‘Permission granted. Do you know how to request that from the nano-dispenser?’ Technically, a dispenser fully stocked up with nano-matter could produce just about anything given enough power and time, but certain substances were restricted.
‘Yes, ma’am. I do.’
‘Excellent. Any problems, just let me know,’ Ingram replied, resisting yet another urge to ask questions.
Now just where the hell did a Leech like you with no military background acquire the skills to hack a nano-dispenser?
‘All right, people, let’s move up a level,’ she ordered to those still hanging around.
CHAPTER 55
Olympus R&D Compound
60 km south-west of Turin
Afro-European Alliance
Thursday 30 April 2725
DAY 11
‘How’s Ferreira?’ Ingram asked, walking into the Chimera’s cockpit.
With the drugs wearing off and being constantly on the move jarring the already irritated nerves around her wound, Ingram could literally feel her energy levels dropping again. It was tempting to pop more painkillers, but things had been happening too fast to take time out to think about herself. She desperately needed a full scan before injecting any more drugs, and there definitely wasn’t time for that.
The evacuation had so far proceeded smoothly for the most part, courtesy of a bunch of competent people who were really running the show for her, but a number of snags had stretched the time uncomfortably far.
Nearly eighty per cent of the freed Leeches had been capable of making their way up to the surface and across to the hangar on their own, but that had still left over three hundred not-so-mobile bodies that had to be carried. The majority of those had been simply too affected by mind-altering drugs to understand simple instructions like ‘Please, follow me’, but there had been quite a few badly debilitated by starvation, broken and poorly healed bones or other physical trauma. Some had simply been so terrified by their experiences that they had freaked out and had to be sedated. Clarissa Okeke hadn’t been exaggerating when she asked for more sedatives.
‘Ferreira is fine. His ego suffered more than his face,’ Kaal replied, the corners of his lips quivering.
He looks older, and more tired, but some things never change, Ingram mused, her own lips forming a mischievous smile.
‘Good. If he wants to keep the scar, he’ll have to beg the doctors at the hospital.’ She laughed. ‘I was impressed at the restraint he showed. The young Leech who panicked and tried to claw his face is now in a medically induced nano-coma, no injuries whatsoever.’
‘Ma’am, the experiments were meant to make us more susceptible to nano-hells, not to turn us into psychopaths. There was no point in Ferreira using force.’
‘I’m sorry, Sergeant, I didn’t mean to—’ Ingram began, but stopped abruptly. She was being too soft for an Elite. She was letting past experiences speak for her, and Kaal was getting more and more suspicious of who she really was. ‘Just tell him he did well.’
‘Thank you, ma’am. I will,’ Kaal said thoughtfully, and then busied himself with the pre-flight checks.
‘The last group is on their way. Okeke and Xanthos are riding herd on those already on board, making sure they’re all strapped in and providing any last-minute medical attention. We have a couple of minutes to talk…’ She let her voice trail off and waited until Kaal looked at her uneasily. ‘How about you tell me when you started working for Cassandra?’
Kaal didn’t quite flinch, but observing his shoulders tighten, Ingram knew her bluff was right on the money.
‘Was that before your discharge from the military? Or after?’ Hearing that bite, Kaal snapped upright. The fire in his eyes, which Ingram knew so well from the Wars, was ablaze yet again. His fists clenched. ‘The military detailed you to do Cassandra’s dirty work, didn’t they?’ she said, still bluffing. She shifted her weight slightly, ready to defend herself if Kaal lost his shit, but deep down she knew he wouldn’t be that foolish. She had no doubt he would put his life on the line to strike an Elite if that seemed absolutely necessary, but she had confused him with her attitude too much for him to make such a decision in a hurry.
‘You could probably get him to talk if you eased off trying to scare the shit out of him,’ Gonzalez said into her earpiece. She hadn’t heard much from him, or Eloise, in a while, and had assumed that it had something to do with Eloise’s state and energy levels. She had let them be, managing the evacuation with what she already had.
‘I think someone needs their shit scared out of them,’ Ingram replied, more for Kaal’s benefit than in answer to Gonzalez.
‘Look, we wanted to refuse to work for them.’ Kaal shook his head in frustration. ‘We didn’t get a choice. They sent us here—Military Command sent us here. Me, Ferreira, Al-Qadir and Wallace. Fly their supply shuttles, they said. When we realised what was going on, there was no way out. We thought we might be able to gather some intel, but who would we deliver it to? Military Command actually issued orders assigning us to work for Cassandra. We didn’t know who we could possibly trust.’
His fists tightened even more. He stared at Ingram, pure venom in his eyes. Logically, he knew it wasn’t her who had done it, but she was Elite and by extension a symbol of Leech suffering.
‘We decided to compromise their organisation. Leeches that died here were burnt on site, but we managed to smuggle a few of the bodies out. We would drop them into the Rhône when we ran supply shuttles bringing food from Lyon’s farms. They caught Wallace; that’s why he’s a fucking vegetable now! And why we all ended up in the damn coffins! We didn’t know what to do. They were controlling all communications. Everything.’
He paused, and his clenched fists relaxed. Resignation replaced his rage. He
