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running there and starting to run behind them. The people mostly ignored them now, it had been a long time since they were a novelty aboard. Adrian left them to their exercise and went to change into his kimono. Once he put the black kimono on, he exited and went straight towards one of the free tatamis where one person stood waiting.
    “You are late.” Platoon Leader Sahib Adin, his best friend said.
    “Well, I do have a ship to run.” Adrian smiled. Sahib and Adrian met as orphans being brought into Olympus, back on Earth. And had immediately struck a friendship, afterwards as they became separated, Adrian went to the fleet and Sahib to the military, they fell out of touch. But then when Sowir attacked Nuva, Sahib’s Platoon was one of those sent to the planet to help with the defense. Afterward, they reconnected as Sahib’s Platoon was assigned to the Leviathan. It only took a couple of minutes in each other’s presence for their friendship to resurface. And since then they made sure to see each other at least once every few days, even though they were both very busy.
    “Excuses, excuses.” Sahib said grinning. Seeing that grin Adrian couldn’t help himself and he started grinning in return. The same grin once helped a terrified boy on an Olympus transport keep his fear in check.
    “Well, I’m here now, so are we doing this or are you giving up already?” Adrian asked.
    Sahib snickered, “No chance in hell, I’m taking you down this time.” Both Sahib and Adrian started studying Ninjutsu as children on Earth. And both have become masters, although Adrian held a higher rank. Sahib didn’t have much chance to train with a master when he joined the military, but had continued training by himself, going to classes when he could.
    “Not in a million years. Your technique is nowhere near good enough.” Adrian said as he moved to the center of the tatami. He took a relaxed stance and waited for Sahib to do the same. They were both dressed in the same black kimonos. When Sahib stood across from Adrian they both bowed and started moving. They moved parallel to one another. Each step Adrian took Sahib followed by one of his own, while each step was slowly bringing them closer. Soon they were separated by only two meters and Sahib threw himself at Adrian, just as Adrian knew he would, he could read the move in his opponent’s body. Sahib chose to open with a left straight to Adrian’s face. A straightforward attack, that carried additional weight because of Sahib’s superior speed and strength. Any other person would have been surprised and probably knocked out with that one punch. But Adrian wasn’t any other person. His reflexes were much faster than those of an average person, and even before Sahib started closing the distance Adrian moved his feet. Just a bit to the side, but enough to evade the attack. As Sahib’s fist drew closer, Adrian switched his center of balance to his right leg twisting his upper body and bringing his own left hand up towards his face and with a light openhanded touch, moved Sahib’s fist just a few centimeters of its trajectory. The attacked went past Adrian’s head and he moved his legs, moving behind Sahib as he went pass. Immediately after missing, Sahib halted his body and used expert foot work to change direction, his left hand bent at the elbow and it was now moving back, straight towards Adrian’s chest. But Adrian already anticipated the move and easily blocked, with a downward block using his right forearm. As Sahib’s elbow attack moved down, he continued the attack with his other hand, sending another straight attack towards Adrian’s head, using his body to hide the attack until the last possible moment. But to a master such as Adrian, the attack was as obvious as the light in the dark from the way Sahib’s body was positioned, and with his forearm still on Sahibs left elbow he could feel the attack coming. Again he moved back a step, giving himself space to