Axira Episode One

  Chapter 14

  Axira

  I was dumped in the brig.

  Every cadet or officer I passed stared at me with disdain. News spread so quickly through the Academy, there was little need for faster-than-light communication.

  I let myself be placed in a shielded cell.

  I could have fought back at any moment.

  I could have left this all behind.

  Instead, I sat there with my arms crossed as I stared at the ceiling. My back was rested against the wall, with my feet pressed into the edge of the cot.

  It was time to decide what to do next.

  Hendra had outplayed me. Which meant, somehow, she’d found out that I knew about her.

  How?

  Had I underestimated how powerful she was? Could she have gleaned my suspicions just by walking past me?

  She was turning out to be much more dangerous than I could have predicted.

  So what to do next?

  Technically, I could jump away and forget the whole thing. This was the Academy’s problem. I could leave Earth and start somewhere new.

  There were other ways to further my task. The Coalition Academy were not the only group who could help me take down Master.

  ….

  Yet that didn’t feel right – abandoning them. It didn’t’ sit well. It felt like a lump I couldn’t swallow.

  I’d already put months into the Academy. And though it was hard to admit, I’d already learned a lot.

  There was a hope kindling within me that I could not only defeat my master with their help, but I could change, learn maybe.

  My self-view was changing, however slowly. I was no longer a loner. I had somewhere to belong.

  ….

  I had somewhere to belong.

  If Hendra was as powerful as I now suspected, she wouldn’t stop.

  I could reveal my true powers. I could subspace jump out of this cell and find her, but I wouldn’t be able to hide who I was.

  There were two guards watching me from beyond my cell, more security officers flitting between them.

  ….

  What should I do?

  …

  Jason Singh

  What had she done?

  I was standing in the corridor, in a fresh new uniform, reeling.

  I’d known Em was capable of this, right? I’d known she was unstable, so why hadn’t I intervened?

  She’d just ruined her career. She’d get a criminal charge too. Serve some time on a prison asteroid somewhere.

  This hadn’t been some spur-of-the-moment attack. It had been premeditated.

  I winced as I remembered the memory Hendra had shared with me. Utilizing her telepathic powers, she could share her experiences with others.

  So I’d seen it. In every goddamn gritty detail. The way Em’s face had spread with hatred, pleasure even.

  I shook, planting a hand over my mouth. The memory wasn’t mine, but it still felt like I’d endured it. Every terrible second of the violent beating.

  I almost wanted to confront Em, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

  I’d been an idiot. I should have seen all the warning signs that there wasn’t something quite right with that cadet.

  By now the news had spread, through the goddamn city let alone the Academy. It wasn’t every day there was an assault like this on campus.

  I pressed a hand hard into my brow as I tried to banish Hendra’s memory of Em’s contorted face.

  I jerked my head up and concentrated on the view. I stared at the campus grounds, looking for some kind of solace.

  “Lieutenant,” my wrist device suddenly rumbled with the voice of Admiral Forest. “Report to my office.”

  I let her sharp tone cut through my mood.

  I turned on my heel and half-ran to her office, thankful for the excuse to use my limbs – to chase away the muscle memory of Em’s attack.

  When I reached the Admiral’s office, I was surprised to see Hendra sitting there.

  Her face had been fixed up, but her usually bright expression was subdued, gone even.

  She looked like someone who’d suffered a significant trauma.

  I made a fist. I’d let that happen, right?

  “Lieutenant, you need to hear this.” The Admiral nodded toward Hendra.

  Hendra clasped her hands tightly in her lap, and I could see they were glistening with sweat. “I just thought you should know what I found out about… that woman. When she a-a-attacked me,” Hendra had trouble forcing the word out as her voice shook, “She left her mind unguarded. The situation was so intense that I couldn’t help but pick up on her thoughts.”

  My stomach clenched.

  “She’s been sharing Academy secrets. She was sharing them with two Kore Empire assassins.”

  “… Em’s only been in the Academy a few months,” I pointed out. I shouldn’t have said it, but the words came tumbling out. Was I trying to defend her? I couldn’t be – what she’d done was inexcusable.

  “Em lived in this city for several months prior to joining up,” the Admiral supplied.

  “She is a very skilled agent,” Hendra continued, her hands still shaking, “She used her abilities to break into offices and steal secrets.”

  I felt cold now. Totally cold. Like I’d been ejected from an airlock and sent spinning into the void.

  Em? All this time, it had been her.

  It made sense. She had skills far beyond the average recruit.

  It also made sense that she’d been able to overpower those two Kore assassins; they’d let her do it. In order to keep her cover, they’d sacrificed themselves.

  I pressed two fingers hard into my brow, drawing a harsh breath.

  I couldn’t understand how I could have been so naive.

  “We will interrogate the cadet,” Forest began.

  “I’ll be able to help you.” Hendra suddenly released her hands and pressed forward until she was sitting on the edge of her chair. “I… want to do this. For the Academy,” she added.

  “Under ordinary circumstances, considering what she put you through, I would decline your offer. But as you are the most talented telepath we have on campus, I’m afraid we’ll need your skills.”

  I shot the Admiral a quick look.

  She clearly picked up on it as she stiffened. “Ordinarily, I would never consider using telepathic interrogation. However, considering the number of secrets that could have been leaked…” she trailed off and swallowed hard. “We need to find out what she’s done.”

  I felt sick. Sick about everything. I knew the Admiral was right, but… telepathic interrogation was the kind of thing the Kore Empire would do.

  Hendra caught my gaze. Despite her own considerable distress, she made eye contact and shot me a commiserating smile. “It’ll all be okay,” she promised.

  The heavy, ominous feeling in my gut told me that was unlikely.