Chương 42: Chapter 41: Momentum (01/14/1984 | 04:00 AM)

DATE: Saturday, January 14, 1984 LOCATION: La Jolla, California | The Sand Castle LOCAL TIME: 04: 00 AM The bunker smelled of sweat, chalk, and gun oil. I hung from a steel rafter twenty feet above the concrete floor. Even at eight years old, my muscles coiled tight, and my grip against the metal was absolute.

"Drop," the voice commanded from the darkness below. I let go. Gravity took me, but I flowed rather than fell. Twelve feet down, my hands slapped the high bar. The sudden kinetic shock wrenched my shoulder joints, but I rode the deceleration, bleeding the momentum into a single, massive swing. I released at the apex, pulling into a half-twist and landing on the balance beam with barely a whisper. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

"No sound," Jackie Chan whispered. He stepped into the sparse light, thumbing a stopwatch.

"Better."

"Time?" I asked, balancing on one foot.

"Four seconds," Jackie said.

"Fast. But stiff. You move like a machine, Chad. You must move like water." He whipped a tennis ball at me—hard. I didn't try to catch it. I just slipped my head a fraction of an inch to the left. The felt whizzed past my ear and cracked off the concrete wall behind me.

"Why dodge?" Jackie asked, his brow furrowing.

"Why not catch or block?"

"Blocking absorbs energy," I said, dropping lightly from the beam to the mat.

"I don't butt up against an attack, Shifu. I let them crash into the wall. You use the environment to do the work." Jackie walked over, nodding slowly at the philosophy. At twenty-nine, he was in the prime of his physical life. After four years together in this subterranean bunker, he already knew I wasn't normal—that I healed too fast, adapted too quickly, and processed violence with a cold, unnatural efficiency. He tossed me a towel.

"It is a smart way to fight. But you train like you are running out of time, Chad," he said softly.

"You are eight. You have time." I wiped the chalk and sweat from my face, saying nothing. No. I really don't. Jackie crossed his arms.

"Your Uncle Bob is here. He says you have a meeting in Cupertino today." I looked toward the heavy steel door of the bunker. The Macintosh.