from the demonstration, and she knew his pattern from the combat
demonstration, which made it a simple matter to touch him, find someone
nearby, and let Medart identify his location. "Zero-gee gym," the
human Ranger said. "I think you're going to like what you see."

When they reached the mid-level observation platform glassed off from
the gym itself, Corina had to agree. Nevan was practicing
flight-shooting, clad only in exercise trunks that set off his dark skin.
Small and slender he might be, but there was no denying his strength or
his grace as he pushed himself off one gym wall, drew his bow in a
single smooth motion, and fired as he tumbled through the air.

"Beautiful," Corina said. "I have never seen a human move with such
economy or precision. That is a combat bow, is it not?"

"Instead of a practice one? Right--no target sights, and it's a lot
heavier. That one pulls close to seventy kilos. I can't even get the
string back ten centis, and he makes it look like nothing."

Nevan hit the far wall feet-first. There was the solid sound of him
kicking off again, the scream of a hollow pierced-shaft arrow, the thud
of it hitting the small remote-controlled target less than a centimeter
from the first. That was repeated half a decade times, with what
appeared to be effortless ease.

"Does he ever miss?" Corina asked as the Sandeman continued to shoot.

"I've never heard of it happening, and I'm sure it'd be all over the
ship in less than an hour if he did." Medart chuckled. "He spends
half his free time in combat exercises of one sort or another, after
all, not just the minimums for on-duty training. It's not as good as
combat, to their way of thinking, but it's better than what we standard
humans class as normal entertainment."

The two were silent then, for the couple of minutes it took Nevan to
run out of arrows and signal the target controller to end the session.
Then he dove for the floor, used a handhold to pull himself erect, and
switched off the gravity neutralizer that isolated the gym from the
ship's gravity field.

"Okay," Medart said. "That's it; let's get down to the dressing room
and wait for him to get into uniform."

"You stressed the need for speed," Corina said as they left the
observation platform. "Why do you not speak to him while he changes?
I cannot, I know; having a female around would embarrass a human male."

"Or vice versa." Medart grinned. "And Sandemans are eve