Operation Hydra

by Cyndi Friberg

  After a deep drink, she looked him right in the eyes. “Then you’re the only good guy I’ve ever known.”

  Chapter Five

  Hydran looked up from the security grid as his daughter walked into his office. She stood in front of his desk, hands buried in the pockets of her lab coat. “What is it now?”

  “Rawdon wants out.”

  He leaned forward, folding his hands on his desktop. “I told you this would happen when you married him.”

  “We needed him, Father. If it weren’t for Rawdon, we would never have come this far.”

  “Do you still love him?”

  Her expressive eyes revealed her confusion. Did she think him incapable of understanding such feelings? Did she really comprehend so little? Operation Hydra had been founded on love.

  “That’s between Rawdon and me,” she said.

  “Well, his desire to resign is not. He has top-level security clearance. Am I just to let him walk away?”

  She fidgeted, avoiding his gaze. Obviously she still loved him.

  “He signed the contract.” Her voice broke and she finally looked at him. “He will keep our secrets.”

  “Don’t be naïve. You know the options. I’ll let you choose.”

  * * *

  “Is this ship armed?” Krysta asked sharply.

  Tapping her foot restlessly, she ignored the escalating urge to shake Trey. This was driving her crazy. How could he sit in the cluttered little office calmly compiling facts? Didn’t he understand how long they’d suffered? What they’d been made to endure?

  “Yes. Why do you ask?”

  “Why are we sitting here?” She scooted to the edge of her chair. “Lock your weapons on Hydran, blow his com-center to kingdom come and evacuate my people.”

  He reached for her hand. She snatched it away. Suspicion slammed into Krysta. Clutching her hands into fists, she felt her nails bite into her palms. Was all this an elaborate setup? Had he resisted her sexual distress only to earn her trust?

  “If it were that simple,” he said, “we’d have done so the day we arrived.”

  “It’s exactly that simple.”

  He leaned toward her, nearly spanning the workstation separating them. “Hydran’s security grid not only detects Mystic energy, it neutralizes it. We need to understand—”

  “Why are you twiddling your thumbs?”

  “This technology can be used as a powerful weapon against my people. We know he’s being funded by one of Earth’s five military powers. We need to know—”

  “Won’t it be easier to find out with Hydran in custody?”

  “These elite programs—”

  “What about them?”

  “Stop interrupting me! I hate to be interrupted.”

  “Ward D. You think the elite programs are military.” That meant Saebin had been inducted into some elite military… No, he had to be wrong. Kind, gentle Saebin? It was impossible.

  “Tell me about the vision. Did you see anything that can help us?”

  Why should she tell him? How did she know she wasn’t playing right in to Hydran’s hands? She closed her eyes and expelled her breath in a long, weary sigh. What choice did she have?

  “I can tell you every detail of what I saw and it won’t unravel the prophecy.” Opening her eyes again, she searched his unusual features. What was he hiding behind those expressionless eyes? “It’s more complicated than spoken words and images. There’s a whole level of communication, of comprehension that is almost impossible to describe.”

  “Will you try?”

  “Only after you… I know you’re still lying to me. I don’t understand why. But until you trust me, I’ll reveal only what you need to know.”

  “Fine, I’ll take you back to The Center and ask for Belle.” She flew around the workstation as he knew she would. He stood and caught her swinging arms before she landed a blow. “This cannot be a power struggle. We work together or not at all!”

  “You provoked me.”

  “Yes, to prove a point. You’re hotheaded and reckless.” He shoved her back. “All this fiery spirit isn’t going to accomplish anything without direction.”

  “And you’re going to direct me?”

  “This isn’t a competition. Stop being so difficult. Tell me about the vision or don’t. I intend to liberate The Center with or without your cooperation.” He sat and raked his hair with both hands, releasing an exasperated breath. “You have good reason to be wary. I understand why you don’t trust me, but I need your help. And whether or not you’re ready to accept it, you need mine too.”

  She returned to her chair, her expression as frustrated as his. He braced for the next topic. She was going to love this. “I know it’s embarrassing but I need to understand. Why does he give the occupants Libidium? Is it simply a means of control?”

  “Hydran is all about control.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” He sighed, glancing away. “You figured I knew.”

  “Actually I didn’t realize what he’d given me until you went to destroy my clothes. When he gave it to me the first time, he used a mister, like the one he used on Belle.”

  “And this time?”

  “The guards held my head down and he pressed something to the back of my neck. It was absorbed through my skin and into my spine.”

  “Was the effect the same both times?”

  “That’s hard to judge.” An echo of desire shone in her purple eyes before she lowered her lashes. “The first time, I just linked with Belle and she dispersed the drug. This time—you were there.”

  “Is this what started your fascination with the Companion?” he teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

  “The Companion!” She reached across the workstation and grabbed his wrist. “How could I have forgotten what the Companion told me? There’s some sort of a message waiting for me. We have to get to Meditek.”

  * * *

  Krysta’s “resident hell-raiser” title had never felt so cumbersome. The faces of her people flashed through her mind, their expressions resolute, their eyes filled with determination. She couldn’t fail them now. They had never been this close before.

  They looked to her, needed her—and she had never felt so out of control. If she were right, if her prophecy were true, they would finally be free. But one wrong move, one bad decision, and the consequences would be unthinkable.

  She hadn’t campaigned to be their leader but even Hydran’s attitude toward her made the role inevitable. She was different—no, she and Belle were different than the others. From before her birth, twenty-eight minutes before Belle, Krysta had been engineered to be different.

  She’d been ushered from one cage to another all day. This room was even smaller than the cluttered office but it was infinitely more comfortable. Three wide viewports showcased a spectacular section of star-studded sky and the glowing blue Earth below.

  The door hissed, drawing her attention from the starry vista. A man entered the room. To say he walked denigrated the smooth grace with which he moved. Long, pale gray robes rippled around his tall form, adding to the illusion that he floated like a wraith.

  Something long and purest white covered his head, circled his shoulders at an angle and wrapped around his waist. A scarf? No, the elaborate headdress was in fact his hair. Woven into the most intricate pattern she had ever seen, his hair would likely brush the floor were it not circling his body. She consciously dragged her gaze to his face and gasped. Those eyes. She knew those bright green eyes.

  “Vee?” A giddy little shudder accompanied the recognition.

  “Yes, child. I thought we would both be more comfortable without the artifice.”

  “Does he know you’re here?”

  “This is his private study,” Trey said. “I should hope so.”

  She gulped. Trey stood just inside the door and she hadn’t even noticed him. That had to be a first. He stalked across the room. His movements had their own sort of grace, the strong, predatory grace o
f an animal sanctuary cat—a ghost and a lion. She licked her lips to hide her smile. Flanked by two matching chairs, a small sofa awaited her. Vee sat in one chair and Trey took the other.

  “We’ve located Meditek,” Trey informed her without preamble. “It’s deep in the Asian Sector so we’ll have to leave our present orbit.”

  “You don’t sound happy about it.” She brushed impatiently at her bangs.

  “We either lose the ability to continually monitor The Center or someone has to go in the shuttle, which isn’t meant for long-range travel.”

  She fiddled with the sleeve of her uniform, unsure if she was excited or afraid. “How long will it take in the shuttle?”

  “With the necessary stops to recharge the fuel cells, two days there, two days back.”

  Crossing her legs, she tried to ignore the jittery tension building in her belly. “It doesn’t seem wise to pull the ship out of orbit. Who’s going in the shuttle?”

  “As you saw, Vee is able to alter his appearance—”

  Krysta immediately raised her hand but didn’t say a word.

  “I’ve explained what little you told me, and I was hoping you would… Why is your hand in the air?”

  “You hate to be interrupted.”

  Vee laughed so quietly Krysta thought she imagined it until she saw the sparkle in his emerald eyes. He was enjoying the show, not bothering to join the conversation.

  “Clearly you have something to interject,” Trey grumbled.

  “Vee is like me. He has unusual abilities. Doubtless, he emits the frequency.”

  “The frequency?”

  “The security grid. You mentioned it a little while ago. What did you call it—Mystic energy? Mystic energy resonates at a specific frequency. They isolated the frequency range. That’s what triggers the alarms.”

  “Who are they?” Vee asked, his eyes glowing softly. She had apparently piqued his interest.

  “Dr. Stacey and his team. That’s why Hydran lured him away. Hydran needed the technology.”

  “Lured him away?” Trey tapped his fingers against his knee. “You’re not talking about Hydran’s daughter.”

  Krysta shook her head, glancing from Trey’s handsome face to Vee’s intent expression and back again. “No. Corra married Rawdon Stacey a couple years ago. But he’d been with the project for five or six years before that.”

  “And Rawdon Stacey was lured away from Meditek. So you think Hydran would be informed if anyone with Mystic energy walked into Meditek?”

  “Oh, I doubt it would get that far. I think alarms would go off and gates would slam down and who knows where we’d end up.”

  “Then what was your plan?”

  She wasn’t about to admit she didn’t have one. “How many of your crew speak Earthish?”

  “Disqualifying the Mystics, Dro Tar, Al Varellien and me.”

  “Dro Tar is already undercover. Who is Al Varellien?”

  “A very competent communications officer but he has minimal field training.”

  “It is permissible to temporarily relinquish command of your ship to me,” Vee suggested.

  The room all but crackled with Trey’s resistance. Stars above, he didn’t like that idea at all. “It does seem to be the only way,” she softly reinforced.

  “And once we get to Meditek?” Trey flared. “How are we going to get this mysterious package? Don’t you resonate the Mystic frequency?”

  “Surely, you are not afraid—”

  “Not one word,” Trey snapped at Vee. He shot to his feet, his head turning toward Krysta. “Looks like you get your way, sweetheart. Hope you can handle it.”

  She was smart enough not to poke a stick at an angry lion.

  “We leave in the morning. What do you need to be ready?”

  “Just basic provisions and…” She swallowed, almost afraid to ask. “Is Dro Tar on duty?”

  Trey’s eyes narrowed, clearly annoyed. “Why?”

  “It isn’t absolutely essential, but it may make things easier if we have my control module to the Companion.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “The control module works on any Companion. It stores your individual preferences and the progress you’ve made in certain types of games. I saved the coded messages and instructions on my module. A lot of it didn’t make sense then, but once we learn more and it starts making sense, we don’t want to be at the mercy of my memory.”

  “I’ll contact Dro Tar.”

  Pressing her hand to her chest, Krysta collapsed against the back of the sofa as he left the room. Her heart hammered against her palm and she couldn’t help but smile. “What is it with you two? I thought only Hydran had perfected the art of pushing buttons.”

  “Pushing buttons?” Vee’s serene expression remained unchanged.

  “You’re not as immune as you pretend. I felt a surge in your vibration when he ordered you to shut up.”

  His jewel-like eyes narrowed and his face tilted the other direction. “You can sense emotions? I was told you were a healer.”

  Krysta laughed. He was playing dumb. “Look, I felt you in my mind. I know what you are. More importantly, I know how well you do it.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I can’t list your actual abilities but you’re extremely powerful.” The more she tried to explain, the more foolish she felt. She should have left well enough alone. “Hydran has tried to convince me I’m a freak, a biological anomaly. When I felt you in my mind…”

  He moved beside her on the sofa and took her hand lightly between his. “All will be made clear in time. But for now be assured, you are safe.”

  She accepted his statement with a smile but he obviously didn’t understand what she was trying to say. Personal safety was irrelevant so long as Operation Hydra imprisoned her people. Hydran had made her feel diseased, defective. But after her encounter with Vee, Krysta had stopped longing for a cure.

  * * *

  Dro Tar handed Trey a slim black case with a handle on one end and a geometric logo with Earthish lettering The Companion, vs. 6.3.

  “This is a control module?” he asked.

  “Yep. Two of the sweetest old ladies you could ever meet helped me find it. It was almost as if they knew what I was up to and why. Sort of freaked me out.”

  “How did you get it out of The Center?”

  “Please.” She batted her long eyelashes. “I distracted the guard.”

  He set the case beside his chair and tossed back the rest of his Bilarrian ale. It was late. They had the lounge to themselves. While he was still good and surly, he’d contacted Dr. Hydran, told him Krysta was so incapacitated by the Libidium that she hadn’t been much good to him and he intended to shuttle her to a resort until she recuperated. Hydran hadn’t been pleased but he’d agreed to leave Belle in stasis until they returned.

  “You look like hell, if you don’t mind my saying so,” Dro Tar said with a playful smile.

  “And if I mind?”

  “It doesn’t change your face.”

  He rubbed at the crick in his neck. “My face is probably the thing that has changed the least in the past ten cycles.”

  “A lot has changed. But why are the changes bothering you tonight?”

  “I can’t help feeling like I’m rescuing my ruin.”

  She was quiet for a moment and Trey smiled. It took a lot to make Dro Tar thoughtful.

  “That’s a convoluted way of looking at it but I think I get it. Another royal twin was bad enough, but now you have over two hundred refugees to contend with.”

  After a noncommittal sound, he considered her words. He’d been reared from the cradle to step into his father’s august shoes, educated as a diplomat, trained by the most grueling commanders in the City of Tears, and he’d excelled. But when his father retired from the Joint High Council two years ago, the council had voted not to replace him. The House of Aune already had a representative on the High Council, Charlotte, the High Queen. Their unexpected decision had slam
med the door shut on his future, setting him adrift on an ever-changing sea.

  “Charlotte’s abilities have put undue emphasis on people with Mystic power. In my humble opinion.”

  She laughed. “There’s nothing humble about you. You think Krysta and the others will swing the balance even further?”

  “Krysta and Belle and the other two hundred occupants all with Mystic abilities. Yeah, I’m concerned that the changes Charlotte began will be amplified by this new influx.” He shook his head. It wasn’t like him to tie himself in knots, but this entire situation abraded from all directions.

  She unbuttoned the jacket of her orderly uniform and tossed it over a chair. Trey looked at the white logo on her black T-shirt. It either advertised an ancient musical group or a metal manufacturer. He decided not to ask. “How was your first day of work?”

  “Confusing.” She kicked off her boots, dragged one of the other chairs in front of her and propped up her feet. “I was taken on a tour of The Center. The place is really amazing. I’ve been on penal colonies that could learn a thing or two from Dr. Hydran.”

  “But why is a medical program run like a prison? Why is it allowed to go on?”

  “I can hypothesize or I can continue my report.”

  He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Sorry.”

  “When not escorting inmates, oops, I meant occupants from one area to another, the orderlies double as guards so I spent much of my day observing the common areas in each ward.”

  “Did they let you in ward D?”

  “Hardly. Only a select few are allowed anywhere near ward D. I learned lots of fascinating facts however. The world according to Hydran is far different than the world as we know it.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “He has these poor fools believing they have some sort of genetic abnormality. According to the occupants, the purpose of Operation Hydra is to interrupt the cycle of genetic deformity so it doesn’t reoccur in their offspring and ultimately to heal them.”