any friendship recover from that? Regardless he did miss her and wanted to her some of hear goofy stories again but could not fabricate a good enough reason to go see her.

Tarik checked his schedule for tomorrow and only one event presented itself early that morning. He was due in medical for a final reassessment, the one he needed to pass to get off of probation. This also meant he’d have to see the doctor. He only hoped the doctor heeded Dav’s warning about treating him fairly.

The next morning he had undressed and was about to enter the showers when Goddess came
out of her
 stall. She was as nude and beautiful as ever. She did not even make an effort to conceal herself and Tarik did not make an effort to avert his gaze. He was growing tired of her games. She knew what he wanted and he was not going to hide anymore. When she walked past him she stopped just behind him. She did not turn but simply smelled the air around him. Tarik knew he hadn’t showered yet but he did not think he smelled that bad. After pausing for just a few seconds she went to the dressing room without looking back. Tarik only shrugged and dismissed it as another strange Dereft thing she did.

Tarik had showered and changed into his assessment jumpsuit. He was walking up the corkscrew when he got a message from Lamb.

“REMEMBER RULE NUMBER TWO! -Drang”

Tarik thought about it but still wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. Was he saying he didn’t have to do the assessment? That did not make any sense.

Tarik pushed it from his mind as he entered the testing facility. Stripping and entering the examination pod without being told. The doctor said nothing to him but just went about his business, noting Tarik’s new alterations. After the examination, which included the unwanted anal pinch, Tarik hopped out and went right to the
calisthenics
.

The doctor did not reveal any inclination of what he was giving Tarik for his new scores but Tilla could not hide her joy at seeing the new Tarik at work. After the run timer she was taking off the breathing mask and must have got a whiff of Tarik’s scent. Her shoulders puffed up involuntarily; the doctor glared at her in disgust. Tilla couldn’t hide her sexual arousal, his scent was far too strong so she walked to the other side of the room. Tarik was waiting for the doctor to say something so he could punch the man in the face.

The doctor did not tell him to go to the vacuum pod but Tarik knew that it was next. He walked over and was about to jump in when a thought occurred to him. Tarik turned and faced the doctor.

“I’m not going in there.” Tarik informed the doctor.

“Get in there so I can get your scores. I have better things to do.”

“Just put down what’s in the brochure for my lungs. I am not going in there.”

The doctor let a shock stick slip from up his sleeve. “Listen here you vile monster, you will get in that tube or I will make you get in there.”

Tarik put a big smile on his face. The doctor hid a shielded shock stick up his sleeve because he was afraid of Tarik. The doctor clearly did not have the upper hand here. “Doc, I’d put that thing away before you get hurt. Don’t call me a monster unless you want me to show you one.”

Tilla started moving over to stand between the two men but she would clearly not make it in time.

The doctor activated the shock stick and thrust out in Tarik’s direction. Tarik grabbed the wrist that held the shock stick and squeezed until the doctor dropped it. Tarik put his other
hand on
 the doctor’s throat and lifted him off of his feet. Tarik spun around and deposited the doctor into the pod which automatically activated.

“I assume that thing will release him when he’s blacked out?” He asked of Tilla.

“Yes, it will.” She answered.

“Great! Well you have a good day I’m going to go to midday meal.” He said then headed towards the door.

When he looked back the doctor was thrashing around wildly trying to get to the sides of the
tank
. Tarik felt like skipping all the way down to the Dome.

Tarik had eaten midday and then end of day meal expecting to get a nasty message from Dav. He now sat in his room with his EPS off and enjoyed his asteroid belt view. He was still
practicing
 his
defense
 speech when his new assessment came in. Tarik stifled a laugh, if he got something other than all zeros he would be shocked. He went into full immersion to review what he thought would hilarious results.

Subject: Tarik

Species: Human

Sex: Male

Traits: Northern European lineage

Chronological age: 35.4

Biological age: 24

Life expectancy without combat: 194

Height: 73 inches

Weight: 215.2 lbs.

Body fat: 9.6%

Water weight: 69.3%

Alterations: executive class left and right lung, statoconium enhancements, management grade neural upgrade, electronic pulse sensors, retinal implants, repaired right leg, replaced femoral artery, surgically repaired right shoulder, and surgically repaired left hand.

The video showed Tarik nude and floating in the air. The newest changes were glowing a bright green.

All scores based on a maximum score of 100 for human males

Flexibility: 81

Endurance: 97

Strength: 95

Tactics: 99

Intelligence: 75

Recall: 76

Oxygen Retention: 100

Social Skills: 71

Life expectancy with combat at current scores: 78.2

Conclusion: Subject is ready for field duty.

“What in the fuck?” Tarik asked of the empty room.

Before Tarik could even wonder what the hell was happening he got a new message from Lamb.

I knew you would
figure it out
. Meet us in the training room for a drink. - Drang

Tarik couldn’t shake the look of confusion off his face. He was still thinking he should be getting his ass chewed off by Dav, not having a drink with the man. He stood up and headed to the training room hoping that one of the men could tell him what the hell was happening.

As Tarik neared the doorway to the training room he could hear laughing coming from the room. His walk there did nothing to clear his mind, if anything he was more confused.

In the
center
 of the room was a large round table with seating for sixteen. The entire combat team was sitting and talking loudly. Five of the pilots had joined them and one of the pilots was telling a story that looked like it was about tap dancing. Daze and Dav were talking to Lamb and Goddess. Daze was talking about something that required her to be on all fours but crane her neck up and stare at the sky.

Lamb was the first to notice him and shouted a loud. “Hey, there he is!”

The room looked to Tarik and erupted into cheers. Scout Three was the fastest and embraced Tarik in a bear hug.

“You did it!” he shouted over everyone. “I knew you would!”

“Let the man in the door for fucks sake.” Dav yelled. “Tarik get your ass over here and get a drink.” Dav motioned him forward.

When he got to Dav he had a cup filled with alcohol placed into his hands.

“What did I do?” he asked Dav.

“You kicked ass kid! You passed your assessment, you’re a full member of the combat team!” Dav said as he held a bottle of liquor high above his head like a trophy.

“You sure showed that doctor not to fuck with you.” Lamb yelled already slurring his speech.

“Why did the doctor pass me? I could have killed him.” Tarik asked anyone who could answer him.

“The doctor only administers the test. The ship computer scores you.” Goddess’s voice came out from the crowd.

Razor screeched out for the attention of the room. “To the pup who found his way to the kill. His stomach is full tonight!” He held up his glass in a toast. Everyone drank even if they didn’t know what the hell the Gorrex had just said.

Tarik sat down to get his mind around all of this. The self righteous prick of a doctor had nothing to do with his scores. He’d blamed Lamb for his crap scores before, not
realizing
 that it was all being done live. All of his frustrations should have been directed at the ship's computer. His head swirled with the possibilities and hypotheticals.

Daze took a seat next to him. The party carried on like as it was before he entered.

“Congratulations, I know you worked real hard for this.” Daze said.

“Thank you. I think I’m still trying to figure out how I passed.”

Daze giggled in her cute little girl way. “I can’t stay long. I’ve got repair work to do.”

“I understand. Thank you for coming, it means a lot to have you here for me.”

Daze kissed his forehead and walked out of the room.

After a few more drinks Tarik loosened up. The party toasted to him more times than he could remember. He remembered dancing with Goddess and seeing who could jump from the floor to the table. He sent Daze a message but what it said he had no idea. He wrestled two of the pilots at once. He showed off some of his martial arts moves. Why he did any of these things he couldn't say.

The next morning he woke up in his bunk half undressed. His head pounded and he smelled like he had
taken a bath
 in a vat of whisky. When he sat up he felt like he was going to throw up.

Tarik made his way to the showers not even bothering to pull his jumpsuit up over his shoulders. He had to turn off his EPS completely because the bright orange made him want to vomit. He passed Daze who had a panel removed from the wall. She gave him a look like he'd been beaten up by her father again. Tarik hoped that hadn't happened because he couldn't remember it.

“Get a little too crazy yesterday?” She asked.

Tarik looked down at himself and
realized
 he had only one boot on.

“Yeah I think so.”

“Too bad I missed it. Very interesting message you sent me.” She put heavy emphasis on ‘very’.

“Yeah, I uhh… I'm not sure what I said.”

Daze laughed at him. “Don't worry about it big guy. Go get your shower. From what you told me you are very dirty.” She winked after the last part.

Tarik thought he should say something else but it hurt to think. He just nodded and shuffled off to the showers.

As much as the sight of Goddess nude normally cheered him up he was glad she wasn't here to see him in this state. Tarik sat down on the floor of the shower stall and tried his best not to be sick. He wanted to know if he had done anything especially embarrassing last night but he also really didn't want to know if he had. He only had a few bathrooms to clean today so he went back to his room to sleep for a few more hours.

Over the next few days things had gone mostly back to normal. Tarik spent his days running with the pilots and cleaning bathrooms. He would weightlift with Scout Three and listen to Daze tell crazy stories at meals. Daze still teased him about the message he sent, the worst part was she wouldn't tell him what he said. Tarik started going to the range with Mange to learn about long distance shots. Goddess still did her strange sniff thing when she passed him but he was learning to ignore it. Bink still hadn't talked to him but he also wasn't openly hostile.
Rumors
 were floating around that they would be on the new contract shortly.

Tarik had finished cleaning his third bathroom of the day and was headed to midday meal when a meeting notice showed up in his log. He finished midday meal and hung around the Dome waiting for the meeting to start.

The crew filed into the Dome and Tarik watched some of the interactions. Most of the support team ignored Machine. Daze was just about always the
center
 of attention within their group. The bridge crew kept to themselves; nobody seemed to be a leader there. Now that he could tell the pilots apart Fighter One was the leader. The new Fighter Two was quickly adapting to the new group.