by Stephanie
I thrust myself to the other side of the chair before I can stop myself.
The commander roars with laughter. “I’ve got to bring visitors here more often. Come, Cynthia. Stop scaring our guest.”
The leopard purrs a dissatisfied growl, then morphs, shrinking as her tawny fur changes from black spots to an array of bright emerald and ruby feathers. The large feline takes to the air as a parrot, swoops around the taxidermy mounts, and then lands on the commander’s shoulder.
I gape at her, trying to calm my too-fast heart. She’s a shapeshifting beastie.
Commander Rick offers her a bit of fruit from a glazed bowl on his desk before returning his attention to me. “Let us discuss your potential promotion.”
I nod quickly, not trusting myself to speak. Though Lady Winters kept beasts around for security, she preferred people. People she could control. Beasts she could not.
Especially beasts that could shapeshift into leopards.
“While I have heard about your endeavors from Lady Salazar and Lady Winters,” Commander Rick continues, “I would like to hear your version of events. You were training to be a programmer at the University of St. Petersburg in Russia, correct?”
That was the original plan, before I discovered I had powers. “My qualifications test showed computer technology to be my strong point, so that’s the field I majored in,” I tell him.
“Did you have any plans after that?”
I shake my head. “Just to do my best in class, prove that I was efficient, and then see what assignment I received.”
The commander takes a slow drawl from the pipe and blows out a thin stream of sweet-smelling smoke. “You didn’t plan on staying in the Russian Community?”
I wriggle my fingers against my knees to keep from fiddling with my efficiency charm. “I planned on going wherever I was needed, be it Russia, North America, or Europe. Didn’t really matter to me.” I shrug, trying to relax by acting calm. “I wanted to keep my options open for the best possible assignment.”
That was all I could hope for. The Community promises we’ll have jobs that are suited to the efficiency of the society. The more flexible we are, the more likely we are to get a job we like, and the better our skills can be put to use. Granted, those with powers don’t get the same deal, but that’s largely Lady Winters’ fault.
Commander Rick looks at me skeptically. “Do you realize that you outdid my best agents in the field when you fled the Community?”
I lick my lips. At the time, I’d been trying to evade Special Forces. The techno sight agent in question had been miffed—to say the least—when I joined him later on the Legion Spore project. His stay on the project was alarmingly short-lived. Given Lady Winters’ reputation, I don’t want to know what happened to him.
“Timothy, why did you flee the Community?” The commander’s forehead knots in some mixture of concern and curiosity. I know he’s seen my thoughts, but he must want the details. He acknowledges my suspicion with a nod.
I let out a breath. “I lost my pills a week before the day I left, and when Jenna said she thought I’d fail the scan because of it, I guess… I guess I did a few things I shouldn’t have. I panicked and wanted to know what would happen to me, and Jenna had helped me get a date earlier that week, so she was able to manipulate me into helping her with her own agenda.” Heat warms my cheeks and I twiddle my thumbs. I’m embarrassed to admit that all this started with me trying to find a partner for a community service night.
Commander Rick crosses his arms over his broad chest, loosely supporting the pipe in his free hand. “Miss Nickleson used you.”
“I know that,” I say. “She wasn’t taking the pills, and she needed someone who could hack into the health network.” Considering her computer work was lacking, to put it politely, I was an obvious choice. That, and I’d done it once before. Not that I’m particularly proud of hacking into the woman’s EYEblog account to see if she liked me, but still. It gave Jenna the leverage she needed. “I hacked into the system,” I continue, “and we found the information on powers and beast transformation. We didn’t know what it meant at the time, and before we could find out, that’s when Lady Black arrived.”
Lady Black is the council’s diplomat… but she’s mostly known for using her persuasion powers to convince people to do what she wants. She’s also a shapeshifter, which she uses to her advantage. She’s known as the most attractive lady in the Community. She’s friendly. Too friendly. The rebels know her as a seductress, and the rumors I’ve heard around here have done nothing to dissuade me of that notion.
I swallow hard. I’m lucky I haven’t had to deal with her much.
The parrot flutters her wings in a whump of feathers, nearly knocking the commander’s hat off his head. He fixes it as the bird settles again. “Our agents found nothing,” he says. “Not a single trace that you’d been there, though the techno sight master was able to track your work up to that point.” He strokes his beard, and then offers the parrot another piece of fruit. She squawks triumphantly. “Still, you evaded detection, even reprogramming the taxi route so that my agents took thirty minutes longer to track you.”
I hold my breath. “Sorry, sir?”
“Do not fret. You have done marvelous work here, both with the Legion Spore’s programming and with EYEnet. But that doesn’t answer my earlier question. Why, when Jenna started acting strange, did you not let security take care of the situation?” He narrows his eyes, scrutinizing, and my shoulders hunch reflexively.
“She was my friend. And… evidence suggested there was more going on than normal. With you and Lady Black there, and all the security, and the breaches in protocol…” I pause. “The truth is, Jenna’s a good friend. A bit… mulish at times” —to which the commander snorts agreement— “but she genuinely wants to help the Community.”
“You’re loyal to her.”
“You could say that,” I say softly. “I know we’re technically enemies now, but I respect her.”
“Respect is healthy,” Commander Rick says. He turns to his bird. “Retrieve us a pot of hot water, thank you.” The bird tilts her head, then flutters over my chair in a tangle of green feathers before landing gracefully in humanoid form. Her sheer black robes flutter around her ankles as she stands upright. Despite her lengthy arms and legs and her strange, pointed ears, she has a certain beauty and presence that a lot of other beasts don’t have. I stare at her a moment, and then force myself to focus. “Understanding your friends and enemies is vital to your work,” the commander continues, “something Lady Winters did not covet. You, however, have neither been rude to superior nor peer, and your work has always been of the utmost quality.” He sets the pipe aside and leans forward, clasping his hands over his desk. He eyes me for a long moment. “I suppose the real question, then, is who you are loyal to now?”
I feel him in my mind, searching out the answer for himself. I try to relax, try to let him see whatever it is he’s trying to find. Better that he have his misgivings now than later. “I’m loyal to the Community, sir.”
Commander Rick raises an eyebrow, and it’s like the invisible hand slips away, leaving my mind in peace. I can’t suppress an involuntary shudder, though his investigation is considerably more pleasant than Lady Winters’ intrusions.
“Well put.” He straightens in the chair. The beast returns with a pot of water, and he thanks her as he takes the pot. Moments later she’s a parrot again, sitting on the wooden knob above the chair’s backrest. He smiles. “Loyal to the Community.”
I already know I’m not loyal to the rebels, and I’m pretty sure giving Jenna the tablet wasn’t particularly loyal to the Camaraderie. But, on both counts, I wanted to see the Community safe. If Commander Rick is okay with that, then I shouldn’t have any problem doing as he asks.
The commander procures two china cups from his desk, each black with a gold rim and rising sun cog imprinted on their sides. He delicately pours the
steaming water. “I shall inform you tomorrow morning of the council’s decision.” He raises a cup. “Tea?”
“Thank you, Commander.” I accept the cup in my shaking hands. Hopefully I’ve impressed him.
He simply smiles and offers me a selection of tea blends.
The meeting with Commander Rick seems to have gone well, and now that it’s evening, I’m with Val again. Her bedroom is much nicer than the cold cell. We’re nestled between warm comforters—silky, embroidered crimson sheets. Val runs her finger along my chest before prodding my shoulder. “You’re lucky, you know that?”
I wrap my arms around Val and pull her close. “I know.” She settles into my lap and I grin. Her perfume’s scent of lilies has faded with a shower, and a silvery gown ripples along the line of her hip.
“Tim…” Her voice is stern, but I’m savoring the moment. I can’t let go of her, not when I’m finally here. I nuzzle against her chest and slide my hand along her back—
Electricity streaks from my wrist to my shoulder. I yelp. Val crosses her arms over her nightgown, sparks crawling across her fingertips. I sigh, rubbing my wrist and my twitching fingers, and then pull myself into a sitting position. Her expression softens. She traces her fingers, no longer zappy, along the inside of my wrist. “I want to talk with you, not to you.”
I pull my legs to my chest and rest my head against my knees. “About what?”
“Everything, I guess.” She offers me a half-smile. A pointed canine juts below her lip. She had little fangs before joining the Camaraderie, but since having her abilities enhanced by the pendants, the mutation has become more prominent. Not just her teeth—her nails, too. They’re sharper, more claw-like. And she’s a lot quicker to understand my emotions, thanks to her insight power.
Val pulls my arm from my knee and leans into my lap, pulling us both onto a fluffy, luxurious pillow. I sink into it. She links her fingers through mine. Then, hesitantly, she leans over me. Her frizzy hair tickles my nose.
“Did Brainmaster show you anything from the Legion Spore?” she asks.
My insides go cold. “You want to talk about that?”
She gives an almost imperceptible nod.
“Lady Winters involved me with programming the AI into the intelligence matrix,” I say, “but not much else.”
Val lets out a soft breath. “Good.” She stares into space, her gaze falling onto a metal chair.
“Good?” I raise an eyebrow. I’d expected to be let in on how the project went, other than its success. After the commander had me check and double-check and triple-check the coding, I wasn’t even sure what I was looking at anymore. There were so many components. So many people that went into the thing.
Val dims the lights with her electricity powers, casting everything in a soft, purple glow. “I never imagined what the transformation would be like. I mean I did, but…” Her voice trails off, on the verge of cracking. I sit up. I’ve never seen her like this. Sure, when Lady Winters interrogated us, the results were less than pleasant. But those were the times when Val returned hollow-eyed or dazed, too drained to speak. I’d been in the same situation, but I’d been less resilient to Lady Winters’—Brainmaster’s—methods.
Val turns to me, her dark eyes watery.
“Community…” I whisper. This is not the upbeat, confident Val I’m used to. “What happened?”
“It was horrible, Tim. There were so many people. So many beasties. They were in so much pain. Brainmaster didn’t block all of it. I don’t think she wanted to, but I don’t think she could. The creature… I could feel it shifting and taking form—” She takes a deep breath, her voice shaky. “I felt like my insides were being filleted and quartered, then twisted up in knots. But it wasn’t me, it was them. They all felt it.” She closes her eyes. “Even Lady Black was distressed, and she was doing everything she could to hide it.”
I clasp Val’s hands in mine. Her palms are clammy and her fingers shake as if she somehow zapped herself with her electricity.
“Did it work?” I whisper. “Or did the whole thing fail?” I’d hate to think that they lost everyone involved in their attempt to create the vessel, but the disorderliness of the voices I heard earlier suggests that something went wrong.
“Everything went smoothly, except for the pain. That was awful. I’ve seen beast transformations, and they aren’t pleasant, but this… this was ten times worse. Everything was merging together, fusing metal to flesh…” She swallows hard and squeezes my hand. “I think I’m okay now, but while it was being made, I didn’t think I could stand it. I did my best afterward to seem cheerful, but—” She throws her arms around me, grabbing me so tight I can’t breathe. “I’m so glad it wasn’t you.” She bursts out crying, and I stifle my own sob. I hate seeing her like this. I try to hold her and rock her gently, but what she said leaves me in a cold, hollow ring. Lady Winters needed techno sight people like me when they ran the Health Scan three months ago. If I hadn’t left with Jenna for the rebels, and if Val hadn’t vouched for my programming skills when I left the rebels for the Camaraderie, I’d be right there, part of the Legion Spore.
I breathe slowly, my nerves on edge.
Hopefully the commander doesn’t change his mind about me.
At breakfast, butterflies bounce in my stomach. I can’t eat, can’t focus, and my head feels like a wad of cotton balls, though that has something to do with the injection wearing off. I faintly sense computers buzzing around me, their wires and circuits connecting with the sharp contrasts of binary code.
Val nudges my plate of ham and eggs, reminding me it’s there. She polished hers off a while ago, as if she’s already forgotten last night’s concerns about the painful creation of the Legion Spore. “When’s the last time you ate?”
“Honestly?” I stare at her. “I’m not sure.” Maybe that’s why my head feels fuzzy. I push the plate aside and go for a bowl of applesauce. Though the chunky apples are practical, they taste far more extravagant than anything the Community—or the rebels—would serve. I check the recipe in the database: cinnamon, chili powder, nutmeg.
I’d be happy with sugar.
I go for another bite before realizing I remember the intricate details of the recipe and the code I was working on before Val went to help the Camaraderie create the Legion Spore. Though I can’t remember the search variable I input into the program, I grin. My powers have returned.
“See? Told ya it’d help.” Val tickles my ribs, sending a thrill of electricity through my arm.
I gasp, fighting to grab the spoon before my hand spasms again, and then I glare at her. “I’m trying to make a good impression!”
Val smiles sweetly. “You’ll make a better impression if your stomach isn’t growling like a toughness beastie.”
“It was not!” I protest. The door slides open and Commander Rick steps in. I drop the spoon and quickly sit to attention. “Commander, sir.” I bite my lip. Hopefully he didn’t see—
He’s a telepath. Of course he saw everything. Or if he didn’t, he has now.
“At ease, Timothy, Lady Salazar.” A smile tugs his lips. I exchange glances with Val. She nudges her hand into mine under the table, her fingers crossed for luck, though she sits more proper than she did a second ago. “Master Zaytsev, I have the great pleasure of informing you that the Camaraderie of Evil would like to welcome you as our newest council member—a replacement for Lady Winters.”
The clatter of trays in the cafeteria dims to white noise as his words settle in. They’ve accepted me? I’m not going to be punished for killing her?
Val squeezes my hand so hard under the table that it must be taking everything she has not to squeal from excitement. Then again, her excitability might have been part of her charade as a double agent.
The commander raises his eyebrow at her, then turns his attention to me. “Do you wish to uphold this task? The work is honorable, but it requires a considerable amount of responsibility.”
I can’t speak. The butterflies have turned to bears, and the weight of the room crushes me. For a moment, all I can do is stare at him. “Yes,” I say quickly, afraid that I won’t. “Thank you.”
He inclines his head with approval. “Very good. Your initiation will take place two days from now. Have Lady Salazar help you prepare. Good day, m’boy.” He tips his fingers to his forehead.
The moment the door slides shut behind him, Val squishes me in a giant hug. “I’m so excited! You know—that’ll make us the first couple in the Camaraderie since Lord and Lady Black. My codename is Sparkles, and you can be… I don’t know… Short Circuit!”
I raise an eyebrow. “Short Circuit makes it sound like I’m some sort of glitch.”
She bats her eyelashes. “I say we celebrate. Once we get you ready, of course. I should probably talk to Lady Black and see what we need to do.” She squeaks, hugs me again, and then prances out the door.
I twist my light bulb charm between my fingers. Maybe Val’s excitement wasn’t a charade after all. I haven’t seen her this happy since we were at the beach in Japan, back where the rebels found the time stone with a dragon spirit for a guardian. I smile. With my new job as Head of Efficiency, I won’t have time to worry about the Coalition finding the time stones, or what Lady Winters would do to the rebels if she had survived.
The hairs on the back of my neck tickle. There’s something whispering at the back of my mind, now that my powers are functioning again. I close my eyes and drift through cyberspace. The voices are saying something… something specific.
I focus, straining to hear. They’re still saying…
Help us.
Val leans over me, trying to slick the last stubborn strand of hair into place. I should cut the unruly mess, but she insists this is more leader-like, and not that long. It’s shorter than her thumb, anyway. She stands back, observing her handiwork. “Ugh. Something’s missing.” She clucks her tongue and unzips the high neck of my uniform to my collarbone.