by Kate Rudolph
The house was too small. There was no place for privacy, especially since they couldn’t remove food from the kitchen.
Was his point about their connection so hard to understand? A Match could overpower all logic and reason if they weren’t careful. And if that one kiss was any indication of what it would be like between them... some things were too powerful to endure.
More points in his favor sat heavily on his tongue and he almost brought them up. Almost. But nothing had changed between last night and this morning, and he didn’t want to hear it if she’d formulated arguments of her own.
He didn’t want to be swayed.
Since he wasn’t paying attention to Lena, the only other thing to focus on was the green light over the door. He stared at it and hoped it stayed green until he finished his meal. Or longer. Forever. The house was designed to create anxiety and after less than a full day he hated it.
The green light switched off.
Solan bit back a curse and flinched when it switched to red and started flashing.
“Why is it blinking?” They were the first words Lena had said to him all morning. He could see evidence of a restless night in the dark circles under her eyes and the slump to her shoulders. The tension in the house was going to drive them mad if they didn’t settle things.
But that was a problem for later. “How should I know?” He had just as much experience with this facility as she did.
A computerized voice came out of nowhere. “You have been given a mission. Use the information in the dossier provided to infiltrate the Apsyn research facility. You will recover a vial of a deadly toxin Apsyn scientists have tried to weaponize and you will leave no witnesses. You have one hour to prepare yourselves, at which point you will proceed to the basement and engage in the scenario. If necessary you may terminate the training exercise by stating your full name and commanding the simulator to terminate the exercise. You will not be given another chance to attempt this scenario. Your prep time begins now.”
The red flashing lights shifted until they began a countdown. A slot in the wall opened up and two folders slid out. Solan handed one to Lena and kept the other to himself. The information provided went into greater detail, but was basically the same as the computer had said. Infiltrate the research station, recover the toxin, leave no trace.
“Looks simple enough.” He’d certainly gone through more complicated missions, and the research provided was thorough.
Lena glared at her own brief, eyes scanning the words. “A little too simple, don’t you think?”
He looked again to make sure there was nothing he’d missed. “No. Why?”
She let the folder fall to the table and stabbed it with her index finger. “They’ve given us access codes, guard rotation schedules, and informed us they’ll be able to cut the power and strand most of the scientists in another part of the building. A five year old could pull this off. There’s got to be a catch.” She sat back, eyes flashing in challenge.
He could see her point, but he didn’t agree. “It’s our first mission. And Synnrs are good at infiltration. Advance teams do a lot of work for us.” He’d been given briefs similar to this one for actual missions and they’d gone off perfectly. The house had no reason to trick them.
“You just want to go in like everything will happen perfectly?” she asked.
“I didn’t say that.” They were eating into their time with this debate. Already it was half gone and they still had more to plan out. “But trust that I know what I’m doing. I’ve been on missions like this before.”
“So have I! I have almost fifteen years’ experience in one form or another, and you shouldn’t ignore my instincts.” It burst out of her and she leaned forward, ready to fight.
Were those the same instincts that said kissing was a good idea? Solan didn’t ask. She needed to remember that she was on Aorsa now, a long way from everything she knew. “The rules are different on Earth.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” she scowled.
If he let this get out of hand they’d be arguing all morning. It would be an automatic fail if they didn’t even show up for the mission. One of them had to be in charge. And he wasn’t going to give up control. “We do it my way.”
“Yes, boss.” She might have agreed in words, but her entire posture said she wanted to fight. And seeing her fired up like that made his body ache with desire. A desire he had to ignore for more reasons than one.
They used the rest of their time to go over the plan, not wasting another second of prep time, and when the clock ticked down the final minute they headed for the basement. The door was in the hallway and had been locked the night before. Now it slid open and led them to a well-lit staircase and a wide open room. There were wires along the walls and floors and a large machine in the far corner. This was the heart of the house’s simulator, and it was strong enough that it could project Apsyn soldiers onto the main floor and make them feel real enough during a fight.
The machine whirred and the simulation was built around them. They stood just beyond a fence that surrounded the research facility and the dark sky overhead was evidence they were on Kilrym rather than Aorsa.
Getting past the fence and into the facility was easy. They followed the path laid out in their brief and didn’t run into any guards or scientists. Their codes worked perfectly and they were in the wide halls of the building and walking around as if they belonged.
The toxin was kept in the most secure lab at the center of the building. Their intel stated there was only one vial, but that the Apsyns were close to synthesizing the compound. If they didn’t steal the vial, soon there would be too much for them to destroy it all and they could poison entire towns and cities or take out an army with a few bioweapons.
They’d made it all the way to the center of the building when a door slammed. Both he and Lena froze in place. Their eyes met. Lena pointed to herself and then down the hall and made a gesture he couldn’t quite interpret. He was pretty sure it meant she would take care of it. He agreed with a nod and she slunk off.
A few minutes later, he felt a tug on his power as he was entering the code to the final lab. And a few minutes after that, Lena joined him.
“All good?” he whispered.
“All good,” she confirmed.
The vial was held in a locked refrigerated container. Extracting it took time since he had a special carrying case and it had to be placed with great care to make sure it didn’t get damaged during transit. Solan’s hands were steady, and after a few more minutes the vial was secure.
They left the way they came, their intel giving them another two minutes to clear the building before the guards did their rounds. But twenty seconds into their trip the alarms blared.
They ran, sprinting for the door. Something hit Solan square in the center of the back and there was a burst of pain before everything went black.
A moment later his vision cleared and they were back in the empty basement.
“Mission failed,” said the computer. “Lena used her spark on a scientist but failed to terminate him. That scientist reported your infiltration and you were executed by the guards. Further analysis of the mission will be available for your review later. This test is complete.”
Lena groaned and slowly got to her feet. She looked at him for a moment, then headed for the door.
Solan called after her, “It’s—”
She cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
They both left the basement with heavy hearts. They needed a win, but it wasn’t going to be easy.
THE NEXT DAY, LENA was still ready to punch someone after the failed simulation. And since she couldn’t punch the disembodied computerized voice that was running their lives, Solan had better keep his distance. But really, she should probably be punching herself. She knew the parameters of the op and she was the one that failed. No witnesses meant no survivors. She’d screwed up.
She couldn’t do it again.
But she wasn’t the only person to blame for the failure. She’d known something was bound to go wrong, but Solan had been so sure of his recon that he hadn’t been willing to come up with alternatives to the main plan. She was his partner, not his subordinate, and he needed to acknowledge that.
There was no schedule for the simulations, but she was sure another one was coming soon, and Lena wanted to go into as ready as possible.
“You need to trust me.” Solan was eating his breakfast and had been paying no attention to her. She knew it sounded like it came out of nowhere, but she didn’t care.
“I do,” he insisted.
“Prove it.” She didn’t know how she meant to back that up, and she was saved from coming up with something by the flashing red light over the door. A second later the computer started talking.
“Your mission is to protect the Synnr ambassador during a gala. Reports indicate Apsyn agitators are prepared to assassinate him and any high ranking Synnr in his proximity. You must find the agitators and neutralize them. You have three hours with an additional hour to prep. Your time begins now.”
The voice cut out, and just like the day before dossiers slid out of the wall. Lena was thankful that she now knew how to read the Zulir writing. She didn’t need an extra obstacle when it came to carrying her weight in this partnership.
Solan finished reading first. “We work together, room by room, to clear the building.” He spread out the map of the building they were provided with, tracing over areas they’d need to cover.
Lena had done plenty of protection details in her life and was sure this was a place she could actually be of use. “In my experience we’re looking for a sniper or a bomb. Why would he need to get inside?” Massive destruction, massive casualties. She was too used to dealing with monsters.
But Solan didn’t agree. “Because he needs to make sure the ambassador is a victim. A bomb isn’t exact enough.”
Maybe he had a point. “And the sniper?”
He was shaking his head. “Not Apsyn style. And they’ll be indoors. Sight lines are all off.”
And this whole job just got more complicated. The building was huge and three hours was no time at all. “We should split up. We only have three hours and can cover twice as much ground.” What they needed was a strike team. That would take care of any threats. Of course, it wouldn’t exactly be subtle, and subtlety was needed for this mission.
“I don’t know...” he stared at the map as if it could tell him the secrets of the universe.
“If you trust me, trust me to do my job. We’ll have our comms on the whole time and we have a picture of the suspect. I can do this.” She didn’t want to be following him around like some junior agent fresh out of training. She knew Aorsa wasn’t Earth, but it didn’t mean her experience was useless. She still had the instincts that had been trained into her and the analytical skills that had gotten her far.
He relented. “Very well.” But he didn’t sound happy about it.
When their prep time was up they trekked back to the basement and the simulation came alive around them. Lena looked down at herself and saw her body wrapped in a sleek red dress. Solan was dapper in a long green coat and tight dark pants that left very little to the imagination. Not that she was going to imagine anything, not while they were on the job. They were already in the building since there was nothing about this assignment that said they’d need to infiltrate it.
Solan tapped his ear, reminding her they were connected by comms. Lena nodded back. She went east, he went west, and if they worked fast they could clear the building and find the threat before the ambassador knew he was in any danger.
The building was full of Zulir, with a few humans and other aliens scattered among them. Lena focused on the Zulir. Apsyns were racists—speciesists?—and they wouldn’t think a human or other non-Zulir was smart enough to do the work. She had a picture of the target saved on her communicator, but she remembered exactly what he looked like. It would only call attention to herself if she was checking her comm to confirm his appearance every ten seconds.
Was that him?
She’d cleared three rooms with no luck, but then there was a Zulir standing in the hallway. He was tall with dark hair and green eyes that practically glowed with brightness. He wore an outfit that was just as richly red as her dress and he stared her up and down with open hunger.
He smiled wide enough to show a hint of fang. “You’re radiant. Would you dance with me?” He held out a hand. Distantly, Lena could hear music from the ballroom.
Was this dude for real? Doubt crept in, but he looked so much like the agitator that she couldn’t take the chance. “Can I see some ID?” That hadn’t been the procedure laid out in their dossiers, but the words were programmed deep into Lena’s psyche. It couldn’t hurt, right?
“I beg your pardon?” Whoever the guy was, he didn’t like the question. He straightened until he stood a few inches taller, puffed up like some kind of bird. If his wings had been out they’d probably be threatening her.
He was suspicious. Lena spoke into her comm, soft enough that the suspect wouldn’t be able to hear. “I think I found him. Trying to get ID.”
“What? How?” It was a harsh, disbelieving whisper, as if Lena couldn’t have done her job in the time she had.
“He looks just like our guy,” she insisted. She turned to the suspect. “What’s your name?” She also had a list of approved attendees at this event, so even if she couldn’t see ID, she could cross him off by name alone. It wouldn’t be as thorough, but she needed to either detain him or move on.
The suspect bristled and scowled. “What sort of—”
Screams from the distant ballroom cut him off, and Lena forgot about him, taking off running towards the sound of the chaos. And chaos it was. Lena burst into the ballroom and took in the sight. A group of Zulir clustered in the center of the room, wings out and obscuring her view, but given the parameters of the mission she’d bet her last dollar that was the ambassador.
She didn’t see Solan anywhere and her comm was quiet, but she didn’t worry about that right now. The ambassador was being seen to and there was nothing she could do about that. She scanned the room, looking for anything out of place. And there he was. A Zulir in an unassuming brown coat took off running. He would have blended in with the background if he’d just stayed still.
Lena gave chase, thankful that high heels were not required with Zulir fashion. She jumped and tackled him to the ground, remembering only at the last minute that she could have used her wings. Too late now.
Something stabbed her in the stomach and she looked down to see the hilt of a knife. The simulation went black.
“Mission complete,” said the computer lady. “While the ambassador survived his wounds, Lena succumbed to blood loss before medical services could arrive. Due to her improperly identifying an innocent Synnr, the Apsyn agitator had time to act.”
Lena got to her feet and rubbed at the place she’d been stabbed. It wasn’t real, but the simulation sure made it feel that way. She could still feel the knife and it hurt like it was bruised. “He looked just like the guy! How was I supposed to know?” She didn’t know if yelling at a computer would do anything to solve her problem, but she couldn’t quite face Solan. This failure was completely at her feet. She’d asked Solan to trust her and he must have learned how much of a bad idea that was.
The computer answered. “Apsyns do not touch sentient non-Zulir species unless given no other choice. None would dance with a human.”
Dancing was the clue? That the Zulir had asked her to dance? Were Apsyn spies so bad that they couldn’t hide their bigotry even for ten minutes? Lena trudged up the stairs behind Solan and they both went to the kitchen. He didn’t say anything to her, and Lena wasn’t exactly sure why she’d followed instead of going back to the bedroom to wallow.
Wallowing wasn’t going to fix this. Time was counting down until their training was done. Sure, this was only day three, b
ut the days would be gone before they knew it. She needed to step up and pull her own weight. She was sick of being the weak link in their partnership. “Hey, computer lady.”
“How may I be of assistance?
“Do you have study materials on Zulir culture?” If something as simple as a request to dance could hold so many clues, Lena needed to know everything. She hadn’t been purposefully avoiding learning, but she also hadn’t put her mind to it. Until now.
“I will prepare a study packet.”
She caught a smile on Solan’s face and knew it was for her a minute later, when he placed a plate heaping with food down in front of her. Lena ate gratefully for a while before speaking. “I’m sorry for messing up.” Her screwups had gotten them here; she wasn’t going to keep messing up and get them fired.
She wasn’t the only one with an apology on her lips. “I’m sorry for expecting you to understand intricacies of a brand new culture. And for not listening to you on the first mission.”
They might have been fated to be perfect partners, but they needed to find a way to make that partnership click. “We need to work on our communication.”
“We do,” he agreed.
She held up a spoonful of her food with a smile. “This is a start.”
“I suppose it is.” She liked the way he smiled just then. Like he believed they could actually make this work.
They ate in silence for several moments. Then Lena heard a click like a lock engaging. She jerked her head towards the door and saw the red light lit up. She pushed her food away just as water began rushing into the room.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SOLAN FROZE FOR HALF a second, unable to believe that they were being dumped into another challenge so soon after their last failure. He wanted to curse and complain, but the water was already up to his ankles and they couldn’t afford a third failure in a row. Lena looked just as unbelieving as him and ready to shoot fire from her eyes, or her spark from her hands.
