SLAM Read Online Free

outside to look at the sun! Oh presto, problem
solved!”
    Shannon snickers and Serena forces herself to
relax a little, digging into her bland food with sudden
gusto.

 
     
     
     
    THE DAY OF her retest crawls toward her, the hours stretching out
unbearably. Serena spends the entire month watching the calendar
and training, almost glad of the punishment duties and extra
classes that keep her so occupied she doesn’t have too much time to
dwell. In fact, it seems like she barely sleeps. She’s taken to
eating in her room or the gym; just grabbing a foodpack so she
doesn’t waste time socializing. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that
this helps her in her quest to avoid any interaction with her
former best friend, who fortunately appears to agree entirely with
that plan. Apart from when it comes to training with Kion, who runs
specialist classes once a week, they barely catch sight of each
other.
    Finally, finally, the day dawns. Her nerves
are singing as she pulls on her tight-fitting shock suit for her
retest. The thin gel pads that harden with impact lie flat and snug
against her lightly muscled frame. It feels good, like a second
skin, and surely that’s a good sign. Third
time lucky. Isn’t that a saying from somewhere?
    The mission setup will be just
like the last: A team of eight qualified operatives are in charge
of the Arena’s defences . Serena’s challenge: To
make it through the ‘city.’ Strength, secrecy, and a combination of
the two are all acceptable methods. If she can hide her psionic
presence, she might be able to avoid the opposition until the very
end. If not, it will come down to a telekinetic and physical fight.
She just has to get through, by any means necessary. One of the
oldest operatives, Jamal, passed his test by taking a bunch of MREs
in with him and holing up. Eventually the hunting team got too
hungry to keep looking, and the rules state that once you’re out of
the Arena, you can’t re-enter. When the operatives left to get
food, they were out, and Jamal just walked over the finish line in
plain sight.
    They changed the system, after that. Now
there’s a time limit, which means she’ll have only thirty minutes
to make it across. Thirty minutes to get past whatever hunters are
out there, through the streets, and to the other side of the
Arena.
    She bounces on her toes gently,
embracing the familiar rush of adrenaline fizzing in her blood.
This time, she’s fighting smart. Avoid
them ... then they can’t hurt you. Hide and run; no heroics, just
out the other side before time runs out. If they don’t find you, no
one can do what Abial did to you.
    Suddenly the noise announcing the start of the test blares,
and the light over the entrance goes green. Serena slips into the
darkness. The defending operatives – those hunting her – will be
entering from the other side at the same time. She sends out
tentative mental feelers, trying to ascertain their positions,
while keeping her shields prepared for anything. It’s a delicate
balance, and difficult to learn; keeping the invisible layer of
protection solid enough to absorb a direct blow, but fluid and ready to whirl bullets
away from their intended path. After checking her defences, she
looks up and spots a camera in front of her, and a slow grin
spreads over her face – a wolf’s grin, teeth flashing in the
gloom.
    Without warning,
she leaps directly up in the air. It’s a two-story jump, which
means she has to push her power out through the soles of her feet,
to send her high enough. She lands as quietly and lightly as a leaf
on the low surface of the roof, booted feet barely making a whisper
against the smooth glass.
    For realism, the Arena is laid out in an
imitation of the City streets. After all, that’s where operatives
are most likely to be in danger; it makes sense for them to be
tested in that layout as well. There are several towering
buildings, although here in the reproduction you can’t get to the
top of those