Rem’s face had turned a sickly shade of pale.“Zee?”
“Go ahead. I’ll be fine.” She gave him amischievous smile. “Remember what Logan and Humber told me? I’vedecided to follow their advice.”
His blue eyes began to twinkle, and she knewhe was hearing Humber’s words: Remember who you are.
Daniel Quito’s granddaughter—spoiled,willful, the scourge of teachers and administrators everywhere. Atruant, a party girl, reckless and fearless. And now she had addedVekzor-killer to her résumé.
It was Carrak who should be worried, not Zia.And definitely not Rem. He had a simulator to beat, and she knewshe had just given him more than permission to do so. She hadinspired him to kick Level Eight’s ass the same way Zia intended tokick Carrak’s.
* * * *
As it turned out, Carrak was a lot more savvythan any of the instructors, principals, or counselors Zia hadplagued during her first eighteen years of life. To make mattersworse, the general didn’t just disapprove of Zia, she appeared togenuinely dislike her, which seemed grossly unfair. Hadn’t Ziatraveled across the galaxy and put her life at risk to help Carrakwin this war?
A little gratitude would have been nice.
Instead she got mockery. More “delicateflower” insults, and an assignment in a “teaching simulator” thatwas clearly designed for schoolchildren, not pilots. Carrak’s planwas for Zia to advance through levels on this machine, and theworld would be told she was making rapid progress, without anymention of the laughably easy curriculum.
It was programmed for five levels, and Ziawas angry enough to keep going, level after level, even when herback began to ache and her vision grew blurry. She was going tobeat this machine in one try, then insist on being allowed to trythe real simulator. Or even better, she hoped to forget simulationscompletely and get some lessons on the target range withconventional weapons, especially blasters, so she could assist Remif the Vekzori struck again.
Meanwhile, she treated the simulator the wayshe had treated the DNA testing—like a game. It wasn’t nearly asmuch fun, but it had similar elements, including a watered-downversion of the flashing lights that required quick responses. Iteven had an underlying story, requiring Zia to evade attackerswhile recovering a different jewel-encrusted diskette at eachlevel.
Dumb plot, she complained. Why notmake it something interesting? Why diskettes? How about crowns orbracelets—real jewels! That would at least give me someincentive.
Finally, she was the proud owner of all fivetreasures, and she smiled through her exhaustion as she pulled offthe clumsy sensor gloves and exited the simulator to confrontCarrak, who was seated at a table, working on a compu-tab.
The general glanced up. “You are taking abreak already?”
“I finished it,” Zia said, adding silently,Bitch.
“You may take a break before you try again.From the beginning.”
“What?”
Carrak shrugged. “It took you two Earthhours. You cannot advance to the adult simulator until you canconquer this one in fifty minutes—ten minutes for each level.”
“Ten minutes?” Zia wailed. “It took me thatlong to put on the gloves!”
“Yes, I noticed.”
Double-bitch . . .
Zia walked over to a window and stared downat two prowlers that were sparring on the practice field. Archingher back, she stretched her tight muscles. Then she turned towardCarrak. “I never said I wanted to advance to the adult simulator.I’d rather skip all this stupid stuff and learn something useful.Like how to fire a blaster. Can you teach me that?”
“A blaster?”
“In case the Vekzori strike again. I want tobe able to help Rem.”
Carrak pursed her lips. “He should allowMalaran warriors to assist in your protection. But he isstubborn.”
“The last time he let Malaran warriorsassist, I almost got killed.”
Carrak glared. “Yes, I am aware.”
“So? Will you teach me?”
The huge general exhaled in clearfrustration. “I am teaching you by putting you in the simulator.Those skills and lessons will perfect your aim and help you protectyourself.”
“Ugh! I’d rather just have a blaster and atarget. Maybe Maryak could teach me.”
Carrak arched an eyebrow. “She could give youblaster lessons? And you could teach her more Earthvocabulary?”
“Vocabulary? Oh . . .” Zia winced.“Cripes.”
Carrak surprised her by laughing. “You havedone enough fake practicing for today. In a few minutes, your loverwill have his first session in a real skirmisher. Would you like towatch?”
“Yes.” Zia walked over to the table and satdown across from the general. “He’s not my lover, though. So don’ttease him about me, okay? He feels responsible for my safetybecause he’s a dedicated soldier. You should respect that, not mockit. Tease me all you want. It won’t bother me a bit. Butback off on Rem, okay?”
“He needs to focus,” Carrak retorted. “Youare a distraction.”
“I’m Daniel Quito’s granddaughter. That meansa lot to Earth pilots. I don’t distract them, I inspire them.” Shestudied the general with angry frustration. “Are you going to lethim pilot a skirmisher in a challenge? If he’s good enough, youshouldn’t punish him just because he’s loyal to me.”
Carrak closed the compu-screen and gave Zia asteady stare. “He is a good pilot. He could be a great one, but heneeds hours of practice if he is going to participate in achallenge. Otherwise, it would be suicide for him, and a disasterfor us.”
“But you’re considering it?” Zia felt a rushof excitement. “Have you told him?”
“He knows how good he is,” Carrak repliedcoolly. “As I said, the choice is his now. It is not possible forhim to be ready in time for the first challenge. And also not thesecond. But if there is a third, a fourth—his chances grow moreexcellent.”
“Okay.” Zia nodded. “I’ll try not to distracthim. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“Am I?”
Zia glared. “It’s impossible to talk to you.But since I’m only a fake pilot, I don’t really have to. So let’sjust go watch Rem instead, okay?”
Chapter11
It was Rem versus Gannor, skirmisher versusskirmisher. Rem suspected now that General Carrak had fostered theanimosity between the two of them just to make each of the malesact more recklessly and make more mistakes.
Remember, the object isn’t to beat Gannor.It’s to impress Carrak, which means demonstrating control—ofyourself and your mech.
He would have preferred using
