by R S Penney
“I see…”
“Think about what I said,” Jack suggested. “You start showing people that you're willing to make sacrifices for them, and you might just have a home here.”
As she watched him walk out the door, Keli pondered Jack's words. His pain had drawn her to him. The guilt that radiated from his mind was a source of confusion. From what she had learned of the man, this Leo was nothing short of monstrous. Why not kill him and inflict a little pain as well?
Of course, that was not how Keepers did things, and she was beginning to realize that she had better start embracing some of those misguided Leyrian ideals if she wanted to survive here. Or at the very least, she had better get good at pretending to embrace those misguided Leyrian ideals.
Her plans were in ruins.
She had been willing to flee this planet and return to her own people, but only with Tanaben's assistance. Procuring a shuttle and flying it to Antauran Space would not have been possible without him. But more than that, Ben would have been a bargaining chip. A man with his skills in espionage…Her people might have been willing to cut a deal in exchange for bringing him into the fold.
Now, Ben was dead.
And she was stuck here.
In the empty gymnasium, Keli sat on a bench with her hands clasped in her lap and her eyes fixed on the floor. “So, I remain,” she murmured to herself. “And perhaps it is time to make this Leo regret trapping me here.”
She got up and left the room.
“There.”
Anna pointed with her index finger at a screen of SmartGlass along the office wall, a screen that displayed a top-down image of a green field with a river slithering through it and a castle on the shoreline. Dense forests of conifers sprouted up on either side of the river. “Reganor Keep,” she said. “It's a historical landmark to the Iyrian people, left untouched for centuries.”
In beige pants and a short-sleeved white blouse, she stood before the screen with her arms folded, glowering at the image. “It's big enough; it's in the right area, and there's a low-level jamming field disrupting our sensors.”
She turned.
A plush white couch was positioned against the opposite wall of Larani's office, and Jack sat upon it, hunched over and watching the screen with intense curiosity. “You mean no one noticed the jamming field until now?”
“It's a low-intensity field,” Anna explained. “You won't notice it's there unless you actively try to scan the castle, and who's gonna scan an abandoned castle?”
Larani was standing by her desk with hands clasped behind herself, her mouth a thin line as she studied the map. “Well done,” she said, nodding once. “Assemble a team and go take a closer look.”
Anna nearly jumped when the glass doors slid apart and Keli came marching into the office like a queen moving through her throne room. Moving with smooth grace, the telepath glanced to each of them before fixing her gaze on Anna. “I'd like to join you on this mission,” she said. “I think I can help.”
“You know what we were talking about?”
Keli froze in mid-step, smiled and shook her head playfully. “When you did a fly-by of Ganymede,” she began. “I was able to sense your presence in orbit from beneath the moon's surface. It shouldn't surprise you that I can read your thoughts through walls.”
Restraining her anger was no easy task, but Anna was not going to give this woman the satisfaction of seeing her riled up. If Keli wanted to poke around in her brain…Well, she would just have to find something nasty to think about. Seth was on edge as well. She could feel her symbiont's intense dislike for the thought that someone else might intrude on their Bond. Maybe Nassai really did understand privacy. Or maybe Seth had been with her long enough to develop an appreciation for the concept.
Placing a hand over her heart, Keli looked up at the ceiling with a big grin on her face and giggled. “Relax, Anna,” she said. “Your Nassai makes it so that I can only get a vague impression of what you're thinking. I have to fill in the blanks with a little cautious guesswork.”
“I'm not taking you on another mission,” Anna said. “The last time I put you on my team, you killed two other telepaths.”
“An…” Jack said.
He was sitting forward with his elbows on his knees, his chin resting on the heels of his hands. “Let her come along,” he suggested. “Keli and I had a talk this afternoon, and I think she's ready to be a team player.”
Shooting a glare in his direction, Anna narrowed her eyes. “If I bring her along on this mission,” she began, “and if someone dies needlessly because of it, that's on me. I'm not gonna work with someone I don't trust.”
“I vouch for her,” Jack said.
In response to that, Keli shut her eyes and bowed her head, breathing deeply as if steeling herself for something she didn't want to hear. Or perhaps something she didn't want to say. “My actions have been less than honourable,” she replied. “Jack has helped me to realize that.”
“I see,” Anna mumbled. “Does that mean that you'll avoid lethal force if it isn't absolutely necessary?”
“I will try.”
In the back of Anna's mind, Larani's silhouette stood perfectly still, watching the telepath with a guarded expression. “Perhaps that will be sufficient,” she said. “We don't know what kind of firepower they have waiting for us. Having a telepath along might even the odds a little.”
Anna had to reluctantly concede that point. Reluctantly. A telepath would be able to feel hostile intentions. Keli would sense a squad of well-armed commandos before they came around the next corner. “Speaking of which,” she added. “I think we should bring a team of at least twelve Keepers. For all we know, they have battle drones, Death Spheres and ziarogati guarding that castle.”
“I should be able to manage that,” Larani replied. “I might even be able to get you fifteen, though it would mean that I myself will be joining you on this mission.”
“That should work.”
She was about to say more when Keli turned and looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening when they fell upon the door. “Oh dear,” the telepath whispered. “This should be interesting.”
“What are-”
The doors slid apart to admit a tall man with an impressive physique and sun-kissed bronze skin. He was quite handsome with a strong chin and short black hair that he had combed back, and for some reason, he wore sunglasses inside. “Director Tal,” he grated. “We've never had the pleasure.”
Moving cautiously toward the door, Larani gave him a once-over and then raised an eyebrow. “I'm sorry,” she said. “And you would be-”
“Rajel Aydrius,” the man said without bothering to look at her. In fact, he seemed to be staring at nothing in particular. “Operative Rajel Aydrius, to be precise. I'm one of the three Keepers that your predecessor assigned to the city the city of Trekas on Velezia. I'm truly sorry to interrupt your meeting, but the building's computer was kind enough to tell me that this was where I could find Special Agent Lenai.”
Forcing a small smile, Anna nodded to the man. “Well, that would be me,” she said, stepping forward. “How can I help you?”
Rajel Aydrius turned his head, but his gaze didn't quite fall upon her. His grunt of disapproval spoke volumes, however. “I'd like to know why you decided to undermine my authority and pursue a criminal in the Velezian System without even telling me.”
“I'm sorry, but that's classified. We-”
“Oh, don't give me that bullshit!” He moved forward until he was towering over her, and she suddenly had the urge to punch this guy right in his gob. “We both know my clearance supersedes yours. So, out with it!”
Anna stood with her arms crossed, frowning up at him. “I'm sorry you feel slighted, Operative Aydrius,” she said in a voice dripping with exasperation. “But the fact of the matter is that I don't have to explain myself to you.”
“No…You don't.”
He shifted on the spot to face Larani, his mouth writhing in a sne
er of contempt. “But you do,” he added. “You're the one who assigned that mission; you're the one who broke protocol by refusing to inform local officers. And you will forgive my rudeness, but the last occupant of this office destroyed my confidence in anyone who presumes to lead the Justice Keepers.”
“Oh, I like this guy,” Jack said.
You would.
In the blink of an eye, Jack was on his feet and pacing across the room with a bright smile, shaking his head as he approached Aydrius. “I understand how you feel,” he added. “I have a hard time trusting authority.”
The other man replied with a puzzled frown. “It seems to me every Keeper should feel that way,” he said. “And who are you?”
“Special Agent Jack Hunter.”
To her surprise, Rajel Aydrius grinned and chuckled. “Yes, I've heard of you,” he said. “You've caused no end of trouble for Grecken Slade, which makes you okay in my book, at least.”
Craning her neck to stare at the man with pursed lips, Anna tried and failed to stifle her anger. “And I haven't?” she asked. “If you've heard of him, then you've heard of me. So, why do I get your disrespect?”
“You were the team lead on a mission in my jurisdiction, and you didn't tell me,” Aydrius said. “So, I can only assume that you're either completely ignorant of protocol or you think I can't do my job.”
“Why in Bleakness would I think that?”
Aydrius pinched the arm of his sunglasses with thumb and forefinger and removed them to reveal two glassy eyes that stared outward at nothing at all. “You tell me, Agent Lenai!” he snapped.
Five minutes later, Anna was sitting on a metal chair in the middle of a balcony at the southwest corner of the building, looking out on a city that was sweltering under the late afternoon sun. It was hot, which she found annoying. Not as annoying as Rajel Aydrius's behaviour, but these things had a way of compounding.
A part of her understood the man's frustration. He wasn't the first blind Keeper, not by any stretch of the imagination. In theory, Keepers with a disability were supposed to be treated no differently than anyone else, but it would not surprise her if some of Rajel's supervising officers had been hesitant to send him on more dangerous missions.
That was a mistake, in her opinion. She saw no reason to think that he was any less capable of doing this job than any of her other colleagues. Rajel might employ different methods, but he could achieve the same results.
Of course, there was no way that he could know where Anna Lenai stood, and to some extent, his defensiveness was understandable. But her patience had limits. And she did not take kindly to a perfect stranger storming into a meeting and displaying that kind of aggressive behaviour.
It seemed she was fated to endure more rudeness.
The heavy glass door swung outward, and Rajel stepped onto the balcony, turning his face up to the sun. “It's beautiful,” he said softly. “You spend three years living under a dome, and you forget what it's like to feel real sunlight on your skin.”
“Can I help you with something?”
He turned to face her, wearing a lopsided smile as he chuckled softly. “Larani tells me you're planning a mission to go after Slade's cronies,” he said. “I want to be a part of that mission.”
Anna felt her eyebrows climb upward. “That's gutsy,” she said. “I have to admire the moxie of anyone who will insult a perfect stranger and then say, 'Oh, by the way, I'd like to be on your team.' ”
“I'm sorry you felt insulted.”
“That's not an apology.”
The man shuddered as he inhaled through his nose, then shook his head forcefully. “You're right.” It was clear that admitting as much wasn't easy for him. Seth felt wary, but his opinion of the situation might have been coloured by her own. “Though I have to say you gave as good as you got.”
Looking up at him, Anna squinted. “Let me be straight with you,” she said, rising from her chair. “I don't like men who try to use their physical presence to intimidate me. It didn't work before I Bonded my Nassai, and it certainly doesn't work now.”
“When did I-”
“When you stormed into Larani's office, put yourself right in front of me – so close I could practically feel your breath – and then shouted at me. If you're gonna be a part of my team, I have to trust you implicitly. You pull that crap, and I never will.”
He went red, then lowered his eyes and pressed a hand to the top of his head. “I'm sorry,” he said. “You're right; I shouldn't have done that.”
“You're not Leyrian, are you?”
“No…How could you tell?”
Anna strode across the balcony to the railing, gripping it tightly as she gazed out on the city. A light breeze teased her hair. “You and Jack,” she replied. “You share a similar skepticism about the Justice Keepers as an institution.”
His silhouette was there in her mind's eye, watching her with a guarded expression. “When I was young, I dreamed of being a Keeper,” he said. “But then I learned about all the ways that Slade betrayed his oath. I guess it's left me feeling distrustful. If something seems off to me…”
“I understand.”
They were silent for a little while as she tried to decide how much she trusted this man. Could he work with others? Could he take direction? Technically he outranked her, but Larani had assigned her as team lead for this mission, which meant everybody else, regardless of rank, answered to her.
His hatred of Slade seemed genuine. Anna suspected that she and Rajel shared a few things in common. They had both grown up believing in the nobility of the Justice Keepers, and they both saw Slade's tenure as Chief Director as a blemish on that proud history. So…Could she work with this man?
She turned, looking over her shoulder to study him with narrowed eyes. “You want to be part of the team?” she asked, nodding once. “Talk to Larani. If she clears you, you'll be coming with us on a raid tomorrow.”
Chapter 26
As she peered through the shuttle's canopy window, Anna saw nothing but clear blue skies with thin white clouds drifting past beneath her. At ten thousand metres, the day was clear and bright.
Her console displayed two other shuttles flying in close formation, one to her left and another to her right, each carrying five Justice Keepers as her own vessel did. She did not know everyone who would be joining them on this raid. Larani had selected the officers that she considered to be the most trustworthy from a list of Keepers who weren't in the middle of other assignments.
There was always a small chance that some of those people might be working for Grecken Slade, but that was a risk they had to take. It was certainly better than going up against battle drones with insufficient firepower.
Setting her elbow on the armrest of her seat, Anna clamped a hand over her mouth and squinted through the window. “Not much further,” she muttered to herself. “Another five minutes, and we'll be flying into the thick of it.”
“Melissa's gonna hate us, eh?” Jack said.
Anna swiveled her seat around.
She sat with her hands clasped in her lap, smiling down at herself. “Melissa might hate us for this,” she said with a shrug. “But I agree with Larani. This mission is far too dangerous for a cadet.”
At the port-side console, Jack was reclining with his hands folded behind his head, smiling lazily. “Hey, you'll get no argument from me!” he replied. “But you two can be the ones to explain it to her. Because you know she's gonna be all Kelara about it!”
“A Leyrian reference!” Anna exclaimed. “Your palette is broadening.”
Kelara was a character from one of Anna's favourite series of novels, The Moons of Myria. Most of her story arc throughout the first two books involved Kelara learning to enchant her arrows with magic and attempting spells that were out of her league. Anna still remembered her joy at sharing those books with Jack.
It had been two years ago, while she was still living on Alios. They were lightyears apart, and yet she still wante
d to share every little detail of her life with him. She should have realized then that she loved him.
“I'm very lucky,” she murmured.
“Oh?”
“To be your girlfriend.”
His grin broadened, and then he stood up, bowing his head to her. “I'm lucky too,” he said. “Mystified really…You never really told me what changed. How you went from avoiding me to…” He couldn't finish the sentence. It was clear that just thinking about it saddened him.
“Then maybe it's time I did.”
“I'd like that.”
There was a soft beeping from her console, and she turned around to find a yellow icon flashing on the screen. She tapped it and heard the crackle of static from the comm-unit. “Shuttle One, this is Shuttle Three. Do you copy?”
“We copy.”
“We're not detecting any kind of active scan. But if they have even the most basic proximity sensors, they'll know we're coming. They might know already.”
Grimacing at the thought of Leo preparing some nasty surprise, Anna shook her head. “We're not detecting anything either,” she said. “But you're right. There's a good chance they'll be waiting for us.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Just one,” she said. “Stick to the plan. Prepare for descent.”
With her belt knife balanced between the tips of her index fingers, Cassi observed the room. You could learn a lot about people just by sitting quietly and watching them. The three other people in the shuttle's cabin were all reacting to the impending danger of this mission in slightly different ways.
Keli Armana was pacing back and forth in front of the shuttle's SlipGate, fondling the holstered pistol on her hip. Now there was a woman who wasn't at all used to combat. Killing, yes – Cassi had read the report from Lenai's mission to Antauran Space – but that wasn't the same thing.
Rajel Aydrius sat with his arms folded over the square table, frowning intently at the wall. “Settle down, lady!” he snapped, sparing a glance for Keli. “You're gonna wear yourself out before the fun starts.”