operatives in the field have decided to bolt. Whatever you two need, please feel free to take. Otherwise, it’s going to waste when we light this place up on our way out.”
Maisie wanted to hate Pam, but the woman with a stronger, earlier claim on Terror was too nice and helpful. And, anyway, Maisie supposed it wasn’t Pam’s fault that Terror had played her for a fool. “Thank you,” she signed. “I appreciate your help.”
Terror translated for her, and Pam seemed happy to see the glasses were working. “Hopefully, these will make things easier for you two on your journey.” She looked at her watch and gave her full attention to Terror. “You should get moving if you plan to get on that transport shuttle.”
Terror nodded, and Pam stepped closer to him, her hands moving possessively to his waist. Unable to watch the easy way they interacted, Maisie brushed by them and out the door. She was glad she couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other. If Terror made a promise to return to Pam, Maisie would break. The stress of her captivity, her rescue, her arrest, escape and bungled seduction had pushed her to the edge. She could feel the tension building inside her, squeezing her chest and shoving down on her shoulders. It was only a matter of time before she exploded in a rage or crumpled in a sobbing heap.
On her way to the front room, she noticed a door along the hallway that was ajar. It had been closed before, and she couldn’t help herself. She paused long enough to glance into the room. There were monitors mounted on the walls and a bank of high-powered computers from floor to ceiling. She spotted the quick eject hard drives piled next to a pulse projection destroyer. Pam and the old man were probably waiting until the last minute to load them all into the destroyer. The energy that thing required to work would likely knock out the power for ten blocks in all directions.
Certain this was part of an ongoing intel operation, she decided it wasn’t very smart to nose around in the actual room. She took a step back, ready to continue on her way, but then something caught her eye. A familiar face filled one of the monitors. Devious.
The night vision capture had a grainy green tinge. It looked as if it had been taken in an urban space, maybe The City back on Calyx or maybe one of the colony planets. There wasn’t enough detail to determine the location.
Next to his face on the screen, there was a rundown of his history. Knowing what she did about Devious, it was probably a long and interesting case file. At the top of the screen, there was a black rectangle with three letters in bright white. KIA. Killed In Action.
Her gaze moved to another screen, and her eyes widened with surprise at the image displayed there. It was her stepbrother Kris. And he wasn’t alone. He was with Devious in that same urban space. They both looked serious in the night vision photo, their brows furrowed and their mouths tight. What were they talking about? And when had this photo been taken?
The old man suddenly appeared in the open doorway. She gasped and hastily retreated, holding up a hand in apology, and quickly started walking, not glancing back to see him shut the door. Her mind reeled as she waited for Terror.
What were Devious and Kris doing together? As far as she knew, they had never worked on any projects or missions. She couldn’t even remember a time when the two of them had been in the mess hall together, even just passing side by side. Which was odd wasn’t it? Thinking back, it seemed suddenly strange how those two men seemed to go out of their way to avoid each other.
The urgency of removing the chip hidden in her head had never felt more real. Maisie was certain the answers she needed were on it. She thought back to the way the general and doctor had helped her escape. The highest-ranking officers on the Valiant had worked together to smuggle them off the ship. Why? What did they know? Or, maybe, what didn’t they know? Did they suspect there was some sort of double-crossing happening on their battleship? Did it go deeper than that?
Terror and Pam came into view, and Maisie hid her concern and worries from them, keeping her expression neutral even