Hitting the Target

by Evangeline Anderson

  “Out? Over an hour?” She shook her head. “How—?”

  “You were attacked.” Trey’s deep voice was grim. “I’m so sorry, little one—I should have gotten to you sooner. That bastard…”

  “Someone did get to me though—didn’t they? Or maybe I only dreamed it. I must have dreamed it,” Mia said, telling herself it must be true.

  “Dreamed what?” The big Kindred’s voice was wary in the darkness.

  “A…a huge targen,” Mia said slowly. “I dreamed that it killed the man who…who hurt me and then came over to me.” She had a sudden thought. “It was like those big targen-like creatures you were telling me about—the ones from your home planet who get so huge you could ride on them if they let you.” She shook her head. “I must have dreamed that part though—I must have knocked my head on the tree trunk and dreamed it. Didn’t I?”

  She looked up at the big Kindred, whose eyes were glowing faintly in the dark. Slowly, he shook his head.

  “It was no dream, Mia,” he said in a low voice. “I have to tell you something. I have a—”

  “Not a dream?” she interrupted. She could hear her own voice going high and shrill, not wanting to believe him.

  “I’m sorry, little one—I’m afraid not.”

  “But…but…” Mia shook her head, refusing to believe.

  Because if the targen was real, then she realized instinctively, everything else was real too. The attacker who wasn’t just an attacker but also an agent of The EYE. The words he had said to her…the orders he had given in the name of the Commandant…all of it was real. None of it could be wished away or dismissed as the result of a nasty knock on the head.

  It’s true, she thought despairingly, unable to hold on to her disbelief. All of it is true—all of it!

  “Mia? Are you crying?” Trey sounded concerned in the darkness and she became aware that a choked kind of sobbing was coming from her wounded throat. She put a hand to her face and it came away wet. Oh yes, she was crying all right. Crying as though her heart would break and she couldn’t stop herself.

  It was over now—or it would be very soon. Her beautiful pretend life and the pretend love that had become much more real than it had any right to be. Over…all over.

  As she buried her face in Trey’s broad chest and felt his strong, muscular arms wrap around her she knew it was the last time he would hold her like this. And as she sobbed, the words of her attacker—the agent of The EYE—came back to her and echoed in her brain.

  “These orders are from the Commandant himself: Your time here is through. Be prepared for extraction tomorrow. But before you go, you will kill the Kindred.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mia crept out of bed at the lonely hour of the early morning when the night is so dark it seems the sun will never rise again. As she left the bed, Trey stirred in his sleep and turned over, mumbling her name. Mia’s heart ached and she longed to reach out and touch him, to run her hand over his scratchy cheek one more time—but she knew she didn’t dare. She might wake him and she couldn’t afford that right now.

  The agent of The Eye had told her—before the huge targen had killed him—that she would get more in-depth orders from a message on the link-box and she must follow them exactly. Tiptoeing out of the bedroom and closing the door softly behind her, Mia snuck to the living area and called the desk out of the ship’s wall, just as Trey had taught her to do.

  Seating herself on the cold metal bench, she turned on the link-box and watched as the screen hummed to life. Then she clicked on her link-mail, which Trey had set up for her as a way to send and receive messages from friends—though mostly she just got what he called “junk mail” from advertisers wanting to sell her things.

  Scrolling down the list of recent messages, Mia saw one which advertised a free eye exam. There was a sour taste in the back of her throat as she clicked it and was rewarded with a large image of a single eye staring back at her.

  Is your vision cloudy or dim? Are you having trouble seeing important things? Contact us today—we can help you see clearly again!

  And under that, was a link to a new window.

  Trey had warned her never to click the links on junk mail due to the high likelihood of downloading a virus, but Mia clicked on this one anyway, her heart pounding like a drum as she did so.

  At once a new window popped up—a window filled with the Commandant’s face.

  “Hello, Mia my dear,” he purred, grinning at her with those flat, soulless black eyes. “And so, we meet again. How have you been enjoying your little vacation on the wrong side of the Great Barrier?”

  “Commandant, please…I—”

  But the Commandant went on talking, apparently ignoring her interruption. After a moment, Mia realized this was a prerecorded message—not a live feed.

  “I believe we have gotten everything we can from your cohabitation with the Kindred alien now,” he continued. “So you will be extracted at Oh-nine-hundred tomorrow. However, The Eye concludes that the alien is too dangerous to live. He and his kind are trying to subvert Ormyulian society and gain control of the South, whereupon they will set their sights on our glorious Republic next. That cannot be allowed to happen.”

  “That’s not what they want—that’s not it at all,” Mia couldn’t help pleading, even though she knew the Commandant couldn’t actually hear her.

  “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering how in the world you’re going to kill an alien that outweighs and outmasses you so drastically.” An evil smile spread over the Commandant’s liver-colored lips. “Fear not, my dear—we have an easy and elegant solution.”

  Mia listened, feeling like she’d swallowed a fist-sized ball of lead and wondering what in the world she would be expected to do.

  “Sewn into the bottom hem of the dress you were given to wear is a small green capsule,” the Commandant went on relentlessly. You must break it under the Kindred’s nose as he sleeps and wait for him to inhale. The capsule is filled with microgranules of a slow acting poison.” He grinned. “So slow, in fact, that it takes days to work. You’ll be long gone before the alien succumbs—no one will dream of blaming you or the People’s Republic.”

  I’m not going to use it—I’m not going to poison Trey! Mia thought defiantly. If it’s really that slow acting, The EYE won’t know for days that I didn’t give it to him. That will give Neemah and me plenty of time to get away to Beria—or else maybe I can say the poison didn’t work because of Trey’s Kindred constitution. I’ll say he’s too strong or that he told me he has natural immunity to most natural poisons.

  The plan lightened her heart considerably, but the Commandant’s next words sank it like a rock again.

  “Of course, I’m well aware that you might have developed an affection for the big alien—women are foolish that way. It is difficult for you to give your bodies without also giving your hearts.” The Commandant sneered, as though such weakness was contemptable. “So, in case you think you’re in love with him and you’re contemplating disobeying orders, let me caution you against such treasonous thoughts.”

  “I don’t see how you can stop me,” Mia muttered rebelliously, glaring at the screen. Unfortunately, the Commandant had an answer for that as well.

  “Attached to the microgranules of poison are biometric sensors and micro-transmitters. Once the granules reach the stomach lining, the biometric sensors trip and the transmitters relay a signal which comes directly to me, here at The EYE’s headquarters,” he continued smugly. “In this way we will know you have done your job. If the granules fail to implant in the stomach lining and no message is sent, we will know you have failed. And Mia…” He leaned closer, his face filling the small screen ominously. “I think you and I both know that if that is the case, you will not be the only one to suffer.”

  Mia felt a surge of hatred and despair welling up in her. He had her trapped and once again there was no way out. He was forcing her to choose between Trey and Neemah—both of whom she loved mo
re than her own life. What was she going to do?

  On the screen, the Commandant was finishing his orders.

  “Now be a good girl and delete this message as soon as you’re done watching it. Then finish your mission, Mia,” he was ordering sternly. “And don’t forget…you and I have unfinished business when you get home.” He leered at her from the viewscreen and Mia felt sick to her stomach. “I’m looking forward to finishing what we started—I certainly am. If all goes well…” He held up a finger for emphasis, “And, Mia it had better go well—I’ll be seeing you at the headquarters of The EYE by tomorrow night.”

  Tomorrow night, Mia thought, feeling like she might be sick. I’ll be back behind the Great Barrier tomorrow night and then the Commandant will do anything he wants to me.

  She remembered his hot breath on the back of her neck…the rough way he had pawed her breast and twisted her nipple…the feeling of him lifting her skirt and pulling down her panties…

  “Sweet dreams, my dear and remember…” The Commandant pointed a finger at her from the screen. “I’ll be watching. The EYE is always watching.”

  Then the screen went blank and he was gone. Yet somehow, Mia felt he was still there—still staring at her, still planning what he would do to her as soon as he had her in his clutches again.

  Mia put her head in her hands. If only she could wake Trey up and tell him everything and beg him to protect her from the agents of The EYE that were coming for her. If only she hadn’t been born on the wrong side of the wall and had met the big Kindred naturally instead of being forced to seek him out and spy on him.

  If only she didn’t have to go back.

  I wish I didn’t have to go back! I’d rather be dead than go back!

  But it wasn’t her that would end up dead if she didn’t complete her mission and return to the Republic.

  Unbidden, an image of Neemah rose in her mind’s eye…her kindly, wrinkled face with the glasses that were too big for her—they made her eyes look wide and wise. She had taken care of Mia and raised her as her own after Mia’s parents had been taken. Mia remembered the sweet smell of the nettle steep her grandmother always drank and how Neemah had held her and rocked her as she sobbed for her mother and father in the dark days after their arrest when they knew Mama and Papa were never coming back again…

  No—she couldn’t wake Trey up and tell him everything—she couldn’t sacrifice her grandmother, even for him. This burden was hers to bear alone.

  Numbly, she sent the incriminating message to the delete bin and rose from the small desk. Going to the bathroom, she went to the shelf where she’d stored the dirty, torn dress with the red flowers on it and got it down. She didn’t know why she had kept it—she hated it and never wanted to wear it again. Yet somehow, she had been unable to throw it away.

  There was a small sewing kit on another shelf of the bathroom. Mia took the miniature scissors from it and located the small lump in the hem of the dress. Carefully, she cut the stiches that held it in place and then reached in with one finger. She drew out a green pill about the size of a medicine capsule and cupped it in her palm.

  Can’t wait—I have to do this now. If I don’t, I never will and Neemah will be killed!

  Rising mechanically on legs that didn’t feel like hers at all, Mia made her way to the bedroom. She had the deadly capsule cupped in her palm as she came and sat on the side of the bed, beside Trey as he lay sleeping.

  He was conveniently facing towards her and Mia was about to raise the capsule and break it under his nose when she stopped and looked at him—really looked at him.

  The dim golden light from the bathroom poured across the hallway and illuminated the strong planes of his face. His eyelashes—surprisingly long for a man—curled against his high cheekbones and his thick mane was spread on the pillow around his head like a spilled river of gold.

  Mia looked at his lush lips and remembered how he had kissed her…remembered the sweet, loving things he had said to her. She looked at his long, muscular arms—splayed carelessly across the bed—and remembered how it felt to be held by him, how his heart seemed to beat only for her when he drew her close to his big, hard body.

  She remembered how much she loved him.

  “No,” she whispered. “No, I can’t do this to the man I love…I can’t.”

  Trey stirred restlessly at her impassioned words. His eyelids flickered, revealing arcs of gold, but he didn’t wake. He only sighed and shifted slightly closer to Mia, as though even in sleep he wanted to be near her.

  Mia’s heart overflowed for him but then Neemah’s wise, wrinkled and beloved face rose in her mind’s eye again. She remembered the awful stories she’d heard of the torture techniques The EYE had perfected. How they could keep you alive for hours and days and weeks, long after you were wishing to die and begging for death.

  Could she really condemn the grandmother she loved to a death by torture?

  But on the other hand, could she kill the man she loved with slow acting poison?

  Mia sat there frozen, feeling sick and hating herself. The Commandant was forcing her to choose between the two people she loved most in the world—how could she possibly make such a choice? The microgranules had to be implanted in the stomach lining or the Commandant would know she had failed in her mission and Neemah would be killed. But how could she possibly…

  Who said they had to be implanted in Trey’s stomach? whispered a little voice in her head.

  Mia paused, her heart pounding and examined the thought more closely. The Commandant had said that the micro-transmitters would emit a signal as soon as they were implanted in the stomach lining, but it was true, he hadn’t said whose stomach lining they had to be implanted in. Obviously, he meant for her to give the poison to Trey but Mia doubted very much if it was keyed just to him. Which meant…

  Which means I can take it myself and nobody will know the difference until it’s too late, Mia thought.

  Since the Commandant had specified that the capsule contained slow acting poison, she ought to have time to get home and warn her Neemah to go stay in Beria with her friends. And once Mia was dead, she doubted very much if the Commandant would bother to go looking for one old woman who had fled to the coldest place on the planet. He was only using Neemah as leverage over Mia anyway and if Mia was gone, he would have no more use for her grandmother.

  So if I take it myself, both the people I love will live.

  Mia felt a deep sense of relief at the thought. She felt some regret at the thought that she herself would die, but the relief outweighed it easily. She had found a solution—a way out—and she was determined to take it before she lost her nerve.

  Turning her back to Trey, she broke open the deadly green capsule, brought it to her nose, and inhaled deeply.

  The sound of Mia sniffing woke Trey from a thin, troubled sleep. He’d been having a bad dream that someone he loved was in grave danger and there was nothing he could do to save them. When he heard the soft sounds of distress she was making, he understood why he had felt so worried.

  Looking up, he saw that Mia was sitting on the side of the bed, her slender shoulder hunched in apparent misery.

  She must be crying again—poor little female!

  His heart ached for her and he reached out and drew her to him.

  “Mia? Little one?” he asked sleepily. “Did you have a bad dream?” He didn’t want to ask if she had dreamed about the attack—although he considered it more than likely.

  At first Mia stiffened at his touch, but then she turned to him and he saw that her cheeks were streaked with tears.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “A terrible dream—a nightmare. One I can’t seem to wake up from.”

  “Aww, little one…” Trey pulled her to him and she came willingly and cuddled against his chest like a child seeking comfort. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs as she pressed her hot face to his shoulder and let herself go completely.

  Trey held her, running his hands over he
r long black hair, and stroking her shaking back and shoulders. He felt helpless in the face of her pain and angry with himself all over again that he hadn’t gotten to her more quickly. If only the transport had gotten to the station a little sooner…or if only she hadn’t decided to come and meet him at the station…if only…if only…if only…

  “Mia,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry, little one. So damn sorry!”

  “No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” She looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears. “I love you, Trey. I’ll always love you—please believe me.”

  The intensity of her words surprised him—as did the fact that she had admitted aloud that she loved him. Though he had told her he wanted to bond her to him and spend the rest of their lives together, somehow neither of them had spoken of love yet.

  “I love you too, little one,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her wet eyelids. “Forever—for the rest of our lives together, I love you. I swear.”

  But for some reason, his words only made her cry harder. Trey felt impotent sorrow fill him that he couldn’t ease her grief. But he told himself that all he could do was hold her close and let her cry it out. Hold her and try to reassure her that he would protect her from any harm and never let her get hurt again.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Trey was reluctant to leave her and go to the Care Center for work the next day.

  “I can call in,” he said, frowning when Mia protested that she was fine and he should go. “You shouldn’t be alone after what happened yesterday.”

  “You have an important surgery today,” Mia reminded him. “And I’ll be fine—I’ll just stay inside the ship all day. I’ll be safe in here.”

  “But are you sure you want to be alone?” Trey frowned. “After last night…”

  “I was feeling…emotional last night.” Mia lifted her chin. “I’m sorry about that—I’m fine now.”