“They’ll do that,” he said, voice somehow kind. “Like I tried to explain last night,” he spoke carefully, his expression careful too as he obviously tiptoed around the topic, “it’s going to take a while for them to get used to you. You’re unusual,” he pointed out plainly, “but you have to give them a chance. Nobody can make friends instantly,” he added.
She wanted to point out that she wasn’t here to make friends. Instead she shook her head. “Except for you,” she said.
“Sorry?”
“None of the members of crew you have interacted with so far know you, and yet, from their interactions and thoughts, they already adore you.”
Park smiled at the word adore. Then he quickly controlled his expression. “That’s different. I have a reputation. They may not know me directly, but they know me indirectly. For them, you are a complete unknown.”
“Incorrect, I am a stuff up,” she said automatically.
Park gave a half amused frown. “Sorry?”
“The crew I passed in the accommodation deck all thought the same thing – I am the Apollo’s new stuff up. What’s a stuff up?”
Park swallowed carefully. “Ah… never mind.”
“Answer.”
He shot her a look then shrugged. “Fine, a stuff up is somebody who can never get anything right. Statistically, you always have one on large cruisers like the Apollo. It’s an unkind term,” he shrugged again, “but some people aren’t cut out for this life. Maybe they didn’t get the greatest scores in the Academy. Maybe they’re simply not made for space travel.”
She opened her mouth.
Park got there first. He let out a slightly amused chuckle. “Before you point out you had the top scores in every single Academy class and that, fundamentally, you’re made for real space travel,” he said, emphasizing the word real, “you’re preaching to the converted.” He patted his hand on his chest.
“You’re a convert to me?” She was confused.
Park just laughed again.
For some reason… that laugh changed things. When she heard it, she forgot about Park’s ineptitude, if only for a second.
He opened his mouth. Then his eyebrows clunked down. He twisted his head and locked his suddenly wary gaze on the door. “Why haven’t we arrived at the right deck yet? This lift should have taken seconds—”
“I am actively slowing it down,” she pointed out.
Park’s eyebrows practically shot off his face. “Sorry?”
“This is an important conversation. We cannot allow any other members of crew—”
“Speed the lifts back up,” Park spat. “Now.”
“Why? We’re halfway through—”
“Because the engineering scanners are going to pick this up,” he said, exasperated.
She blinked several times and shrugged. “They won’t. But very well.”
Park opened his mouth. She could see it again. His innate frustration at her.
A second later, however, the lifts finally arrived, and the doors opened with a ping.
In an instant, as if a hologram had been transmitted over his face, his expression changed.
Back was the charming Park.
Before he turned and exited the lift, he made direct eye contact. “Never do that again,” he thought at her. “It’s very dangerous.”
It wasn’t. There was a concept he was having difficulty understanding – Vira hadn’t simply been built to fight the Force. She’d also been built to hide from the Coalition, from everyone. When she wanted her activities to be hidden from scanners, she knew exactly how to do that.
Park was obviously being overcautious.
Further evidence that he wasn’t the correct man for this job.
She brushed past him and exited the lift.
“Don’t get too far ahead,” he thought at her.
She toyed with the possibility of breaking into a run. It was a brief thought and one she quickly controlled, and yet it was one she did not understand.
Though she’d had contrary desires to what the Admirals had ordered her to do in the past, this was different. She wanted to do the opposite of what Park was saying because… because why?
To see his expression? To hear his angry, frustrated, overwhelmed thoughts?
There was one lesson that had been drummed into Vira since the day she’d arrived at the Coalition. And yet, it was a lesson they shouldn’t have bothered with. For it was part of her personality and could never change. She must not use her abilities to harm unnecessarily. She must not be cruel. At her heart, she was a peacekeeper, and she should never use her power as a weapon against the innocent.
So she knew it was wrong to rile Park up.
She quickly dismissed the thought and strode down the hallway.
From the mental chatter she was picking up, she could appreciate that the other new security staff were assembling in the room to her left.
She quickly walked toward it and began to connect directly with the door panel to open it.
Somehow Park knew what she was doing. As quickly as he could, he reached forward, locked his eyes on her, and swiped his hand toward the door panel.
He shot her a very meaningful look.
… How had he known what she was about to do?
He looked right at her. “I can’t read your thoughts, Vira. But I don’t need to to figure out what you tend to do when you’re distracted. Now, for the love of God, don’t get distracted in there. Commander Jameson is going to go after you. Plain and simple. Follow my every lead. And,” he thought quickly as they heard several crewmembers heading toward them down the corridor, “keep your wits about you.”
She looked at him, confused.
“We need to figure out if you’re right – and Jameson is just paranoid, or if there’s some far more nefarious reason as to why he permanently keeps mental defenses in place.”
For some strange reason, Vira found herself straightening.
Park took the time to nod at her curtly before the door opened.
They walked in.
Though Vira had gone through many varied, hard training scenarios in her life, she got the feeling whatever would happen next would be new.
Chapter 6
Park
Christ, this was not ideal. Not only had Park stopped Vira from using her thoughts to open the door, but now they would have to go through a shakedown with Commander Jameson. And one look at the man told Park everything he’d suspected was true. Jameson locked his angry gaze on Vira, and it was clear the Commander wanted to pick her apart.
Park couldn’t read people’s minds – though he was getting a heck of a lot better at predicting how Vira would react. He didn’t need to as he gazed around the room and stared at the other new security staff. They flicked their gazes straight over Park and locked them on Vira.
Though Park had to admit that it had been kind of amusing in the elevator when Vira had referred to herself as a stuff up, he could appreciate that she was right. The rest of the crew clearly thought she didn’t deserve to be on board.
Oh, how wrong they were. Park didn’t have the ability to point that out, though.
He stiffened.
“Come to a stop beside me. Stand up straight. Don’t make eye contact unless he starts speaking,” Park thought at her.
Vira did as she was told.
The room they were in was clearly some kind of training facility. It had precious little furniture, and though there were several security consoles on the far wall, the floor was almost completely clear.
There were also sensors and shield emitters embedded in the floor plating.
Before Park’s stomach could kick, he reminded himself of one fact – no biomedical scanner, no matter how advanced, would be able to pierce the veil of Vira’s true form. According to Admiral Forest, Vira possessed the continuous ability to hide herself from detection.
That was a blessing.
Commander Jameson sure wasn’t as he walked in front of the asse
mbled crew and stopped right in front of her.
“Make eye contact. Blink approximately every 10 seconds,” Park commanded her in his mind.
She complied.
Jameson stared at her. It was clearly a move of intimidation, and though it would have worked on most recruits, Vira simply complied with Park’s orders, and stared back, blinking precisely in 10-second intervals.
“Try to look slightly more natural,” Park thought.
She began to slouch.
“Not like that.” Christ, this was impossible. And the training hadn’t even started.
But then, without warning, the training started. Jameson threw himself at Vira.
He wrapped an arm around her back, kicked the back of her legs, and tried to throw her.
Jameson was a big man. He was also quick and clearly highly trained. With that amount of muscle powering down on even the strongest lieutenant, few in the Coalition security division would have a chance.
Vira didn’t budge.
She stood completely still, her back straight, blinking every 10 seconds just like Park had told her to.
Jameson began to struggle.
Everyone else stared in confusion.
“Shit, yield,” Park thought desperately. “Let him throw you off your feet.”
In a snap, she yielded. But Jameson had been using so much damn effort to try to throw her from her feet, that as Vira yielded, Jameson barreled into her. He slammed her against the floor with enough power to shake the plating.
Her head jerked back and struck the metal floor.
And Park’s stomach kicked. It twisted. It felt as if someone had just grabbed their hands around his intestines and tried to squeeze the very life out of him.
He opened his mouth to scream her name, to ask if she was all right.
Then reality kicked in.
She was a goddamn Spacer.
Jameson looked shocked, picked himself up, and locked his gaze on Vira.
She remained precisely where she was.
“Ah, is she okay?” one of the less inhibited security staff asked. “She cracked her head pretty bad.”
“Stand,” Park thought quickly. “And look a little shaky, but don’t appear injured.”
She complied. Her hands jerked around, and her knees buckled, but her expression was completely even.
Not what he meant.
She looked traumatized.
All the assembled security staff looked between themselves as Jameson took a step back. “Lieutenant, are you—”
“Uninjured,” she commented.
She, however, continued to shake.
“Stop shaking,” Park thought as quickly as he could. “Stand straight. Just try to look as normal as you can.”
She complied. Except she didn’t frigging look normal.
Jameson looked thrown. Despite the situation, Park could appreciate that. And he logged it away as important evidence. Park had tried to do some research on Jameson last night – as much as he could through shielded Coalition communication lines to try to figure out exactly who Jameson was. Park hadn’t come up with much, though. Jameson was a career security officer, and he had an impeccable record. He also had a talent for shaking up security systems. He had several commendations on his file for stopping potentially catastrophic events on ships, and everyone was pretty sure he would become an Admiral one day.
As for why a man like him would shield his thoughts every second of every day? Nothing. He hadn’t had a stint in any of the psi cores, and though this wouldn’t be on his record, there was no information to suggest that he had anything to do with the intelligence division.
But this – his pale cheeks and slack brow suggested he hadn’t meant to hit Vira that hard, and he was regretting it.
With a quick move, the Commander brought a hand up, ran it along his jaw, and looked at her seriously. “You need to go to the med bay—”
She shook her head. “I’m uninjured,” she said again simply. “I was surprised by your attack. Next time, I will be ready.”
Momentarily, Jameson looked as if he had no idea how to handle this situation. Then he quickly gained control of himself and cleared his throat. “You should head to the med bay. You hit your head pretty hard.”
Vira opened her mouth.
“Just head to the med bay,” Park thought at her. “It’s a bonus. It will get you out of here before this can get any weirder.”
She cast her gaze toward him momentarily. “Why don’t you simply use your wrist scanner to see if I have a concussion?” she suggested to Jameson.
Park twitched. She’d ignored his order.
Jameson paused, then shrugged. He brought up his wrist device, typed several things into it, waved it close to Vira, then blinked.
“As you can see, I’m fine,” she pointed out. “I am fully capable of finishing this training session. Do you wish to spar with me again?” she added as she brought her arms up, shifted one foot behind her, and took up a defensive position.
It was strong. Okay, Park knew full well she was a Spacer, but to anyone staring at Vira for the first time, they would be able to appreciate that she was highly trained in combat skills.
Maybe Jameson saw this too. He shrugged. “Very well. I apologize for hitting you so hard,” Jameson said.
“No need. An enemy would’ve hit me harder. If you can’t train for realistic scenarios, then you are not training at all,” she pointed out, and Park got the feeling she was repeating something the Admirals had told her time and time again.
… For a second, Park wondered just how hard they’d trained her. Though he wanted to believe they’d used kid gloves on her when it came to modifying her social behaviors, he could bet those gloves would’ve come off in training. She was a super weapon, after all. You couldn’t mollycoddle someone who was meant to go out there and fight the Force.
He found himself paling, if only a little.
Jameson made eye contact with her. He might have been capable of hiding his thoughts, but right then and there, his emotions shone through. It would be clear to anyone that Jameson was reassessing Vira.
Jameson shrugged his shoulders, scratched his chin, and nodded. “Very well. The training session will continue. Lieutenant, try to knock me over. It’s your turn.” He took up his own defensive position.
“It is highly unlikely that someone of my own size would be able to knock you over without the element of surprise,” she said.
“You want me to turn my back?” Jameson suggested.
“No need,” Vira commented.
Park freaked out. “No. Don’t—” he began.
He didn’t get the chance to warn her. He didn’t need to, either.
In a quick set of competent moves that displayed training but not the Spacer beneath, Vira shifted to the side, curled her shoulder, knocked it into Jameson’s shoulder, overbalanced him for a moment, looped an arm around his middle, and knocked him onto his back.
Unlike he’d done with her, she kept that arm around his back, controlling his descent, ensuring he didn’t slam into the unyielding metal floor with too much force.
Vira held him there for the precise allotted time used in regulation Academy combat training classes, then stood, took a step back, and held a hand out to him.
Jameson raised an eyebrow.
Without accepting the hand, he got to his feet.
He pulled down on his training vest. “That will be all, Lieutenant. Take up position,” he added.
She complied.
Park? He just watched.
This situation – which could have potentially turned into a nightmare – had just been salvaged. If Vira had followed Park’s advice and gone to the med bay, she would’ve been the talking point of the security team for the rest of the mission. Now? Everyone – including Jameson – had obviously changed their opinion of her. More than that, Vira hadn’t let her secret out. She looked strong, competent, and from the way she spoke, well-trained.
Park�
��s shoulders deflated slightly.
For the briefest moment, he got the urge to think at her and point out that she’d done a good job. He controlled that urge.
Jameson cleared his throat. “With the changing nature of the Coalition, with the changing nature of the forces lined up against us,” Jameson began, launching into a speech.
Park found himself stiffening on the word forces. It was obviously an innocent choice of words. Jameson would have no way of knowing what the Force was. His security clearance simply wouldn’t allow it. That didn’t stop Park from reacting.
He felt Vira’s gaze slip toward him.
He made eye contact with her.
Though she couldn’t send her thoughts to him, he got the impression that she was attempting to tell Park to calm down.
He wanted to snigger at that. He’d gone into this situation fearing that he would have to control Vira, and now he was the loose string.
Jameson continued. “Now more than ever, we need to ensure that the security division of every single Coalition ship is ready for the unknown,” Jameson’s voice dropped all the way down low on the word unknown. “Forces are aligning against us,” he said, again repeating the word forces. And again, it had the same gut-shaking effect on Park. “And we must be prepared to do whatever we can to bring peace to the Coalition and the other races of the Milky Way,” Jameson added.
It was unusual for anyone in the Coalition higher ups, let alone a security Commander, to talk about bringing peace to the other races of the Milky Way who were outside the dictates of the Coalition. Why bother? The Barbarians and Kor, after all, were usually vehicles of unrest and violence. They were who the Coalition fought against to bring peace, and not races who were ever destined to share that very same peace.
Perhaps it was a slip of the tongue, perhaps Jameson thought differently. And perhaps? That was something Park needed to note. Jameson had shown a little humanity during this training session, but that hadn’t tamed Park’s suspicions much.
Jameson still obviously had a secret.
“We need to be prepared,” Jameson said, and before he finished his sentence, he turned hard on his foot and attacked another random member of the security team. The guy wasn’t ready for it, and Jameson threw him to his back easily.
Vira Episode One Page 9
