Solomon's Private File #309
These stories about Stephen and Solomon take place starting in
1950's. Stephen wrote about his life in letters to a penpal, and then
in a secure blog, in case he lost his memory again, in the master
computer in his school for gifted students, which he started attending
in 2016 in a new incarnation, until his death. Now his son Solomon is
attending the same school, and is writing in his own secure blog for
his future incarnations.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
Solomon is 29 in this story, in the Winter of 2055-2056.
Solomon's Private File #309 "Attacking Yoda"
START Page
I said to Rama, in his office at West Point, "Solomon is going to be
taking over your training soon. You have some feelings about him that
are stronger than average." He said, "I think I might. More than Stan
does, at least. You think it could interfere with my training. I have
to agree. It must not. I will have to adjust myself to correct it?" I
said, "It's that easy?" He said, "In words. In action, I don't know." I
said, "If he appeared as Yoda?" He grinned, and said, "I think that
could help. I will use that in imagination as a tactic, if I need to."
I said, "Careful with that light saber." Chuckles.
We ported to the gym at the Academy. Stan, Maria, and the Iron Lady
were already there. She and I were dressed in Gis, with Senior silver
belts. We all bowed to each other. I said, "Now that we've started
did. After that, I said, "Two with helmets and shinais are interesting.
and all that as needed for that, appeared. I had the mic. They got
ready and entered the fighting area. I started them. It didn't happen
like it had before. None got hit. They all avoided or blocked each
others' strikes. I said, "Stop." I vanished the setup, and said in the
air, "Crystals?"
My illusion of Yoda appeared, and waked over to me, and handed me a
crystal. I said, "You really have to do this?" He said, "To me, a
challenge?" I said, "No, just a question." He grabbed his light saber,
and turned it on, and said, "A challenge it is!" Then the light rod
drooped like a deflating penis, and then went out. He shook it, and
only a little spurt happened, and with that sound. He said in a New
Jersey accent. "Shit! Cheap batteries. See ya later, bub." He vanished.
They laughed hard. Then Rama nodded his grin at me. They reviewed the
crystal, with wows. I said, "With your circulating Ki, you are the
master of YOU. You move as you will, and nothing will succeed in
attacking you against your will. I will do that to you, and you will,
well, we'll see." I asked them to separate, and then whacked them with
a staff, to no effect. Then I tried to move them. Didn't work. I said,
"As I expected. Well done!" Grins. I said with my own grin, "For just
standing there." Their grins stopped.
I said, "We have a guest instructor here. Do you think you would like
to see us fight?" They REALLY did. They moved against the wall, and the
Iron Lady and I fought all over the gym, including up the walls at
times, and actually hitting each other. We used different styles and
techniques. Spectacular ones. After fifteen minutes, we stopped.
Neither of us were breathing hard. The students were just staring at
us. I said to my partner, "So boring, we put them to sleep?" She said,
More wows from the other two. I said, "We've been Seniors for a while.
You be as long, and keep in shape, you might equal that, and more.
While we can still practice with you at times, this is far as we should
go with you in the mastery of Ki. Yes, we could continue to teach you,
and eventually you could reach our level, but an Adept Senior can do it
more efficiently and thoroughly." Solomon appeared, and we bowed to
him, and the Iron Lady and I vanished.
In her school office, I said, "Stan is almost sure of my deception."
She said, "I saw. Rama is maybe too much in awe of you." I said, "We
discussed it. Yoda was mentioned." She grinned, and said, "Master
Psychologist!" I said, "I try. You did more than that in the fight.
Great, actually." She said, "Thanks. Sparring with Rose helped me with
that. A lot of fun!" I said, "Worth the hard work." She said, "But not
during the work." I said, "Eh, it's work." We hugged.
cleared my throat, and said normally, "Ki or Chi is life force. Er, no
matter what accent one uses to talk about it. Agreen with me so far?"
Grins and chuckles. I said, "Psionic Adepts can see it, and so can use
it effectively in a lot of different ways. You can't, and you can't,
but you've been doing it. It's a little awkward learning to use what
you can't see, and can only control with your imagination, and just
hope you're getting it right. That's alright at your current level, but
that won't work well in further advancement. What you need is feedback
you can perceive, so you can fine tune what you do, for greater
control. That's what an Adept can help you with. Any of them, actually.
So, want to choose another, or will you accept my help in this?" With
grins, they chose me. Rama said, "Face to face is better. Yoda was a
little short." I said, obviously trying to hide a smile, "Am I going to
regret that?" Nods. I sighed, and they chuckled.
A round bottom rocking punching bag appeared, that looked like a fat
Yoda. I stood five meters from it, and did a palm thrust in the air,
and the bag bounced backwards. It said, "Ouch!" I said, "Next?" They
did it, one after the other, after a few tries. The bag's complaint was
louder, when it was hit with more force. Then I hit with a lot of
force, and it went skidding against the wall, and said, "Killing me you
are! Home, I want to go to!" Chuckles. I said to them, "Feeling a
little tired and edgy?" They nodded. I said, "When you throw away the
energy that enables life, you have a little less life. But this energy
is all around us. And in the ground, too. Stand apart, and imagine that
energy flowing from the floor, from deep in the ground, into your body,
and circulating in it. I can see it entering you." Stan said, "I can
actually feel it." I said, "Well, you're supposed to." Rama grinned.
Maria tried not to.
I said, after porting the bag back into place, "Please expend that
energy." They knew what to do, and did it. I said, "This energy
accumulates in space strain lines, and where they cross, called Ley
lines and nodes. I have created some nodes of this energy up and around
the gym. You are to detect and use them. Oops, my people didn't know I
could do that, and oh boy are they noisy in my head about it. Well,
they can see them, and can't figure out why they aren't dissipating.
Tough." There was a growl in the air. I said, "That was Hawk."
Chuckles. They moved around, and found their own nodes, and took some
of the energy. I said, "These lines and nodes are all over, but usually
not more than one or two per thousand meters on Earth. Often, even
though the people didn't understand or realize it, many holy sites and
buildings have these nodes there, because they were built on places
that felt holy. But some do drift, and so change position over time.
All living things have this energy, and need it to live. A warning. You
have the ability to take the energy from other people. That can make
them sick, and even die. People who do that, cause a Corps action."
They said they wouldn't do that, very strongly.
Stan said, "Can we light fires with this?" I said, "Do you actually
want to do that often?" He said, "Er, no. I see what you mean. An out
of date ability." I said, "But it can be used in combat. In some
incarnations as an Adept, I died that way. In a few, I won that way.
Most Seniors won't develop enough power to do that strongly enough to
kill with it. Also, it can back, er, fire on you. Throw any kind of
energy at your opponent, he can absorb it. So, you might not want to do
that to another Senior or Adept. Yes, you can absorb attacking energy,
but you have a capacity limit. Exceed that, he wins." Nods. I said,
"You can oppose his energy with your own, but sooner or later, one will
run out. No way to know in advance, who bites the dust then." Nods. I
said, "You know fighting is more than power or technique. Tactics,
strategy, personal attributes, all play a part in creating the
outcome."
I said, "You know how to modulate your energy thrusts. At low power,
attack each other, and defend as you can, all with your energy.
Recharge as necessary. Begin." They did, and it was very entertaining,
but not to them. It was frustrating, but eventually, after about twenty
minutes, they had developed some skill. I said, "Stop. Rama, you have
discovered a useful tactic, that if you were also fighting physically,
would have enabled you to defeat your opponent." Stan said, "Please, I
didn't notice it." Rama grinned, and said, "Yes you did. You tripped
and fell. I caused it." Stan and Maria said, "Oh! Great idea! Attack
the foot!" Stan said, "I wish I didn't have to agree." Chuckles. I
said, "In most situations, this is a useful way to disarm your opponent
without harming more than his intensions." Grins and nods.
I said, "This is all you should do today. Your Ki has become uneven,
due to excessive use. Like a muscle, it responds positively to
exercise, and negatively to overuse as well. Always keep your Ki
circulating, and topped up with as much energy as you can comfortably
hold. That will increase over time. You should still practice your
physical training, with this separately, on alternate days. You will
find that they will help each part to improve. You saw what you can
achieve with this. Useful motivation?" They agreed it really was. I
said, "I know you're wondering what's next. Don't try to get ahead of
this. Death and destruction. I think we'd like to avoid some of that,
except with full intent." Nods. I looked at Stan, and said, "Right. No
fires." Grins. I said, "The Yoda target is in the room catalog. The
energy nodes will only be present when one of you is in the gym. Some
psis might have some strange feelings here if I left them in place. No
need to cause that when it's not funny." Odd looks, and slight grins. I
said, "Senior related porting service will continue. Say the desire,
and it will happen. Er, that desire. Not the other ones." Maria looked
embarrassed. They noticed, and tried to hide that. I said, "Another
lesson when you're ready." I shifted out.
I continued with the same lessons I had used before. They're doing
well, as expected.
In Kazakhstan, a man approached me. He said, "I hear you're a good
fighter. I'm better." I said, "I don't care. Go away." He said, "So you
don't want to fight?" I said, "I don't fight. I do what I want. People
want to stop me, I stop them." I walked away. He grabbed my arm. I
turned and said with menace, "Are you trying to stop me?" He said, "I
was talking to you!" I said, "Not any more." I stabbed my fingers into
his solar plexus, and when he bent over, I gave him a knee in the face.
He was out before he hit the ground. Lucky for him. He would have been
feeling pretty bad. A boy witnessed that, and ran to tell his friends.
Unobserved, I dissolved that body. Some members of his gang tried to
find me.
When they were in an area where I could appear unwatched, I said to
them, "You are looking for me?" One said, "You hurt my friend!" I said,
"Oh! He actually has friends? I wouldn't have thought it, with the
attitude he showed me. He wanted to fight. He said that. I said no. He
grabbed my arm. I asked him if he wanted me to stop him. He didn't let
go. I stopped him. Did he wake up?" He said, "That's not what he said."
I said, "He lies to you, he's not your friend. He wants to manipulate
you into taking his stupid revenge. You know he doesn't care if I kill
you." He said, "Can you?" I said, "Yes." He said, "This many?" I said,
"Easier than with just one. You get in each other's way. I could show
you, but learning, and dying before you can use that knowledge, doesn't
look very wise to me." He said, "We have weapons." I said, "Do you know
why I don't carry them?" He said, "No. Why?" I said, "Others do.
Convenient. I want one, I take theirs." Some smiles. I said, "This is
boring. Don't bother me."
I walked away. One drew his gun. I turned around and said, "Use that
irresponsibly, and I might make it so you can't do that again. You know
I have done that before." He gulped, and put it away. I turned. One
threw a knife at me. I sidestepped and caught it, and turned and threw
it in one motion, so it stuck in the dirt between his feet. I said, "A
little higher next time. New voice for you." I turned and walked away,
shaking my head, saying, "Amateurs!" They didn't follow until after I
dissolved that body. They looked, but couldn't find me, causing some
nice frustration. Good. The major thought so, too, with a big grin,
when I told him.
A vender asked me if I knew anything about medicine and healing. I
said, "I do have some ability in that. Do you ask for a special
reason?" She said, "My son was in a fight. He has a cut. It's not
healing well." I said, "Where is he?" She asked another to mind her
stall, and I went with her to her home. Her thirteen year old boy was
trying to eat something, and wasn't doing well. He obviously had a
fever. She told him to show me the cut. It was a stab wound in the
abdomen. I said to the woman, "Hot water, please, and a knife." She
went to get those. I said to the boy, "I'm going to help you." He said,
"Are you the Commander?" I said, "Some people call me that. Well, when
they want to be polite." We traded grins.
I said, "I'm going to put you to sleep now, so you won't feel
anything bad." He nodded, and went out. His mother came back with a big
bowl of hot water, as much as she could heat on the stove in a
reasonable amount of time. She had some knives, and towels, too. I
looked at the knives, and selected one. I said, "You keep your knives
well. I'm impressed." She looked proud. I said, "He's asleep. I'll keep
him that way until we're finished. You know he as an infection. He
won't live to see the next healing unless we do something." She nodded,
with a tear. I said, "So we will! This isn't a cut, but a stab wound.
We need to know how deep it went. I must widen the wound to see that.
Will you be alright?" She said, "For him, I will be strong!" I said,
"Yes, you will."
I took out of one of my pockets, a small field medic kit. I said
while I was working, "Some people need this service after opposing me."
She chuckled, and said, "So I have heard. They deserved it, I'm sure."
I said, "I had determined that. Not surprisingly, there was some
disagreement." More chuckles. While I was talking, I was washing my
hands, and holding a knife blade over a lighter flame. When it cooled,
I used it to cut open the wound some more. I inspected it. The
peritoneum had been penetrated. I separated the muscle some more, and
cut that open some more, and looked for more damage. A section of small
intestine was cut, but not all the way though to the inside. No major
blood vessels were severed, and the minor ones were not bleeding. I
washed as much as I could. I sprinkled some antibiotic powder into the
cut in the intestine, and then sowed it closed with things from the
suture pack. It was VERY difficult working in such a tight and small
opening. I used some 4th controls to assist, and removed all the
bacteria from where it wasn't supposed to be. I did a little bit of
healing, too. It would be all healed in two days.
I said to his mother, "It was close, VERY close, but there is no
major damage to the organs, just a little. 2mm deeper, and he would not
be alive now." I sewed the peritoneum closed. Then I washed things some
more, and sprinkled more antibiotic in the wound, and then sewed the
separated muscle fibers lightly together, then the fat layer, and then
the skin. I applied a bandage. I said, "Give him one of these pills
three times a day until they are gone. Do not let him eat solid food.
Only liquids for a week. He should stay in bed for a week. Then the
stitches can be removed. I believe he will live to the healing, and
beyond. If he doesn't run into any more knives." She said, "Thank you
sir! I don't know how I can repay you!" I said, "No payment. He lives,
I consider that my payment." She said, "Where did you learn this?" I
said, "There are many injuries in war, and few to treat them. One who
has responsibilities, must be able to care for his own." She nodded and
said, "Yes. You would be responsible." I said, "You know he won't want
to stay in bed." She grinned, and said, "I know. I will say you require
it. He should not make your work to fail." I said, "That might succeed.
When he remembers it. Strange how the young only remember when they
want to." Grins. We hugged, and I left.
News of that medical action spread fast. My approval rating went up
even higher. A week later, I went back to that house. His mother went
with me. He wasn't there. There was a smaller boy nearby. I asked him
to find the boy with the stitches. He grinned, and ran off. Soon, he
was dragging my patient into the door. I thanked him very much. He
asked if he could stay and watch. He was allowed. I said to my patient,
"You were supposed to stay in bed." He said, "But I felt well!" I said,
"Does your hand feel well?" He was confused, but said, "Yes." I said,
said, "There are stitches inside you where you can't see, that are much
more important to your life than the stitches in the skin. If you had
fallen on your stomach, or been struck there, those stitches could have
come loose, and you could have died right there and then."
His eyes opened really wide, and he said, "I didn't know that!" I
said, "But you do know your mother told you to stay in bed. Did you
think she wanted to hear you complaining all time, for her enjoyment?"
She was shaking her head, while he said, "Oh. I didn't think of that."
I said, "If all the names of children who died for not obeying their
parents were put in books, they would bury this town. Please don't add
your name to them." He said, "I promise!" I said, "I think you need to
say some things to your mother." He hugged her, and said, "I'm very
sorry I didn't obey. I'll be good." I nodded to him, and he ran out. I
said to her, "He's a boy. He'll be good. For about five minutes."
Chuckles.
She told people more about what I had said, and my approval went even
higher. Is the air getting a little thin?
END Page
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant
|
|