Zera frowned. “I do?”
He leaned in. “It is standard social response.”
“Oh. I guess I am still in shock. Another standard social response.” She looked at him with challenge in her expression. She knew it. She had practiced the expression in the mirror for years. “I have to go inside now.”
He nodded.
“You have to let me go.”
He looked down, and his hands were on her waist. “Why does this feel comfortable?”
“Because you are a fan of the curve between ribs and hips.” She looked at him and kept her mind and expression blank.
He jerked his hands back. “How did... when...”
She nodded. “Please, excuse me, I have to check on Susa.”
She nodded again. “Thank you for the lift.”
His mouth opened and closed.
She turned and headed toward the med research building. He followed her with long strides.
“You are a program researcher. What is your designation? Even the researchers have to have some activation going on.” He spoke quietly as they walked.
“Designation is classified. Consider me very smart with a lot of patience.” She swiped her entry code through the first security screen, and he followed.
“Why do I remember the feel of your body?”
She felt heat in her cheeks and shrugged. “Perverse fantasy life? I am not your type, as I have heard you mention several times. You don’t speak as quietly as you think you do.”
He blinked. “I don’t mean... when did I say... how did you hear...”
She snorted. “Let’s just say that my activation involves enhanced senses.”
“Does it?”
“No, but it is a fun thing to say.” She walked through the next bio screen, and he followed.
“Why did you have Susara brought here? Why did you have her brought to the hospital first?”
“So that whoever did this to her would have the satisfaction of watching her brought to the hospital and declared dead.” She continued to watch and nodded to the security guards at the next gateway.
It was a little frustrating when Astel was able to stalk in after her.
“Why do you want that?”
Zera stopped and faced him in the hall. “So that the villain who did this will freak out and doubt the man who assured him her soul was gone. It will stir confusion through the ranks and drive him mad with rage.”
“You have planned this.” He scowled.
“We planned it. We have known it was coming for years. This is where it was always headed. This was always what would happen next.”
She looked him in the eye and said, “The important thing is what happens now. So, either wait for the briefing or go elsewhere. I have to check her vitals, and then, I need to grieve the loss of my best friend.”
She turned and walked through to the black sector, where Astel was not allowed to go. Sixteen people were allowed into this sector, and he wasn’t one of them. There was only one team member who was allowed in, but he was across the world, dealing with the aftermath of a seismic event. That was fine. He couldn’t do anything to help. No one could.
The evil bastard had set things in motion when he killed Susara’s parents and then attached himself to her at the funeral. This had been his long game all along, but if everything went according to plan, they would fuck his little game six ways from sideways, and Zera would scoop out his skull and use it as a footstool.
A girl could dream.
Susa was lying in a medical gown with IVs running into her to hydrate her. The medics gave Zera the reports, and her heart sank. She walked to Susa’s side, pressed Susa’s hand to her forehead, and bawled like a child. There was nothing left, and the body was dying in increments.
Dr. Miliken spoke. “I know you are grieving, but we have to move. Are you ready?”
“I am. Are the backups in place?”
“They are. They are safe.”
Zera gasped and wiped her tears. “Right. Can you help me get her into a chair?”
“Can’t you do it like this?”
“I don’t like to. Face to face is too much like sex. Are we ready?”
“Wait. We can just sit her up, and you can scoot into her that way, right?”
The bed rose, and Zera put her leg on the bed, looking at the doctor, and then, she did what she did best. She slid inside another living being.
Zera looked at her hands and flexed her fingers. “I always forget how tiny she is.”
The doctor covered his mouth. “That is so disturbing.”
“I know. It feels the same from this side. Send in the drone cam.”
The doctor nodded and sighed. When he returned, he had a drone with him, and she smiled as the indicator went red. “Thanks to the fast work of the local team and emergency services, I am on my way to a full recovery. I hope that the people who did this to me are swiftly brought to justice.” She kneaded at the blankets and smiled. “I hope I can get back to the program and up to the final assessments next week. Thanks to everyone who wished me well.”
She nodded, and the bed lay back. The drone left, and she sat up. Zera got out of her best friend’s body, and the tears were on her cheeks again. They left her in repose with robotic guards at the door.
It was time to do the second-best thing that she did, edit data that should be impenetrable. It was time to set the scene and sprinkle enough truth in that people did not look too deep.
Chapter Two
After an hour of data manipulation and compression, she was ready to explain what had happened to her friend and how long the plan had been going on.
She got up and straightened her blouse and trousers, flared her lab coat out, and headed for the briefing room on the exterior of the black zone.
The peacekeeper representatives and the team members looked at her, and she turned to the display to activate an image
