Diplomatic Agent (The Empress' Spy Book 4)

by S. E. Weir

As she gathered everything and left, Phina glanced around, disappointed that nothing had come up on her mental scans.

  She had a lot more scanning to do to find this traitor.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base, Training Room

  The clash of steel echoed around Phina and Jack as they fought; swords, wrists, and feet whirling. Phina focused all her attention on Jack, his movement, and the angle of the blade coming toward her.

  She had been training with hard composite practice blades since she’d begun learning weeks ago. This had been the first time Jack had allowed her to use the real thing, and she didn’t want to accidentally hurt him or herself because she wasn’t paying attention.

  Since Phina also had to maintain near--human speed and reflexes, she had to be careful to let strikes almost get through but not quite so her abilities wouldn’t become apparent.

  Phina hadn’t realized how frustrating it could be to hold herself back. She felt certain there was a lesson in there somewhere, but she didn’t feel like finding it.

  Jack had drilled her with the eight potential angles of attack and their blocks over the past weeks until she felt like she could do them in her sleep. He didn’t care that she had near-perfect recall and could mimic most things she saw. He told her at the beginning that she would follow his instructions exactly and not deviate from them.

  In her head, she began to call him Captain Hardass to Shaw’s Sergeant since he was even stricter than Shaw, which said something about both of them.

  Not that she would ever explain it to their faces.

  Jack brought his weapon up and around, then swung down as if to slice her shoulder. She guided the strike away and pushed as her sword slid along the other blade. She lifted her hands to complete the block and flicked her wrists to rest the tip at her teacher’s neck.

  She held her position as the beta agent realized his predicament. He nodded as he stepped back. “Very good.” He studied her as she moved back to a guard position.

  He moved to the side, put his sword down, and picked up two practice blades the length of short swords. “Instead of continuing on katanas when you are making great progress, why don’t we begin working with dual swords?”

  Phina’s eyes lit up as she moved to the side to grab two practice blades and returned to the middle of the floor. She held them up, swinging them to get used to their weight. With her enhancements, she barely noticed the pull on her muscles so she could work with them for longer than others. However, the weight and balance would affect her swings and how comfortable she felt using them.

  “Good.” Jack nodded as he observed her movements. “The more familiar you are with them, the easier they will be. It’s quite different than using knives and very different than using the katana. The strikes are a blend of both styles, but you have a greater reach than you would with knives.”

  He gestured for her to stop and pay attention as he settled into a forward stance. “Now watch the blades. The strike zones on the body are the same as with the katana. See how I strike only at the side from which the blade is held. Striking from the opposite side leaves your back open to attack. If you attack the right side with your left, your left shoulder and back are open.” He demonstrated the move, then showed failed attempts to correct it. “Your right hand has no way to block, and you won’t be able to withdraw your left blade in time. There are exceptions, but those are advanced moves, and you would only use them if you were fighting several opponents at once.”

  He gestured for her to copy him as he crossed the blades in front of his body. “This is the strongest block since you can use the strength of your whole body to withstand the strike. However, there are disadvantages to it. If your opponent is also fighting with two blades, they could easily slice you with the second while you are blocking the first.” He moved his practice blades through the positions he mentioned, swinging one against her block and the other down and toward her thigh.

  Phina nodded, taking each point and putting them together with other techniques she had learned. She could see how her fighting style would adjust in time.

  “There are still patterns to the strikes and blocks that you make with the dual swords.” He moved to demonstrate, their blades colliding at quarter speed. “Blocking your opponent’s swords becomes a kind of dance.” He sped up his movements, and Phina increased her speed to match him. “Dances are patterns, and so are sword movements. Adequate sword wielders know the patterns. Master sword wielders do not just master the patterns, but are able to use them to create new dances.”

  Jack pushed to full speed, and Phina’s focus narrowed to following the movements of his blades. She kept up with him easily, keeping her responses within human parameters.

  Sliding into that half meditative zone where she was aware of everything around her, Phina continued blocking Jack’s blades and striking back. Just as she felt comfortable and was striking back with more frequency, he began moving his feet.

  Phina’s brain lit up with excitement and interest. She hadn’t realized how complex fighting with two swords could be, but she found the exercise fun. Jack had said fighting with two swords was like a dance, and it was, but it was more than that. It was form and function, systemic and organic. It was sleek and graceful, powerful and beautiful.

  Phina loved it.

  She decided dual swords were her new favorite weapons and wondered how she would be able to carry them on her person with all her other weapons.

  Her awareness zinged to the present and she barely caught a strike aimed at her face. Phina blocked it and stared at Jack.

  Captain Hardass just raised his eyebrows. “Paying attention now?”

  Opening her mouth to respond, Phina stopped when she realized she would only come across as a petulant teenager if she complained. Pressing her lips together, she nodded, then reset herself into the guard position.

  Jack glanced at the screen on the wall displaying the time. “Why don’t we take a break.”

  Phina shook her head. “You don’t need to stop the lesson on my account. I’m used to practicing for hours a day.”

  He squinted in surprise at her comment. “Hours without a break?”

  She shrugged. “Sometimes. Other times we just took water breaks.”

  Only after he gazed at her in speculation did she grow anxious.

  Fudging crumbs.

  How did normal people deal with this stuff? She shook her head, knowing the spaceship to Normalville had left a long time ago. Most of the time, she was all right with that.

  Still, Jack’s reaction reignited her concern about showing how much skill she had and the training she’d had to get there.

  Phina couldn’t help wondering if she had made her biggest mistake in this investigation.

  Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base, Phina’s Room

  I’m telling you, Link, I’ve done surface scans on everyone over the last week. I’ve found nothing even though I’ve checked multiple times a day. The traitor doesn’t seem to be any of the trainees or agents on the base.

  All right. Let’s think this through. Didn’t you tell me that surface scans only let you know what they are thinking about at the current moment?

  Phina sighed as she laid back on her bed. She had changed into her nightclothes and was ready to sleep. Before she rested, she had decided she had to report her progress.

  Or lack thereof.

  Now she regretted not waiting until the next day.

  Yes, sort of. There are two levels of surface scan. One picks up general thoughts and can be done over a widespread crowd. Then there’s going a step deeper. That gives a general assessment of a person’s mental state, current thoughts, and general character. It requires going through everyone one by one. I’ve done both types over the last week. I’m feeling overwhelmed since I haven’t done this many at once before.

  Her head pounded. Sundancer had decided to take a stroll so he could be further away from her “menta
l emanations”—his words.

  Are you going to be all right? Link inquired. Do you need to stop the scans?

  Oh, no. I’ll be okay, Link. I just need to rest. Scans use a lot of energy, and it’s been a concerted effort to scan everyone. When I sleep, I’ll be better connected to the Etheric so the energy can flow more easily. I’ll be fine tomorrow.

  Link’s hesitation came through their mental connection. You won’t go back into a coma, will you?

  No! No, Link, I don’t think that will happen again. I went into a coma because my brain needed to be completely reconfigured to effectively connect to the Etheric after massive depletion. You know, when I almost died.

  Trust me, kid. I have not forgotten a single moment of that day.

  Her throat tightened when she realized how much that event had affected the man. Right. Well, my brain is all configured now. If it helps, think of how I feel now as a bruise or a strain from overuse. The connection is still there and functioning fine. There’s no risk of falling into a coma.

  All right. If you’re sure. Thanks for explaining. Now, what’s your next step?

  Phina sighed and shook her head. The best next step would be deep scans. The best place to search first is in your neighborhood.

  She felt a responding sigh and pang of sorrow from him, but he didn’t comment on it. That makes sense. You eliminate those at the top first and don’t worry about surface scans with them.

  Yup. The only problem is getting close enough.

  You have a plan for that?

  Of course, Phina replied confidently.

  Link snorted and laughed. Love the confidence, kid.

  She turned an eye roll into a glare, making sure to send it his way. It always annoyed the man and made her laugh. Mostly on the inside. Honestly, she didn’t care if he knew she laughed at him.

  Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, my dear. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. It’s damn frustrating not being able to help.

  I will. Goodnight, Link. She sent a wave of affection to him before letting go of the connection.

  Not able to help? Phina didn’t agree with that assessment at all.

  Some nights it felt like Link and Sundancer were the only ones keeping her sane.

  Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base, Upper Levels

  Phina glided through the shadows of the base, exiting into the hangar bay and making her way up the stairs into the upper levels.

  The lights had been set to nighttime minimal and the base was quiet, with almost everyone either sleeping or entertaining guests in their room.

  Well, Phina paused as she recalled one room she had passed. That was one way to describe the passionate, lustful thoughts emanating from those inside.

  She shook the memory off, needing to focus on the here and now. Shade had been brought into the plan, but there could still be people heading back to their rooms if they weren’t staying the night.

  Phina pushed the door open, revealing a short hallway with double doors in front and to the right. She bypassed the door to the mysterious operations room on the right and entered into the upper-level living space that only senior agents and trainers occupied.

  Glancing around the large open area arranged as part-lounge, part-library, she passed through, then peered down the corridor to the left that led to the laundry and workout rooms. Phina listened for a moment, then walked up the stairs in the opposite direction.

  Bypassing the offices and the conference room, she was silent until she reached the double doors of the living quarters. She quietly stepped through but paused when a dark symbol on the wall to her left caught her attention.

  Phina peered closer in the dim light, wondering if she had been wrong. However, there was no mistaking the symbol of the Queen Bitch, a vampire silhouette with long hair.

  She tapped it gently with a finger, reminding herself to bring it up with Link.

  A small lounge opened in front of her, containing a few couches and comfortable chairs. To her left and right stretched the empty corridor that led to the rooms.

  Having done her research, Phina knew where she needed to go.

  Phina listened carefully as she inched along in the shadows of the corridor. Heading right, she stopped at the room at the end of the hall on the left and reached for the mind of Jack Kaiser.

  Thankfully, the man was asleep. She gave him a nudge that would make him sleep deeply for several hours. Plenty of time for her to do her mental deep dive.

  Easing herself in at first, she did the secondary scan that showed the basics about a person. Pride, a certain amount of arrogance, satisfaction in teaching others... There was little she found that surprised her except for a rather large streak of loyalty to Spy Corps, Link, and Bethany Anne.

  Hmm... That alone considerably lessened the chance that Jack could be the traitor. She began the deeper scan, following the process Sundancer had taught her that allowed her to sift through a person’s memories.

  It hadn’t taken her long to grasp the process. What had taken many tries to perfect was the ability to make sense of the memories that she saw and sort through them to find what she needed without getting sucked in. For instance, she now knew everything there was to know about her next-door neighbor’s fetish, knowledge she should get around to scrubbing out of her brain.

  Sorting through Jack’s memories proved to be an intriguing exercise. She hesitated when she discovered his memories of her parents. Phina felt drawn to them, but she reminded herself that it would be an indulgence and not pertinent to the investigation. She compromised by selecting the memories of her parents that Jack’s mind deemed important and copied them into her mind without viewing them.

  Moving on, she flipped through his memories, similarly to shuffling cards and watching them fall one by one. When she reached the memories of the last nine years, every so often she noticed a gray space, as if the memory was incomplete or had been erased. The timing between them was inconsistent, but it felt the same every time.

  She tried poking at one of the gaps, but it felt like she was searching for a mirror with a blindfold on.

  Huh. That was interesting and caused a good deal of speculation, but aside from those strange gray sections, she didn’t find anything of concern.

  Phina thought about what her findings meant as she withdrew. She shook her head and blinked, then reached for her tablet.

  A gun appeared in her line of vision, causing her to freeze.

  Fudgesicles.

  I tried to warn you, Shade apologized. You didn’t hear me.

  Phina turned and saw it was Masha holding the gun, her eyebrows raised questioningly. She put her finger to her lips and waved the gun to direct Phina to walk.

  Phina could have taken it from her, but she hoped that Masha putting her finger to her lips meant something good, like she wanted to go somewhere private to talk it out.

  Then again, it could also mean she didn’t want to have to carry Phina’s body after she killed her.

  Knowing she probably wouldn’t die from a gunshot wound, except perhaps to her brain— a theory she didn’t want to test for obvious reasons—convinced Phina to follow, and trust that Masha would at the least take her to Link since she was his recruit.

  Unless Masha was the spy.

  Fudging crumbs in a bucket. Please don’t let Masha be the spy.

  Phina wanted those sparks between Masha and Link to be real. Aside from that, she didn’t want the traitor to be someone she liked.

  “Stop right there,” Masha told her in a low voice.

  Very aware of the woman at her left shoulder, Phina stopped in front of the residence door, which Masha opened without lowering her weapon. The woman gestured for Phina to go in first.

  Stepping in and to the side, Phina waited until the door was shut and the beta agent was standing in front of her with a hard glare and even harder tone.

  “Now, take off that damn mask, Phina, and tell me what the hell you’re doing up here.”

  Phina
blinked in surprise before she remembered Masha was a Wechselbalg with a Were’s keen sense of smell. She slowly raised her hands, then pushed her hooded mask over her head and let it fall behind her.

  Masha had sounded confused, with an undertone of betrayal. Phina scanned the woman as deeply as she could without entering the trance state as she had earlier. It was a quick and dirty way of doing a deep scan, one that lingered in Phina’s head afterward.

  Shaking her head, Masha pressed her lips together before speaking. “Tell me right now what’s going on, or I’m taking this to Greyson.”

  Hah! The woman even called him by his first name, Phina thought happily, then grew sad when she realized Masha had used his cover name.

  Spies had to have such careful lives.

  Thankfully, Phina’s scan told her what she needed to know. She pushed everything she had seen in Masha’s head together and relegated it to that back part of her consciousness that Sundancer had shown her.

  She pinged Shade. I suppose you can see I’ve hit a snag.

  It’s apparent.

  Yes. Would you mind telling me if there’s anyone in the facility near us or anyone who is listening or watching?

  Of course not. I would have notified you.

  I apologize for doubting.

  Your apology isn’t necessary.

  Phina focused on Masha. “I’m running a top-secret mission.”

  The woman appeared nonplussed, a word Phina hadn’t thought she would ever use, but it fit the bewildered astonishment that crossed Masha’s face. “Here? On the base?”

  “Yes.”

  After shaking her head, the beta agent moved over to her couch. Masha placed her gun down next to her and gestured Phina to a chair. “What code?”

  Phina gingerly sat down and inwardly sighed. “Black.”

  The woman’s eyebrows rose. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Deadly. If I didn’t know I could trust you, I wouldn’t be telling you this. Only two other people know, and one of them is the Empress.”

  Masha scoffed. “How do I know I can trust you?”

  She shrugged and suggested. “You can notify the boss man and ask him if he trusts me, but you might want to wait until tomorrow.”