Ignoring the pain and cold, I rose to my feet as Ricko arrived at my cell with two others beside him. Natalie’s stare went straight through me as she stood arms crossed over her chest. Her hunting partner, Justin, kept the weight off his left leg beside her. His gaze met mine with a burning fury behind them.
“Good morning. How’d you sleep?” Ricko asked.
“Like a baby,” I said. “You’ve really outdone yourself with this five-star accommodation, Ricko. The Commander must be so proud of his little protégé.”
“I heard your visit with Dr. Gray didn’t go very well. Not that I expected it to. But you’ll be stuck down here until you start working with her rather than against her. So, it’s your choice.”
“Did you just come down here to tell me what I already know, or have you got something new and exciting to share?”
“I can’t say I’ve missed your attitude. There was a time I found it attractive, but now it’s just immature and pathetic. How long do you think you can play the bitter teenager who’s angry at the world?”
“I’ve gotten this far,” I said.
“And look where you are. Your parents would be proud.”
I lunged towards the bars. “Don’t you dare talk about my parents!”
“Anyway.” He shrugged, ignoring my anger. “I thought some old friends might help remind you of the good times you had at Skywatchers. Then maybe you’ll start talking to Dr. Gray and realise the mistake you’ve made in believing the alien. The alien who left you here to rot while he ran back to his little alien buddies.”
“We aren’t friends,” Justin growled.
“Oh, come on, Justin. Remember the time you asked me out?” I asked.
He narrowed his eyes. “Before I knew you’d kissed alien scum and let him shoot me.”
“If I remember correctly, it was either he shoot you in the leg, or you shoot him in the head.”
“As nice as this reunion is, I have to get back to work,” Ricko said. “I’ve assigned Natalie and Justin to look after you while you stay down here.”
“Lucky me,” I groaned.
“Remember, this is your choice. Either you start talking to Dr. Gray, or you stay down here. We aren’t the bad guys. If you talk to Dr. Gray, you’ll realise that.”
“Of course, you aren’t. The bad guys would lock me in a dark cold dingy cell… oh wait.”
He shook his head. “Natalie will be back shortly with your breakfast.”
The three of them left, Justin making sure he gave me one last nasty look before following Ricko.
As much as I hated to admit it, Ricko was right. There was no way I was going to escape Skywatchers and find Tyson while I was locked away in a cell. My best bet was to pretend I was open to talking to Dr. Gray and getting somewhere where an escape might be possible. Or a rescue if Reece was even trying to save me. I wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t. I’d turned out to be a major pain in his butt.
I wandered back to my mattress and sat, leaning against the wall.
The sound of faint footsteps peaked my hearing, but I didn’t bother to rise. I was too deep in thought, trying to come up with a way to seem as though I was cooperating without raising suspicion about my sudden change in attitude.
“Ky?” Natalie’s voice whispered towards me.
I turned to face her, expecting to find the same absent stare she’d had earlier, but instead her gaze was almost warm.
“I did what you said,” she said.
My eyebrows creased in the middle. “Which was?”
“You were right about everything.”
I moved towards her. “What did you find?”
She gestured towards the camera, and I nodded in understanding.
“There’s your breakfast. Someone will be down shortly to take you to your appointment with Dr. Gray,” she said.
“Thank you,” I replied, wishing I could add, ‘for not shooting me when you had the chance.’
“I know it goes against your nature but try to be nice. She’s your way out of here.” She smiled then turned and left.
I sat back on my mattress, going over the conversation to prove to myself it was in fact real and not some crazy apparition I’d conjured to make myself feel better. Looking to the plate on the ground with toast smothered in what looked like vegemite, I was grateful she’d left me something to show me I hadn’t gone crazy.
When Reece and I had encountered Natalie and Justin in the bushland during our escape, the friendship I’d formed with her had softened her enough for her to let us go. But I hadn’t imagined it ran deep enough to make her question everything we’d been taught.
I ate my toast with vegemite in a daze, staring at the wall across from me. I had an ally. Now I just had to work out how to get along with Dr. Gray so Natalie could help me escape.
“Kylah, time to visit Dr. Gray.”
My eyes flew open at the sudden noise, and I jolted up to find Sebastian and his sidekick standing at the cell’s bars. I wasn’t sure how much sleep I’d gotten, but my body ached and my eyes stung.
“My name’s Ky,” I groaned.
“Your name’s whatever I want it to be,” he said. “Get up and turn around so we can restrain you.”
“That’s right. You two are scared of a seventeen-year-old girl.”
He ignored my comment as I spun and let him cuff my wrists behind me.
He opened the gate and led me into the corridor, the whirr of the surveillance camera filling the room as it followed us. I kept my mouth shut as he led me out of the corridor of cells and to the elevator, remembering Natalie’s words. Play nice. She was putting way too much faith in me.
When we arrived at Dr. Gray’s office, her secretary buzzed through to alert her of our arrival. “Dr. Gray will see you now.”
“Thank you,” Sebastian said.
He guided me into the office and sat me in the chair across from Dr. Gray who looked up with a smile.
“Good morning, Ky.”
“Is it?” I asked, inwardly cringing at already failing my task. Nice, Ky. Play nice.
“I guess it’s a strange statement to make to someone who’s handcuffed. Can we please remove those, Sebastian?”
“But last time…”
“Last time, Ky lured you in here with pretend threats to get out of talking to me. You don’t answer to her. You answer to me.”
“Yes, Dr. Gray.” He unlocked my cuffs and stood by the door.
“I’ll call you if I need you,” she said.
Sebastian shuffled from left to right foot a few times before leaving the room.
“After our last session, I thought I might try a different approach this time around,” she began. “I’ll tell you what I know about you and your situation, and if you feel like I have the wrong information or something needs to be added to the story, let me know. How does that sound?”
“I think I can handle that,” I replied.
“Great. Your file says you were brought to Skywatchers at fifteen after your brother was murdered by aliens. Is this correct?”
“Not entirely.”
“What isn’t true?”
“I came to Skywatchers at fifteen, but my brother wasn’t murdered. Commander Kane and Ricko fabricated a story so I’d join. They wanted to use me to stop my brother from making a direct attack on Skywatchers and what they were doing.”
“And what are they doing?” she asked.
“Killing innocent aliens.” Take it easy, Ky.
“What makes you believe they’re so innocent?” she asked.
The fact no one has ever actually been killed by one. “Reece.”
She looked back at my folder. “Reece was the last rookie assigned to you before you left.”
“Yes. And I didn’t just leave. I was hunted by Skywatchers.”
“Hunted because Reece is in fact an alien who’d been deceiving Skywatchers and feeding the alien’s information about our operations. Is that correct?”
“Yes. And because
they wanted to keep me here so they could use me against my brother.”
“Is this what Reece told you?”
“Yes. And my brother.”
“So, you’ve spoken to your brother, Tyson?”
I remained quiet. I was saying too much already. The line between cooperating and keeping my thoughts to myself was way too thin for my liking.
“I understand Reece told you they were trying to stop you because they wanted to keep you, but it says in your file he was being hunted and you were to be brought in for questioning. Wouldn’t that make more sense?”
I drew in a deep breath. “I guess so.”
“Have you thought maybe you’re not important to them because your brother is working with the aliens, but because they’ve trained you and know you’re a great hunter?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged.
“I agree they did the wrong thing in telling you your brother was dead when he was in fact alive. But it’s hard to believe the government would invest so much time and money into a covert project like this if it wasn’t necessary. Do you think maybe Reece and your brother may be misinformed?”
“Possibly.” My brother wouldn’t have given up everything unless he was sure it was the right thing to do.
“I’m not asking you to change your opinion overnight. I’m just asking you to think about what we’ve talked about here today. All of these opinions must be hard to decipher in your head, but Commander Kane and Agent Rickson speak very highly of you and I find it very hard to believe they would use you in some game they’re playing against your brother.”
“I guess so.”
“How about I leave you with that today. You already have so much to think about, but next session I’d really like to delve into things a bit deeper if you’re comfortable.”
I nodded.
Dr. Gray rose from her chair, and I followed suit. She walked towards me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll work this out, okay?”
Somehow, I didn’t think her idea of working it out was the same as mine.
Chapter Nine
Two more days passed without another visit from Natalie, and I started to think I’d imagined the entire conversation. I hoped Ricko hadn’t caught onto her change of heart when it came to Skywatchers, but as long as I was locked in a cell, I wasn’t any help to anyone. Especially, myself. All I could do was work on gaining Dr. Gray’s trust and hope my opportunity to escape came sooner rather than later. Natalie’s absence meant my meals were being delivered by Justin who refused to do more than grunt and glare at me each time he slid my plate of food unceremoniously across the floor in my direction.
I, of course, would reply with a, ‘thank you so much, Justin. Have a lovely day.’ And that was about all of the entertainment I had during those times locked in my cell. The only time I got to venture out was to talk to Dr. Gray, who insisted I’d been lied to by Reece and insisted she sympathised with my situation. I wanted to ask her the last time she was made to spend her days in a cell, but that wasn’t what Natalie had wanted. Play nice, she’d said. And I’d decided the best way to do that was with short one or two word answers and disingenuous smiles.
After another night of tossing and turning on the hard mattress, Sebastian arrived alone to take me up to Dr. Gray’s office.
Shuffling my way over to the bars, I began to turn around. “Where’s your bestie today?”
“I told him I didn’t need his help. And no need to turn around,” Sebastian said.
“You’re not taking me up to Dr. Gray today?” I asked, surprised at my disappointment. It wasn’t that I liked talking to Dr. Gray, it was just nice breaking up the monotony of staring at brick walls and concrete.
“Dr. Gray has insisted you’re trustworthy enough to visit her without your handcuffs. I told her she shouldn’t trust you, but like I said, she insisted.”
“I promise I’ll behave,” I said.
“Unfortunately, your promises don’t mean much to me. But I promise if you so much as look at me the wrong way, I’ll taser you and shove you back in this cell. Got it?”
“Loud and clear,” I replied.
He gave a slight nod, and the bars slid into the floor in front of me. They were definitely operated from whoever was watching through the camera. Was it Ricko? Or was Commander Kane the one who was really pulling the strings? I wish I’d been a fly on the wall in his office the day he’d realised Reece was an alien, and he discovered I knew the truth about Tyson.
Sebastian led me out of the row of cells and down a corridor towards the elevator. He swiped his card and ushered me inside once the doors slid open.
“I still need you to face the wall,” he instructed.
“Of course. It’s a much better view, anyway.” I turned to stare at my warped reflection.
The elevator began to move, and I chanced a look over my shoulder. Sebastian shot me a glare, and I turned my head back. He was blocking the floor numbers still. Pain in my ass.
Once on level god knows what, he guided me towards Dr. Gray’s office where her receptionist invited me to go straight through. Sebastian didn’t follow. Instead, he sat in the waiting room.
I knocked on the partially opened door.
“Morning, Ky. Come in,” Dr. Gray said in her friendliest voice.
Pushing the door open, I was greeted by her wide smile, and she gestured for me to take a seat opposite her as per usual.
“I hope it was a nicer walk up here today without your hands tied behind your back,” she said.
“Much nicer, thank you.” I just wish the dork you sent down to get me would move his fat head in the elevator.
“If it’s okay with you, I’m going to be recording today’s session for Commander Kane. He wants to listen to the progress we’ve already made,” she said.
“Do I really have a choice?” I said, instantly regretting my words and biting my bottom lip. This being nice business didn’t get any easier.
“Of course, you do. But I think it’d be a good idea. If he’s happy with what he’s hearing, we may be able to get you into a more comfortable living space. How does that sound?”
“A decent bed and a shower would be nice. You must be starting to dread me coming up here I smell so bad.”
“I’ll also have a talk to him about your hygiene,” she said. “Let’s get started then.” She pressed a button on a small black box sitting in front of her. “This is Dr. Gray talking with Kylah Forester. Kylah, yesterday we agreed hearing your brother was alive and not dead as you’d been told is what created all of the doubts you’ve had about Skywatchers. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“And the information, accompanied with the relationship you’d developed with Reece, is what made you believe Skywatchers was manipulating and deceiving you, and that’s why you left. Is that correct?”
“It is.”
“When did you realise Reece was in fact an alien and not human?” she asked.
‘I was just as blind as Skywatchers.’ I wanted to say. But instead, I decided telling the truth couldn’t hurt. “Every time we’d been out in the field, we’d missed our target, but in training he was a straight shooter and focused. The last mission we went out on, he ‘accidentally’ knocked me over, alerting the alien to our presence, and I realised he’d been screwing up our missions and lying to me. That’s when I turned my weapon on him and demanded he tell me the truth.”
“And he responded by telling you about your brother being alive and said Skywatchers were the bad guys.”
“Exactly.”
“But now we’ve had our sessions, what do you believe?” she asked.
“I think he was just trying to save his ass. He knew I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him. The only card he could play was my brother being alive. I was just stupid enough to listen.”
“I can only imagine it was a very confusing and confronting moment for you,” she said.
“It was. It made me question everything.” I sw
allowed hard at the honesty in my confession. That day, my whole world turned on its axis, and nothing had been right since. I couldn’t help wondering what my life would be like if I still didn’t know. If Reece had never come to Skywatchers. Would I have eventually made friends with Natalie, anyway? Would I have continued to live blissfully unaware of the true nature of what I was doing?
She smiled at my response. “And what do you believe about Skywatchers now we’ve had our sessions?”
“I know they wouldn’t be here if the government didn’t feel the need to eradicate the aliens that’d invaded our planet. And I’m angry I let a video of my brother derail everything I’ve been taught.”
“Thank you so much, Kylah.” She pressed the button on the device to stop recording. “And we’re done.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“For today. I’ll get this sent to Commander Kane as soon as possible. I think we’ll get a lot more out of our sessions if you get a good night’s sleep in a real bed.”
“Kylah, I’ve been ordered to move you to a more comfortable room.” Sebastian’s voice woke me from a fitful sleep.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up on my mattress. “Do you need to cuff me?”
“No. But I do need to blindfold you, so you don’t know where in the building your room is located. Commander Kane wanted you to understand while you may be getting a more comfortable room, you aren’t to leave it unless you’re accompanied by myself or Agent Rickson.”
“Understood.” I didn’t care. The prospect of a good night’s sleep made being blindfolded well worth it.
He drew a black scarf from his pocket, and the bars sunk into the floor. I rose from the bed so he could place the scarf over my eyes and tie it at the back of my head. He led me clumsily out of the echoing of the corridor of cells, away from the whirr of the camera, and into the lift.
The movement of the lift made my stomach queasy without sight, but soon it stopped, and Sebastian ushered me out. He guided me down what I assumed to be a hallway, a glimpse of grey carpet all I could see through the bottom of my blindfold. He grabbed my shoulders to stop me in place, and a beep sounded before the click of a door. Taking hold of my arms once again, he turned me sideways and guided me through the doorway.
Equinox Page 7
