Page 33 of Viral Justice

He tried to stay out of reach, tried to defend himself, but she moved with speed and confidence.

Near the end of their sparring session she began to see the expressions of the soldiers watching them, clandestinely or she would have called them on it, shift into extreme respect for her and sympathy for him.

It wasn’t the rumor she’d wanted, but it might do. For now.

One man cleared his throat after Max was pinned to the mat by a move she was sure he hadn’t even seen coming.

“Excuse me, Sergeant,” the soldier said with respect. “Could I ask which martial art you just demonstrated to the colonel? I’ve never seen that takedown before.”

“Krav Maga,” she responded.

The soldier’s eyes widened. “Any chance I could sign up for lessons?”

“At the moment my plate is full.” She glanced at Max, whose expression could only be described as patient. “But if things change,” she continued, “I’ll post a sign-up sheet near the gym doors.”

“Thanks, Sergeant,” the soldier said to her, then he nodded at Max and went back to his own sparring partner.

Stone glanced at her watch. “That’s enough for now, Colonel.”

“Thank you, Sergeant.” He walked out of the training area as if they’d just had a cordial meeting rather than her tossing him around.

How did he do it, maintain his calm demeanor? He wasn’t emotionless or cold, just inhumanly composed.

She quickly washed up, changed into a clean uniform, and went to his office.

They needed to have a little chat.

She knocked on his door.

“Come,” he said.

Ali walked in. He was buttoning his uniform shirt. She raised an eyebrow at his not quite dressed state and closed the door.

“Quite a performance,” he said to her. “Have you had to do that before?”

If she hadn’t been intrigued by his behavior before, that question alone would have sparked her interest. Instead of calling her on her shitty attitude, disciplining her for her lack of respect or getting plain mad because she wasn’t entirely cooperating with him in the way he wanted, he showed concern and curiosity.

What would it take to make him lose it?

She looked at him. “Unfortunately, several times. The guy who asked for lessons is just about the best-case scenario I can expect. It means no one else is going to test me.” She tilted her head to one side, studying him.

He caught her expression. “What?”

“You’re calm. After a very difficult training session, you look like you’ve done nothing more strenuous than going for a stroll.”

“Officers are supposed to retain their ability to think and divorce themselves from strong emotion during an attack. It’s the only way to ensure your decisions are the right ones. Anyone who allows emotion to cloud their thinking or dictate their actions is a dangerous liability.”

“Yeah, but officers are human beings too. I just realized I’ve never seen you angry. The way you reacted to that asshole I tossed around was the closest thing to anger I’ve ever seen from you, but you weren’t really angry, more...annoyed.”

“He forgot who I was.” Max shrugged. “I reminded him.”

She nodded and pressed her lips together. “What would make you angry?”

“You want to motivate me to fight with emotion?”

At least he didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Yes.”

“Not going to happen.”

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