Synnr's Hope - Kate Rudolph Page 0,47

endure.

More points in his favor sat heavily on his tongue and he almost brought them up. Almost. But nothing had changed between last night and this morning, and he didn’t want to hear it if she’d formulated arguments of her own.

He didn’t want to be swayed.

Since he wasn’t paying attention to Lena, the only other thing to focus on was the green light over the door. He stared at it and hoped it stayed green until he finished his meal. Or longer. Forever. The house was designed to create anxiety and after less than a full day he hated it.

The green light switched off.

Solan bit back a curse and flinched when it switched to red and started flashing.

“Why is it blinking?” They were the first words Lena had said to him all morning. He could see evidence of a restless night in the dark circles under her eyes and the slump to her shoulders. The tension in the house was going to drive them mad if they didn’t settle things.

But that was a problem for later. “How should I know?” He had just as much experience with this facility as she did.

A computerized voice came out of nowhere. “You have been given a mission. Use the information in the dossier provided to infiltrate the Apsyn research facility. You will recover a vial of a deadly toxin Apsyn scientists have tried to weaponize and you will leave no witnesses. You have one hour to prepare yourselves, at which point you will proceed to the basement and engage in the scenario. If necessary you may terminate the training exercise by stating your full name and commanding the simulator to terminate the exercise. You will not be given another chance to attempt this scenario. Your prep time begins now.”

The red flashing lights shifted until they began a countdown. A slot in the wall opened up and two folders slid out. Solan handed one to Lena and kept the other to himself. The information provided went into greater detail, but was basically the same as the computer had said. Infiltrate the research station, recover the toxin, leave no trace.

“Looks simple enough.” He’d certainly gone through more complicated missions, and the research provided was thorough.

Lena glared at her own brief, eyes scanning the words. “A little too simple, don’t you think?”

He looked again to make sure there was nothing he’d missed. “No. Why?”

She let the folder fall to the table and stabbed it with her index finger. “They’ve given us access codes, guard rotation schedules, and informed us they’ll be able to cut the power and strand most of the scientists in another part of the building. A five year old could pull this off. There’s got to be a catch.” She sat back, eyes flashing in challenge.

He could see her point, but he didn’t agree. “It’s our first mission. And Synnrs are good at infiltration. Advance teams do a lot of work for us.” He’d been given briefs similar to this one for actual missions and they’d gone off perfectly. The house had no reason to trick them.

“You just want to go in like everything will happen perfectly?” she asked.

“I didn’t say that.” They were eating into their time with this debate. Already it was half gone and they still had more to plan out. “But trust that I know what I’m doing. I’ve been on missions like this before.”

“So have I! I have almost fifteen years’ experience in one form or another, and you shouldn’t ignore my instincts.” It burst out of her and she leaned forward, ready to fight.

Were those the same instincts that said kissing was a good idea? Solan didn’t ask. She needed to remember that she was on Aorsa now, a long way from everything she knew. “The rules are different on Earth.”

“You don’t have to remind me,” she scowled.

If he let this get out of hand they’d be arguing all morning. It would be an automatic fail if they didn’t even show up for the mission. One of them had to be in charge. And he wasn’t going to give up control. “We do it my way.”

“Yes, boss.” She might have agreed in words, but her entire posture said she wanted to fight. And seeing her fired up like that made his body ache with desire. A desire he had to ignore for more reasons than one.

They used the rest of their time to go over the plan, not wasting another second of prep time, and when the