cord. Closing one eye helped, but it was frankly hellish no matter what I did.
After a few minutes, Raven started talking about nothing in particular, just to take my mind off the ordeal. “Do you remember where the lab is,” she asked.
It was an effort to speak at all, but I made that effort because I saw what she was doing. If we could get a conversation going, however difficult, then the arduous journey to Thomas’s lab would be that much easier. We were slowly edging our way down a long, empty corridor, and the idea of taking my mind off that seemed like a good one.
“Sure.” I took a short, sharp breath. “Thomas is the one who taught the training course.”
“You mean he actually let you touch his lab equipment?” She sounded aghast at the prospect. Thomas was not exactly open to sharing his equipment with others. Even Andrew Jones, who was the closest thing Thomas had to an assistant, was often denied permission to actually use any of his devices.
“No, not really.” I rested and caught my breath for a moment. “It was mostly theory.”
“That sounds more like Thomas. Still, I’m surprised he even taught a course. He just doesn’t have the temperament for it.”
“I got the impression he wanted to make sure no one else took over his patch.”
“Oh. Well, that sounds like Thomas too.”
We followed the hall as it turned left, which involved a lot of new experiences in ways my body could hurt me. Our conversation lapsed for a few minutes while I worked my way through the process, methodically shifting my weight and turning my body as pain screamed through my limbs.
No one but Raven saw what I was going through. The headquarters building was largely staffed by android proxies, with a few technicians and a rotating staff of visiting instructors. It was a slick facility, nearly every surface coated in black, radiation-absorbent material that gave the place a vaguely nightmarish quality. From above, it was the Hotel du Lac, a world-class choice for dignitaries and VIP travelers passing through Bruges. Deep below, it was the secret warren of Section 9 headquarters.
Most of the hotel staff didn’t know we were there. Using a hotel for cover made it possible for visitors and heavy traffic to enter our Headquarters without drawing suspicion. The same benefit applied to any guests with odd travel patterns, and our deliveries could be easily disguised among the normal activities of an upscale hotel.
The funny thing was, our unit was hardly ever there. We relied on Headquarters daily—most of our support resources operated from somewhere inside the building—but even when operating on Earth, we were usually working from one of our many safehouses. Few of the staff, if any, even knew my face. I found myself somewhat grateful for the anonymity as I stumbled through the halls like a newborn calf.
“I think you’re getting better at this.” Raven’s voice sounded bright and cheerful, although I couldn’t tell if she meant what she was saying.
“You might be right. It doesn’t hurt as much. Keep talking, Raven. It’s helping.”
“What was your favorite course here?”
I thought back to the months I spent training after I first joined. Owing to my experience as an Arbiter, I already had a lot of the skills I needed. Still, Section 9’s training was far superior to anything I’d ever been given before, and the unique requirements of the job meant learning techniques I’d never known.
“Tracking,” I answered. “That’s the one skill I wanted most.”
“So what does that mean,” she teased. “Are you trying to take my job?”
As our expert sniper, Raven was usually responsible for assassinations. There were some jobs that simply had to be done from up close, though. In East Hellas, I had been assigned to assassinate Sasha Ivanovich with poison.
“Your job is safe,” I assured her. “But I do like tracking.”
“I think you’re going to need to get some practice walking before you can get back to shadowing anybody.”
“Maybe not that much. The dizziness is gone.”
“Do you want to try walking on your own?” she asked.
“Yeah. Give me just a second.”
I leaned on her, breathing deeply and gathering the strength I would need for the effort. Then I pulled my arm away and stood on my own for the first time since jumping out of that ship above Europa. I waited for the dizziness to come back and swamp me, but it never did. Everything still hurt, but my head seemed clear.
“Do you need me