by Zoey Indiana
Tonight, when she went to Bash, she would have to tell him she was returning to base. They could have tonight, but it would be the last. She needed to resume her mission of vengeance against the Sovereign. It had taken everything from her; her mother, her life, her choices. If things had been different, she could spend her days in Bash's arms.
She back flipped off the branch and landed in a crouch. Sprinting through the trees, she headed back to the camp. At the last minute, she caught herself heading to the safe house. That would have been a disaster. Changing course, she headed to her pod. Once inside she stretched then showered. After dressing, she headed to the replicator to get a snack but faltered at the sight of Harper sitting in her front room. She'd met many women over her lifetime, but never one with a name as unique. Someday, she would find out where the name came from, but not today. These transportable housing pods were small but useful. They had two rooms, one for sleeping and personal hygiene, and the other was kitchen living room hybrid.
"What can I do for you?" Faking nonchalance was a skill she'd picked up while in ARI. Nothing made superiors more angry that nonchalance. She walked past Harper and pressed a few buttons on the replicator, and it made a soft hum in response.
"What happened yesterday with Win'Daria? I heard she died a few minutes after I left."
Freya shrugged. "Looked like she had a heart attack." She wasn't about to tell Harper the truth.
"Is that so? I ran a bioscan on her afterwards, there were no signs of a heart attack."
"I'm not a medic." Harper was usually friendly and easy going. It wasn't like her to interrogate someone.
"Because I think you did something to her." Harper's arms crossed as she stood there glaring at Freya.
"I didn't even touch her, how could I have done anything to her?" Freya grabbed her lunch and sat at the table.
"You could have poisoned her, injected something into her while you attacked her." Harper walked to the other side of the table, back into Freya's line of sight. "Rumor has it you have ways to make things happen, even if you don't touch someone." Freya clenched her teeth. How had she figured that out? To her knowledge, only Nova and Bash knew about her telekinesis, and neither of them would have told Harper.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Controlling herself, she took a bite of her lunch without looking up at Harper.
"Yes you do, tell me how you made her heart stop without touching her."
"I didn't do anything to Win'Daria." The lie flowed off her tongue with years of practice.
"Prove it."
Freya set down her fork and casually interlocked her fingers as she looked up at Harper. "How do I prove that I didn't do something that is impossible to do?"
"It's not impossible if you're telekinetic." Her knife was out and she had Harper against the wall before she could blink. Except something didn't feel right. While her hand was where Harper's neck appeared to be, what she felt didn't match.
Despite the confusion, she opened her mind to read Harper. There was complete silence just like when she was with Major Tas'Ki. She frowned as she pulled back.
"What the hell is this?"
"Pretty neat isn't it?" Harper grinned as she looked down at Freya.
"I don't like it, what are you doing?" She paused for a moment and listened again. This time there was a faint familiar static if she concentrated. "Bash?"
Harper reached into her pocket and disappeared. Freya stepped back and Bash appeared, smiling at her. "I haven't found a way to fix that, but unless you touch me or I bump into something, you thought I was Harper, didn't you?"
Freya's mind reeled. "Yes I did, how did you recreate her like that?"
Bash gave her a mischievous grin that made parts of her wake up. "Blood sample. Through her genes, I was able to make a holographic clone that can imitate her physically and vocally. I finished it last night." He leaned down and gave her the hottest kiss of her life. "I think I can modify it so that it does hold up to touch, but for now, it's best to pick someone about the same size."
She shook her head at his revelation. This tech could do wonders for the Resistance. They just needed to get the right samples, but that wouldn't be hard. She knew of a facility where they could get steal the samples they needed. Everyone in ARI had to give regular samples. She could use this to disguise herself as someone from the inner circle of the Sovereign. Forget working her way up, all she had to do was walk in.
Full of excitement, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around him. He let out a growl and pinned her to the wall. His hands cupped her ass as he kissed her. She parted her lips as her hands sought out his hard muscles. He boosted her up until she was looking down at him, and her fingers sank into his hair as she pulled him closer to kiss. She couldn't get enough of him. Pulling his shirt up, she tossed it on the floor. The feel of his taut muscles drove her wild.
Bash pulled back and broke their kiss. "Now I can help you take down the Sovereign."
The heat that was building up inside of her turned to ice. "What?"
"With this tech, I can help you infiltrate the Sovereign. No one will know I'm a man. We could both hide our identities."
He leaned in to kiss her but she pulled away. "You're serious? There is no way you can go with me, it's not safe."
"I just told you, no one will know who I am. After a few more tweaks, it will make us unstoppable. Now you don't have to return to the base. We can steal anything we need with this." He held up the device.
"Have you tested it aside from now?"
"No, but I have an idea of where we could test it. You must have learned something from Win'Daria before she died." He looked into her eyes. "By the way, that telekinesis of yours is a bit terrifying."
Chapter 13
Hiro Camp: Bash
"Do you find it ironic that I'm impersonating the woman tasked with dragging me back?" Bash looked at Freya. From the expression on her face, she was having a hard time with his new look.
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response." She walked ahead of him as they headed towards Hiro Camp.
"You just did." Even though he spoke, the voice that came out was much higher than his deep baritone.
"I get that you wanted to get used to how you sound and look, but was it really necessary to," she paused and looked at him then shook her head. "look like Win'Daria all the way to the camp. It's weird."
His high-pitched laugh made him laugh harder. He tried to respond but couldn't catch his breath, and another wave of laughter burst out of him. Freya stopped walking and turned towards him.
"This is supposed to be a stealth mission, and you are laughing loud enough to give away our location. Not to mention, it's really creepy."
"I'm laughing so hard there are tears rolling down my cheeks!" He stopped and dropped onto a fallen tree. The whole purpose of wearing the projection while they hiked to the other camp was to get used to it. Despite wearing Harper's image for a brief time, he still managed to bump into a few things. Listening to someone else's voice instead of his was just too much. "I know, you'll kick me off this operation if I can't hold it together." The fact that it was creepy to Freya made it more fun.
"Are you finished?" She was so adorable with her hands on her hips like that.
"You know I love it when you get bossy." He managed to hold back a laugh as he stood up and walked over to her.
"I just can't with you right now." She rolled her eyes and resumed their path.
"Oh, I promise I'll behave."
He knew she didn't mind his new found humor. Even though she didn't always know how to respond, it never seemed to bother her. He thought about how many things had changed since he first left this camp. Despite the few arguments they had, she was nothing like other women. Deep down in his soul he knew Freya was made for him. Now he had to convince her of that.
"We are coming up on the perimeter." Her voice resumed it's hard tone.
Now was the time to be serious. They had a plan to destroy the cul
t. He reached over and typed a few commands on the arm band he'd created. It let him access and control the handheld in his pocket. After a few commands, the perimeter fizzled out, and they crossed it without any alarms sounding. According to the information Freya had pulled from Win'Daria's mind, there was a mainframe computer in Deja's cabin. Freya waved to him signaling she was leaving him. While he had to locate and upload a virus to the mainframe, she would read the women in the camp for information that he couldn't copy from the mainframe.
A woman walked past him without even acknowledging him. So far, so good. He followed a path he'd walked many times in a different life. Being back here felt surreal. He arrived at Deja's cabin and slipped inside. Now all he had to do was find the where the main frame was. Freya wasn't able to retrieve that information from Win'Daria, or she hadn't known. He ran his fingers along the soft keyboard arm band then typed in a command.
Reading the results of the scan, he located where she kept it. He headed to her bedroom and opened the access panel. Grabbing the handheld, he plugged it into the access port. It would take ninety seconds to download their database. Then another fifteen seconds to upload the virus he'd created. Most of it he'd created on his own, but he'd sought some advice from other hackers in the resistance. This super virus would wipe out all their information, systems, and brick every single piece of tech inside the perimeter.
Information flashed on the screen as it transferred. Something caught his eye, but it disappeared before he could read it. He needed to read this information before he turned it over to Nova. Freedom would be possible after it automatically uploaded this virus, wiped out all of their databases, and Freya set off the charges to destroy the camp. If he was lucky, Deja would be killed and he wouldn't have to watch his back for the rest of his life. At least not from her.
He went over to the door for the red room. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to open the door. The red walls made his stomach twist and his palms began to sweat. Three steps, that's how far he needed to go to put the explosive on the bed from his nightmares. Frozen, he silently screamed at himself to pick up his foot. Seconds passed as he fought to step inside.Sighing, he tossed the charge and it landed on the bed. Closing the door, he reminded himself that this was the first step to a new life.
A sound outside the cabin caught his attention. He turned off the projection of Win'Daria went to investigate fully cloaked. There was nothing around the outside of the cabin. As he headed through the bedroom door, Deja stood looking at the handheld still plugged into the access port. When she reached for it, Bash turned the projection on and cleared his throat.
Deja spun around. "Win, what are you doing here?"
Bash said the first thing that came to his mind. "Just visiting."
"You're supposed to be locating Sar'Bastian." Deja's eyes burned in fury.
He was in trouble, if they discovered who he really was, he'd never escape. Trying to come up with something, he realized he didn't know anything about Win'Daria, let alone how she spoke or her mannerisms.
"I'm trying, but he told the Resistance about us." He liked where he was going with this. "I told Nova that I could infiltrate our camp and would bring proof to show that I was loyal to the cause."
Deja crossed her arms. "So what are you doing in my cabin?"
"It was the only place I could access the mainframe to download some useless information that would work."
"So, in all your infinite wisdom, you weren't able to fabricate something?" Deja clicked her tongue. "You're almost too stupid to be useful. Go back and do your job before I find someone to replace you." On her last word the power went out.
He had to get the handheld back, it was the only source of information now. With the entire system dead, his hacking skills were useless. A memory of Freya's voice popped into his head.
Stealth is always better than a face-to-face fight. If they don't know you are there, then they can't beat you.
Without thinking he turned and ran out of the cabin. As he rounded the corner, he turned off the projection of Win'Daria and stayed in stealth mode. When Deja ran by, he sprinted back into the cabin and ejected the handheld. After putting it securely into his pocket, he ran to the tree where he agreed to meet Freya. Women converged on Deja's cabin. He'd blown their cover when Deja found him. Waiting several minutes, he checked the timer on his armband. She was five minutes late. He had to find Freya, because if they found her first, they would kill her.
Hiro Camp: Freya
Waving to Bash, she signaled she would meet him back at this spot in twenty minutes. She turned on her personal cloaking device and headed off to the center of the village. From Win'Daria's thoughts, she knew Lux, Deja, and Clara were all major players. She sought out thoughts around her until she narrowed in on something interesting. Placing a charge on the ground, she moved towards the thoughts.
Clara was reading over some reports. The current report went into detail about using Bash's DNA to recreate enough genetic material to inseminate someone. While she understood the importance of it, the idea of doing it without his consent set off her anger. She crouched as she moved closer to Clara. Deja had some kind of direct ties to someone of importance in ARI, but she didn't know who. Taking a minute to dig deeper into Clara's mind, she made mental notes of anything that seemed important.
As Freya moved to a new location, her mind wandered to Bash. She hoped that he was safe. He seemed prepared for the task, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. Why did his presence demand a spot in her mind even when he wasn't around her? Was this what people called love? It was frustrating. The only thing that should be on her mind was this mission, but her thoughts drifted back to him. Did he mean it when he'd said he loved her?
Her hand touched the ground as she set another charge. How did he know he loved her? It was all too much to handle right now. Pain pierced through her temple, she had to focus on this mission. Bash's safety was at stake and she couldn't risk that. While she wasn't sure what love was, she knew she didn't want him hurt.
Focusing on thoughts again, she picked up on someone else. Lux was crying to another woman about how much she missed him. Her feelings were hurt because he'd betrayed her. What bullshit. Freya drifted around searching for something important but there was nothing she could find. Lux's mind was chaotic and hard to penetrate further than random words from her current thoughts. Freya tried for a third time to dig in, but something wet on her lip distracted her. A quick brush of her hand revealed blood. She couldn't stay here and waste all her energy on someone like Lux. Setting another charge, she circled around. After setting a few charges, she finally heard something useful.
Deja was headed back to her cabin. Freya attempted to think of a distraction. Checking her timer on her wrist revealed that it was too early for Bash to be finished. There had to be a way to slow Deja down without revealing herself. Looking up, she envisioned a branch falling onto Deja. There was a loud crack, but Deja looked up and jumped back before the branch fell on her. So close. Should have tripped her when she jumped back. Deja stood there for a minute and looked around. Satisfied that it was enough of a distraction, Freya dove into Deja's mind and past her current thoughts.
Before setting up this camp, she'd worked for the Sovereign. She was currently on a special classified mission to research natural procreation. Someone in ARI was conducting unauthorized experiments that relied on viable sperm. The experiments would get everyone involved erased if— She lost the connection as she realized Deja was walking towards her cabin. Sprinting, she tried to get ahead of her. To date, she'd never been able to concentrate hard enough to read past current thoughts and walk. Freya pushed the feelings of inadequacy away and set a charge. Another two meters of sprinting and she was positioned far enough.
The Sovereign was a single mysterious being, not just the organization they worked for. Deja thought it was weird that her sister had never met the being. Freya silently gasped at what she learned. By the time she recovered, it w
as too late. Deja was walking into the cabin. Bash would have to handle the situation like she taught him. Snapping back to the task at hand, she ran through the camp setting the rest of the charges.
When the virus hit the mainframe, it would shut down everything electronic in the village. In case they had someone skilled enough to counter the virus, these charges would blow up any vital tech they relied on. It would also serve as a great distraction if they needed it to escape. All the lights went out around her. It took her another minute to set the rest of the charges.
She held the last two in her hand. The perfect place for them popped into her mind as she ran back to the meeting place. Making a quick detour, she watched as Clara looked around the small building trying to turn on the power. Eventually she left and walked in the direction that Deja had gone. Now that she was out of the way, Freya set the two charges so they would take out any results from the study and the DNA storage.
Sprinting out of the room, she headed towards the tree where Bash should be waiting. She dodged around a corner and crashed into an invisible wall. Gasping for air, she braced herself against the wall. Bash suddenly appeared and looked around.
Reaching up, she pressed the button to uncloak. "You need to cloak yourself."
Bash tapped on his arm band, but nothing happened. Looking down, he frowned. "I think you damaged it when you crashed into me."
"We don't have time for this, let's go." Shouting got louder as they turned and ran towards the perimeter. Knowing that Bash couldn't run as fast, she kept pace with him. She reached for her handheld and pressed the button that detonated all the charges she placed. Her footing became unstable as the blast threw off her balance. Right before she fell, a strong arm grabbed the back of her shirt and held her up. In this moment, being with him felt right. As they crossed the perimeter, Bash stopped and knelt by the control box.
"Stop messing with that. I bought us some time, but we need to get out of here before they catch up to us."
