Girl Fights Back (Go No Sen) (Emily Kane Adventures) (28 page)

“I know who you are, but when I
look into your eyes, I see only a gentle breeze in the pine trees. You are not
a genetically enhanced warrior.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I saw you hold back against your
opponents in the tournament, and just now against me and my men. You could have
killed us all, but you didn’t. The person we are looking for would not be able
to show such restraint, such compassion.”

“But those were only choices. I
have often felt the urge to kill the people who killed my father. How can you know
that isn’t who I really am?” He smiled at her.

“You are no genetic freak. You are
just supremely well trained. I would gladly have you as my master,” he said
respectfully.

“Surely you didn’t come all this
way just to discover that,” she muttered deadpan.

“I had to be sure. My masters think
there is a genetic super soldier. They will stop at nothing to find it. They
are fools. You and I both know, deep down, there
is
only training.”

“That’s
not
all there is,” she cut him off. “They destroyed my family… my
grandfather, my father and my mother. I am alone.” He heard the depth of pain
in her voice, saw it swirling at the bottom of her dark eyes. It cut right
through him like a jagged blade. He felt the magnitude of the wrong that had
been done to her, and the dishonor it reflected on him.

“I am truly sorry,
Sensei
,” he said in a soft, deep voice.
“If I could undo any of it, I would. Please forgive me.” He glimpsed in her
eyes just then the immense wellspring of compassion and forgiveness that made
its home there. He sighed and his shoulders visibly sagged, perhaps under the
weight of the knowledge that she could indeed forgive him.

“What is your name,” she asked.

“Tang.” He bowed deeply to her and
then snapped his fingers. His men limped into the van.

“What will happen to you if you
return empty handed?”

He looked back at her and said:
“Nothing you can do anything about.” He got in the van and they drove off. She
followed with her eyes as they turned out of the parking lot and down the
street. She took a deep breath and let out a deep sigh as she walked back to
the hotel.

Connie waited for her by the
entrance. She searched her face, trying to read her expression for the meaning
of the events in the parking lot. Emily smiled wanly at her, put her hand on
Connie’s shoulder and said “Thank you.”

Connie drew her
into a hug and whispered “Anytime.” But she knew that Emily had not really
needed her help. Her debt was not repaid, not by a long shot, and she knew it,
but she felt that her personal redemption was underway, and all thanks to this
puzzling, enigmatic girl.

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Chapter 22:
Home At Last

They returned home to Warm Springs
the next day, regaling their conquering hero, Emily, the whole way. She was
flattered, and didn’t want to spoil their enjoyment of the moment. But the
relief she felt at the result of the weekend had almost no connection to the
trophy or the tournament. For the first time in months, she felt she could
finally relax. They stopped for lunch at a diner outside of Richmond.
Afterwards, Emily climbed into the seat in the very back of the mini-van and
fell fast asleep for the rest of the journey.

That evening,
she called Michael and her mother and told them all about her encounter with
the Chinese. Well, she spared her mother the bit about fighting foreign agents
in the parking lot. But she told them pretty much all the rest. They were
bemused, puzzled and overjoyed at the same time. The next day, she got up early
and went to school, where she met her friends, and they congratulated each
other one more time about the tournament.

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Look for other titles from
The Emily Kane Stories

by Jacques Antoine:

Girl Punches Out

Kusanagi: Girl Takes
Up Her Sword
due out in July

The High Road to the Mountain Gods

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