Traveller Inceptio
54

Christmas came and went. Their training continued unabated. Except for a free Christmas day, where Brian the cook excelled with a traditional Christmas dinner, there was hardly a pause in their schedule. Master Kim had set up his headquarters in London and Mae visited Welbeck frequently to supervise their training and secretly liaise with Hunter. However, her growing media commitments caused her to become increasingly absent. Hunter saw her more frequently on television demonstrating her martial arts or on Korean travel posters. The winter became cold and miserable with plenty of sleet. More training took place at the Brecon Beacons, but as all of them were highly trained in winter and Arctic survival, this exercise was mainly to test their newly made, primitive equipment, which proved surprisingly resilient to the cold and wet.

Hunter did manage a couple of weekend escapes with Mae without attracting the attention of the others. He was constantly amazed at her sexual appetite and inventiveness, and began to treat the whole escapade as another form of fitness and endurance training. He also began to feel very fond of her and looked forward to their time together. Though he would never admit it, he was falling in love.

A gloomy spring threatened as the days gradually lengthened and buds appeared on the trees around Welbeck. One briefing before their usual morning run advised that Master Kim and Mae were to visit for an inspection of their skills and training. Hunter could have sworn that Murdoch caught his eye for a split second, but wrote it off as his imagination.

The team assembled in the training area as Master Kim and Mae entered. Both were dressed in traditional robes, Mae in red and black and Master Kim in a white robe with black edges to the sleeves, obviously an outfit saved for the most formal of occasions. Hunter hadn’t seen Mae for about a month and she looked radiantly beautiful as she observed the proceedings, always under the guise of the obedient daughter. Their eyes met only fleetingly.

After a particularly torturous training session, the men knelt, sweating despite the gym not being heated. In honour of Master Kim’s visit, the room was decorated with the South Korean flag, pictures of Master Kim and Mae in martial poses, and with a few tables draped with black satin cloth. All very dramatic, but it gave some ceremony to what Hunter and Hurley suspected was a type of graduation. In his usual manner, Master Kim spoke extensively about spirit and keeping your sword bright with the zeal of the warrior. They had heard it all before but knelt, grateful for the reprieve. Mae was then called to the floor where she removed the cloth from one of the tables to reveal a number of long and short sword sets.

“As you know, gentlemen, nothing can be produced in the ancient martial arts that will ever rival Korea. Koreans developed the honed martial skills that were the raw materials from the original Buddhist monks of the Indian sub-continent. My ancestors refined those skills into martial arts like no other. Naturally, the Chinese and Japanese will never concur, but they have to live with the disappointment of being second best,” Master Kim added as he smiled his all-too-uncommon, crinkly-eyed smile.

“I have been forced to concede in one instance only. Years of conflict took a heavy toll on some of Korea’s finest artisans, so only few remain. My friend in Japan, Yoshihiko Kunitada is, I believe, the world’s finest traditional sword artisan. Yes, he is Japanese, but you know the Japanese learned their skills from Korean smiths long ago. They’ll never tell you that. While the Japanese could never really use the Japanese katana to its best potential, I’m forced to concede that the katana is a most impressive weapon. Yes, it is truly Japanese and evolved independently of any other weapons system in the known orient. It is so good that I believe Koreans must have been involved somewhere.” Master Kim smiled again.

“Bloody hell, he’s in a good mood,” muttered Hurley quietly.

“You know about the katana, so my comments will be brief. The design emerged in the sixteenth century as a curved, single-edged weapon of the Samurai warrior class. The swords were usually paired, one long and one short, and it is called a daisho, or a pair of swords, worn representing the honour, social power, and the very soul of the Samurai warrior. The longer katana was for open combat, primarily for cutting, slashing, and parrying, while the shorter blades were used for close-quarters stabbing as well as seppuku, the Japanese ritual suicide.”

Master Kim paused in his address and looked to Mae. She stood gracefully, glided to the table and selected a stunningly beautiful, matching pair of swords that would have been of immense value. Hunter raised his eyebrows at Hurley, both curious as to the purpose of this formal occasion. Mae bowed and offered the sword pair to her father. He nodded, but did not touch them.

“You’ve been trained in the use of the sword, but you now need to possess your own for your real training to begin.” He nodded to Murdoch, who had walked into the room.

She was in dress uniform and she stood to attention and consulted her list. “Anderson, Paul,” she announced, and a surprised Anderson stood with disciplined alacrity and bowed.

Master Kim gestured and Anderson stepped forward, unsure of what was required. Master Kim extended his hand and bowed, left hand supporting the right elbow in the traditional Korean greeting. After shaking hands, the swords were presented to Anderson, who paused a moment before accepting them with two hands extended. For once, he was speechless. The swords, it seemed, were his.

One after the other, each of the men stepped forward to be presented with their own daisho. They then knelt uncomfortably, their swords arrayed on the tatami in front of them. Master Kim concluded the ceremony with a bow and then heartily applauded the men’s efforts.

When permitted to stand, they inspected their swords. Each blade was deadly in its perfection and each pair was slightly different, individually crafted with minimal artistic design on the hilt and scabbard. Hunter noted that many of the more gaudy decorative features seen in show swords had been removed. These swords were created for function and use in field conditions. The effect was of deadly efficiency, some of the most beautifully crafted instruments of death ever created.

Hurley lovingly inspected his, having removed the long blade from the scabbard with smooth grace. He muttered to Hunter, “But are they as good as a Hattori Hanzo sword?”

Hunter didn’t even smile. “I think so,” he replied as he examined the smooth sweep of his short sword and the almost unimaginable sharpness of the cutting edge.

McAlister took his short sword and tested the blade by shaving a patch from his hairy, muscled forearm.

Osborne smiled. “Can’t leave it like that, Mac! Now you have to shave both arms.”

“And your arse,” added Poxon.

Murdoch shook hands with each of the men in congratulations. Hunter was amused to note that her handshake with Hurley was particularly perfunctory. Master Kim and Mae also milled with the men, admiring their swords as they chatted politely.

That was the last time Hunter ever saw Mae. She advised him later that she had been offered a role in a Korean movie. She was moving to live in Korea as the project was to be shot on location. She told him she would keep in touch, but despite his hurt feelings, he recognised the dysfunctional nature of what they had and was secretly relieved.