Axira Episode One (17 page)

“
You mean we.” I leveled my gaze at the ground.

I was only starting to process how incredible Em had been
during that fight. She’d moved like ... Christ, I had no
comparison. Competent, lethal, graceful, efficient – like nothing
I’d ever seen outside of a holo movie.

I found myself gulping.

“
I’m well aware of the Cadet’s contribution,” she assured
me.

Contribution?

She’d won that battle while I’d stood around and tried not to
get killed.

“
Her skills have come to my attention before. Moves will be
made to accelerate her program. She’s an asset we can’t afford to
lose at this time,” the Admiral said thoughtfully.

A flashback of Em sitting on the wrong side of that safety
fence blinked into my mind.

I agreed wholeheartedly with the Admiral – we couldn’t afford
to lose Em. The only problem was, I didn’t know how to keep her.
Every day it seemed she encountered some new emotional dilemma. I
didn’t know what was lying under the surface of that Cadet, but I
wanted to help. I just didn’t know how.

I didn’t share a single one of these thoughts with the
Admiral, instead I straightened up and kept my stance
stiff.

“
We need to accelerate this investigation. I don’t care what
it takes,” she repeated, “Just find our leak. No one is off limits.
Scour this entire Academy and find me our spy.”

I snapped a salute.

“
It could be anyone,” she
emphasized.
“Anyone.”

“
I’ll get them,” I assured her.

“
Soon,” she warned.

I nodded.

Soon.

Because if I didn’t find our leak soon, it would drain the
whole Academy dry like a hole in the heart.

...

Axira

I waited until I could sense there was no one in the room,
then I jumped. I opened up a hole in subspace with my mind,
travelled through it, and appeared within a dark, cold space
flickering under the reflected light of two powerful force
fields.

Instantly I made a fist, sending a burst of energy slamming
through the room. It wasn’t enough to blow the roof off or crumble
the walls – I wasn’t trying to destroy anything.

It would interfere with sensors, block this room from being
scanned and my presence detected.

I had about 60 seconds until it stopped working.

I did another subspace jump, this time appearing right next
to the containment field holding the cybernetic
assassin.

I tilted my head to the side and assessed the field. I sensed
the energy, quickly gauging it wasn’t strong enough to keep me
out.

I jumped again, this time appearing inside the field,
alongside the slab that held the cybernetic assassin.

A flash of fatigue crossed through my body, but I ignored it
as I leaned down to work. Jumping through containment fields was a
tricky and tiring business.

I yanked the assassin up, turning it over as my eyes darted
towards the back of its neck.

I was looking for its information processing
circuit.

I spied it and plucked it up, snatching it from the lock it
formed with the reinforced metal ring running around the assassin’s
neck.

The crack of metal echoed through the room.

I rolled the circuit until it was flat against my palm. I
closed my eyes.

I sent energy winding across my skin and into the circuit,
connecting to it in a rudimentary fashion. I no longer wore the
sophisticated wrist devices that had once been my shackles. If I
had, I could have learned this circuit’s secrets instantly.
Instead, I had to use other senses.

The cybernetic assassin had deleted its memory banks, and I
wouldn’t be able to recreate that information.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t find out anything
useful.

I knew that cybernetic assassins were equipped in different
ways depending on their intended mission. If their masters wanted
them to gather intel by physically hacking computer systems or
remotely accessing feeds and signals, their bodies would be
implanted with sophisticated information extraction
equipment.

This assassin had none of that gear. Instead, as I assessed
the circuit, I found what I was after.

Telepathic residue. I could feel it. I may not have been a
telepathic creature myself, but I could sense the particular fields
such skills used.

This circuit still tasted of them.

I opened my eyes and quickly assessed the rest of the
assassin’s body. Sure enough, there were other circuits and
antennas embedded in the creature’s body that would be capable of
picking up telepathically transmitted information.

Indeed, as I pried back sections of the assassin’s armor, I
ascertained its race was one known to possess telepathic
abilities.

I had my answer. The cybernetic assassins had received its
information telepathically.

It made perfect sense. The Academy was too well guarded to
allow its main computer banks or encoded signals to be hacked.
While there were other methods of gaining and transferring data,
none were as hard to detect as telepathic transmission.

All you required was someone powerful and skilled enough, and
someone capable of receiving. Such a method could not, however, be
used over long distances. They didn’t have to be. The few
kilometers from the Academy’s heart to the alley I’d found this
assassin in were enough for the ability to work.

I returned the circuit to the assassin, flipped him over, and
jumped back into the main room.

My time was up. Soon the Academy sensors would be able to
detect me. So, with one final fleeting look at the cybernetic
assassin, I jumped away.

Step one of my mission was complete. Now all I had to do was
find the telepathic leak. And I knew where to start.

Chapter 11

Jason Singh

I was getting nowhere, and it was killing me. Stress hung off
me like a shadow, haunting my every step. I couldn’t let it get to
me – couldn’t let the sweat continually collecting between my
fingers and shoulders distract me.

“
You should try to relax,” Mason said as he walked by my side,
“I’ve never seen you more stressed. Still don’t have a date for the
upcoming E Club ball? Because you could ask any single person in
the Academy, and I’m sure they’d say yes. Son of an Admiral,
decorated lieutenant – what’s there not to like about Jason
Singh?”

I could pick up a few faults in my character – primarily my
inability to complete this mission – but I wasn’t going to share
that with Mason. Instead I muttered an uninterested,
“Hmmm.”

“
Is there somewhere else you’d rather be?” Mason asked
perceptively.

We walked around a corner and I suddenly stopped. There were
a group of first-years waiting for a class. She was standing off to
one side, her head angled to the sky as she stared through the
windows. With her long neck extended like that, she looked regal.
Not haughty, just noble.

I swallowed all of a sudden.

“
Or is there someone you’d rather be with?” Mason continued,
his voice descending into a low chuckle.

It took me a moment to follow his conversation. As soon as I
got his point, I spluttered.

I didn’t defend myself, I just spluttered.

“
I’ll take that as a yes,” Mason said knowingly. “But,
honestly, when I said you could have your pick of anyone at the
Academy, I didn’t include her. You might be the bravest guy I know,
but somehow I doubt you have the balls to ask her out.”

“
Shut it,” I warned.

Em turned from the window and made eye contact with me, even
though I was certain she was well out of earshot.

“
Damn, she’s like a targeting drone – you don’t think she can
hear us, do you?” He asked with a chuckle.

Technically, no – she shouldn’t be able to hear us. She was a
fair distance away, and there was a sea of chatting recruits
between us.

Then again, Em had a habit of surprising me.

“
So, I suppose you can’t tell me what happened last night,”
Mason changed topics as another surge of cadets crossed down the
corridor, blocking our view of Em.

“
That’s the first right thing you’ve said all day. I can’t
tell you a word. So don’t ask,” I added quickly.

“
There’s a rumor it had something to do with her.” Mason
shrugged through the crowd towards Em. “There anything to that
rumor?”

“
Nope,” I answered.

“
I thought you said you couldn’t tell me anything?”

“
I’m not – I’m just confirming she wasn’t
involved.”

“
What else can’t you tell me?”

I decided it was best to ignore Mason. If I was lucky, he’d
get bored and go away or something else would walk along and
distract him.

I shouldn’t have wished for as much.

Just as the crowd thinned as a group of cadets entered a
classroom, I saw someone walk up to Em.

The last person I wanted to see anywhere near her. And no, it
wasn’t a potential suitor – it was Hendra.

I pushed off through the crowd just as Hendra reached a hand
out to Em.

By now news had travelled of the last time Hendra had
approached Em. An expectant silence spread through the corridor as
virtually every cadet turned to watch.

Hendra had a hand flat on Em’s arm. Fortunately Em didn’t
turn, yank it off, and throw Hendra out the window. In fact, as Em
turned, her expression lacked all sign of emotion. I was ready for
the same cold, barely contained hatred to spread across the Cadet’s
features, but they didn’t.

She looked calm. No, maybe that wasn’t the right word – she
looked as though she were concentrating.

“
Cadet,” Hendra began as I reached them.

“
Hendra,” I said, trying to keep my voice quiet so it didn’t
reach the ears of all those listening cadets.

Hendra ignored me. “I may be overstepping my bounds, but I
have a moral imperative to. I believe I can help you. Please, just
hear me out.”

To my astonishment, Em didn’t walk off, snap, or do anything
even remotely rude. Instead she stood there and stared at Hendra
impassively.

It was like I was staring at a completely different Em. The
power of her reaction when Hendra had confronted her the first time
still reverberated through my muscles. If had forced her to climb
outside the safety fence. Yet now she looked entirely unbothered as
she replied, “I’m listening.”

I was seconds from telling Hendra to get the hell away from
Em. I knew she’d been given a direct order from the
Admiral.

My words stuck in my throat as Em turned to me and said,
“It’s alright, Lieutenant. As Hendra said, she only wants to speak
to me. I’ll hear her out.”

“
You will?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief from shaking through
my tone.

Hendra smiled with relief, the emotion so strong, you could
feel it lapping off her in waves. “I knew you would come around. My
race are renowned for their abilities to heal mental wounds. You
will benefit so much from my help.”

Em smiled. Or at least I think she did. She moved her mouth
muscles in all the correct ways, but there was no warmth in her
move. “Yes, I know about your race,” she answered. “I am well aware
of your capabilities, and I accept your help.”

Hendra looked ecstatic, her beautiful lips rounding into an
incredible smile. Though the smile wasn’t directed my way, it still
made me feel giddy. Not for very long – after a few seconds my gaze
was magnetically drawn back to Em.

Why was she doing this?

Should I be worried about her sudden change in behavior?
Should I let the Admiral know? She’d gone through a hell of a lot
recently – especially considering what had happened last night. Her
erratic behavior could be down to stress, or worse – a pending
mental breakdown. Yet as I gazed at her face more critically, I
couldn’t see any sign of strain. Just that same determined
concentration.

She looked like she was trying to catch something. Or was
that an emotion I was transferring onto her? I was trying to catch
a spy, and yet all I was doing was standing here and staring at
her.

“
I have classes until the end of the day,” Em volunteered.
“Perhaps we can arrange something for this evening?”

“
Yes, that will be perfect – I’ll be waiting in my
office.”

Em tilted her head to the side. It was her signature move.
I’d watched her do it enough times to realize it was a sign of her
calculating something.

What?

Why was she accepting Hendra’s offer?

Before I could ask, a teacher bellowed from behind us that
class was about to start. All the waiting cadets, spell-bound by Em
and Hendra, all scurried off.