SImp

Grass is grass and trees are trees, no matter if they are prehistoric or not. Serina lead me out at a trot into the middle of a field of grass surrounded by tall trees all in full summer foliage. The stars twinkled in the sky. The grass was short cropped so it must be used a pasture. As I was in full light armor, the darkness looked to me as if we were in full daylight except the colors seemed to be washed out. I had to overcome my tendency to overexert myself so that I did not bounce across the landscape as if on a trampoline. This armor was something else. Whatever I did, the suit did only more so. If I had not had to adjust myself to a one-gee environment after almost living my life in a three-gee world for so long, I doubt that I would have made such a good showing. Indeed as I looked over to where Serina was waiting for me, I saw from the glimmer of humor in her eyes that she really had expected me to fail spectacularly.

The design of the suit is such that regular exertion caused a supernormal response. The trick to moving as one would expect was to act like you were on a moon and every movement had to be kept under tight control to keep from leaping high in the air with each step. I could see in Serinia's expression that strange combination of pride in her mate and at the same time that impish grin of wanting to pull a fast one.

I wanted to really try the suit out and at the same time do a bit of a show-off stunt. I leaned forward as if I was about to fall over and then dug in and started to really travel. Zero to one hundred KPH in three seconds, and then the trees were coming up fast. I turned my next step into a leap that took me up over the tall trees—then in mid-air, I overrode the flight system and doubled back under powered flight mode to drift down to a light landing right in front of Serina. I tried to kiss her, but our helmets caused a jolting head bump collision instead.

Serina started to laugh, "Ok, so Bit sent you the manual as well. I should know better." Then she turned off her helmet. I did the same. And… (Well, what did you expect we are newly wedded after all…)

Seeing that I did not need much in training for the basics, Serina led me in a bit of Fox and the Hound chasing. And we ran rampant over the countryside. Thankfully there was still a lot of farmland in the area compared to later. Actually, as I thought about it, this area was probably sea bottom in my time. Given the climate change and then those vast quakes from that rogue planet's flyby back in '24 that shifted land masses all over the globe. Back? Forward? Just thinking about it made my head swim, for now, the best self-defense was to just accept each day as it happened.

I had no idea where we were, I'm not sure if Serina knew herself when she stopped in mid-leap. I quickly caught up to her, but before I could say a word, she held up her hand in the universal hold it, stop right there and 'shut-up,' hand signal that even a freshman husband understood.

I started to check my sensors myself when she took off like a startled deer. We had been in full stealth mode, and she maintained that as she came upon a half dozen motorcycles parked off the side of a gravel road. Now I could hear for myself the sounds of a woman in ultimate distress, crying and protesting at the same time.

She was almost naked in a circle of big brutish hairy men all dressed in black leather, their jackets hung with chains used as decoration. They were laughing, and I could see that they all were sipping from brown bottles while they played cat and mouse with a beautifully formed, and very young, blonde haired girl. Every time the girl staggered from being shoved into the reach of one of these creatures (I could not call them men) they would grab her in an indecent way that terrified her—ripping at her clothing. Obscenely caressing her before shoving her to the next guy and it rapidly became apparent from her response and attempts to hide herself with her arms, that she was a virgin.

Serina dropped her stealth and accelerated into a grey blur so fast that she appeared to solidify from nothing into a solid presence that was suddenly in the middle of this circle holding the girl in the protection of her arms. To be honest, I am not sure if the girl was more in fear of this dark-grey creature wearing a hazy faintly glowing head or the brutes that surrounded her. [catch], Serina said as she tossed the girl over their heads towards me. I phased out of stealth myself just as I softly caught her. "Don't worry," I quietly told her, "we are friends." At which point her outraged senses gave up the challenge, and she fainted.

In the meantime, Serina was about as mad as I had ever seen her and the battle was over with almost before I knew that it had started. Men were still falling out of the air after she had hit them like a whirling dervish.

Then all there was, was dust settling to the ground while men were still bouncing from landing so hard. "I thought we were going to be stealthy," I said.

"Not in this situation!" Serina stated as she carefully picked-up the young girl from my arms. "I'll check her over to see if she needs medical attention. I can see some clothes over by that tree, I know she will feel better dressed when she wakes up."

Yes, there was a pile of clothing there, but also two more girls, one on top of the other. Neither was wearing much, if anything. What I did see was blood dripping on to the ground. Thankfully it was still dripping so they might be alive. "Serina!" I yelled. "I need you now!"

Serina had no more than gasped at what she saw when we heard a roar of motorcycle engines. Two dozen, at least, all bearing massive and brutish men in the by now typical black leather uniform. And two more girls dressed in mid-thigh shorts and colorful blouses riding behind the two leaders.

"Serina, you take care of the girls," I said. "They are likely to be scared even more if I help them."

"I have them," Serina said. Then pointing to the new arrivals, she said in her command officer trained voice, "Take them out!"

I went into stealth mode and walked into their midst. Some of the men and the two girls had dismounted. They were all talking at once looking at their fallen comrades. I am not sure what language they were talking. It had some relationship to Imperium but severely damaged.

In one on many battles, it helps if your opponents are so frighted that they can't think straight. Slowly I phased into visibility—a dark-gray forbidding menace radiating an aura of foreboding that I had no idea that I was capable of generating. I was standing still, arms crossed. Dark, forbidding, a menacing statue promising pain. In my mind, I was thinking 'The Dark Knight….'

As they became aware of me, they started to pull back. Until the leader roared off on his motorcycle in a large fast loop and came right at me, his bike his weapon. I hunkered down and dug my feet into the soil. He hit me full on at better than 100 Kph. Roaring thunder out of his tailpipes. On impact, I triggered my back jets to help overcome his inertia. It was like hitting a flaming wall of steel. His bike just stopped while he somersaulted right over my head.

Picking his Harley up off the ground I held it in both hands and folded it in two. Did that stop these knuckleheads? Nope, they all had to prove that they were built of testosterone and not much else. Two of them tried their leaders trick only with baseball bats as if they were lances. The result was two more airborne riders, and I stomped those two motorcycles into a pancake. In fact, they splashed when I stomped as I kicked my foot jets on which melted those bikes like butter.

Chains and baseball bats appeared to be their weapons of choice, and I stood there and let them pound on me until it was evident to the stupidest one there that they could have been swinging pillows for as much harm it did me. Now it was time to rub their noses in it. It took moments only to lay them flat. Then one at a time I shook them until they woke up. Then holding them by the nape of the neck I went over to where all five girls were huddled next to Serina. Serina looked like some ancient goddess standing there dark and foreboding. Pointing to the girls, I said" No, bad, bad, man." while I shook them like a terrier will shake a rat. About the same as a puppy, you have to make sure that they know why you are mad at them.

Next, I took them back to their bikes laying here and there and asked them to point out their bike, they seemed to understand me much better than I understood them. Then dropping them, I proceeded to fold spindle and mutilate their bike with my hands in front of their eyes. Their eyes told me of their hate, but one step towards them and I saw the deep fear come rushing to the surface.

Serina had patched up the girl's bodies, but their souls were still damaged. After I had processed every last biker, Serina brought them over to where the bikers and their bikes lay smoldering. (Yes, smoldering is a good description if you looked into their eyes and indeed some of the bikes were literally still smoldering.) I started my speech, "Guys you touch another woman like this and I promise you that you will never be able to have children. Because I'll rip those things that you are thinking with right off of you. Do you understand me? Now stand up!"

There was lots of grumbling, but all I had to do was take a step in their direction, and they stood up rapidly—pain or not. Empty your pockets and then strip. Yeah, you heard me strip!" Then after they had all complied, I said, "Now down on your knees. Ladies, they are at your mercy do what you want to them." As a man, I cringed as they kicked them all—right where it hurt the most, again and again. But looking at the blood still dripping down two of the girl's legs I suspect that they only got a taste of what they had dished out.

We picked and chose some clothing that was adequate to cover the three girls who had had the misfortune to be the first victims. The wallets had lots of cash in them, and we plundered all of it. Last but not least We tossed everything into a pile; bikes, clothing,—everything. Then jumping up and coming down in a controlled decent, flames flooding down from our hands and feet, both of us balanced over the collection and burned and melted the whole thing until it just an unrecognizable slag heap.

Then heads held high the five girls accompanied us as we walked out of the clearing and started down the road.