So much for the relaxing evening Mac had planned. “Isn’t that the warehouse where Safety Ed took us for our first class?” he queried Natalia about the loudspeaker announcement.

  “I get that feeling. We might as well start walking,” Natalia suggested as she left the table.

  “Hi, we go use suits?” Grist asked from behind Mac outside the cafeteria, startling him. He hadn’t heard the big guy walk up.

  “Where did you come from?” Mac asked the stealthy troll as he turned around and patted his heart.

  “Grist come from eat place,” the troll responded with a grin. “So, suits?” he returned to his original question.

  Mac remembered the shock leader’s words after the last event. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

  “I’ve got a feeling it’s taken this long just to fix them since last time,” Natalia responded.

  “Grist have fun once more,” the troll smiled. “Suits give strength.”

  “More like pain,” Natalia shuddered involuntarily as the specter of her last experience arose in her mind.

  “That’s right,” Mac remembered. “The haptics.”

  “The haptics,” Natalia repeated scornfully with an involuntary twitch.

  “Grist swing tree,” the troll stated happily.

  “Yep, but you didn’t hit anything,” Mac reminded the troll.

  “They not hit Grist,” the troll pointed out in counter. “Tree work as shield, too.”

  “Seriously, what troll uses a shield?” Mac replied.

  “This troll,” Grist replied confidently as he pounded his chest. “No get hurt, keep suit nice.”

  “He’s got a point,” Natalia confirmed the assessment. “He was the only one who brought their suit back in one piece.”

  “But didn’t the shock leader say that the whole reasoning of the design behind Grist’s suit was to lose pieces,” Mac countered. “Grist, did you miss the logic behind that?”

  “Grist not use think much,” the troll asserted with an air of superiority. “Grist smash.”

  “About that…” Mac started to contradict the troll with a reminder of reality but wisely decided against it.

  “We’re here,” Natalia announced as they arrived at the warehouse with the “3” painted on the door.

  Safety Ed was waiting for them inside. “Would you mind waiting to change into your suits until the others arrive,” he asked. “It would help if you could show them around the locker rooms and get them back… on time.”

  “I knew it,” Mac stated. “We’re getting back in the suits… And I’ll get to see Amethyst again.”

  “Who?” Natalia asked rather suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.

  “Amethyst, the red-haired mechanic… with the angelic voice,” Mac smiled as he remembered.

  “You actually like that accent of hers?” Safety Ed challenged. “I can barely understand her half the time.”

  “That’s because she’s giving you instructions the other half, which you never listen to anyways,” Tiera Sardonyx contended as she stepped into the room. She had her long, dark hair tied up neatly in a bun, and her black pilot suit revealed her naturally curvaceous if a bit diminutive figure.

  “Why if it isn’t my overly organized assistant,” Safety Ed greeted her quite cognizant of Grist’s presence.

  “My house,” the trollip asserted. “My way.” She took a moment to take in the four people present “Where are the others?”

  “They still have a few minutes,” Safety Ed replied. “A… guide is leading them over.”

  “What’s so important I had to wolf down my meal,” Joe Campbell questioned immediately after setting foot inside the large spacious room at the head of the others from the training class. Mac absently wondered how hard Grist would have to hit the genetically blessed freak to ruin his chisel-shaped jaw.

  “Welcome to my class, too,” the shock leader responded somewhat perturbed.

  “You’re an instructor? This is just too good,” Joe sounded incredulous. He had just flattened her several times with a pugil stick several hours before. A grin split his face and he nearly laughed.

  “Yes, and you should have a better sense of who you’re dealing with,” Miss Sardonyx answered him directly before speaking to Natalia and Mac. “Natalia, would you please familiarize the ladies with the locker room. Mac, please do the same for the gentlemen. There’s another door beside the first. Just hold them open till everyone is in. Get them situated and into their suits, if you don’t mind.”

  “Will do,” they both replied in unison before knocking on the panels and opening the inter-dimensional locker rooms. At least with this many people they would get a chance to sleep as they took turns in the battle suits. It was a comforting thought Mac cherished in his heart for a moment as the men streamed past him.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Mac followed the gentlemen into the pristine, white-tiled locker room and then addressed them in the main hallway’s prime intersection after letting the door to the main room close behind him, “Please remember to use this door to leave once you’ve gotten changed.”

  “Why?” Joe questioned.

  “Because… Reasons,” Mac rebutted strongly. “Just put your ego aside for five minutes, will you.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Joe retorted.

  “Because it will mess with time-space and potentially create a paradox that will kill you,” Mac answered mostly truthfully even if he did sound a touch… okay a lot, sarcastic.

  “I’m sorry I asked,” Joe sighed with an exaggerated eye roll. “If you didn’t know, you could have just said so.”

  Mac resisted the urge to argue and addressed the group, “You’ll find your pilot suits in the lockers the next row over. Your name will be at the top, and the lock is coded to your DNA. Or at least it should be. One last thing, if you run into yourself, try not to say much. At least that’s what Mr. Jenkins told me.”

  “Thanks, Mac,” John nodded graciously before going around to the other side of the lockers.

  Mac went around the opposite direction and quickly found his locker. The white pilot suit was neatly pressed and hanging inside. A white helmet with a yellow face plate was sitting on the shelf above it. Mac cautiously sniffed both and was pleased to find the scent of vomit was gone. They must have a really good laundry team, unlike his last employer. Back then, it had seemed like they had never actually gotten rid of the smell, only switched it for another equally appalling one. Or maybe they had just mixed up his uniform at the service center.

  “You want Grist smash Joe?” the troll offered politely from beside Mac as Grist put on his own blue suit.

  “No, he’s just an egotistical idiot,” Mac replied as he took off his shirt. “Besides, you would probably miss.”

  “It not that Grist want to miss,” the troll sounded a touch frustrated. “Grist try so hard to hit.”

  “I know,” Mac replied sympathetically. “But you did hit me that one time. Remember? You sent me a couple feet across the gravel.”

  “Luck shot,” the troll sounded almost depressed.

  “You’ll figure it out.”

  “Grist hope so,” the muscular troll responded with a sigh. “Work hard to get good but not quite reach. Try and try. Never win. Whole life.”

  “It can’t be that bad,” Mac replied encouragingly.

  “It that bad,” Grist replied. “Miss and miss. No keep job, except work in mine. Not pay well. No keep mate.”

  “That’s tough big guy, I’m sure she doesn’t know what a great guy she’s missing,” Mac offered a smile.

  “Mac not know right. Mate dead. Grist no keep safe,” the troll explained. “Try to keep safe, miss and miss. Mate die.”

  “I’m…. I’m sorry,” Mac answered at a loss for words.

  “Grist learn to hit. Keep Janessa safe,” the troll asserted resolutely. “You help…” Grist looked Mac in the eyes confidently but almost pleadingly, “I will learn.”

  Mac held the troll’s stare and nodded, “We’ll figure something out, Grist. It might take some doing, but we’ll find something.”

  That wasn’t good. Mac had been kind of relying on the troll to watch out for him. If Grist couldn’t even protect his own mate, then Mac would be screwed if they got in a scrape. He’d have to rely on the vampire if he went down… Then he had just better not go down, Mac reasoned quite logically.

  Mac was somewhat surprised to see the other employees all in company-grey suits and helmets devoid of almost any markings beside their names over their hearts and the HeHeHe symbol on their right shoulders. All but Joe and John looked like the suits were hanging off them. That’s right, Mac remembered before stating, “There should be a button on your left cuff. Press that once.”

  The suits quickly conformed to the wearers and the slack disappeared even on the scrawny elves whose thinness now looked almost painful… well except for that one elf in the back who looked like he might have been enjoying the buffet a bit much. Who could blame him? The food here was awesome.

  “Is everyone good?” Mac asked, feeling a bit like a tour guide before he waved for everyone to follow him back out into the room. The several females came out at roughly the same time. That red suit did look good on Natalia and made her stand out from the other drab grey suited females. It almost surprised him to realize there were some cute young ladies in the class, probably all too young to even give him a passing glance, but the possibility of a relationship existed… right?

  Why hadn’t he met any of them yet at dinner? That’s right. The female vampire he hung out with. Natalia must be too intimidating… either that, or he was just that undesirable. He was in his late twenties and had a good build, so it couldn’t be that, could it? Probably just the vampire. He’d need to find a way to ditch her at some point to at least say hello.

  “Hello,” Natalia, intruded on his thoughts as she took up a hand on hip stance beside him and put the other arm around his shoulder.

  “Hi,” Mac responded with a fake smile as he glanced at the offending hand hanging off his shoulder. “Don’t you think it’s a little early to be leaning on me?”

  “Sorry Mac, it just feels natural when I’m wearing this suit,” Natalia replied. She didn’t move her arm.

  “I think I was supposed to remind you about haptics,” Mac tried to be friendly, “…and I didn’t think you were that tall.”

  “The platform heels in the boots of this suit give me nearly seven inches,” Natalia confided in a near whisper. I feel like I’m walking in stilts. I mean, they just roll so differently from the spike heels I’m used to. I nearly sprained an ankle just walking out of the locker room.”

  “They weren’t that high before?” Mac asked.

  “No, someone must have tailored the suit without being asked.”

  “It does give you a… certain pose,” Mac tried to be positive.

  “You noticed?” the vampire asked carefully.

  “I…” Mac paused himself. Better tread carefully here. “Who wouldn’t? I’m sure you are quite beautiful.”

  Natalia narrowed her eyes, “I’m sorry, what?”

  Now he had stepped in it. Better start digging… preferably not any deeper. “Anyone would find you quite striking.”

  “But not you…” the hand now on his shoulder tightened ever so slightly as she peered directly into his eyes.

  Mac’s smile widened as he fought down a terrified scream and looked straight up to avoid her hypnotic eyes. It would be so easy for her to snap his neck. And who would blame her? The right answer had to be out there… somewhere. He wondered what it was.

  “I… I…. I…” Mac stumbled fearfully.

  “Miss Pardova,” Safety Ed saved Mac from almost certain self-immolation, “Would you please lead the other eight ladies down to the hangar through the control room.”

  The vampire gave Mac a final questioning look that may or may not have been hostile before removing her hand and walking very carefully toward the door to the room with the old forklift. She stumbled ever so slightly just before reaching the door when she waved for the others to follow, but almost imperceptibly caught herself on the frame of said door.

  “You, eight,” Safety Ed put a fist to his forehead and closed his eyes as he motioned with his other hand to two elves and five humans including Joe, John, and the scruffy looking elf who had sat beside him that first day. “All of you, follow Mac. He’s wearing the white suit. Mac, take them down to the control room, after Miss Pardova’s group.”

  “Will do,” Mac replied. So, it looked like it was going to be ladies first.

  “Grist, you lead the rest to the debriefing room,” Safety Ed added.

  “Grist lead,” the troll instructed the wide-eyed others he towered over with a raised clenched fist.