Free Ability (Omnibus) by Travis Hill

I never played hockey though, just typical skating around and stuff. But I’ve probably got the most experience, so I’m going to go for the shortest flash retention. Since Brian has been on roller skates a couple of times as a kid, he’ll get the middle retention setting. You’ll get the full experience, so to speak, since you’ve never been on either kind of skate,” he explained to Derry.
    “And…why are we doing this?” Derry asked. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and she looked from Garret back to Brian. “Is this why you two have been all over my ass for the last month with all of the ‘Derry, how far can you stretch?’ and ‘Hey, Dez, shouldn’t you be working out at the gym?’ bullshit?”
    “The answer to your first question,” Brian said, “is because it’s a skill that takes years to master. All the pros you see on the holo, they’ve been doing it since they were three years old. Especially the Canadians. There’s nothing better to do in Freezerville, so they strap their kids to a pair of skates, put a stick in their hand, and send them out on a frozen pond or river to learn how to play.”
    “Good for them,” Derry said, glaring at him.
    “Skating is hard enough,” Brian continued, “but then you’ve got a stick in your hands and a ton of equipment to keep you safe, plus all these rules about what you can and can’t do in the game. It’s going to be awesome, trust me. As for your second question, if you tried to go out and do some serious physical exertion when you’ve spent the last few years sitting on your ass, reading old, dead authors, you can almost guarantee pulling a hamstring or suffering some other injury that our new medical skills won’t be able to do much about, other than diagnose.”
    “So…we just flash and then go skate with a stick and a…what do we hit with the stick? A ball?” she asked, her frown firmly in place.
    “No,” Garret laughed. “A puck is what’s used in hockey. But we won’t just be flashing and going for a skate. Brian paid the guy at Chaparral Ice to let us get in to the shop and buy all the equipment we need, do a chemical and heat mold of the skates to our feet, and then go out on the ice with some of the guys from the local high school and the UT-A club team.”
    “So…like a pick-up game then?” she asked, still not convinced it was a good idea.
    “I guess you could call it that. But we’ll be playing full-contact. So keep your head up,” Garret winked at her.
    “Wait. Wait. Waaaait. I’m like a hundred and twenty pounds, and you guys are like two hundred pounds. I don’t know how to skate. I don’t even know any of the fucking rules, and you want us to go out and smash into each other like they do on the holo?” Derry looked like she was ready to bolt from the car.
    Brian laughed. “Relax, Dez. You won’t get hurt. Remember, you’ll know how to play, how to skate, how to check everyone into the glass, how to absorb a check without losing your head, how to shoot, all of that. Even how to fight, though we won’t be going that far. It took a lot of money, and a waiver that we wouldn’t sue if we got hurt, to get Mr. Stiles to agree to any of this.
    “Plus, the Receiver is a little juiced. You should have enhanced perception for retention, as usual, but also enhanced reflexes. You won’t be Superman, made of steel, but your reaction times will be shorter. Think of yourself as a combat pilot on stimulants in a live-fire situation.” He smiled and patted her on the leg as he turned into the ice rink parking lot.
    “Let’s do this shit!” Garret yelled from the back seat.
    Derry looked like a frightened deer about to become roadkill on a lonely mountain highway. The boys laughed at her, calling her shrimp, midget, two-by-four, and a number of other insults intended to break her fear by making her angry. When the E-V pulled into a parking space, she’d finally had enough.
    “Fuck off!” she shouted, near tears from the