Chapter 5: First Date

Three days later...

Time: January 12, 9570 1 PM UCT

Eliana had a few minutes to go in her forty-minute run on the ellipse trainer when she saw Basel climb the ladder and join her in the Level-4 exercise area. He was dressed in workout clothing, thin and tight. His outfit was similar to Eliana's leotards but with bare legs and arms, and Eliana caught her breath as she admired his masculine form. "Excellent physical shape," she thought. "He's so handsome! Why didn't I see this the first time we met?"

"Hi Basel!" she called out loud.

"Hi Eliana!" Basel looked around the domed room in wonder. The entire dome and vertical-wall area was covered by a super-realistic hologram. It looked as if they were standing in the middle of a wild noontime forest. "I saw the sunlight in the ladder-well and couldn't understand what was going on. This is fabulous!"

"Yes! A beautiful surprise, isn't it?"

Basel nodded and walked over to a control console. After a moment he called out, "It's programmable! Wow! I could have a lot of fun playing with this, maybe even add some animation!"

Eliana laughed back. "Yes! We could be at Aleppo eating lobster by the docks and meet the giant octopus!" She was puzzled to see Basel stiffen for a moment, and then he relaxed.

"Uh, yeah, if you want... I see you like the ellipse trainer too!"

"Yep, it's my favorite." Her timed period ended. She jumped off and said, "Here! It's all yours."

"Hey, don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Get off just because I want it."

"What? I'm not. My run just ended." She smiled playfully. "I have proof! You can check the exercise log!"

"Hey, I..." A worried looking Basel suddenly realized Eliana was grinning at him and he smiled back.

"You were saying?" she teased.

"Yeah. I think I was going to say, Hey, I have to remember how playful you are sometimes."

"Uh huh."

"Maybe we should complain to the Guild, complain their hologram present was not enough, demand they put two ellipse trainers in every station."

"Oh, absolutely! There's no reason we should have to share. Uh, Basel, want some company while you work out?"

"Sure, that'd be great! Just remember who's cooking dinner tonight."

"Oh, I haven't forgotten."

There was a mat area near the center of the dome. Eliana did some splits and deep stretching and then a number of basic martial arts moves, practicing slow-motion block-kick-block-counterpunch combinations, a few judo rolls, and then finishing with her favorite Tai Chi. Near the end she heard Basel sighing deeply on the trainer.

She turned to him. "You okay?"

"Your form..." whispered Basel. "It's so beautiful."

Eliana sighed back. It was Basel's first direct comment about her appearance and she felt quite touched by it. She thought for a moment, and realized she didn't know if he meant her martial arts form or the feminine shape of her body in the tight leotards. Eliana wasn't too sure what men thought of her face, but she thought she had an attractive figure, pleasantly proportioned, very fit and a bit curvier than most. "Thank you," she whispered back, and then more loudly, "Uh, time to get dinner going!" She headed for the ladder.

"What's on the menu?" Basel called out.

"A surprise! You like hot and spicy?"

"Oh, my favorite!"

She laughed. "Great!"

"Uh, Eliana?" Basel called out after she was partway down the ladder, only her head and shoulders above floor level.

"Yeah?"

"After dinner, you want to... oh, play a board game or listen to music or something?"

"Sure! Both sound nice. Let's just see if you survive my cooking first!" And so saying, her head disappeared from view.

Eliana was surprised how excited she was during dinner. Her stomach felt tied in knots and she barely noticed the taste of her own cooking, though she was very happy that Basel obviously enjoyed her efforts. After cleanup, they both drifted to the game table in the small recreation area. Basel made a gesture, and Eliana opened the computer log and looked at the game menu.

"There's a huge selection here. What's your pleasure, pure strategy, mostly chance, or something combination like backgammon? Feeling lucky tonight?"

Eliana gulped. Her last question also had a vulgar slang meaning. She had just asked Basel if he thought he was going to have sex with her tonight. She looked timidly in his eyes. He was shaking his head slowly no, but his eyes were full of kindness.

"Sorry." she whispered. "Basel?"

"You are so amazing."

"Oh? How so?"

"You remind me of The Preacher Man."

"Huh? What? I do?"

"Yeah, the First Tower. Ilias made this wonderful observation when he first met Abigail, about how can a woman be so soft and so strong at the same time. His comment reminds me of you."

"It does?"

"Yeah. Your accomplishments, your dedication, your competitive spirit, you are so sharp, and all your abilities orbit such a gentle core. Eli, you amaze me."

"Eli?" Eliana whispered. "I haven't been Eli since my twelfth year. Only my grandmother calls me Eli now."

"Ah. Do you mind?"

"No... I don't think I mind at all..." Eliana gulped and felt herself trembling. "Wow. I didn't think I'd be this nervous."

Basel nodded. "Yeah. I'm feeling shy too, shy with a whole bunch of other stuff trying to burst through."

Eliana nodded back. "I know, I feel it too, and it frightens me a bit in this set-up. I don't want to move too fast. Ranger history is filled with stories of teams becoming their own worst enemies... Murderous enemies..."

"Oh, I know it. That's what these tests are all about. Maybe we should stick with strategy for tonight, leave luck for a later day."

Eliana nodded. "A good idea." She took a deep breath. "So! Strategy it is. Let's see... There's a huge selection here, thousands of games, everything from primary-school up to Jamgo."

"Oh, I love Jamgo!" Basel replied. "Do you play?"

"I'm a ranked player," Eliana batted her eyes sweetly.

"Yikes, really?! Well, let's give it a try anyway!"

"Okay!"

Eliana brought up the image of the Jamgo board. A distant cousin of the ancient game of Go, Jamgo was played in a 13 x 13 x 13 holographic cube, and the object was to encapsulate 3-D regions of space. As a move, a player could insert an offensive stone, insert a defensive stone, or flip the status of an owned stone from one mode to the other. Opposing stones could also be captured with rules vaguely similar to the ancient Go game.

Eliana let Basel go first. After the first twenty moves, she decided his play looked weird, and in kindness she held back on her play a bit so the score wouldn't be too lopsided. At move 48, she suddenly gasped as she realized her whole position had been underpinned and was about to fall apart. And then Basel shocked her by offering a draw.

"A draw?! You can't be serious!"

"Sure I can. You were just being sweet Eli, trying to keep the game interesting, and I suckered you into letting your guard down. I don't want to win a game this way. Let's start over."

Eliana sighed as she studied her position. "Having this mess disappear does have a certain appeal to it. Okay! To the death on the next one Basel!"

"Okay! No mercy!"

Eliana pushed the reset button and the next game started out along conventional lines. On move 53, the pattern was set for classic gambit called the poisoned helix and Eliana offered it. She was somewhat surprised when Basel made a completely unexpected move. She shook her head in disbelief. The whole right flank of his primary sector was about to crumble.