Axira Episode One

  Chapter 13

  Jason Singh

  “Thank you for coming to see me,” Hendra said as she nodded low, her bare skull glinting in the sunlight streaming in from her office window.

  “What’s up?” I asked as I returned her nod and walked into her well-appointed office.

  “When I saw you in the corridor earlier you felt stressed,” she noted. “I’m sorry if this is an intrusion, but I wanted to help if I could.”

  From anyone else, it would be an intrusion. But you couldn’t fault Hendra. Aside from my sister, she was about the sweetest person I’d ever met.

  I didn’t make eye contact, though. My gaze darted to the floor as I scratched my chin uncomfortably, my fingernails snagging over two days of unshaved stubble.

  Hendra smiled prettily again, and it was enough of a distraction that I let my hand drop.

  “I can help take away your stress.” She nodded low once more. “I will follow the telepathic code, and at no point will I look into your memories,” she assured me as an uncomfortable expression crossed my face. “Plus, I sense that you have a strong will. You must be trained, and you would be more than capable of keeping your memories locked away from me – not that I would ever pry. I’m just trying to—”

  I put up a hand quickly. “Put me at ease. And thank you. I suppose…” I trailed off as I considered whether I wanted to go ahead with this.

  The truth was I did want to get rid of this stress. It hung heavy in my limbs, robbing me of sleep and generally souring my life.

  I also knew I’d be able to do a better job of tracking down the spy if I wasn’t so tired and worried.

  Hendra smiled hesitantly. “Please say no if you are uncomfortable. I wouldn’t push my help on anyone.” She patted a hand emphatically on her chest, her long elegant fingers ruffling her golden robes.

  “… Okay,” I answered, surprised the words stumbled their way out of my mouth.

  Was I actually okay with this?

  As Hendra shot me another one of her trademark incredible smiles, I relaxed. Yeah, this would help me, wouldn’t it?

  “Do not fear, Lieutenant; I’ve been offering my services to many of your colleagues. Just relax. Take a seat and close your eyes.”

  …

  Axira

  I was early for my appointment with Hendra. I was eager to get this over with. Plus, if she wasn’t in her office right now, I would be able to subspace jump inside and investigate it.

  I approached her door. That’s when I heard people within. Their voices weren’t muffled; not to my ears.

  It was Lieutenant Jason Singh and Hendra.

  “Just relax,” Hendra encouraged.

  She was prying into his mind, wasn’t she?

  This was how she did it, right? She canvassed the higher-ups of the Academy, either offering them sessions with her or gleaning what secrets she could as she walked past them in the corridor.

  If my theory was right, Hendra was a very powerful telepath. Then again, I already knew that, didn’t I? If she’d been able to push past my considerable defenses to find out the memory of my master, then she was far, far more powerful than she pretended to be.

  The Kore Empire must have trained her to keep her considerable abilities disguised. Perhaps she had a number of well shielded cybernetic implants that would hide the level of her abilities from other telepaths, letting her true power go undetected.

  If the Academy were aware of how powerful she was, they wouldn’t let her walk around the grounds, let alone be in the same city as so many admirals.

  I didn’t stop. I jammed my thumb into her intercom. “I’m early for my session,” I said loudly.

  If she didn’t answer, I was ready to call Jason Singh on his wrist device. He’d given me permission to if I ever needed help. Hopefully, it would be enough of an intrusion that Jason would snap out of whatever spell Hendra had put him in.

  I concentrated and heard Hendra stand up, her robes rustling distinctly as she walked over to the door. There was a beep, and she opened it.

  I controlled my expression, wiping away the anger that had formed there.

  “I wasn’t expecting you for another half-hour,” Hendra said politely.

  Was there an edge to her expression?

  Some kind of anger? Aggression maybe?

  If I were anyone else, I wouldn’t be able to spot it. But I had seen so much aggression over my life that I knew how to detect it.

  In my peripheral vision, I saw Jason stand up, a little shaky at first as he pressed two fingers into his brow. Then he blinked, saw me, and offered a smile.

  I didn’t return it.

  Idiot, I thought. Fool. He was being pulled in by Hendra’s act, and he’d just let the woman poke around in his mind. Who knew what secrets she’d managed to pry out? And who knew how many more she would have pulled from his mind if I hadn’t interrupted.

  I diverted my gaze from him and concentrated on Hendra. I gave what I hoped was a good attempt at a smile. “Something’s come up later this afternoon. Is there any chance we can get this done now?”

  “Of course.” She bowed low.

  I didn’t return the move. Instead, I walked into the room, again ignoring Jason’s gaze. In fact, I didn’t look at him once until he gave an awkward cough. “Okay, then, I guess I will see you around.”

  Hendra shot him the kind of smile she’d likely been taught by the Empire. Just the right curve of her full lips, just the right glitter in her eyes – it would gain the attention of any man or woman fool enough to fall for it. “We will continue this soon.”

  “Thanks. Goodbye, Cadet Em,” he added, shooting me another look.

  I ignored him, concentrating on Hendra instead. “Are you ready?”

  Hendra nodded.

  Jason walked out, and the door closed behind him.

  As soon as it did, Hendra’s expression changed completely.

  It was like someone had thrown a brick at the forced facade of gentle calm she always wore. Her lips cracked up into a grimace. Her gaze changed too – it became hard, cold, victorious.

  I had not expected this.

  She gave a soft laugh. Then she reached a hand into her robe and pulled out a small device. “I wonder how long it would take someone like you to injure someone like me?”

  I froze. “What are you talking about?”

  She thumbed the button on the device. She brought it up to her face and pressed it flat against her cheek. Suddenly, there was a jolt as the device slammed into her, breaking the skin over her cheek and causing her to jolt back.

  My eyes widened in alarm. “What are you doing?”

  She smiled, ignoring the blood trickling down her cheek. Then, with a powerful grip, she tore one of her sleeves to reveal more bruises and cuts. All of them looked as though they were the result of a beating.

  I took a jerked step toward her.

  I figured it out.

  I understood what she was about to do.

  She tilted her head and smiled. “You should have stayed out of this.” Then she turned on her foot, screamed, and ran out of the room.

  I stood there and stared.

  I was a spacer, the most powerful creature at the Academy, apparently, and yet I’d lost this battle.

  I’d underestimated my enemy.

  But as my enemy was about to find out, she’d underestimated me too.

  …

  Jason Singh

  I was still standing around outside Hendra’s office. I wanted to leave – I should leave; I had no reason to be here – but I couldn’t convince myself to walk away.

  Em hadn’t made eye contact with me once. She’d ignored me completely.

  There was something wrong with her, wasn’t there?

  Hendra’s office was located along a very wide hallway that was always busy with traffic. In other words, I had a large audience to watch me as I stood there and awkwardly watched the closed door.

  Just as I convinced myself to walk away, somet
hing happened.

  The doors burst open, and someone flung themselves out. I was standing so close that they hit me. I held out my arms, catching them.

  It was Hendra.

  Her cheek was bleeding, the sleeves of her robe torn. “She attacked me. She attacked me,” she cried, shaking in my arms.

  I looked up, slowly, as if my neck muscles had frozen.

  Cadet Em was standing in the middle of Hendra’s office staring at Hendra. Her expression….

  “I just wanted to help her. She attacked me. She’s insane.” Hendra gripped my collar, her hands still shaking as she pulled her head from my chest and looked up into my eyes.

  Em didn’t move.

  By now word was spreading through the corridor. I heard somebody call for security.

  Em still didn’t move, she just stared at Hendra.

  With a jerky move, Hendra turned her head toward Em. Then, clearly overcome by emotion, nestled her head back against my chest.

  I brought my arms up to support her. “It’s okay.”

  Em crossed her arms.

  I … couldn’t believe it.

  As security came rushing down the corridor, the sound of their boots echoing through the halls, Em walked out of the office.

  She wasn’t hurried, in fact, she almost looked bored.

  “She attacked me,” Hendra repeated.

  “She attacked herself,” Em replied.

  “I … I can telepathically share my memories,” Hendra said through sobs.

  “You can also create them,” Em pointed out with a blank expression.

  Security arrived.

  Em put her hands up.

  She didn’t look remorseful.

  She had just attacked Hendra, and she looked… like she didn’t care.

  Hendra started sobbing again.

  Em gave out a soft laugh.

  It chilled me to the bone.

  “Keep acting, telepath. But don’t forget, when you create memories of our so-called interaction, that I don’t have any of your DNA on my hands.” She waggled her fingers as one of the burly security officers grabbed her hands and pinned them behind her back.

  “You could have coated your knuckles with a DNA inhibitor,” Hendra continued to sob into my chest.

  “Hmm, now why would I have done that if I was prepared to attack you virtually in public?” Em shrugged a shoulder to the assembled crowd in the corridor.

  “You’re insane,” Hendra wailed.

  “We’ll see about that,” Em answered ominously.

  Hendra continued to shake, the blood from her cheek splattering over my uniform. “Please take her away.”

  I nodded at the security guards.

  Em didn’t say another word. She shot Hendra a look, though – one colder than I’d ever seen. Her face contorted with a frozen kind of concentration. She also ticked her head to the side.

  “Take her away,” I said, my voice shaking.

  Em didn’t resist.

  The security guards hauled her away, leaving the rest of the corridor in stunned silence.

  I kept my arms around Hendra until she pulled away. A massive bruise was forming over her already swollen cheek. “Thank you,” she said in a broken voice.

  “It’s okay,” I managed as I stared past her in the direction they’d taken Em.

  ….

  God, I couldn’t believe this.

  I’d been wrong about Em. So wrong.