Chapter 10 #2
I itched for my weapons, but Levi had told me not to be rash. Kaleo seemed to track my line of thoughts. “Good misfit.”
He knocked on a door along the back wall, and a female voice rang out. “Come in.”
“After you.” His grin snapped the remaining tethers to my fear from the attack. Glaring at him, I entered the room.
The office was sizable and…luxurious. The space was more comfortable than anywhere else I had seen since entering Haven.
Hell, since leaving my family home. The walls were draped with dark red fabric, giving the room a warmth that the stone tunnels lacked.
A plush leather couch and two chairs sat before a heating unit.
If I squinted, it might have been a fireplace.
A tattered rug adorned the floor. Across from the sitting area was a large oak desk littered with stacks of papers.
I saw the Ward seal on several of them. There was also a framed photo, a bowl of candied fruit, and a small device that resembled a cellphone.
Perhaps some people had had time to bring possessions when they first broadcast Haven as our last hope.
On the wall hung a large map of above, littered with large X’s and small colored flags that journeyed farther and farther away from Haven’s main tunnel entrance.
“Weapons.” Burdon sat behind the large desk in a leather chair, camouflaged by her endless belongings. Her dark hair was down, the waves surrounding her cunning face.
I turned to find that Kaleo was gone. When had he left?
I hesitantly grabbed my knife and pistol.
I was handing her a vital part of myself.
She grinned like she knew, coming to a stand.
She wore nothing but a black tank top and tight black pants.
She didn’t have any of the signs of starvation most people below still carried.
Burdon appeared strong and healthy, and unmistakably pretty.
“Asking twice really irks me.” She sauntered around her desk, patting its surface.
I didn’t move. A part of me wanted to say no, defend my actions. I didn’t. I laid my last ties to my father on the desk, promising myself I would get them back.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Burdon asked, hopping onto her desk.
The beast rustled just under my skin, but I bit back my retort.
“Oh, so you’re learning,” Burdon relished. She popped a piece of candied fruit into her mouth, dragging her gaze up my body until I felt as if I were under a microscope.
“We have something in common, you know,” Burdon finally said.
I didn’t know what I had expected her to say, but it certainly wasn’t that. “I’m sorry?”
“I’ve wanted to talk with you one-on-one since he mentioned you.
He hasn’t been cooperative. He’s always been protective over his units, to his detriment.
But this is different. Why does he want you?
I mean, besides what I saw in the House yesterday.
That was…well, obvious. Can’t say I see it.
” Burdon tutted. “So I went on a hunt into the entry log and your file—trying to understand your history and what made the Death’s Angel so necessary.
The probabilities of you making a difference out there and actually saving someone—well, the stats are against you. But still, he insisted.”
“Hayes?” I asked, confused.
“Yes. He’s fought for this whole medic thing for a long time. Since he met you. He’s been denied, but he’s a committed person. He found a way to sway the Kitchens and Expansion commanders. Sanitation agreed as well. Majority won. And here you are,” Burdon said bitterly.
Why hadn’t the Ward been on board with bringing back medics? That didn’t make sense.
“We both entered Haven with a sibling, you know.”
Shock shot through me. “How do you know that?”
“My hunt.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked, uneasy.
“Because it makes us alike. I entered with a brother. He died in Expansion when a tunnel caved in. I guess it serves him right for going to Expansion. He had no ambition, no drive. You share that with him. You’re a true marksman, I’ll give you that.
That seems to be your only redeeming quality.
You’re weak. You have no fight to you on the mats.
You failed at the obstacle course.” She paused, grabbing another candied fruit, her eyes gleaming.
“And you continue to fall apart in the House. If you don’t freeze, you derail the entire unit with your ineptitude. ”
My heart picked up its pace as if it were a time bomb.
She slowly chewed the candy. “The only remarkable thing about you, besides your aim, is your health score. The fact that you are still alive. They aren’t, though.” Burdon tapped the stack of papers with the Ward seal on them.
My heart stuttered to a stop as Burdon fanned the records before me, smiling.
“For such a competent member of the Ward, all of these are signed by you.” She licked her finger and began to thumb through the papers, reading them.
“Death from stab wound. Death from unknown virus. Death from infection. Death from childbirth. Death from another unknown virus. They just keep going.”
“What do they have to do with this?” I could be called weak, a liar, a slut.
The list of names Burdon, or anyone, could throw my way was endless.
I deserved most of them, even earned some of them.
This, though, was too far. It wasn’t something I would ever apologize for.
I would never forgive myself either for being unable to save them.
So fuck not being rash. Fuck Command and fuck Burdon.
The door to the office flew open. I turned to find Tristian eating up the entire doorway.
“Unit Commander Hayes, you’re supposed to be on patrol,” Burdon declared, placing the papers down.
“I was, but I beat Williams in our last sparring tournament,” Tristian said smoothly, his eyes locked on Burdon. He didn’t spare me a glance. “Loser had to take a patrol shift, no questions asked. I had forgotten, but Williams found me and reminded me.”
Loud scraping filled the room as Tristian pulled a chair over to me. “Here, sit,” he commanded before dragging the second chair over for himself. There was an air to him, the commander he sometimes showed, devouring the oxygen in the room. I didn’t fight him, quickly taking the seat.
He sat beside me, his broad legs spread as he leaned back casually, like we were not in the Force commander’s office awaiting my termination.
“So fill me in,” Tristian prompted.
“Your cadet—”
“I was asking my cadet what happened,” Tristian said.
It wasn’t Commander Hayes next to me. I had been wrong.
The beast growled in recognition of his barely leashed fury.
“She was there, and according to my Intel officer, you were not. She is pulling the footage for me now from the Force cameras. I’ll make sure you receive a copy.
My operations officer was pissed at being woken up after the witching hour shift—I am sure you saw his report on the brawl outside the east bar.
” His gaze zeroed in on the Ward documents.
“Maybe you haven’t. You seem to have had your hands full today. ”
Burdon sat stiffly upon her desk, the gloating gone.
Tristian grinned at her. “Regardless, he has assured me that in section two, paragraph five, addendum six, ‘A Force member is permitted and expected to defend themselves against an internal threat. Any actions taken by the Force member in self-defense will be properly reviewed, and the attacking officer will be subjected to a full review before the five sector leaders and face possible discharge from the Force if the attack is deemed unprovoked and detrimental to the progress of the Force, Haven, or human life. Any weapons used in self-defense are excused unless used to take life. In the event of the aggressor’s loss of life, the Force member will be subjected to a full review before the five sector leaders, and the weapons confiscated.’ There was more, but I assume that’s enough for you. ”
Burdon shifted, and Tristian rested his elbows on his knees. “Cadet Cadell, did you know your attacker before today?”
“No.”
“Have you given Tom Murray a reason to attack you?”
“No.”
“Did you draw weapons?”
“Yes.”
“Did you fire your weapon?”
“No, but I threw my knife next to his head,” I told them. If they were getting the video footage, I might as well be honest.
Tristian’s jaw flexed. Whether to hold back a groan or laugh, I didn’t know, but he continued. “Does Murray still live?”
“Yes.”
“Was he harmed?”
“His ego was.”
Tristian stood, a smirk playing across his lips.
“Well, that takes care of that. My cadet was involved in an unprovoked attack and acted in self-defense. The attacker, Tom Murray, was left alive and will be subjected to a review as to why he attacked a fellow member of the Force. Any use of the weapons is excused. Cadell does not require a full Command review. Therefore, any discipline is left to the cadet’s unit commander.
” Tristian reached past Burdon to retrieve my weapons, his face hovering inches from hers. “Which is me.”
Relief flooded me as Tristian turned, handing me my father’s pistol and knife. With his back to Burdon, he finally looked at me. His anger immediately winked out.
“Your loyalty knows no bounds, Unit Commander Hayes,” Burdon gritted.
Tristian faced her slowly. “You once admired that about me.”
I leaned over to see past Tristian. Burdon stood rigid, something like hatred in her dark, cunning eyes. “Yes, well, you once knew where to put that loyalty.”
“I put it in people who deserve it. Always have,” Tristian retorted, shoulders stiff. Whatever this was between them, it had turned personal.
“And some girl who gave up on the Ward for Expansion is where you’ve decided to put it? She quit once, and she’ll quit again. She’s useless in the House. She doesn’t put effort into anything, yet you still claim she’s somehow beneficial for your mission.”
“I do.”