Dragons and Stars, Chapter 6: The Fight

Mr. Lin had gathered their weightsuits and put them away. He walked the three younger children out, followed by Hanna, leaning on Grummel’s arm. Neal and Mirk in their regular graysuits pretended to follow them into the tunnel, then stopped and faced each other for a minute, not speaking any words. Neal had never felt such rage coursing through his veins. He felt strong, on fire. “You will never touch Hanna again,” he said at last, through clenched teeth. Mirk laughed spitefully. “One day she will be mine,” he said in his nasally voice. “And you will too. You don’t know who you are messing with. Then you will have to stand and watch — I’ll hit her whenever I think she needs it. And since she’s a stupid Jewish girl she will probably need it often.” Neal was speechless at the outrageousness of Mirk’s words. He stood stunned for a moment, trying to unravel Mirk’s words. Then suddenly he felt a clumsy fist against his jaw and fell backwards, his boots still magneted to the ground. He lay for a moment, seeing red. Then with a calm chill he swung himself back up to a standing position. Mirk was standing, angrily staring, his parted hair flopping down one side of his face. He put his fists up in waved them at Neal. Neal leaned down suddenly, feeling drunk with adrenaline, and turned off his magnet boots. Mirk mirrored him. They stood lightly on the floor, tapping and floating slightly off of it.

On earth the “star children” as kids born off earth were called, had a definate disadvantage. Some could not even stand up on earth, and even those with extensive weight training could only managed a tiring walk. But here on an asteroid, they were a different creature. They could dance and swim through the weightlessnes in ways earth kids never dreamed about.

Neal kicked off the ground lightly, floating up twenty feet to grasp a steel beam above him. Mirk likewise kicked off into the air, grasping the next steel beam over. Suddenly in a sinuous swimming stroke, Neal soared off his beam toward Mirk, twisting his body in a strange grace. Mirk pushed off as well, head first for Neal. In mid-air Neal suddenly uncoiled his body in a lightning kick that would be impossible in earth gravity. The kick stunned Mirk back against the steel girder behind him. He lay against it, gasping. Neal spun in mid-air, catching the rock-netting with a toe and pushing off firmly towards Mirk. Mirk suddenly clicked the electromagnets on his boots, which clung to the side of the steel-iron girder behind him. As Neal flew into his face, Mirk stood quickly straight out from the girder, both his fists straight out, into Neal’s face. The sudden double blow stopped Neal in mid-air and knocked him slowly backwards, seeing flashes in his eyes. He knew he would have two black eyes in the morning for all to see, but he was beyond caring now. Suddenly he felt Mirk fly under him and grasp him from behind, dragging him against the rock-netting on the sloping dome roof. Mirk gave Neal another sharp right hook to his jaw that left him gasping for a moment, then Neal felt himself being pulled higher along the rock roof, probably fifty or sixty feet above the ground now. Neal felt Mirk fumbling with his boots.

“Neal! Watch out!” shouted Hanna from below. Neal looked down groggily to see Hanna on the ground hurriedly turning off her magboots. Mirk had grabbed the weight setting on Neal’s left boot and was trying to press it to the maximum weight of ten gravity’s, which would yank Neal to the ground below and at least break his leg if not worse. In a desparate effort, Neal kicked his left foot backwards towards a metal girder eight feet away. As the boot magnet powered up suddenly, he was yanked to the girder and stuck to the side, Mirk staring furiously after him. Suddenly a mass of black-haired fury burst onto Mirk from below, wildly slamming Mirk against the netted dome roof and savaging him with a series of vicious punches and elbow blows that seemed to flutter like a hummingbird’s wings. After a moment, Mirk floated unconscious in the air, and she turned to Neal, who was groggily turning off his magboot. “If I needed to defend myself, I could have done it myself,” she shouted in Neal’s face. He couldn’t understand the anger in her voice, but his head was a bit blurry. She grabbed the unconscious Mirk in one hand and him in the other and pulled them both downwards to rest on the ground of the gym. Then Neal saw Grummel. The great giant was crouching in the tunnel doorway, his hands to his face, crying and snuffling. Hanna beckoned to him and he wiped his eyes hurriedly and came out. “Don’t be so stupidly verklempt!” Hanna ordered him crossly. “Here, help me take Mirk to the infirmary.” Grummel lifted Mirk with red eyes and tried not to look at anyone. They made a sad troop, then, Neal with bruises already darkening around his eyes, Grummel still sniffling, holding a lifeless-looking Mirk, led by a fierce-looking Hanna to the infirmary.