Rift

  ~

  The welcome icon produced a tutorial for using the computer and several documents regarding her work in Strategos Command, rules, regulations, work expectations, and so on. There was also a long questionnaire, and she filled it out meticulously. A few seconds after she had completed it, she received a message.

  The message was automated, a profile sheet based on her answers on the questionnaire. She didn’t pay attention to it—after all, her answers were only partially honest, so an analysis based on them would be faulty in any case.

  She looked around. Evan sat with his face to his screen, working on one thing or another. The other two hadn’t even said hello yet. As far as she could tell, they were too preoccupied with their tasks to even register her presence. Some people might think this was a good job, she thought. She dreaded the prospect of spending her days in this room, in front of this computer, with people who didn’t even speak to her. Why had Counselor Novak wanted her to come? She sighed deeply and turned back to her own screen.

  A new task had appeared at the center of her screen. She tapped it, and a map opened up. It showed an area stretching from just west of Camp Gustavson to east of Camp Sharpe. The only town on the map was Fort Winter, Keisha’s hometown.

  The message below the map read: Please indicate the location of your capture. She was puzzled. Was this her task? She tapped the map once, just north of the small dot indicating Camp Gustavson.

  The map disappeared, and an image appeared. It was a woman, who looked vaguely familiar. Below her face was a short résumé.

  Colonel (Covenant equivalent: Sub Strategos) Renee Marsden

  Wanted for subversive activity, specification restricted

  Status: Missing

  Last known location: North of Camp Gustavson

  Extremely dangerous

  Terminate on sight

  Sue remembered.

  Renee, who had told her of the world, and how the Moon people had enslaved them all.

  The image disappeared.

  “Please answer the following questions,” the instructions said.

  Sue waited, a knot forming in her stomach. What was going on?

  Do you remember this face?—YES

  Did this woman speak to you?—YES

  Do you remember anything she told you?—YES

  Do you remember everything she told you?—NO

  Did she mention the history of the Covenant?—YES

  Do you believe she told you the truth?—…

  Sue hesitated. She knew she shouldn’t answer YES. That would condemn her in an instant. She ought to tap NO, right now. She moved her finger closer to the screen, but still she hesitated. Maybe it was a desire to finally stand up to them. Maybe it was uncertainty—after all, she had no way of knowing. Maybe it was the memories, pushing through a barrier somewhere in the depths of her mind, tearing it down, bringing it all back. Even the memory of how the Covenant soldier had stood over Rory while he lay helpless in bed.

  A second-rate citizen, expendable, Renee had said. And while that had felt like a blow, it hadn’t shocked her. Not really. She had known.

  Terminate subject. Like mandatory euthanasia. Once you’re spent, you get terminated. She felt her blood boiling. They had tried to make her forget. To make her a pliable little subject again. Medicate her; take away the memories that had shown her the truth. Ignorance is Bliss, the soldier had said as she’d passed out.

  She remembered now.

  And still she hesitated.

  She tapped the NO icon frantically. Too late. She turned away from the screen.

  The men who had been sitting in front of their own screens got up. They looked straight at her. Both were holding guns, pointing at her. Evan stood up, as well, looking confused and angry at the same time.

  “What the hell is going on?” he said.

  “Sit down, Hordvik,” one of the men said, moving his weapon slightly.

  The door opened, and a man walked in, followed by armed soldiers. She instantly recognized the face. The last time she had seen it, he had been looking straight at her, a threat apparent in those ice blue eyes. She had almost forgotten. He stood in front of her now, all six feet, hovering over her. That same black suit, white close-cropped hair and a face set in stone.

  “First Janissary Ivanov,” Sue said, knowing she had lost. He didn’t even speak her name.

  “Take this traitor away,” he said.