The Novida Code (8 page)

She
took me gently by the arm and led me out of the room. As soon as we were out of sight of the soldiers, her friendly expression disappeared, but she nevertheless accompanied me to my room. At the door, she turned toward me: “Do you want me to help you to your bed?” she asked.

She
appeared to be burning with curiosity and I guessed she was dying to see if there were any presents from Olden in my room.

I
refused politely and went in alone. I was staggering a bit but managed to reach my bed and lie down. Shortly afterwards, I was overcome with nausea and rushed to the basin, retching.

Bending
over the sink, I surreptitiously removed the piece of plastex and stuck it far enough down the drain for it to remain hidden. I then stood up, freshened up a little and allowed myself to feel better. I lay back down on the bed to rest while awaiting the arrival of my lover.

He
had got into the habit of coming to see me at the end of the afternoon, as comings and goings between the authorized and the unauthorized zones were discouraged at night. An hour after I returned from the function room, there was a knock at the door. It was him. On catching sight of me, he beamed.

“
Hello Auxana,” he said in his soft voice.

“
Hello Olden.” I got up and went to him, grinning broadly. He took me in his arms and kissed me. I responded with more than the usual passion and he stopped to give me look of surprise.

I
gave him a come-hither smile and pulled him against the wall between my desk and the sink. There, I kissed him passionately. My hands caressed his torso, moving softly down his arms. I stopped at his wrist as I touched his bracelet, and pulled away to ask: “What's this?”

“
A bracelet”, he smiled.

“
It's lovely,” I said. I took it off his wrist, gently feeling its contours. “May I have one like this?”

“
You want a present?” he asked with a smile that made me want to hit him. Instead of which, I pouted and turned away, replying sulkily: “A woman doesn't ask for a present; it's up to the man to guess what she wants.”

He
smiled and retrieved the bracelet, but before he could put it back on, I kissed him again and allowed my hands to explore his body with more abandon. He uttered a little cry of surprise when I murmured as I began to unfasten his uniform: “We could try here…”

I
opened out his tunic and kissed him whilst caressing his naked skin. He tried to respond, but his bracelet was getting in his way and he had to put it down on the edge of the sink. With his hands free, he unfastened the top of my uniform and – while he was at it – unhitched the fastening of my bra.

I
disposed of both, pulled off his tunic, and set about removing his trousers. He laughed to see me so transported with passion and he ripped off my trousers and knickers with equal ardour. Naked at last, he slid his hand between my legs. I tilted my head back and surrendered with a soft whimper. He withdrew his hand and I let out a little moan when he took me standing up, slowly and implacably. I then leant over the basin and knocked his bracelet down the plughole with a flick of my wrist. I gave a start and shrieked “Oh no!”

“
What is wrong?” he asked huskily.

“
I've dropped your bracelet!” I tried to free myself but he held me gently against the wall and murmured into my ear: “It is of no importance; I shall ask for another one.” Then he went back to what he had been doing before and I went back to moaning softly in his arms.

Afterwards,
he helped me get dressed and said: “I think you have earned a nice present, Auxana.”

I
beamed at him and managed to conceal my urge to strangle him. But I had his bracelet and that was what mattered most.

After
he left, I filled a crystal for Lauren:

Lauren,

I
have the bracelet, and Olden doesn't suspect a thing.
From what I could see in the infirmary, they use an earthling IT system. But in any case, it's likely that any information we find will be in the Efeghi language.
I think we'll need to get hold of a data siphon to store the information until we're able to translate it ourselves. You're sure to know a supplier who'll be discrete. On the other hand, I've no idea where you'll be able to hide such a device.
Good luck!

In the end I didn't get hold of a siphon. Auxana's idea was fine, but the simplest solutions are the best, especially since the device proposed is strictly forbidden and our bedrooms could be searched. I opted for a simple holo camera, bought officially to take holos of the party.

I too had noticed that the system used in the infirmary was an earthling one. I could understand their use of earthling terminals in the section where we were allowed, but it seemed to me that the whole of the HQ depended on this system. Perhaps their energy infrastructure couldn't be adapted for use on Earth? Or was this just a ploy to prevent us gaining access to their advanced technology?

In any case, this was going to be a huge help to us as I'd studied IT from the age of three, and was already hacking into logs by the time I was ten. Like all young hackers, I'd cut my teeth on the logs at school before expanding my horizons and hacking into Government systems. It was now time to capitalise on my wicked ways.

On the day of the party, everything was ready. Auxana and I met up in the corridor at ten o'clock. Thanks to our collaborator status, we were wearing fabulous dresses despite the rationing.

Auxana looked stunning in a blue dress with a silver bustier that cunningly concealed the bracelet stolen from Olden. I wore a diaphanous red dress cinched at the waist with a silver sash, and was clutching my holo camera in my hand. A subtle allusion to our devotion to the Efeghis, the silver fabric of our dresses matched that of their uniform. After raving over our respective outfits, we made our way to the big function room.

The hall was filled with soldiers and collaborators. Couples had already paired up and were moving around gracefully on the dance floor. Olden was there, Oniar and Amar too, along with other officers whose names I didn't know. I noted that the auxiliaries were nowhere to be seen. I approached the dais with some trepidation, as it had been decided during rehearsals that I'd start the evening off with a song. I had a lovely sweet, crystal-clear voice that was perfect for my role. I'd already worked out how I was going to profit from my song.

Chantal, a forty-something collaborator who'd been in charge of rehearsals, caught sight of me and beckoned me over. She was standing by Commandant Amar, and I walked shyly up to her, after placing my holo camera on a table. She took me by the arm and turned to him: “Let me introduce Miss Valley; she'll be singing you an earthling song in a few moments.”

“
Good evening”, I murmured, looking at the ground. Amar leaned forward slightly to look into my eyes and, taking my hand and raising it slowly to his lips, replied, “Good evening Lauren”.

I looked up in surprise and he smiled at me. Dark-haired like most of the Efeghis, he was even more handsome than Oniar.

Unlike the other soldiers that I'd seen so far, his long hair was done in a series of little plaits pulled back into a ponytail. His black and silver uniform was identical in every way to that of his men, with nothing at all to distinguish it.

Despite his good looks, the sight of him gave me the creeps; there was something chilling about his face. You sensed a tremendous intelligence and an even greater cunning beneath his handsome facade. I had the horrible feeling that he knew everything about me and that he found me amusing.

I allowed him to continue holding my hand, smiling diffidently back at him. For once, my nervousness wasn't an act. It was all I could do not to tremble beneath his gaze, which seemed to be slowly dissecting me. One thing was certain: I would never try to seduce him. He was far too dangerous.

Chantal finally broke the silence, which lasted for ever: “Lauren is really nervous about singing in public.”

“There is absolutely nothing to fear”, murmured Amar as he released my hand. “I am sure that you will be perfect.” There was an ironic little glint in his eye that gave me the shivers. I ventured a faltering smile and followed Chantal up to the dais.

Beckoning for me to follow, she went up the steps ahead of me and introduced herself under the beam player in the centre of the stage. This amplified her voice, which echoed throughout the hall: “My friends”, she began. The couples stopped dancing and everyone turned towards her. “I hope you're all enjoying your evening.” She was answered by a few whoops of delight, but the majority of the spectators remained silent.

“I'm here to introduce a young lady from our class of peace volunteers, who is going to sing for you.” There followed shrieks of encouragement and Chantal signalled for me to take her place.

Bashfully, I stood beneath the beam and surveyed the crowd before me. I'd never liked singing in public. And the recollection of the last time I'd sung on stage didn't exactly help. It was at school and I'd had to stop because of the
catcalls from my schoolmates. But this time, the faces turned towards me were all friendly and were waiting patiently for me to summon up the courage to begin.

Just as my mum had taught me, I fixed my gaze on a point in the audience, smiled, and began to sing. I'd deliberately chosen a sweet and naive love song that matched my voice perfectly and suited my purpose. My gaze was soon drawn towards Oniar, who was amongst a group of officers. Our eyes met for an instant, and I promptly looked away.

I was looking everywhere but at him, as thoug
h—
in spite of mysel
f—
my eyes kept straying back towards him. I saw that I'd scored a hit when his friends began to smile and one of them gave him a little shove with his shoulder.

There was a good deal of applause at the end of the song, and I had to decline the encore demanded by the audience. I left the dais and rejoined Auxana, who was standing not too far from Oniar, just as we'd arranged whilst planning this mission.

I turned my back to him but Auxana was facing him and she touched my arm discreetly to warn me that he was approaching. He gave a little cough as he reached me, and I turned towards him. He smiled, “Good evening Lauren.”

I acted confused and replied with a slight tremor in my voice, “Good evening Oniar”.

“Is your arm better now?” he asked.

“
Yes.” I stretched my arm out for him. “Look, there's nothing much to see now.”

He reached out as though to touch my arm but stopped himself.

“I am sorry that there is still a scar”, he replied in his soft voice.

“
It's not so bad”, I smiled at him and he returned my smile.

“
Your song was very beautiful”, he added.

“
Thanks.” I carried on looking at him, willing him to ask me to dance, but he just took his leave and turned away from me. I grabbed him: “Would you like to dance?”

I saw he was hesitating and shot him the imploring look he'd found irresistible on the day of the duel. It worked its magic just as well the second time around; he capitulated and took my hand to lead me to the dance floor.

As we danced together, I noticed Amar staring at the two of us. I gave an involuntary shudder and Oniar pushed away slightly to see my face: “Anything wrong, Lauren?” he asked softly.

“
The Commandant is watching us”, I whispered.

“
You are afraid of him.”

This wasn't really a question but I hastened to reply: “I find him intimidating.”

“He has that effect on many people”, he replied.

“
Including you?”

“
No, not me”, he chuckled, “but I have known him for a long time.”

“
How long”, I asked innocently.

“
Since we were children”, he replied.

Bingo. I'd hit the jackpot. Or at least I
would
hit it, just as soon as he stopped treating me with kid gloves. It was quite clear to me that he liked my image of the sweet young maiden, but I was beginning to see that this was a double-edged sword. He restrained himself from going any further with me for fear of offending my sensibility.

At the end of the day, this was pretty ironic. But I could hardly change my image all of a sudden, so I'd have to gradually bring him around to overcoming his scruples.

I was pondering the best way to approach this when we were interrupted by a commotion.

Turning round, I saw that Auxana, who was dancing with Olden, had been accosted by Stephane, one of the
idiots
from our class, whose voice was growing more strident: “Bitches like you should be put down!” he spat. Olden had stepped in between Auxana and Stephane but did nothing further to stop him, and the situation could have deteriorated. I rushed towards her to intervene, when Amar stepped between them. I hadn't even seen him coming. Swiftly, he grabbed Stephane by the wrist and without the slightest apparent effort, had him almost on his knees. Then, he spoke in a loud, calm voice: “We do not molest women here.”