Eko (NINE Series, #1)

  * * *

  The Arazura was the most beautiful manmade thing that Sydel had ever seen. Sleek and shimmering, made of pale gray and soft blue metals, the main level contained three compact, but cozy cabins, a clean kitchenette and lavatory, and a lovely common space with a round table, four chairs and two consoles built into the back wall. There was a lower level, too, that seemed to serve several purposes: storage, some kind of training equipment, all sparkling and new. Sydel ran her hands over the cool panels as she walked, marveling at it all.

  A new start for the family. A new home.

  Where her own home was to be, she didn’t know, but Sydel tried not to dwell on it. Instead she complimented Renzo on his achievements.

  When they climbed the ladder to the main level, Renzo showed her to a final door, tucked into a hidden alcove at the back of the Arazura. Sydel smiled. “What is this?”

  Renzo jerked a thumb towards the door. “Behind the far wall, I put something - well, I did some research, and you probably need time to decompress or whatever. So if it’s not right, I’ll fix it.”

  Confused, Sydel went to ask for clarification, but Renzo was already striding away.

  No more limping, she realized. I wonder how.

  Then Sydel placed her palm on the door, enjoying the sensation of metal on skin, and pushed.

  It was a fourth cabin. One side of the room was sparsely outfitted with a bed and a few pieces of scratched furniture. Her satchel lay in the corner, her few belongings from the commune already hung up. The other half was a medical bay: gurney and small bed tucked against the wall; intravenous bags and stands, shelves of glass bottles and boxes, everything white and clean and brand new.

  Stunned, Sydel opened every drawer; inside, there were machines to conduct ultrasounds and x-rays, tools to monitor heart rates and blood pressures, and a number of other shiny items that she didn’t recognize.

  This was all hers?

  Did she want to stay with these people?

  Yes. I am safe here until I determine what to do next.

  But what was Renzo talking about ‘in the far wall?’ Yes, there was the trace of a door’s outline. It responded to her light touch, clicking outwards and sliding to the left.

  In a space no bigger than eight feet squared, and void of any light, there was a metal cylinder with a ladder. When she stepped onto it and looked inside, deep, clear water met her eyes.

  A sensory deprivation tank, Sydel realized, shocked. Her senses screamed for its relief. And yet she hesitated, studying the light that bounced off the water’s surface.

  In her mind, she travelled back to the desert. The heat of Keller’s hands around her throat. How her body ignited from within. The man’s lifeless, mangled body on the floor, drowning in a pool of his own blood. The moans from Huma in the other room as she lamented her dead subjects. Left behind, crushed by falling rock.

  She was grateful. But after everything that happened, her gratitude felt trivial.

  And wicked.