Bonding

As had been agreed, a receiving team of twenty of Eden’s military runners, ten mules, and two commanders awaited the cohort of twenty Victorian athletes, their coaches, and ten soldiers at the base of the falls before sundown. The camp had already been prepared by Eden, and every comfort had been provided to make the journey less physically taxing on the athletes. The process had begun, and history was in the making.

Three days later, the Victorian team arrived in Eden in excellent condition and now had five days in which to prepare.

Just as they were arriving, Vlad and his escort departed Victory in order to arrive a day before the contests. Vlad brought along Philip and several other dignitaries; those with children who were competing had been given priority.

It was an exciting time. There were quarters established for the visitors in the area of town that was closest to Victory and the training areas. The residents there were offered credits by the government to give up their houses for the time required to accommodate the guests. Plenty residents took this offer, and the housing situation was settled.

Hector, who shared a cottage with Gabon, felt strange.

He was like a small child remembering what was the same and what was different. But unlike a child, he couldn’t share his memories with anyone. Instead, he just smiled to himself. He was elated to be back in Eden—his home. This area of town had not been developed when he’d last been there. It comprised all new developments.

As they were getting settled, a young man arrived at their door. He announced himself as one of the many coaches, and his purpose was to inform Gabon that there would be a reception that very evening. It would be very small, and would be held at Moey’s house, where Moey would communicate some important details about the competitions. A small number of Eden athletes would also be there, and the other coaches had also been invited.

Hector was disappointed; this was his internal reaction.

Externally, he was positive and excited, but it was an act. Parties were a distraction. He envisioned a reception of his own. After all, he was not really Hector; he was Utah, and there were some important matters to attend to. There was so much unfinished business to take care of.

All the female athletes, along with Coach Diana, were squeezed into Moey’s residence, which was among the largest in the entire city. Jojo, Buddy, and Ajay had cleaned up their rooms and moved over to their parents’ side of the house, thereby accommodating six of the girls. Besides that, there was a very nice guesthouse that opened onto their patio and garden, where Diana and another four girls were staying. The girls were ecstatic to be staying together and in such a beautiful home. They were also curious when Diana mentioned that the three sons living there were among Eden’s top five athletes in both running and swimming.

At first, the girls who had been selected to stay with Coach Diana felt special. But now, they felt trapped, as they imagined the other girls having a wild party in the boys’ bedrooms. As the top swimmer in Victory, Elona was very interested in meeting the boy called Ajay, who was her age and was considered the best among the men.

The legend was that Ajay swam across a great ocean as a small child and was adopted by the Edenites. No one knew where he was from, but it was some faraway place where land was so scarce that all they could do was swim most of the time.

Never mind that they had it wrong and this was the story of Ajay’s father, Mani. Meanwhile, Elona was staying with the coach and feeling trapped.

The girls also knew that the mother—Lady Marina, as they were told to address her—was the daughter of the Chair.

The Chair was the same as Vlad, except that he answered to no one. There was no council nor election. The Chair was supreme and had to be a descendent of Ramius.

Just as Elona was explaining all of this to the other girls, Marina approached the door. She paused there smiling as she listened to Elona’s tale of truth mixed with fiction. It was endearing, and she didn’t want to interrupt, but she needed to know their dietary preferences now.

“Umm.” Marina made her presence known. The girls froze and looked at her wide-eyed as if they had just stolen something. “Ladies, I am Marina. Welcome.” The girls all mumbled courtesies. “You are invited to dinner, which will be on the patio.”

Diana stepped in from another room. “Hello, Lady Marina. I am Coach Diana. Thank you so much.”

“Welcome, Diana. I have heard good things about you from Moey. We are very excited. In a while, the men from your team will arrive with Hector. My sons will also be here, along with several girls from our team. We will have a lot of fun, I’m sure. But I wanted to see if there were any restrictions or preferences before I start cooking.”

“The only thing I am aware of is that some of the girls do not eat meat. I think maybe it’s three of them.” Diana looked over at Elona, who nodded, indicating that she was one of the three. “The other thing is that one of the boys can’t eat fish for some reason. Otherwise, we are excited to experience your food and meet the team members.”

“Wonderful! We will see you on the patio soon.”

The girls all gathered at the guesthouse, which was near the patio, and waited for the others to arrive. Then, they saw three boys emerge from the main house. Jojo, Buddy, and Ajay saw the girls huddled and looking a little uneasy. They walked right over to them, looking confident and friendly.

“Hi,” the more mature-looking boy said. “My name is Jojo. I’ll let my two brothers introduce themselves.”

“I’m Ajay,” said the dark-skinned one. There was some whispering and giggling among the girls. Elona had informed them that Ajay was the one who had swum across the ocean alone when he wasn’t much more than a baby.

“I’m Buddy. You can come out to the patio; there is a fire,” Buddy said clumsily. This made some of the girls giggle, and Buddy went flush.

They all walked over to a large sitting area. Just then, the Eden girls arrived together. There were three of them, and they were the very top athletes. Two were runner–swimmers and the third was targeter who was competing in Bow, Short Spear, and Knives. Following their entrance and introductions, Hector and ten young men filed in, looking stiff yet exhilarated.

Their physical conditions were apparent in every move they made. Jojo and his younger brothers made a careful assessment.

“I hope we are not late. I’m Hector, the men’s coach.”

The Eden boys were shocked. Without having looked closely, they would have thought that he was one of the athletes. In twenty years, Utah had hardly lost a step in his conditioning. As soon as he had been accepted into Victory, he had immediately joined an athletic club and had trained and competed every year, just as he would have done in Eden had things not gone so wrong for him.

Diana also admired the way Hector looked. Her husband had died in an accident, and she had never remarried. But she saw Hector as an anomaly—still single and so good-looking. He was warm and kind to her, but somehow he would take the next step, despite Diana’s explicit encouragement.

She wondered whether there was something else about him—and there was. His name was Gomez, and he and Utah had been together very discreetly, devoted to one another from nearly the time of Utah’s arrival in Victory. Like Utah, Gomez was a soldier; he was also a fitness addict. Most importantly, he was gay.

Utah was curious about whether being openly gay was easier in Eden, as Christopher had been in charge for all these years. Christopher was probably not open about it himself, but everyone knew. In Victory, being gay was frowned upon, and there were no night spots, unlike in Eden. Victory was all about family, work, and survival.

Utah missed Eden so much that he was willing to take the risk of coming back. Although he had no clear plan in mind, he assumed that he might not be going back to Victory. Deep down, he wondered, hoping that Christopher would let things lie after all these years. After all, he was the one who had given Christopher the Chair. Those other cowards wouldn’t have had the balls to do it. They were despicable—especially Perry, that slime. They conveniently made him out to be the lone villain.

Please, Christopher. Let me return. Clear my name. Let’s forget it ever happened, Utah had imagined repeatedly.

Many times, he planned to venture off to Eden and try his luck by surrendering himself at the border and asking for Christopher’s compassion. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it, as he would be leaving Gomez and his place of security.

However, this situation was a sign. It was a trigger pushing him in a direction from which there could be no return.

“Hi. I’m Elona.” She made a general introduction to Jojo, Buddy, and Ajay, but as Victory’s best female swimmer, her main curiosity and point of interest was Ajay. All the young elite competitors circulated, stared, spoke, and meshed together in the complex and uneasy dance of young adulthood. But despite a little uneasiness, nothing could have been more exciting. A couple of the Eden coaches arrived and made the rounds, starting with Marina, followed by the Victory coaches, and then, finally, the Victory athletes. Marina had arranged a small musical group, which was now set up in the garden just off the patio. They were playing traditional drum and flute music, which drenched the open yard with soothing sounds that were also familiar to the Victorians.

“What’s behind those big doors?” one of the Victory girls asked Buddy, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Oh. That’s my father’s workshop. It’s very interesting.

We make lots of things back there for the whole city … like special blades and equipment for farming or processing food.

We also make some special fabrics—even shoes. It’s more like experimental things. New inventions. My pa is like a genius.

Everybody wants to talk to him about it all the time.”

“Wow. That’s so interesting. I would like to see it,” said the girl. “My name is Della.”

“Hi. I’m Buddy. Sorry, but no one is allowed in there unless my pa is around. Sometimes, he won’t let people in there. It just depends. I can ask him.”

“Where is he?” asked Della. “I met him, you know. He talked to us in Victory.”

“He’s coming. There is one thing I can show you. Come on.”

They walked toward the main house. Off of the main living area was a large room, and a giant, low table sat in the middle of it. On the table was a scale model of the city, the lake, and the surrounding mountains. It showed the ocean and even the river leading to the edge of Victory territory. “Check this out. It’s a giant map of the whole area.”

“Wow! It shows all the details, right?” She was looking at Buddy more than at the map. “Where are we?”

“Right here.” Buddy pointed at the spot. He turned and saw her looking at him. He blushed and felt uneasy as they locked eyes. “Um, what’s your sport?”

“Ha ha ha!” Della laughed at the sudden change of topic. She had been hoping to keep things going in a different direction, but Buddy was a little slow “You’re so cute.” She beamed at Buddy.

He smiled as he looked back at her. “Oh, so you don’t have a sport,” Buddy said, still foolishly angling away from her pursuit.

Della exhaled. “Of course, I have a sport. I’m good at running, but not good enough to be in the race. My thing is knives. I’m deadly, so don’t cross me.”

Buddy felt himself tighten. “Whoa! Okay, I won’t!” He paused. “I’ll do whatever you say,” he said, boldly forging into the unknown.

“Okay … let’s see. I want you to…” Suddenly, she stopped short as Marina walked in on them.

“Hi, kids. What’s going on in here?” Marina asked playfully.

“I was showing Della the map,” answered Buddy a little too quickly.

“Your father has just arrived. We can get started.”

Buddy and Della looked at each other with suppressed smiles as they followed Marina out to the patio area. Moey was off at the far end, opening the large door that Buddy had implied was rarely opened. There was a sudden rush toward the door, as if pulled by gravity or the excitement over the treasures hidden within.

“Pa has some gifts made in his shop. I forgot. But it’s for the runners. If you want knives, you need to ask him,” Buddy explained.

Moey waved everyone in, and they all gladly converged at the entrance. It was essentially a large gate set in a high, sturdy fence that separated the large patio and garden of the house, and there was another large patio on the other side.

Surrounding the inner patio were rooms and windows. The significant overhang of the roof created a covered walkway all around, but it was open in the center.

Once everyone was through the gate, Moey directed them to the left, the area under the covered walkway. He walked to each door, opened it, and let everyone peer in to see what was inside. Everyone was fascinated—even the Eden athletes, who were also getting a glimpse into things that they had never seen before. Moey explained each operation in some detail, and there was no shortage of questions coming from the gathering. When they were near the end of the loop around the workshops, Moey invited them all inside one of them. This was where he made shoes and exotic fabrics from flax and other materials.

“I have a gift for each of you. My sons believe that my running shoes are the very best, so they urged me not to give them to anyone else.” Laughter erupted. “But I think it’s only fair that we remove all artificial advantages and give everyone an equal chance, based on their conditioning and determination alone. I had my workers make up lots of shoes of all sizes.”

The group erupted with enthusiastic chatter. “Let’s thank Moey, everybody!” Gabon started clapping, drawing in every pair of hands for a robust applause. Moey smiled and nodded. “Moey, this is very kind of you.”

“Victory coaches, you all are welcome to a pair as well.

It’s my latest design, and I hope you find them comfortable.”

Actually, he had much newer designs, but they were for a different purpose. Even the shoes he was giving away were far better than anything the military had, and he intended for it to stay that way.

The last of them left the workshop area, all wearing their new shoes and feeling content. The buffet was now ready, and everyone dug in with gusto.

Waiting in line, Elona maneuvered her way to a position right behind Ajay. He noticed her and smiled, not sure what to say. “How do your shoes feel?” He was relieved that he had been able to utter even one word.

“They are perfect! I feel like I could run forever in these.

How does your father do it? He’s such a smart guy.”

“Me and my brothers, we helped him make all these.

We even helped with the design.”

“Wow! That is so impressive.”

They stared at each other briefly. Ajay was suddenly taken in by her good looks and positive attitude. He felt comfortable talking to her.

“Ajay, I wanted to ask you. Were you born here or somewhere else?”

“I was born here,” he answered easily. “My father was from an island out in the ocean called Adua. He came here when he was only about ten.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. He was even darker than me. My mom was from here … a white woman. But I’m still pretty dark. Some people don’t like that about me. I don’t know why.”

“Do you live with your parents?”

Ajay stiffened, not comfortable with the subject. “They died.” He let it sink in. “A long time ago. I live here now. Buddy and Jojo are my brothers.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to …” she stumbled.

“It’s okay. We can talk about regular stuff,” said Ajay.

“Are you more of a runner or a swimmer?”

“Definitely a swimmer first. But I can run too. We all have to run all the time. It’s so annoying sometimes.”

Ajay chuckled. “We are the same way—running all the time. You and I are alike. I’m also a swimmer first.” He smiled.

They had reached the woman who was handing out plates of basic staples, after which they could pick out other food items themselves.

“Thank you,” Ajay said, taking a plate and giving it to Elona before taking one for himself. “Hey, try this. This is my favorite.” It was a potato pancake.

“Mine too! You know something? Our food is almost the same.”

“Well, that makes sense, right? A hundred years ago, we were all the same nation. That’s what they teach us here,” explained Ajay. “But they make it seem like your people are very, uh, primitive. Like poor … or I don’t know. But you seem the same as us.”

“Well, now I’m the expert, because I have seen both places,” Elona bragged. “This place is … I would say it’s definitely more advanced. Like the houses are different, and your father’s shoes, and all that stuff. But, to me, it all seems familiar too. We can all talk to each other, and we all like sports and good food.”

“I would like to come see your place,” Ajay said, forgetting for the moment that this was soon to be likely for other reasons “Please come. That would be great,” said Elona.

They walked over to where Buddy and Della were sitting and joined them. Gabon looked on and realized that there was a lot of mixing going on. He suddenly became concerned about foolish, young romance causing poor sports performance, or worse, some international incident such as a pregnancy or a disappearance. He gathered his coaches and briefed them on his concerns.

“We need to know everyone’s whereabouts at all times,” Gabon instructed. “This whole thing could be a disaster if just one unfortunate incident takes place. I don’t want there to be even the possibility.”

Utah and Diana acknowledged the concern and agreed.

Utah was secretly amused, knowing that he would most likely be the cause of such an incident.

Just then, the unexpected happened. An Eden military guardsman entered the patio and scanned the crowd, looking for Moey. Moey spotted him first and quickly walked over to see what it was about. It was Bobby, the Chair’s head of security.

“Bobby? What’s happening?”

“He’s here.”

“Oh, great. Fine. Is he coming in?”

“Yah. I was just looking over the situation first. Looks good. I’ll have him in here right away.”

Moey felt tense. He had gone through the program with Christopher in fine detail. Christopher had had plenty of inputs, all of which Moey had convinced him would lead to disaster.

None of the Chair’s ideas had been really good or meaningful.

But in the end, Christopher had felt that he had conceived and organized every detail himself. He saw it as his baby, and that had been fine with Moey. But now, at the earliest stages of the program, the Chair was already off script, showing up for some unknown reason when he had already said that he did not want to attend. Such was the volatility of the leader. The exchange between Moey and Bobby did not go unnoticed by another seasoned military guard—Utah—who was also feeling quite edgy, given his precarious position. Seeing the uniform that was worn only by the Chair’s personal guards, Utah suspected immediately that Christopher might have arrived. He wasn’t sure what to do. He intended to show himself, but not this soon. He immediately excused himself and disappeared somewhere within Moey’s vast compound. Just as he exited the scene, Christopher strode in wearing his best evening garb and looking completely out of place.

Moey could see that the Chair had had his hair and face worked on painstakingly in his effort to look as vibrant as possible. But his gait was off, and it wasn’t possible to hide this completely. He chose to walk slowly, which reduced the visibility of the limp but made him look feeble.

Marina dashed over to greet him. “Daddy! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would have made it a more formal affair.”

“Darling! Never mind; I won’t stay. I was feeling caged and restless. I wanted to get some air.”

“Are you hungry at all?” doted Marina. “We have some delicious food.”

“I wouldn’t mind a snack—just a small plate. And if you have something stronger than water, that would be grand.”

While Christopher spoke, he scanned the place, trying to assess those in attendance. “Now, where is that husband of yours?”

Moey had not rushed over, despite his awareness of the Chair’s presence. He was a little miffed over the nonconformity with the arranged plan. Surprises were not among Moey’s favorite things.

“My leader!” Moey called out from across the yard, now playing the role of the happy son-in-law. He walked over and greeted Christopher.

“I wanted to get a look at these young people. I’ll admit, I just couldn’t wait. Please excuse my enthusiasm.”

“That’s completely understandable. It’s an exciting event. The athletes from Victory, as well as their coaches, are here looking fit and ready. Would you like to say a few words?”

“Well, I don’t mean to interrupt. But I suppose, if you insist, I could say a few things.”

Moey recoiled. Clearly, he hadn’t insisted on anything, and he wished that the Chair would leave as hastily as he had arrived.

Christopher looked around at everyone, smiling. “Hello!

I would like to say welcome to Eden. It is a historic opportunity for us all to finally get together. And what better way to start our relationship than with a friendly competition. I must say, you all look fit and ready. I do look forward to the contests.

Now, where are the coaches?”

Both Gabon and Diana stepped forward. “Thank you, sir. I am Gabon, the head coach. This is Diana, the women’s coach, and Hector … ” Gabon stopped short, looking around.

“Uh, I don’t see Hector at the moment. I’m sorry. I will find him.” Gabon stumbled. Everyone was looking amongst the group and around the outer edges of the courtyard and garden, but Hector was nowhere to be found.

“Yes, please introduce me when you find him,” said the Chair, not bothered by the absence. “Well, I don’t want to slow down the party. But I do want to invite you all to join me at the Big House at the conclusion of the contests. We will have an even bigger party with your other leaders, who I am told are on their way.”

Moey initiated a clap, and the group joined in for a hearty applause.

“Okay then. Please enjoy!” The chair walked away, laboring and wincing noticeably. Moey, along with Bobby and a few other guards, followed.

“Moey, what’s your assessment? I expect your boys to beat these savages handily. Don’t be gentle about it.”

“They look like real competition. Of course, I hope to win all the contests, but there’s no way of knowing by simply looking at them,” Moey stated honestly and then braced himself.

“We can’t come out of this even or even close to it!”

The Chair started to raise his voice but then controlled himself so as not to be overheard. “You know what is at stake here. Our people must feel that we are number one. What will people think if we don’t crush these nomads? It won’t sit right with anyone.”

“We will do our best, Leader. I promise you.”

“Do better than that! Go talk to your boys especially!”

Christopher grunted in an angry, suppressed whisper. “I’m leaving. Saul’s ball! Why did I walk all this way? Can’t you and Marina live closer?” he complained, dreading each painful step on his long march home. “Bobby, let’s go,” he declared, knowing only how to end things on a down note.

The guests followed his movements as they continued eating and conversing. Christopher waved as he did his best to walk toward the gate. Just as he left and the gates closed, Hector reappeared on the scene.

“Gabon, I’m sorry! I had a stomach problem. I missed it!

Throw me to the wolves.”

“Never mind. You didn’t miss much. He was just sizing us up. What you really missed is that it looks like he can barely walk, the old bastard. If he was in Victory, we’d be throwing him to the wolves.” The men smiled and joined the tail end of the buffet line.

The athletes were sprinkled around, eating, laughing, and mixing with the lesser number of Eden athletes who were there trying to make their own assessments. Jojo was corralled by Zak, Davan, and another one of the top runners from Victory, and they were talking about their training routines.

Zak and Davan were most worried about the swimming.

Victory had no event that combined swimming and running, and they considered themselves good swimmers but great runners.

They assumed that Eden athletes were similar, in that they were either great at one or the other, but not both. Jojo remained very modest and did not allude to relative strengths and weaknesses.

“The problem with the swimming is that it really takes all your energy, so the beginning of the run is hard. It takes a while to shake off that feeling and get into the run. And you feel cold when you come out. You need to eat something right at that point, or you will definitely crash.”

Jojo enjoyed seeing the pained looks on their faces. But these looks were also an act. The Victory men knew what to expect and had trained for precisely what Jojo was talking about. Zak and Davan were determined to win. They had heard that the three brothers were among the top five from Eden.

They could see that Jojo looked the part, as he was taller, more muscular, and older than his bothers. While Zak and Davan sized up the Eden boys, Buddy and Ajay remained unconcerned.

Worrying was not in their nature; in fact, being relaxed was a big key to their success.

So, while Jojo peppered the Victorians with his own questions tit for tat, Buddy and Ajay had only the Victorian girls in mind—two in particular, being Della and Elona—and the feeling was mutual.

“It’s anyone’s guess how this thing will turn out,” said Moey with an amused but worried look. He was speaking to Marina, who was at his side, as they assessed the situation together.

“I’ve never seen the boys so excited. Those girls are really after Buddy and Ajay like wolves.”

“Ha ha. Let them have fun. How much trouble could there be? They won’t have much time together, so I don’t see that it will become a problem.”

“A broken heart at this age is always a problem,” countered Marina, smiling.

Moey lowered his voice to a whisper. “Don’t forget, darling, the boys may well see their new love interests again soon. In fact, what better way is there to inspire their efforts?”

“Well, in that case, where is Jojo’s nomadic princess?” she responded playfully, but the mere reminder of the plan they had in mind caused a knot to form in her gut.

Just then, Buddy went to the back wall of the garden. It was a high stone wall that was against the embankment of the hill that rose toward the mountains. Against the sturdy wall were some large, rough wooden panels, which looked like decoration, creating a contrast with the native red stones that made up the wall. Buddy unlatched the top of one of the panels, and it swung down on hinges in his other hand to reveal a large target painted on the wood. Everyone watching immediately recognized it as a regulation-sized target for archery, spears, and knives. Some of the athletes hooted with excitement and started walking over. Della stood nearby, and as she was a targeter, it was easy for her to deduce that Buddy was setting this up for her benefit.

“Uh oh,” said Moey to Marina. “Here we go.” And they walked over briskly to manage the situation.

Gabon intercepted them. “Moey, this a fantastic target range. It’s perfect.”

“We have many set up in town for practice. Don’t worry. They are all very nice.” But Moey still wasn’t certain that it was a good idea.

“Do you have equipment?” Gabon asked as Diana also approached with a big smile.

“Are we doing this?” she asked.

“Well, sure. Why not?” conceded Moey. “Oh, let me get some special items. Gabon, I will need a hand with this.”

The men walked off, and Moey opened the large gate to his workshop area. They walked into one of the shops near the gate, and Moey lit up a lantern.

“Wow!” exclaimed Gabon as he reviewed racks of prime-looking weapons.

“Let’s take these.” Moey handed Gabon two bows and a quill of arrows. He then walked to the other side and came out with two short spears, which he leaned against a wall near the door. “Now, check this out.” Moey opened a large drawer and inside were rows of highly crafted competition knives that were more precisely made and decorated than anything Gabon had ever seen. He took two of the knives and held them up to the light to inspect them.

“No.” Gabon returned the knives to their holders and took up two others. “Ah, yes. These.” They were shiny and perfectly crafted with folds visible in the metal; this was evidence that the material had been worked skillfully at precisely the right temperatures to achieve strength and quality.

The two men walked briskly back to the waiting crowd.

The men were all there to run, which was where their talents mainly lay, but about half of the female athletes were targeters.

Among the three Eden girls in attendance, two were targeters, so this was a women’s game, and Gabon made this clear.

“Boys! Let’s have the girls do this. You all just watch and cheer.”

There was a symphony of complaints. After all, every Victorian was proficient in targeting, and some of these men were more than proficient. “Okay! Okay! Let’s have Butch and Darius on the spears.”

Two hoots sounded, and the boys stepped forward and away from the crowd.

“Don’t hurt yourself, Butch!” another boy chided, and there were chuckles.

“Yah! Stand back everybody!” another boy joined in, and more laughter ensued.

“But ladies first,” Gabon reminded them to the sound of immediate complaints.

Diana picked up the knives and then looked up. “Della?”

The Victory boys went wild as Della walked over and received the blade. She examined it in amazement. Some of the catering staff brought torches into the area, making it sufficiently bright for the occasion. Buddy looked on with admiration. There were two large targets side by side, and the range markers for each sport were set at the right distances for competition.

Knives were thrown at ten yards, short spears at fifteen, and arrows at twenty-five. These were the short distances. Other events were for double these distances, but Moey’s property was certainly not big enough for them to take place.

Della stepped up to the short line of stones that had been set in the ground, and then she took a step back. “It’s too heavy.” Della weighed the knife, moving it up and down as she looked at Diana.

“It’s too heavy,” mimicked one of the Victory boys, trying to imitate her high-pitched voice. The other boys practically fell over with laughter. But Della didn’t mind. It was expected. Typical.

Moey ran over. “Here! This one.” He handed her the other knife. She weighed it in her hand and smiled.

“Perfect.” She approached the line again.

“Pretend it’s Darius!” came another wisecrack, and everyone laughed.

Della stepped back and took aim. With incredible speed, she cocked her arm and sent the knife on its way. It buried its tip and stopped almost perfectly perpendicular to the target, indicating perfect rotation. It was a respectable one quarter away from center, and everyone cheered loudly.

Nan, the Eden competitor stepped up, ready to challenge. The tension became palpable, and “Oh shit!” was uttered by one of the rowdy boys.

Nan also wanted the lighter blade, and Della ran over to retrieve it from the target as Diana stuck a long pin with a tuft of red cloth in the spot where Della’s knife had been lodged.

Nan was taller and leaner than Della. She had eyes for Jojo, but he had never reciprocated. Nevertheless, she made sure that she had been one of the three to come for this gathering, and she monitored him closely, hoping that he wouldn’t fall victim to a Victory girl, as had his younger brothers. So far so good. This was now her chance to catch Jojo’s attention.

Della handed her the knife and smiled. “Good luck.”

Nan didn’t reply but smiled back. She looked down range and took her measure. This was her specialty, and no one was better. She reared and hurled the blade, her long, lean arm lashing out like a whip. The blade found the target on the opposite side of the marker but slightly farther away than Della’s. It was close, but Della’s shot was clearly the winner. The Victory fans cheered as Nan grimaced, feeling that her chance to shine was lost along with her prospects with Jojo.

“Nan.” She whirled around. It was Jojo. She drew a sharp breath and held it, staring at him wide-eyed and feeling paralyzed. “It was a nice throw. I think you can beat her, especially on the long throw.”

“Th-thanks, Jojo.” She smiled. He smiled back but walked away, clearly busy. Nan felt great, but she wished there was more to say and more time in which to say it.

Next, the women squared off again—this time, with bows and arrows. Once again, Victory edged out Eden by a hair.

Everyone was in high spirits, especially the Victorian athletes.

The boys, still feeling restless and being rowdy, wanted to throw spears. Davan had one of the spears, and as he walked back several steps to the fifteen-yard line, he held it high in the air so that everyone could see it. By this time, the soldiers accompanying the athletes had been invited in to eat and watch the excitement. This added more testosterone to the mix, and the decibels rose in concert.

“Yeah, Davan! Do it!” This and similar shouts emanated throughout the yard as Davan took two steps back, as if winding himself up like a spring. Then, he stepped forward in a controlled manner, his upper body and the spear staying completely still as he approached and unleashed his cocked right arm. The spear sailed in a perfectly straight line and hit the target nearly dead center. The crowd went wild, with the guards adding a new level of sound to the joyous affair.

Davan spread his arms in a gesture aimed at inviting admiration as he bobbed his head. No serious throwers from Eden were on hand, although Buddy had picked up the other spear, expecting to be the representative. But after that display, he just laughed, shook his head, and put the spear down. This was a show of respect, and the cheers and laughter grew louder. The Victorian guards clamored to get a spear and meet the challenge, but before anyone had an opportunity to retrieve Buddy’s discarded spear, it was snatched up.

“Ooooh!” was the primary chant, as people were shocked to see Marina holding up the spear to answer the challenge. After all, this targeting range was mainly hers, and she had kept her skills sharp over the years, having been a targeting champion back in the day. As she walked back to the line facing the adjacent target, the sounds quieted, but the excitement intensified.

Moey stood near to his boys, arms folded, smiling, and barking comments and recommendations to his wife. She looked at him wide-eyed as if to say, Stop talking; I know what I’m doing. She took her position, arm back and ready to spring forward. Then, she paused to study the target and to ensure that her body felt just right. She then lunged forward and let out a yell as she released the spear. The speed and trajectory were surprisingly fast and flat as the spear sailed. As it found its mark, everyone surged forward to try to examine and compare.

Sounds of astonishment immediately started to be vocalized among the spectators.

Marina’s shot had been every bit as good as Davan’s.

Her boys and the girls from the Eden team jumped up and down as they yelled. The rest of the spectators chimed in with equal praise. Moey walked over, gave his wife a hug, and looked at her admiringly while shaking his head in disbelief. Then, others, including the soldiers, rushed in to take their turn. The fun continued for a while, until a bell rang loudly to get everyone’s attention. When Moey had the attention of most of the guests, he started to speak loudly.