Asprin, Robert & Takei, George Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe

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"Don't be so sure," Sasha chided"There were re-ports the clans were active into
the twentieth centuryThere's no real reason why they should have died
outRemember, their strength is their anonymityThe fact we haven't heard of
them lately could mean they've died outIt could also mean they're still around and
very successful."
"If that's a possibility"-Hosato laughed-"I'm glad it's your problem and not
mineYou make me very happy I chose the line of work I didInciden-tally, I think
you've proved my point for meNext to your job, mine as a professional duelist is
drab and unexciting."
Sasha winced"I did it again, didn't INo matter what I try, we always end up
talking about me and my interests."
"Don't apologize," Hosato insisted"I get the feel-ing there aren't many people
here at the complex you can talk to."
"That's the truth." Sasha made a face"All in all, the people here are a pretty grim
crew,"
The robot that had been servicing their table chose this moment to wheel up and
present the bill.
"Almost robotlike?" joked Hosato, nodding his head at the intruder.
Sasha produced her employee card and started to feed it into the robot.
Hosato slapped her hand lightly"Stop that." He smiled, producing his own
card"Allow me this one concession to romanticism." He fed the card into the
robot, charging the meal to his own account.
"Romanticism?" Sasha leaned back, studying him with a cocked eyebrow"I
suppose you feel that en-titles you to carry me off to your room for activities of
dubious morality."
"Certainly not," Hosato laughed"In fact, that was the furthest thing from my
mind."
As soon as he said it, he knew he had made a mis-takeSomething went out of his
dinner partnerShe seemed to shrink for an instant, and when she moved again, it
was with the brisk, efficient motions of the security chief again.
"What I mean," he hastened to add, "was that I really found your thoughts on
Ninjas quite fascinatingSo fascinating, in fact-"
"That's all right, Hayama," Sasha said, cutting him short"It's rather late, anyway."
She rose but motioned for him to remain seated"Go ahead and finish your
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coffeeI'll just.."
She stopped suddenly, staring at nothing; then a slow smile crept over her face.
"Since you're interested, Hayama, you should be the first to knowI think I've
figured out a way to catch a Ninja."
"Oh, reallyWhat?" Now she was smiling directly at him"I'll tell you, once I find
out if it works or not." A wave of her hand and she was gone, leaving Hosato
feeling more than vaguely uneasy.
"Make that feint believableIf you don't draw the parry, you'll parry yourself by
attacking into a closed line when you disengage."
James nodded his acknowledgment without looking at Hosato, settled into his en
garde position once more and again launched his attack against SuziExtending
his sword to threaten the manikin's chest, he hesitated a split second, then dipped
his point and circled it left to evade the anticipated parry, and lunged.
The sword in Suzi's single arm remained rigidly in place, refusing to react to the
feintAs such, James's final lunge met an unyielding wall of steel as the blades met,
and his point slid harmlessly past the tar-get.
Hosato rolled his eyes in exasperation but regained his composure before he
stepped forward to address his student.
"First off, you're too tenseRelax for a minute and loosen up your sword armIf it's
tense, your move-ments are jerkyThat slows you up and telegraphs to your
opponent what you're trying to doMinus two points, and you loseLoosen that
arm."
James obediently stepped back and dropped his sword arm to his side, flexing
and shaking it in an effort to reestablish its supplenessHosato watched for a few
moments before nodding his satisfaction and continuing.
"Now, then," he said firmly"From the topA dis-engage attack the old one-
twoWhat are we try-ing to do?"
"Hit the opponent," James replied.
"Hit the opponent," Hosato mimicked"That's what you're trying to do with any
fencing move."
James gave a small sigh of exasperation"The dis-engage attack is intended to
negate your opponent's defensive speed," he recited"As the defender has to move
his weapon only four inches to parry an attack, and an attacker has to move his
point four feet to score a hit, the defender is able to easily stop a straight
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lungeTherefore, to successfully complete an attack, we first feint, drawing the
opponent's parry, then evade or deceive the parry and launch the actual attack."
"Correct," commented Hosato, picking up his own sword"Now, watch."
He came en garde smoothly, facing the boy, hesi-tated a moment, then extended
the point without twitching any other part of his body.
James watched with rapt interest.
Hosato withdrew his arm to resume the en garde position once more"You didn't
react," he said ac-cusingly.
"React to what?" the boy asked, surprised"That's what I'm trying to show you."
Hosato smiled"Heeii!"
He was suddenly a blur of motionHis foot hit the floor with a slap as he crouched,
sighting down his arm and sword at James's chestThe boy's reaction was
instantaneous and reflexiveHe bounced back a step, and his sword whipped up to
defend against the attack.
Hosato relaxed and stood upright again"That time you reacted." He
smiled"Why?"
"I thought you were going to hit me," the boy re-torted, cautiously relaxing his
guard.
"Look at the distance between usEven if you hadn't jumped back, I couldn't have
reached you with my longest lunge."
James studied the floor between them.
"A feint isn't a move, it's a threatThe first time,
when I just pointed the sword at you, I made a moveYou didn't feel threatened, so
you didn't reactThe second time, you felt threatened and reactedThat was a feintIt
isn't done with the sword or even the sword armIt's done with the entire body,
and most of all with the entire mindNow, let's try it again."
James obediently took up his position in front of the robot againHosato's
practiced eye noted the ten-sion still in the boy's sword armApparently his stu-
dent was getting tiredThey'd have to end this lesson soon.
The boy feinted and attacked, better than last time but still clumsySurprisingly,
Suzi reacted, moving smoothly to parry the feintThe boy's disengage slipped
under the parry, and his point thumped home against the manikin.
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