Chapter Two
Gemma waited just inside the threshold of Rami’s office, her fingers tightening around the strap of her medbag. Her leg bounced involuntarily. Rami finished murmuring something to an analyst dressed in an Earth-green uniform before hurrying to her with a harried smile.
“Sorry,” he said. “Too many fires and not enough hands to put them out. Come in.”
She stepped inside his office, and he sealed the door. Her eyes were already scanning him for any sign that something was off.
“Sit,” he offered, gesturing to the chair across from his desk.
Gemma didn’t move. “Why am I here, Rami?”
He sighed. “Because we need to talk about your condition.”
“I thought the implant was working.”
“It is. But only technically.”
She furrowed her brow.
He rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’ve spoken with your medical team, and they’re in agreement that your device will eventually fail. It’s the only one of its kind and hasn’t been studied or tested. All it does is slow the electrical impulses from your brain to your body. It’s not a cure.”
“We know that already. But I’m fine. I’ve been training with Christian. I’ve been able to calm any impulses. We can worry about the implant after we find my sister and put an end to this blasted Dissent thing.”
Rami’s face fell into a frown before he tapped the electroglass screen on his desk. The display lit the space between them. Data flickered across and down the screen in shades of blue and white.
Rami enlarged one section and pointed. “This is your latest spinal readout. The implant is suppressing the foreign neural signals from your brain to your extremities, as it should. But according to Doctor Manae”—he tapped a section of data glowing with an unsettling red—“the Revarian cells are, in a sense, outmaneuvering the implant.”
Gemma narrowed her gaze at the screen. Even with the implant, the foreign cells were continuing to multiply quicker than they’d hoped.
Her breath hitched. “Like a virus evolving past a vaccine?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Exactly.”
She sank into the chair, a deep chill in her bones. The implant was her safeguard. If it no longer worked, what did that make her—a time bomb?
Her eyes burned. Images from the battle in Zion flashed through her mind: the daggers in her hands as she sawed through flesh and sinew; the smell of gunpowder and blood; the shrieks and screams of victim after victim . . .
“After a lot of debate,” Rami said, “we’ve decided the best course of action is to take you back to that temple.
We have a Revarian lore specialist meeting us there in a couple of days who can offer insight about what that orb may have contained.
Until we know that, we don’t truly understand what we’re up against. The more it grows, the harder it’ll be to suppress.
Which means”—he frowned—“we don’t know how to save you. ”
If the device failed, she’d lose complete control over her abilities. They’d consume her, destroying her from the inside out. Not too long ago, she wouldn’t have cared if she lived or died. But now, she had friends and a man she loved and a future . . .
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “And what about Nadine? I wanted to be the one to find my sister and bring her in.”
Rami shut off the electroglass screen, his face softening. “I know. But this is a bit more important, don’t you think?”
Gemma reluctantly nodded. It wasn’t like she had any other choice.
“There’s a small team leaving for Perileos tomorrow to look for Nadine, but there’s a strong chance she won’t be found before you come back. And even if she is, I will not sign off on her transfer to Capital City until you’ve had a chance to speak with her, okay? You have my word.”
Her vision blurred. This was so not the way things were supposed to go. The implant had saved her life. It was supposed to give her time.
A sharp pain pierced her chest as silence punctuated the air. She couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Am I dying?”
“We don’t know that.”
“Without the implant, I would have.”
Rami stared at her, lips pursed as if weighing his words.
At last, he spoke. “I’m not going to lie to you, Gemma, and say for certain that it won’t happen.
But I can promise you: We will do everything in our power to make sure it doesn’t.
Once we get further information from the temple’s excavation team, we will better understand what is happening and how to best help you. Hang in there.”
Gemma’s shoulders sank. He hadn’t given her a straight answer, but her heart knew the truth.
The moment her implant failed, she’d be dead.
Hawk and Imara stood outside the war room, deep in conversation with a man Christian instantly recognized as Hawk’s father.
They were so similar in appearance that the older man could’ve been Hawk’s brother, if time and politics hadn’t sculpted his features into something sharper.
The beard helped to set them apart. So did the air of authority that clung to Hawk’s father like a tailored suit.
The man practically ruled over the Oranos Space Station and the planet of Reva, including Zion and Reva’s city of Perileos.
Hawk’s dad answered only to the president herself.
Hawk spotted Christian over Imara’s shoulder. His eye not covered by a patch was watery, and both cheeks were flushed. He motioned for Christian to join and introduced them.
Christian nodded and shook the man’s hand. “Governor Gallowood.”
“Please, call me Philip,” he said, a dazzling grin—a politician’s grin—on his face. “I’ve heard many good things about you, Mister Holm.”
Christian nodded again, though a chill of warning ran up his spine. “Thank you, sir.”
Philip held a hand toward the door. “Now, let’s get started, shall we?”
Christian, Hawk, and Imara filed into the war room after Philip. At least ten soldiers sat around the table, laughing and smiling as if about to share a meal. Each wore a black shirt with the letters SARTF stitched into the back. Who were these people?
After taking their seats, Philip gave a single, loud clap that silenced the room. “Welcome, everyone.” He turned to speak to the soldiers in the black uniforms, motioning to Christian and his friends. “Let me introduce you to our latest SARTF recruits.”
SARTF recruits? Christian mouthed at Hawk, who shook his head. Apparently, he hadn’t been told either.
Philip continued, taking a few moments to get everyone acquainted before jumping into a debrief.
“Everyone here should know by now that six weeks ago, the Oranos Space Station was attacked by members of the terrorist organization known as the Dissent. Many of them have since been captured, and we have regained control of the station. However, we suspect many fled with the refugees to Zion, or even into Perileos. We don’t know the exact number, or where they even are, but this is why you’re all here.
I’ve been given the green light by the president to form a team within the Systems Anti-Rebellion Task Force to search Perileos for these missing Dissent agents. ”
So, that’s what SARTF stood for: a small platoon of Systems soldiers created purely for taking down terrorists. Interesting.
“The reason I asked for you three,” Philip said to Christian, Imara, and Hawk, “is because you know the city best. You’ll know who the players are, how to navigate the streets, and how to interact with the population.
Rami assured me you are the most equipped of this years’ winners to handle the demands this covert team calls for.
I left Perileos two decades ago. Of anyone in this room, you three might just be the most valuable. ”
“So, what’s the plan then, boss?” a dark-skinned man in a SARTF shirt asked Philip.
The governor clapped him on the shoulder. “We will start by setting up a base of operations at my former house. It’s highly secured and in a prime location just outside the city district, in Sector 1. It will be an excellent location to work out of.”
Christian’s stomach dropped. After all he’d done to get free of that starsforsaken city, and now they were being ordered to go back in.
His hands balled into fists. Too many people in Perileos knew his name and face. Too many people knew his history. Would everything he worked so hard to achieve disappear the moment the Systems knew the truth about his past? He was technically a criminal.
“Um, excuse me,” Imara interrupted, raising a single dark brow. “Just to clarify, you’re sending three inexperienced contestants, two with disabilities and trauma baggage, back into the place they barely survived? Sounds efficient.”
The sarcasm was acid-sharp, but Christian saw it for what it was: She was scanning the risks, not protesting out of fear. She was calculating.
Philip nodded once, his expression calm. “I did, Miss Joshi.”
She rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What about Nadine Proctor?” a SARTF soldier asked. “What’s the latest on her?”
Christian’s jaw clenched. He’d promised Gemma that she’d be the one to apprehend Nadine, but now someone on the SARTF team could take the glory. Gemma’s sister had murdered hundreds of people on Oranos and had destroyed Gemma’s life. She deserved to be the one to bring in Nadine.
The two of them would just need to stay extra diligent so they were the first to find her.
“We still don’t know where she is,” Philip Gallowood replied. “The SARTF team that stayed on Oranos confirmed she’s no longer on the station. Which means, she likely did escape on one of the refugee ships. She’s priority number one when we get to Gallowood House.”
The SARTF soldiers started murmuring amongst themselves. Christian caught snippets like “take her down” and “it’s about fucking time.” He shifted in his seat.
“What about our fourth teammate?” Imara asked, her arms still crossed. “It’d be good to have her on hand in case anyone else loses a leg. Or an eye.”
“Seriously?” Hawk mumbled under his breath, tipping his head to glare at her with his good eye.
“You mean Gemma?” Philip clarified. “No, she won’t be coming with us. Any other questions?”
Christian’s chest pinched. Heat warmed his cheeks as he dug his fingertips into the armrests of his chair. Oh, he was going to have words with Rami and the governor. There was no fucking way Gemma wouldn’t be present for the moment they found Nadine.
The second the meeting with SARTF ended, Christian was out of his chair and approaching Governor Gallowood.
“Excuse me, sir,” he began, his nostrils flaring as he tried to keep the anger from his voice. “May I talk to you for a moment?”
Philip waved at one of the SARTF soldiers as they exited the room then turned his attention to Christian. “Of course. How may I help you, Mister Holm?”
Christian cringed at the formality. “Why isn’t Gemma being included? I assume you know who she’s related to.”
Philip nodded. “Nadine Proctor. I am aware.”
Christian crossed his arms. “Then shouldn’t she be part of this team? If there’s anyone who wants to catch Nadine, it’s Gemma.”
Philip just smiled. “I completely agree, which is why I did make her part of the Systems Anti-Rebellion Task Force. But there is an issue far more pressing for her at the moment, so it’s in her best interest to stay behind and work with Rami.”
“What issue?” Imara spoke up from behind Christian. A glance over his shoulder showed that she and Hawk had remained in the room.
Philip flashed another smile at Christian and his teammates. “The concern for your friend is understandable and admirable. But I feel the question is better posed for Miss Proctor.”
Christian’s shoulders sank. His gut told him the reason she was being forced to stay behind was because of the alien virus running through her veins and binding itself to her DNA.
She had been having nightmares every night, though she hadn’t wanted to share what they were about.
But with the implant in her spine, the urges to use her powers had been suppressed.
Imara tugged on his sleeve. “Come on. Let’s go.”
With nausea roiling in his stomach, Christian followed Imara out the doorway, leaving Hawk to spend more time alone with his father.