by Greg Dragon
All because I was willing to do anything to raise my Rating. NORA had used me, and I’d been completely willing to be used.
I gripped my seat, shivering despite the coat I wore. Team Two sat slumped in their seats, fully asleep, their belts the only reason they weren’t sprawled out on the floor in heavy slumber. Semias’s head had fallen completely forward, a long string of drool swaying with the movement of the chopper.
Vance wasn’t with us. He was probably still being interrogated. Two days ago I wouldn’t have worried for him. But now I knew how precarious his situation was. If he was found guilty, would they execute him? Or would they punish his family instead?
Poly sat rigidly next to me, his dark eyes staring at nothing. As the official leader of EPIC and the person who had appointed Vance, Poly was partially accountable for Vance’s actions. I thought back to the conversation I’d overheard on my first full day. I hadn’t done anything to investigate the EPIC leader. Somehow, after today my Rating reconsideration felt further away than ever.
“What will happen to Vance?” I asked Poly.
For a moment I didn’t know if he was ignoring me or if he simply hadn’t heard my question. I opened my mouth to ask again, but his eyes finally focused on me. “I don’t know.”
“He was only protecting me. They’ll give him another chance, right?”
He leaned forward so quickly that I recoiled. “Did a soldier really point a gun at you?”
“I didn’t see it, exactly,” I admitted. “But I felt the blast go past me. What I don’t understand is why the soldiers attacked him afterward.”
He shook his head and sat back wearily. “They were just looking for an excuse. I was a fool. It wasn’t the first time he’s been attacked, although usually it’s his own people who try it.”
“His clan members have fought him?”
Poly gave me a long look. “Don’t worry, he can take care of himself. Well, except for this last time. Must’ve been too many of them.”
Or he was distracted. I remembered how he’d refused to tear his eyes away from me, making sure I was all right. “Why did you choose Vance as your first?”
“You sure have a lot of questions about Vance,” Daymond said from across the way. He lay crooked in his seat with one eye open. I’d forgotten that everyone could hear our conversation through the feed. “All these guys and you like the Integrant. Girls are strange creatures.”
“I just wondered about his loyalty,” I snapped. “How do you guys know he won’t turn on you and save his friends?”
“Vance has captured four times more smugglers than anyone else,” Daymond said. “And most of them were Integrants. If he’s a double agent, he’s not doing a very good job.”
We fell into silence again as the chopper hit a bit of turbulence. I gripped my seat tightly and took a deep, slow breath, trying to keep my mind on our conversation.
Poly had resumed his glassy-eyed stare, so I tilted my head back and tried to clear my thoughts. Finally, sleep came, but with it came dreams of a guy—not the one I’d come to win but the one who had just sacrificed himself to save me.
The one guy in NORA I should never, ever want.
24
It was dark by the time I got back, and both teams were asleep. My body moved sluggishly, and I knew I wouldn’t last long without a little sleep myself, but my thoughts were still sharp. When I walked into the bedroom, I noticed a soft blue glow in the darkness. Semias, shirtless and bleary-eyed, was sitting up in his bed. As soon as he saw me enter, he snapped his techband screen closed, and the light disappeared.
“Didn’t think I’d find you awake,” I said, sitting on my bed to remove my shoes.
“I—uh, suddenly felt really hungry. I was just checking the time.”
I frowned. That didn’t require opening the screen. Surely he knew by now that our communications were blocked. “I think we’ll wait until everyone wakes up before we break out the pills.”
“Sounds good.” Semias lay back down and rolled over to face the wall. Either Semias was really tired or something strange was going on. He’d never passed up a chance to argue before.
“Vance!” Neb sat straight up in bed, and for a moment I thought he was going to come over and hug me. He seemed to think better of it and kept his blanket on. “They set you free! I knew they’d come to their senses.”
“Don’t get too excited. I’m on probation.” The words felt sour in my mouth. They hadn’t believed a single word of my testimony about Treena and the shooter. It didn’t matter. I would discover why Treena had been targeted. Something told me that if I did, the mystery of her Rating would be revealed.
As always, I lay down on my right side, where I had full view of the room. Semias and Neb had gone back to sleep, and the bathroom door was closed tight. With a yawn, I allowed myself to drift into a fitful sleep.
><><><><><><><
“You can’t pretend you’re not hungry,” Semias’s distant voice said, waking me up with a start.
“Poor baby,” Daymond whined.
There was a beeping sound as someone scanned their techband on the pill cupboard’s lock, and then Poly appeared in the doorway. He tossed the pill container to Daymond, who twisted the tube open. Apparently Poly had asked Daymond to distribute breakfast rather than wake me up. That was completely fine with me. I pulled the pillow over my head and tried to drown out the light and noise.
There was some kind of crash followed by yelling. With a moan, I shoved the pillow away and sat up. There were nutrition pills scattered across the floor. The other guys stared wide-eyed at Daymond and Semias, who glared at each other over the mess. Treena had emerged from the bathroom and stood with her arms folded, frowning.
“That was totally you, man,” Semias snapped, getting in Daymond’s face. “You couldn’t walk straight if someone drew a line on the ground.”
“Nice try, Semias,” Daymond said, “but I’m not stupid.” He held the container out, and the guys started scooping up pills and dumping fistfuls back in. “I know what you’re doing. When we count them, I bet there’ll be some missing, and they’ll magically appear in your pocket.”
“Not so.” Semias knelt and collected a few in his palm. “Don’t blame your klutziness on me. See what a good boy I am? One for you,” he said, handing a pill to Ross, who scowled, “and one for you.” He gave one to Treena. She had come closer to help, kneeling a careful distance from Semias. I watched his hand carefully, making sure nothing disappeared down his sleeve. As the pill switched hands, though, I noticed something strange about it. Was it . . . brown?
She wrapped her hand around the pill and muttered a reluctant, “Thank you.”
I stood.
Daymond slammed some pills into the container with a decisive whip of his hand. “I swear, if you ever trip me again, Semias, I’ll break your leg. And maybe the other one too, just for fun.”
Ross swallowed his pill, and Treena had just tilted her head back to down hers when I grabbed her hand.
“Wait.” I swiped the pill out of her hand and sniffed it.
She stared at me. “What’s wrong?”
I leaped to the floor and gathered up a few more, then held them up to the light. “Freeze. All of you. Don’t touch the pills.”
The other guys glanced at each other uncertainly, but they stood and backed away. Semias glared at me. “Why? You want them all to yourself, Vance?”
“This one’s a different color than the others,” I said. “Dark and coarse. It even smells different.”
Poly shook his head from the doorway “Vance, it’s good to have you back, but you’re acting a little paranoid. They’re just nutrition pills.”
My fist was clenched tightly around the offending pill.
“Where did this pill come from?” I asked Semias.
“From the bottle,” he sputtered.
“Then you wouldn’t mind sampling it. Just to make sure it’s safe.”
“I—I already took one. Another
would make me sick.”
“You? Right. You’d take a dozen a day if you could. But no rush.”
Semias glanced at Poly, who looked torn. “I didn’t poison it, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“Good. You won’t mind taking it, then.”
“Vance,” Poly said with a warning tone. “You’re looking for trouble where there’s none.”
I whipped around. “Poly, Semias is on my team. With all due respect, let me handle this one.”
Poly’s jaw tightened, and his dark eyes seared into mine. I refused to drop my gaze. This was too important to give up on, even for a man I respected as much as Poly. Finally he nodded.
“Fates,” Semias grumbled, but his voice seemed higher than usual. “I didn’t do anything wrong. You’re just jealous because I’m a high yellow.”
His defensiveness only strengthened my resolve. “You’re doing an awful lot of talking. How about we stuff that mouth with a poisoned pill and see what happens?”
“Shut up, Vance. I don’t have to prove anything.”
“I’m not leaving until you do.”
“I won’t take the stupid pill!”
“You’ll do it, under your power or mine.”
“You’re crazy, man. Poly, you’re seriously letting him get away with this?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “He is. You have three seconds. Three.”
“I’m not. Taking. The pill.”
“Two. Why? What’ll happen?”
“I don’t know.” Semias’s voice trembled slightly. “The commander only said—” He stopped, then gave a strangled gasp.
Everyone looked at him.
“The commander said what?” Poly growled.
Semias looked like a cornered rabbit. His eyes darted back and forth, his chin set in defiance.
Poly stepped forward and took the pill, then sniffed it. “Without a microscope it’s hard to tell, but from the color and the coarseness of the leaves, I’d guess it’s baneberry. Hard to detect, but it paralyzes the heart. Treena wouldn’t have lasted an hour.”
Everyone looked at Semias. His conviction seemed to waver, and then he finally broke. “The message said to slip it to Treena. But I didn’t know it was poisoned, I swear. For all I knew, it just had extra caffeine or something.”
For a few seconds the guys gaped at each other. Treena’s face had turned a sickly shade of white.
“Semias,” I said, “as long as I’m around, you will not succeed with that order.”
“I can’t believe it,” Poly muttered, still staring at the pill.
Semias stood taller, glancing at Poly and then back at me. “I know it’s horrible and all, but we all know EPIC is a tough job. We don’t know why we do half the things we’re ordered to do. It’s not our place to question. If the commander wants her dead, he must have a good reason.” He turned to face Treena. “Maybe your little trainee isn’t what you think she is.”
I took a step toward him, my veins pulsing with anger. “We are a division of law enforcement. We’re not assassins, and we certainly don’t murder each other, orders or not.”
Team One must have felt the tension because several heads peeked in from the hallway. They watched us curiously, as if unsure whether to interrupt. Poly motioned for them to stay where they were.
I grabbed Semias’s arms and wrenched them behind his back. He struggled for a moment but stopped when I locked his wrists. “Unfortunately, I can’t let you roam free now. Not as long as you’re willing to sell us out.”
He gritted his teeth. “Treena isn’t one of us. I’m telling you, there’s something up with her.”
“Wait.” Treena’s face had turned an angry red. “Let me talk to him for a second.”
I shoved him to his knees so he couldn’t hurt her, then took a step back. She bent over and got right in his face. “You said the commander told you to do it. Why?”
“I don’t—He didn’t tell me why. Just that the orders came from higher up.”
There was a stunned silence. Higher up? There was only one person above a councilman.
“The empress,” Neb breathed.
Daymond grunted. “Why would the empress be after you, Treena?”
She just shook her head, absently fingering the rock necklace that hung from her neck. “I don’t know.”
“When the commander doesn’t hear back from Semias,” Poly said, “he’ll know the attack failed. He’ll just send others. The question is, what do we do with Treena in the meantime?”
I put a hand on her slim shoulder. “Protect her. Despite what Semias says, she’s still a member of our team. But I’ll tell you one thing. If the commander and the empress are desperate enough to secretly murder one of us, it means no one is safe. We can’t rest until we know what’s behind this. From now on we implement a two-person watch, day and night—one from Team One, the other from Team Two. We’ll figure out quickly who our teammates are and who can be too easily bought.” I stared into Semias’s eyes, and his gaze slid to the floor. I could feel Poly’s glare from across the room. I’d never ordered his men around before. Hopefully he agreed that this was necessary.
“What about Semias?” Daymond asked.
“Unfortunately for him, he’s stuck here. But that doesn’t mean he’s entitled to our trust. I think he’s about to get some well-deserved rest.”
“Rest?”
“Definitely.” I felt a wicked smile spread across my face. “Tie him to his bed.”
25
I skipped breakfast. The thought of filling my stomach, even with a pill, made me sick. I’d been centimeters away from death, and Vance had saved me. Again. But this time it hadn’t been a stranger that had tried to take my life, and it definitely couldn’t be written off as an accident.
I was an anomaly in EPIC now. Instead of ignoring me like they had to this point, both EPIC teams stared at me with interest. I could just imagine the crazy stories they were attributing to my past. After several hours of training, I thought the whispers would never end. Vance seemed to sense my need for space and suggested an evening run.
We didn’t talk much as we ran, and it was nearly dark by the time we got back, sore and weary from the events of the last forty-eight hours. Poly offered me a nutrition pill—perfectly normal and from a brand-new tube, he insisted—and I swallowed it with reluctance. It didn’t kill me. I retired to the washroom, checking twice to make sure the door was locked.
Sleep eluded me for close to an hour. Every time I felt myself drifting, Semias’s face came into view. Maybe she’s not what you think she is, he’d said. If Semias believed it, perhaps it wouldn’t be long before the others did as well. Curiosity could quickly turn to accusation, and tolerance to hostility. The empress wanted me dead. Why?
How had things gotten so complicated?
Two days, two murder attempts. I wasn’t safe in EPIC anymore. Vance was kind to protect me, but we’d been lucky so far. Each failed attempt would raise the stakes. Besides, there was nothing holding me here any longer. My deal with the empress was most definitely off.
The white-hot anger simmering below the surface began to cool as doubt clutched at my mind. I had to leave. But where would I go? I wouldn’t make it halfway home before they tracked me down and zapped me for not being where I was supposed to be.
My techband. If only I could get it off . . .
I thought back to Tali’s offer. She’d been wearing hers. But what about the man whose disgusting fingers had tried to shove a pill down my throat? I forced myself to think back, to remember what the room looked like. His breath had been hot against my neck, his hairy arm wet with sweat . . .
No techband. He hadn’t been wearing one that day. Somehow Tali’s group of smugglers could remove them. It was the only way for them to travel without punishment. And if they could do it, I could too. But how could I contact them? Surely they were long gone by now.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A good night’s sleep was all I needed.
Hopefully my life would make sense in the morning.
><><><><><><><
It seemed sleep wasn’t on the agenda because after another hour of restless thought, my techband buzzed. It read:
ALERT:
NATIONAL TRANSMISSION AT 2330. PLEASE STAND BY.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I heard someone say through the door.
I just sighed, washed my face to wake myself up, and opened the door just as someone turned on the bedroom lights. True to his word, Vance had posted two men by my door, Ross and one of Poly’s guys—Kraddock, I think his name was. They’d pulled Semias’s bed up against the wall and sat on it like a bench. Semias lay sprawled out on the floor, bonds still fastened behind his back, his face relaxed in sleep. He looked like a weary child several years younger than he really was. It was hard to believe he’d tried to kill me just hours earlier.
When I emerged, my guards sat taller and watched me cross the room. The only other person standing was Neb. He seemed to have taken it upon himself to wake the others. It wasn’t going well. He grabbed a random shoulder and shook it, getting a halfhearted punch in return.
Vance sat on his still-made bed in his rumpled uniform, staring at nothing. I sat down next to him and leaned closer. “What’s this broadcast about?”
“They haven’t told me anything,” he muttered.
“But you have a suspicion,” I said. “It has something to do with our last mission.”
“An opinion, nothing more. And I hope I’m wrong.”
Someone yelped, and a pillow slammed into the wall beside us, pieces of cotton flying into the air. Vance grabbed it before it fell and tossed it to Neb, who whirled it at Ross’s head. Ross snatched it out of the air and held it just out of reach, sending Neb hurling toward the floor.
Daymond growled. “Touch me again and I will ram this pillow down your throat.”
“Give it a rest,” Poly said. He stood in the doorway, still dressed and looking worried.
All too soon another message came over our techbands as they vibrated in unison. I flipped up the screen, hearing a series of clicks as everyone else did the same. It showed a poised woman, blonde hair pulled into a bun, her makeup displaying a perfect set of high cheekbones and arched eyebrows. Intricate eye tattoos framed her green Rating: 932.
