Can you hear that big sigh of relief from where you are?
Oh, and before I forget, you can now find me on The Twitter.
“I know who you are and how good you are and how good you think you are,” he began in a voice somewhat roughened with age. “You’re wrong about all of it. The element you’re missing is the one I’m going to help you get and that is the ability to perform under pressure when you want to quit.” He began to walk slowly back and forth in front of the two runners as he spoke. “Up to now, you’ve run because it’s fun, because it’s a thrill and because it lets you break a few of the rules. You quit when you’re tired. Even though you probably think you’re going beyond that, you aren’t. You run through air, with your favorite old boots on and your coveralls tied low so you stay cool and can enjoy the breezes you make.”
He stopped then and pointed at Leo, “Is that what it is going to be like out there?”
Leo cleared his throat and said, “No, Trainer.”
Trainer Piper nodded and pointed at Lillian. She felt her throat try to close up and a cough coming on when that finger swung her way. He asked, “Are you going to be able to quit because you’re tired when you’re outside?”
Her voice broke a little in her dry throat when she answered, “No, Trainer.”
Again, he nodded and took a few steps toward the tank. He pointed at the tank and looked back at them. “That will let you know a little bit of what it feels like outside. We’ll strap on those weights so you know what it’s like to walk in a suit with the air moving so fast it tries to knock you down. I’ll run you in that tank until the skin of your feet starts to peel off and you know what?”
Lillian wasn’t sure how to answer that one. It wasn’t a yes or no question but he was looking at them and expecting an answer so she improvised, “What will happen, Trainer?”
He quirked an eyebrow at her, though she couldn’t decide if that was a good quirk or a bad one. He answered them though. “It won’t do an Other’ed thing to make you really ready for what is out there. It will help, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re out there and can’t see the length of a landing in any direction and the air is hitting you so hard that it sounds like someone is dumping a bucket of seed over your head and your suit feels like it is making you double in size, well, there’s nothing but what is inside you that can help you with that.”
He walked away from them when he finished speaking and Lillian was, for the first time, a little afraid of what winning might mean. She shivered at the thought of it and decided that this was no game. This training needed to be paid attention to and followed. She realized that if she couldn’t be devoted to it then she shouldn’t be here.
Zara came forward again and told them, her voice once again clipped and more than a little impatient, “Okay, you rail clingers, go get your clothes issue and change into your tank gear and get back in here. You have until I get done in the bathroom to get back here.”