by Imogene Nix
She clutched a hand to her chest. Suffocating. Why can’t I breathe?
“Levia?”
“I just… I need…” She shook her head, waiting for the panic to recede. It did. Slowly.
“Hey, you need the medical techs?” The driver didn’t have any knowledge of her fear of them, but she tensed anyway.
“No. The government offices,” Sandon said. He’d known it was all too much for her and had taken control, and she didn’t mind.
* * * *
Her grip had hurt, squeezed the bones in his hands. She was panicking, clear by the quick panting breaths and the way she clutched her chest. Get in and get it done fast.
So he’d given the instructions to the driver and cradled her in his arms.
The vast city reminded him of a jungle of gray buildings. Cordero was the administrative center of the Juran Commonwealth, but the years of war with the Dendarans showed clearly in the built architecture. Here and there, buildings showed the ravages of early bombing raids, when the Dendarans had slipped past the Juran defenses.
Interspersed were new buildings replacing the old. Monoliths commemorating the Jurans’ superiority.
“Tell me about the city, Levia.” He made it an order, knowing she needed to be more than a passive observer.
“I… It’s changed in the last years. It’s… The city is the oldest on Cordero. The building there? That was the hospital where my biological father was sent…” An older building, patched and battered slid past them as she pointed.
“What happened to him?”
Levia frowned. “I don’t know, really. He came home one day after work, then the next, we were told there was an accident. I remember the memorial capsule being prepared. I was seven at the time, so don’t really remember it well.”
He kept up the questioning, rubbing his thumbs in gentle circles over the top of her hand until she stilled.
“What is it?”
“That’s the testing center.” Long lines of older teens stretched out of it, some in groups while others hunched against the wind that had grown in intensity. Sandon narrowed his eyes. “That’s where they…”
“Yeah.”
Scanning the building, he noted the shining dome atop a large, round block edifice. There were no windows, however it was ornately decorated in dark purple and heavy wood. The doors, open wide, were metal and glinted in the dying sunlight. There wasn’t an air of evil about it, yet he’d prefer to see it reduced to rubble for what had been done to Levia there.
At the end of the sweeping road was a large, white structure. Their destination, he concluded, as the driver of their transport angled the vehicle side-on before allowing it to drop to the ground with a tiny thud.
Sandon hurried Levia out, then handed the driver the credit tokens he held his hands out for before ushering her into the building.
“Come on. Let’s get this sorted.”
She nodded and made her way up the steps. At the top, she reached out to open the door, but he stopped her. She’d been silent since passing the testing center and concern welled. “Wait. Levia, remember, you aren’t alone anymore.”
She didn’t turn back to face him, but answered, “I do.”
It wasn’t enough, but if he pushed now, would she retreat? She’d never spoken of love to him as he had. Did she feel anything for him? Did she understand he’d follow her to the pits of hell?
She hadn’t given him any hope for the future, but right now he had her present. With that thought, he followed her to the information center.
The doors opened without a sound. Inside, there was a single desk with two women. “Can I help you?”
“We’re searching for records. The copies held on Kefla III were damaged during an attack on the military depository.” Levia placed both her hands on the desk. “You’ll need my authorization to access them. BC-LE-R-Seven-One-Four.”
The woman blinked then bowed her head. Sandon waited as her fingers flew over the keypad. “Oh. These records are restricted. I’m sorry, but you don’t have the necessary clearances to access them.” Her smile was faint, and Sandon knew Levia wouldn’t accept that answer.
“You don’t seem to understand.” She leaned in and he had to control himself. She’d done this on Kefla and told him about it afterward. He wondered if this was her usual modus operandii. “This man whose file I’m requesting? He’s looking for a weakness in the commonwealth’s armor. All that’s standing between him and what he wants, is me.”
“Well, be that as it may, you still don’t have the clearance—”
“Then find me someone who does.”
“Look Seven-One-Four, you’re just going to have to accept—”
Just as he was about to move, to tell the woman that Levia wasn’t some number on a database, Levia roared. “I don’t have to accept anything. Find me your supervisor, or I’ll come back there and explain why.”
As he placed his hand on her arm, he felt the tension coiling in her muscles. “Levia… Let me try.” When she looked at him, he saw a shadow of what she must have shown the woman before the desk. The woman beside him was hard, like a diamond.
“It’s not your problem.”
He nearly reeled when she said that. It was his problem, because whatever Mayerber was up to, Mayerber would want to remove Levia first. Anger grew. Not his problem? So now she’d reached this point, he was expendable? Dimly, he realized he was reacting badly, but the strain and pressure had built until he felt as if he’d explode soon.
Turning on the ball of his foot, he glared at the woman who now cowered behind her desk. “Get your supervisor.”
“I… uhhh….”
God save me from stupid people. “Do it now.”
She nodded at his command and pressed the communications button.
* * * *
Levia had allowed her anger to get the better of her. Worse, she’d hurt Sandon with a single, careless comment. She’d known the moment she spoke and he’d flinched. The thought rode her hard even as she continued to put her case before the powers in charge of documents.
“Admiral, you have to understand. I need Mayerber’s file so we can defeat him before he gets to Cordero. And yes, I know he’ll be heading here. He has a mission, one we need to end before it starts. Once he’s here, I don’t know that I could take him down. It’s too big and too open. No single point where I could pin him.” It was a hard-to-swallow admission. That she was maybe not equal to their weapon. Their creation.
He watched her in silence. But this was a game she’d played and won many times. So she’d wait until he was unable to stay silent.
Underneath the calm façade though, Levia seethed. Can’t they see? Don’t they have any understanding that this one unit poses a greater threat than an entire squadron of Dendarans?
“If I release this information to you, there could be far reaching effects. Should any of this information be disseminated in public, we would see riots and—”
“And if you don’t, you could see a return to war.” She let the words sink in. Waited a heartbeat longer, then continued. “Millions dead. Cordero under Dendaran control. Admiral, we don’t come here lightly, seeking information without understanding the dangers.”
She reached under the table, seeking Sandon’s hand again. He’d released her when they’d entered this room, and right now, she needed the confidence only he could give her. His hand, when she found it, was cold. He jerked away, but she curled her fingers around his flesh and gripped tight.
“I cannot release the file from the office.”
The admiral is weakening. Maybe she’d made enough of a case? Then again, maybe he was dangling her on a rope. She preferred to hope for the first. “All you have to do is allow me to log in. I can take a download direct, in which case, the file won’t even leave this room.”
Not totally convinced, he scowled. “And what about the questions down the track if I’m asked?”
“Admiral, that’s why you hold that position.
Ours is merely to save the commonwealth from a clear threat. But, at the end of the day, it’s your choice, of course.” Sandon’s words were clear and impactful.
“I need time…”
“The time for thinking has past. You need to act before he gets here.” Sandon cut to the heart of the matter, and Levia stood, pushing away from the seat, suddenly sickened by the pedantic behavior of the man in charge.
“It’s either millions die and those left are placed in servitude, or the threat is neutralized.” She breathed deeply, waiting for the next maneuver.
“Yes, I see.” He swiped a hand over his pale face. “Fine. I’ll log in, then leave you to it.”
Of course, if he left the room they could access records. Any kind of records and he wouldn’t be held accountable if things went wrong. A sour taste filled her mouth. Once again, she was being left to clean up the problem without any support from the government.
At least she wasn’t on her own. A glance at Sandon told her he was watching her. In the last few days, her emotions had changed, become turbulent, and she wanted to ask what he saw in her that made her worth the effort. Instead, she waited until the admiral stood and left the room.
“Come on, we don’t have much time.” She moved, hurrying to the other side of the desk, pulling cords from the tiny instrument pack she wore on her hip. “Sandon, I need to use the direct neural interface.”
He’d seen it before, but she hated reminding him of her not-quite-human status. Without waiting for him to say anything, she dragged the hair away from the tiny port site, slid aside the plate that protected it, and inserted the cord. Then she let the hair swing down to cover her head and plugged directly into the computer.
A tiny hiss escaped as she made connection and the information streamed. Knowing the folder tag was an advantage as she searched for it. “So much information.”
She gave the command for the download, and it began. Levia scanned each file, both amazed and horrified at the details contained within it. As the last file opened, she noted it was the biographical notes.
“Do we need…” The words died away as the information streamed past. One tiny fact imprinted itself in her mind. “Oh God… No, this can’t possibly be true.”
Sandon lunged. “What?”
“He’s… His name. It’s Orton Endrado, not Mayerber. He’s my biological father.”
* * * *
It was strange watching Levia work. Sandon thought he had a handle on what she did and how, but in the blink of an eye, she changed in front of him. They’d managed to secure accommodation nearby, and she downloaded all the information to a screen so he could peruse it as well.
Sandon’s attention was split between the screen and watching her face.
Her face was hard, harsh in the late morning sun.
“Levia?”
She kept scrolling, as if she hadn’t heard him.
“Levia?”
She stilled and turned. “You were calling me.” It wasn’t a question. The machine inside the woman had taken over, and he wasn’t sure just how he felt about that.
“Yeah. We should go get some breakfast before it’s too late.”
The hand that had formed a fist released. “Oh, yes. Sorry. I just… Sometimes it happens like that.”
The real Levia was back, but knowing the other side could kick in… It chilled him. “Does that happen often?”
“Does what happen often?”
“When your other side takes over.”
“Oh.”
“It’s a bit unnerving.”
“I can… I can see how that would be. Yes.”
Sandon wanted to scream when she stepped away. It gave him the impression she was stepping away from so much more than him.
“I don’t think it happens often. Just, sometimes when I’m trying to process large amounts of data, like this, and make tactical decisions. I’m not really even aware of it.” She grimaced. “But it’s another aspect of me that I can’t change. So you either have to accept it, or this...” She waved an unsteady hand around. “...whatever this is between us, can’t work.”
The pain in his gut was back. Either he had to come to terms with that or they were done. He couldn’t contemplate her leaving. Not now. “I can only try.”
A grim smile crept over her face. “Ah. Fine, yes, I’m hungry, let’s go eat.” The lightning quick change of topic disoriented him.
“Levia, you have to—”
“Not now, Sandon. Let’s figure out how to beat Mayerber first, then we can go from there.”
He growled his dissatisfaction but followed her to the door.
In silence, they made their way to the dining room. She looked at the menu and screwed up her face at the options listed. “I wonder if they’d prepare me a Yanian egg? They meet my calorific needs.”
With effort, Sandon smiled. “I’ll join you in that.”
She didn’t respond, and he sighed inwardly. “So, what have you learned about Mayerber?”
Watching Levia jolt upright, he ached to take her hand, but right now she wouldn’t accept any such assistance.
“Apart from the fact he’s my father? A few things. His birth name was Orton Corale.” When Sandon opened his mouth, she grinned. “Names are passed on the maternal side here, so children take the mother’s name, and he would have taken my mother’s name when they were married. He was enhanced in a number of ways. His strength levels were lower than mine when he left Kefla. I rate on the top one percentile, he rated about five. That was a long time ago though. I would imagine that may have changed somewhat. But it was the brain inclusions that seem to have pushed him…” She bit her lip and looked away.
“What?”
“He has a number of the same inclusions I do. I really… I need a look at my own file so I can cross-reference what we have that’s similar. He also undertook a number of the same training scenarios I participated in.”
“So he knows the same things you do?” Sandon leaned back in his seat, considering this information. That likely made Mayerber even more dangerous. Since he was trained so similarly, surely he would then be able to read her reactions and plan according to her actions?
“Yes and no. His rating before they classified him as a poor candidate was quite high, but he was only maybe halfway through their training program. And he probably doesn’t have access to the updated operational files. All instances of combat situations would be found there.”
Levia swiped her hand over her brow, and for a moment, he longed to just pick her up and hold her in his arms. She was under such pressure, and what little support he could offer—and he used the term loosely—revolved around feeding her and ensuring she had someone with her at the meetings.
Sandon Daria, addendum to a warrior-assassin Cybe. Yep, that pretty much summed up his usefulness right now. Stop rolling in self-pity and find a way to help Levia! “So?”
“His tactical training was cut short, as were his weaponry and hand-to-hand. They like to leave that until the end, after we’ve had sufficient time to recover and acquire both dexterity and strength in the enhanced limbs.”
“Do you…” How to ask the next question? The one that had come to him in the middle of the night and kept him from resting. “Do you think he knows who you are?”
Her sudden stillness, the way her mouth formed that ‘O’ and her startled eyes, told him that it hadn’t even occurred to her. “I… I don’t know. It depends on whether anything I’ve done triggers a memory of his life before.”
“Triggers? What do you mean?”
“When they did the initial enhancements, they weren’t as knowledgeable when inserting the circuitry and chips into the brain. His records show that they damaged some receptors in the section where memories are—”
“They damaged his brain?”
“Yes. Unless…” The furrow between her brows returned.
“What?”
“Well, the Dendarans have had him for quite a few years. It’s har
d to know exactly what they’ve done, apart from run their own experiments. I’ve got some contacts I can follow up… But they would have had to reconfigure his chips, which meant getting inside his head. Literally as well as figuratively.”
“Damn it all! So if they have expertise in this area… Levia, if they have, then he knows about you.”
The server came in their direction, weaving her way through the patrons. “Morning! It’s such a lovely day. What can I get for you?” She peered closer at Levia. “Do I know you?”
The one side of Levia’s face blanched. “I…”
His muscles tensed. Was this woman some kind of threat to Levia? He read her badge, Elda Endrado. Someone from her family?
“Levia?” When he said her name, the young woman in front of them frowned and peered closer.
“Your name is Levia? That was my sister’s name. She’s passed now…”
Levia’s eyes were wide with shock, and her mouth trembled. Panic and fear rolled off her in waves while his gut lurched. What could he do to ease her pain?
“I…” Then she was up, pushing away from the table as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I… I need to be somewhere.”
* * * *
Sandon found Levia in their room, smears of her theatrical makeup on her hands while she hunched at the end of the bed. “Why now? When I’m finally starting to get some peace. It’s… It’s not fair.”
Her broken words jabbed at him like sharp splinters of glass, cutting through him.
“I didn’t…” He’d never before felt so helpless.
She looked like a broken doll, her shoulders heaving, and the sounds that erupted from her throat, no matter how hard she tried to contain them, shredded his mind.
Everything he touched—everything he did for her, ended in ashes. Immaterial of how well intentioned his actions were. This is the biggest mess up of my life!
“Levia?”
“I need some time alone, Sandon. Please.”
He nodded. Whatever they’d had was gone. She was pushing him away, as if she didn’t feel the connection between them. He couldn’t blame her though. Once more, he’d made the mistake of thinking he knew best and it ended in a tangle. Sandon didn’t know how to fix it.
