19 - You'll never believe what they have in the Vending Machines

“You’ll never believe what they have in the vending machines. We found – ” Kyle’s two friends stop. They have just returned and see him hovering over a big bruiser and a crowd giving them a wide girth.

“What happened?” The one named Brent asks.

“I swear, we can’t take you anywhere. Always getting into a fight,” the one named René jokes. I wonder if he’s always so flippant.

“That big guy just came up out of nowhere and tried to choke the little guy, but he went all Bruce Lee on his tail and put him down but good.”

“I’ll bet the little guy was asking for it. No one just attacks another person without a reason. Probably stole from him, or cheated him, or made a pass at his wife or something.”

“I can assure you, the little guy did not cheat or steal from anyone,” Brent says.

“Although I WOULD be surprised if he didn’t do something to provoke this attack,” René adds. “He has a track record of ticking off the wrong guys.”

I disappear into another car to plan my next test.

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18 - Scream!

The look on Derek’s face tells me he is even more surprised than I am. Derek put the weight of his entire body behind that punch, and Kyle blocked it like it was a love tap. He didn’t even flinch. What a psychological blow! And the cracking sound from Derek’s fist tells me the damage isn’t limited to his ego. Shock should compensate for the rest of the fight, which shouldn't be long.

I still can’t figure how he was able to take the force of that blow. Derek must have nearly a hundred pounds on him. That punch should have sent him flying thru the door. There is definitely more to him than I ever suspected. I’m glad I decided on these tests.

I see the Wandering Koala clench his fist crushing the bones in Derek’s hand even more – he may never use it again. He is able to somehow force Derek down to his knees before delivering two swift kicks to the stomach that end this fight. Someone had better find a body fluid kit.

My photographic memory captured every moment of the skirmish, but I wonder if I shouldn’t have supplemented it with a mechanical recording. Kyle is so much more than I ever suspected. The strength, the agility, the strategy – it’s almost beyond belief. I saw it with my own eyes, and I can still hardly believe it. I’d better hold off on the next test until I’ve had sufficient time to study this one. There was more to learn than expected.

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17 - Fight!

He walks down the isle flexing his rippling muscles and bulging veins beneath leathered skin. A bit clichéd for my taste, but theatrics never hurts in a fight. They often provide the psychological advantage to turn defeat into victory.

The Wandering Koala remains planted at the end of the aisle, his hands both hanging at his side. He gives no indication of his next move. Risky, but clever. And a great improvement from the last time I faced him. Back then he broadcast every move long before he made it making it easy to prepare a counterattack. But he appears to be much quicker and more lithe now. He can afford to take the gamble. And it forces his opponent to react to his lead.

Derek stops inches away from his foe in a forward stance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kyle can feel his breathe. They stare into each other’s eyes. Are they waiting for the other to make the first move? No, Derek cocks his arm back slowly, deliberately announcing his next move.

Kyle doesn’t twitch an eyebrow.

Derek steps into the punch throwing the entire weight of his body behind it.

Kyle’s hand stops the punch two inches from his face. The whole car can fell the smack, but there isn’t even a hint of pain in his eyes.

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16 - Catch Me If You Can

The Wandering Koala slithers out from underneath his 240+ pound attacker and is on his feet in one motion. He gestures ‘come on’.

Derek holds his side as he rises to his feet. He wipes his mouth. “You got lucky. It won’t happen again.” He pounds his fist into the opposite hand repeatedly. He feints a strike then sends his other fist barreling thru the air. Kyle’s body moves to the side. Derek stops the punch in mid air and reverses it into a backhand strike. Kyle drops to the ground. The fist brushes over the tips of his hairs before smashing the back off an empty seat.

The onlooking passengers scurry over each other to the back screaming both out of fear and out of amusement.

The Wandering Koala springs into the air and leapfrogs over Derek’s head. Derek reaches up to grab him but is launched several feet forward by a sidekick in his back. He reaches out to catch himself but is thrown farther than he thought and sprawls forward onto his belly. The humiliation must be killing him.

Derek picks himself up, turns around rubbing his chin, and grins. “I’m surprised such a little guy packs so much wallop in his kicks. Maybe my employer didn’t overpay.”

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15 - To Choke a Sleeping Man

Derek is first. His 6’ 2” height, 57” chest, and 22” biceps command the attention of everyone in the room the moment he enters. Even the passengers glued to their phones look up as he passes by. I wonder if Kyle will sense him approaching or if Derek will get the drop on him. That would be useful information.

Derek reaches his row but still no response from Kyle. He slowly reaches across the two empty seats towards Kyle’s head leaning against the window. Several of the other passengers are now watching, curious what he’s doing.

Derek’s hands are inches from Kyle’s neck when Kyle’s left arm shoots up blocking Derek’s right hand. Kyle’s eyes snap open. Derek grabs his wrist and twists it down reaching for his neck with his left hand, but Kyle’s left arm is in the way. Derek grabs the other wrist and lifts Kyle in the air scraping his back across the ceiling. He arches him over and slams his body into the floor with a thud that echoes thru the entire car. Derek drops, planting his knee into Kyle’s chest and pinning his arms down above his head. A wicked smile crosses his face. “You’re not so tough. I think my employer overpaid.” The smile turns to a gasp as Kyle’s leg wraps itself around Derek’s neck and throws him against a row of seats. An armrest plunges into his side causing his eyes to bulge.

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13 - Thinking on the Past

How fortunate for his friend that he chose to leave when he did. When I saw him begin blogging on his palmtop, I thought he would be there for hours. That would have been most unpleasant. For him.

Kyle’s alone, slumped against the window sleeping. He looks so calm, so peaceful, so completely opposite of the angry, scared, and lost young man I knew at master’s dojo. And yet I swear he hasn’t aged a day. There is more to him than meets the eye. I never would have believed it back then. Pride was my downfall. It was a painful lesson, but one I needed to learn.

I mentioned the incident once to a master I had been hired to silence. He was incredibly skilled, and for a time I wasn’t sure I would come of victor. When I finally did overpower him he made one last request of me: he wanted to know what had forged me into such a perfect and undefeatable weapon. He was worthy of an answer. He told me I should be grateful for the lesson. It had corrected a serious character flaw that would have prevented me from becoming the unrivaled master of death that I had.

I could see his point, but the humiliation of losing to … him – he wasn’t even a top student and had lost to several lesser fighters – haunted me in my dreams every night. It still does. It must be avenged. I must be avenged.

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12 - Fast Asleep

I’m hoping this ride will be less eventful than our first one, but I’ve been traveling with Kyle long enough to know better. Some might say he attracts trouble, but it’s actually the other way around. He has this compass that points to wherever he is needed. I’m still not sure how it works. René claims it’s magic, but I know better. There’s no such thing as magic. Everything has a perfectly rational, scientific explanation. We just haven’t discovered them all yet.

I look over and see Kyle is sound asleep. Looks like that compass hasn’t pointed to trouble yet. Good. Maybe I can get some rest. It’s been a crazy past couple of days.

René is still on a quest for some new and unusual snack food he’s never tried. I wonder what’s keeping him. Maybe he ran into girl and is trying to talk her into accepting his friend request.

Normally I’d describe him as a roustabout or goof off, but when something is important to him, I’ve never seen anyone more focused or more determined. Fortunately he occasionally deigns to find our current mission important, like our most recent affair in Califia. I hate to admit it, but I don’t think we would have been about to save so many lives if not for his expertise. If only he’d put even a fraction of that energy into something really important instead of the quest for a new kind of donut. But a snack actually sounds really good right now. Maybe I’ll go find him.

* * * * *

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11 - Across the Desert

We’ve just passed Lost Wages on the second maiden run of the Jupiter, the first transcontinental bullet train. I know what you’re thinking: second maiden run? It’s a long story. Maybe some day I’ll go back and recount all of our adventures since meeting Kyle, and there have been a lot of them in the short time since he showed up at my doorstep. I’m still not sure why I let him in. I’ve always been weary of strangers, especially at night. But there was something about him, and I’m not the only one who says that – I hear it from almost everyone we help. He just has a way about him. Which is good, because he can’t speak, so he’d be pretty easy to ignore otherwise. I once asked him if he was born mute. He grew quiet and distant, so I don’t think he was. I think something happened later in life, something he won’t talk about.

We just made a brief stop in Lost Wages to pick up passengers and are once again on our way. The train is full. I wonder how long they will have sold out trips. The convenience of traveling across the country at the speed of a jet but without any of the security nuisance is worth the premium they charge. I wonder how long it’ll be before some government agency creates a slew of new regulations because they must control everything. They’re probably already plotting how to install eyes and ears into every car. Better enjoy the brief moment of privacy while we can.

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10 - Transcontinental Bullet Train

Chapter II - Transcontinental Bullet Train

After our experience in Califia, I’ve decided to keep a journal of our adventures. I’ve always believed the old saying ‘Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it’, but now I am more convinced of it than ever. Without thorough documentation, we would have never been able to distribute the serum and cure millions of lives across the state. Who would have ever guessed I’d learn such an important lesson from René?

I thought about using a blog so others could read and benefit from our experiences, but then I thought back to one of the last things I said to our new friends: ‘The fewer people who know who we are, the easier our job is’. Right now anonymity is our ally, but that may not always be true, so I’ve created a private blog that can be read by invitation only. That way we remain under the radar, but it would be a simple matter to make it public. I guess I ought to clarify who we are.

My name is Brent Jakes. I was an accountant who discovered the Unified Field Theory, published it, and then was immediately ostracized by the scientific community. I still don’t know why. Now I work for Kyle who is also known as the Wandering Koala. He travels from place to place helping those who are at end of their rope. And then there’s René. Yeaaaah. Let’s just say there’s René.

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