The Mir Chronicles- The Complete Series Page 10

  “I’m just so angry,” she began, before the sobs consumed her.

  He patiently let her cry. She was glad she didn’t have to explain herself or justify her feelings. He held her until the tears stopped and handed her an old fashioned handkerchief. He led her to his hanging office and cleared off a stool for her to sit on.

  “My dear angel. You have every right to feel angry, and scared, and even hurt. The ones closest to us usually are the ones that hurt us the most.” He paused. Lena didn’t ask how he knew. They had never talked about their past. But she recognized that he somehow knew everything. Whether through Thora, or someone else, at the moment Lena didn’t care. He pulled a stool toward hers, sat, and took her hands in his. “In a facility that is so quick to tear others down, I hope you choose to lift up. Don’t let hate be the driving force in your life, Lena. Cry, be mad, yell if you need to, be angry. Then send all those feelings away and be the driving force of good. Angels and warriors are meant to work together, you know.”

  She stared with wide eyes at Dorry as memories of the mystic’s vision resurfaced with force. She remembered standing on a cliff, looking towards Gideon, who seemed so far away, and knowing she must get to him. She thought of the irony. Now he stood in the same facility and yet the distance between them seemed even greater. And worse, she didn’t want to get to him. She wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

  Neither spoke, both lost in their own thoughts and memories. Eventually, Dorry led her to the exit. She needed to think and was glad Dorry didn’t pressure her to talk.

  “Go get some dinner. And remember, my door is always open to you, angel.”

  She gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, before returning to her room.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The training gym echoed in emptiness as Lena arrived for her first extra-training session. Shivering, she looked across the room, wondering where to start and to whom she needed to report. She felt tired. She hadn’t slept well, instead her mind ran with thoughts of the last days. Of Dorry, Thora and Gideon. Mostly Gideon. How she would act towards him. If she’d choose to let anger and mistrust lead her or take control of her life. She’d decided that Dorry was right about anger. She wasn’t going to let it control her. But she didn’t trust Gideon either. The only person she truly trusted was herself.

  Not wanting to be reprimanded, she stretched and started running laps around the room. “Stars, this is not going to be easy,” she spoke out loud to herself, hoping to relieve some of the pressure building inside of her.

  “Recruit Lena.” Gideon’s voice barked across the gym. Her heart jumped at the sound of his deep voice. She hated that his voice held such power over her. Sprinting across the room, she stopped in front of him and stood at attention.

  Neither spoke and Lena wondered if he always woke up this early. Surely, running extra training sessions fell below his rank. Yet he wore a training suit. It was black, like Lena’s, but had large red circles across the front. Lena’s had only the insignia on its shoulder. Looking in his eyes, she remembered the last time she had looked at them in Everleigh. His eyes still swam with worry but now showed a glint of some unidentifiable purpose.

  The Captain eyed her up and down without showing any emotion. Lena stood at attention waiting for orders.

  “Good to know you’re smart enough to warm up,” he said. “You may stand at ease, recruit.”

  Lena relaxed her stance. Lowering her gaze from his, she looked into the wall behind him. Moments of silence passed between the two before he spoke.

  “Since I took the opportunity to enlist you in the Priestess’ Defenses, the responsibility is mine to make sure you’re up to speed with the rest of your group.”

  “Where do you want me to start, Captain?” she asked.

  “We start with running.” His face melted from stern to almost relaxed, and he took off running.

  Lena’s confusion skyrocketed as she took off after him. He ran out of the facility, across the dusty training fields. As they approached the gates that led from the facility they stopped. Grabbing her wrist with the cuff, he ran a small scanner over the top of it.

  “This will let you exit the facility,” Gideon said. “Once outside, this will let me control your cuff.” He held up a rectangle with a button on the top. “If you go anywhere but where I say, I’ll shock you.”

  Lena nodded, and Gideon opened the gate leading from the facility. Gideon started running without saying anything further. Catching up to Gideon’s stride, she ran by his side. The smell of the dusty training ground soon vanished as the sweet smell of wet grass filled her nostrils. Neither talked as they paced long and rhythmic. Running away from the black looming facility across the golden wild grasses, Lena felt alive. For the first time since arriving here, she sensed freedom. Cutting a corner, they turned and started running alongside the border of the forest that encircled the facility. Its gnarled trees looked as foreboding as the Defense Facility itself. Stretching her lungs, she drew in the frosty morning air.

  Gideon pushed himself ahead of Lena. She forced herself to keep up with him. As soon as she caught up, Gideon pushed ahead of her once more. How long they ran like that, Lena didn’t know. But she found herself disappointed when they turned towards the gates of the compound again. Gideon slowed his pace, stopping just before the gates.

  Both breathed heavily. Lena put both hands on her hips and bent over to catch her breath. She looked up at Gideon. His eyes shone clear and bright as he looked back at her. He had had fun running with her, she could tell.

  Lowering her eyes, she studied the dirt until she caught her breath. “Gideon, why am I here?” she uttered, raising her eyes to meet his.

  His eyes softened for a moment and looked almost sad. Gathering his thoughts, he spoke, “You will need to address me as Captain.”

  Taking a breath, she pushed away the annoyance and asked, “Fine, Captain.” She enunciated the last word. “What am I doing here?”

  He looked at her, opened his mouth to say something then closed it again.

  “Captain Merak.” She forced the words to be quiet, but this time couldn’t quite control the anger within them. “What am I doing here?”

  “If I were you, recruit,” he spoke his words hard and direct, stepping forward, closing the space between them, “I would stop talking now. Dorry isn’t the only one who watches this facility. And frankly, I don’t want to clean up another one of your messes. This session is over.” Grabbing her arm he led her toward the gate. She pulled her arm from his grip.

  “This session may be over, Gideon, but I am here and real and in your life. And you may not want to talk about it now, or ever, but there are things you and I are going to discuss at some point because I am done being your pawn in a game I don’t understand.” Staring him down, she saw a whole range of emotions pass over his face.

  “We are all pawns in this game, Lena, and if you don’t want to be destroyed, you’d best put yourself in a position worth saving.” His words no longer held harshness, but carried a sadness. They looked at each other for only a moment longer before Gideon swiped his hand over a hidden identity reader and the gates opened.

  ***

  “This is the Control Room,” droned Wetsel, as he opened the door to the class. “Enter and immediately find a seat.”

  Stepping inside, Lena gazed at the familiar room. She’d never seen it in such a whirl of activity. Holographic maps lit the walls. Islands of desks projected images from their surfaces. Blinking yellow and blue lights flashed from every image.

  She took a seat between a wall and a soldier named Corgy, the latter, giving her an unwelcome stare. Gazing wide-eyed at the holo-screen already flashing with names, she ached for the information within the Priestess’s systems.

  “Ah, welcome, Captain,” Wetsel said.

  The Captain filled the doorway of the control room, his forehead furrowed as his scowling eyes caught Lena’s. Gideon turned toward the class, his gaze commanding t
he attention of a room.

  “You will use this room only with my or Wetsel’s instruction,” Gideon called. “Otherwise it is restricted access.” His deep voice spoke with neither anger nor kindness to the class. It almost sounded scripted, in Lena’s opinion.

  “This room shows every city on Mir, where the Priestess’s troops are stationed and any areas of resistance.” He marched around the room as he spoke. “You can also look up any information on anybody who’s lived on Mir and information on some people who’ve never lived here at all.” He paused and held up his hand. “Those who have the Priestess’ infused tattoos also can be located using the Priestess’ system.” Nodding toward Wetsel, the Captain stepped back.

  “I have given each of you an assignment that corresponds with the attack on Everleigh,” Wetsel explained. “You can access your assignment on your insignia. Though you will need to use the system in this room to do your research, if you have any questions, I, or the Captain will be here to answer them.”

  Lena opened her assignment.

  Map areas of former resistance.

  Record their leaders and the effective ways they were terminated.

  If they have children, research where those children are now.

  Lena started at the center of the resistance, Everleigh. Typing in the commands, the screen started flashing images of the horror that once she had called home. Orchestrated with perfection, the bombing of Everleigh seemed like an opening act of a play that continued with execution, torture, and more bloodshed than she had ever imagined. Graphic images flashed over the screen until her eyes burned with the horror of it all. Slamming her hand through the hologram, she angrily shut off the images. Leaning back in her chair, she rubbed her eyes, wishing she could wipe her memories away.

  Corgy nervously glanced toward her and immediately back to his screen. “Try something smaller,” Corgy whispered from the side of his mouth, still typing at superhuman speed. Not sure what he meant, she just stared at him. “More specific,” he added annoyed. “Type the name of that girl we’re all suppose to be looking for.”

  Turning on the hologram, she punched in the letters of her name. E-V-A-N-G-A-L-E-N-E. The computer flashed with screen upon screen of information. On the top of each page a bold message flashed in blood red writing. “Wanted by the Most Honorable Priestess.” A young photo of her accompanied it. She compared the photo to her current self. Her cheekbones now sat high on her face and her jawline was distinct and sharp. The untamed frizzy hair of her childhood, she now wore pulled back in a tight bun. But when loose it hung in waves down her back. Not to mention, she had grown at least three inches taller and no longer carried the form of a child.

  Snapping back to the present, Lena scrolled through the Defense’s information on her. Maps of places the defenses searched for her, theories of how she had escaped, and people outside Everleigh connected with Lena or her family.

  Thora had told her that the Priestess’ pride kept her from looking inside her own military for Evangeline. If that theory held true, the places searched for her as a child must hold resistant forces of some kind. She figured she would start mapping those places first.

  It took all she had to keep her emotions in check as she mapped the towns and their leaders. Lena knew personally almost every one of them. Running her fingers over the names, Lena froze on one. Jirou Menkar and his daughter Suki Menkar. Lena read that after Jirou’s capture, the Defenses tortured and killed him. Skimming the information on Suki, Lena scooted to the edge of her seat. The information was incomplete. It showed the video of Suki and Migel in the Everleighan square, drawing the troops away from Lena, then no more information.

  Lena’s fingers worked as quickly as possible. Where was Suki now?

  “Corgy,” Lena whispered out the side of her mouth.

  Not stopping what he was doing, he turned his eyes to look at her.

  “Is there any way I can search the database for people in the Priestess’ prisons? I mean is there a record somewhere of where people are taken?”

  He rolled his eyes but slid his chair next to her and easily opened a screen that searched prisoners.

  Lena typed in the name Suki Menkar. The screen was blank. The Priestess didn’t have her. Nor was there any information of where she went. The Priestess kept track of everything. Why hadn’t the Priestess recorded this? Lena’s mind raced with possibilities. The only one making sense to her was that Suki somehow escaped the attack on Everleigh. And the Priestess never records her weaknesses.

  “Shhh,” Corgy hissed. Lena realized she had let out of laugh of relief as she grinned at the screen. Biting her lip she rolled closer to her hologram screen and continued her search.

  The excitement about Suki grew dim as Lena continued her search. Death, torture, photos so graphic the imagery haunted her.

  Scrolling across the names, she paused again. Gideon’s name was nestled amongst the names of people associated with Everleigh. Clicking it, Lena saw a photo of Gideon. She guessed it was taken when he had become an officer. His eyes stared straight into the camera with haunting clarity. He looked younger than now but wore the full uniform of the Interplanetary Military Academy. Her eyes jumped over the screen.

  Pledged allegiance to the Priestess.

  Infiltrated the enemy as child.

  Shot Evangeline Adhara.

  Left for off planet training per Priestess’s arrangements, the morning after the Everleighan attack.

  Currently serving as Captain of the Defense training facility.

  A geyser of questions about Gideon burst from the corners of her mind, drowning out any other worry of the day.

  A dark shadow crossed her screen, making Lena jump. Gideon stood over her, looking at his photo on the screen.

  “See something you like?” he asked reaching over her to turn off the image. “That information is restricted access.”

  Glancing around, Lena saw the empty room. So absorbed in her assignment, she had failed to hear the class’s dismissal.

  “How did you pull if off, Gid?”

  “You may call me Captain, and clearly you don’t understand the concept of not talking where others can hear.”

  Lena felt beyond frustrated. She wanted to scream at Gideon to talk to her to tell her something. Anything. She bit her bottom lip in an effort to keep calm.

  Gideon stared at Lena’s screen, silence simmering between them. After a moment that seemed like years, Gideon spoke. “Someone is waiting for you outside.”

  “Who?” she asked. Gideon, no longer listening, walked away.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lucius waited for Lena outside the classroom. The hall buzzed with activity. Ignoring his glare she walked past him and into the crowd.

  “Recruit.” Lucius stood behind her. Hiding her annoyance, she turned as if meeting a friend.

  “Lucius, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

  Looking at him, Lena wondered if his face held any expression besides the squished malicious one he always wore.

  He didn’t answer her jibe. He placed his hands behind his back and started pacing back and forth in front of her. Lena thought he looked ridiculous.

  “As you are well aware, I’m working toward a position of leadership among the recruits.” His haughty, arrogant voice grated Lena’s ears. The hall gradually grew silent, and several recruits closed in on them to hear the conversation.

  “Are you now?” she responded. Annoyed and frustrated, Lena turned and started walking away. She scanned the hall, looking for any escape option available. Lucius caught up to her, matching his stride with hers.

  “Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to find out as much as I can about my fellow soldiers.” Lucius added, keeping in step with her.

  No doubt to manipulate and mastermind their lives, Lena thought, annoyed.

  “Oddly enough, no one has any information on our little servant girl, including the Priestess’s own system. And why would she really, have information on someone as
insignificant as you? Nevertheless it is my duty to find out all I can. Therefore, if you would answer my questions...”

  Lena tried to make an excuse to leave but Lucius didn’t give her the chance.

  “Where are you from?”

  Lena stopped walking and turned towards him. “The kitchen,” she answered with a snarky tone.

  He glared, unamused, but took a step backward. “Where did you come from before the kitchen?” He already sounded exasperated.

  “Usually my bedroom, but sometimes the halls or the courtyard. It all depended on what I needed to accomplish that day,” Lena replied.

  “Don’t play with me, servant. I know you’re not what you seem. If you don’t tell me what I want to know of your own free will, you’ll regret it. I have ways to get the information I want.” He stepped toward her in poor attempt to show power, then back again when he noticed how close he was to her reach.

  Lena knew she still held all the cards. No one knew about her here or anywhere. Well, no one but Gideon and Thora, and probably Dorry. With her mind spinning, she came up with a plan that she hoped would satisfy him.

  “I can’t say where I came from.” She held up her hands and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Who are your parents then?” he demanded

  “My parents?” She raised her eyebrows in amusement. Behind Lucius and through the crowds, Thora stood at a servant’s entrance, her eyes penetrating Lena’, sending her a message not to let Lucius get the best of her.

  “Yes, you insignificant little girl. Your parents, the people who raised you?”

  “Lucius, my parents died when I was young. I’m a servant. I wouldn’t be able to give you information on them even if I had it. As for the person who raised me, that would be Thora.” She nodded through the crowd toward the door where Thora stood. As mad as she had felt towards Thora, she knew Thora wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Not today, anyway.