Free The Vastalimi Gambit by Steve Perry Page B

another Vastalimi. And that was sound since no other intelligent species near their size could defeat them claw-to-claw. You trained for the opponent who could beat you, and that was another of your own kind.
    Humans did much the same, but despite their inferior strength and speed and senses, if you balanced those, sometimes their close-combat systems would offer something a Vastalimi simply did not expect to see. If a fight went long, that likely wouldn’t matter, but against an augmented human who quickly did something completely unexpected? The fight might not go long. A single mistake could be fatal.
    Jo Captain could, in mock fights sans claws, defeat Kay four times of ten. That was fairly amazing—few Vastalimi would believe her if she told them that.
A human? Even an augmented one? You pull our fur!
    But it was possible, because a million years of evolution was hard to put aside. Jo had learned this and devised ways to counter ingrained Vastalimi techniques. And Kay had then learned ways to recounter Jo, so she did have skills few other Vastalimi would have had a chance to develop. It might not be enough; still, it was what she had.
    Finally, he spoke:
“Career nama borba do pojedinac inacˇe oba nad nama umreti.”
    Let us fight until one or both of us die.
    “Neka bude tako,”
she said, giving the ritual response.
    Let it be so.
    “I don’t suppose you want to tell me who hired you?” she said.
    “Hired me? You don’t believe I offer this on my own?”
    She didn’t smile: “I don’t think you would put incense on your sire’s funeral altar unless somebody paid you to do so.”
    “Who cares what a dead fem thinks?”
    Kay didn’t take her gaze from Vial as she said, “Wink, if I lose, and Vial leaves without offering you any threat, you must allow him to live.”
    “Fuck I will. You die, I’m going to shoot him and desecrate his corpse. In fact, I think I’ll do that right now to avoid the wait.”
    “No. It’s not our way. If he attacks you, you may defend yourself. But even Vial is not so stupid, as long as you have a gun trained on him.”
    Vial faked a yawn, showing his fangs. “The human does not really matter,” he said. “He lives, he dies, nobody cares enough to pay for it. I can forgo the small pleasure.”
    “Wink, if you kill him, it will bring dishonor to my memory and to my family. You must not do so without direct provocation.”
    “He kills my friend? That’s provocation enough.”
    “No. Please.”
    “You beg a
jebangje
human?”
    “I ask a favor of an honored comrade. Wink?”
    “All right. If he twitches in my direction, he dies. If he walks away, he lives.”
    “Thank you.”
    Kay untabbed her belt and let it fall.
    Vial’s claws snapped out with a loud
snick!
“As I stand!”
    “And as
I
stand—”
    He charged—
    He was bigger and stronger, but not faster, and his attack was direct, intended to take advantage of his superior reach and power. His claws would reach her before hers could reach him, they both knew that.
    Three meters out, he leaped, an angled dive, upper body leading, his arms extended fully, fingers outstretched. If she offered a block, he would shred that arm and strike with his other hand, cutting the line of her second block if she tried it, and bowling her over with his weight—
    Kay waited until he was in the air. Then she fell onto her back, a move no Vastalimi would ever do in a death match, offering a vulnerable throat and belly to an enemy. As he flew over her, she thrust her foot up, claws extended, and caught him just above the groin. Instead of ripping, she shoved upward, turning his flat dive into a flip—
    It was a move she had learned from Jo and one she had used on the augmented human who had attacked her and Formentara on Ananda. She knew it would work on a human, and a Vastalimi would have no reason to expect it at all.
    It took Vial by complete surprise.
    He snarled as he rotated—
    She continued the motion, came up in a