Axira Episode One (20 page)

I shook, planting a hand over my mouth. The memory wasn’t
mine, but it still felt like I’d endured it. Every terrible second
of the violent beating.

I almost wanted to confront Em, but I couldn’t bring myself
to do it.

I’d been an idiot. I should have seen all the warning signs
that there wasn’t something quite right with that cadet.

By now the news had spread, through the goddamn city let
alone the Academy. It wasn’t everyday there was an assault like
this on campus.

I pressed a hand hard into my brow as I tried to banish
Hendra’s memory of Em’s contorted face.

I jerked my head up and concentrated on the view. I stared at
the campus grounds, looking for some kind of solace.

“
Lieutenant,” my wrist device suddenly rumbled with the voice
of Admiral Forest. “Report to my office.”

I let her sharp tone cut through my mood.

I turned on my heel and half-ran to her office, thankful for
the excuse to use my limbs – to chase away the muscle memory of
Em’s attack.

When I reached the Admiral’s office, I was surprised to see
Hendra sitting there.

Her face had been fixed up, but her usually bright expression
was subdued, gone even.

She looked like someone who’d suffered a significant
trauma.

I made a fist. I’d let that happen, right?

“
Lieutenant, you need to hear this.” The Admiral nodded
towards Hendra.

Hendra clasped her hands tightly in her lap, and I could see
they were glistening with sweat. “I just thought you should know
what I found out about ... that woman. When she a-a-attacked me,”
Hendra had trouble forcing the word out as her voice shook, “She
left her mind unguarded. The situation was so intense that I
couldn’t help but pick up on her thoughts.”

My stomach clenched.

“
She’s been sharing Academy secrets. She was sharing them with
two Kore Empire assassins.”

“
... Em’s only been in the Academy a few months,” I pointed
out. I shouldn’t have said it, but the words came tumbling out. Was
I trying to defend her? I couldn’t be – what she’d done was
inexcusable.

“
Em lived in this city for several months prior to joining
up,” the Admiral supplied.

“
She is a very skilled agent,” Hendra continued, her hands
still shaking, “She used her abilities to break into offices and
steal secrets.”

I felt cold now. Totally cold. Like I’d been ejected from an
airlock and sent spinning into the void.

Em? All this time, it had been her.

It made sense. She had skills far beyond the average
recruit.

It also made sense that she’d been able to overpower those
two Kore assassins; they’d let her do it. In order to keep her
cover, they’d sacrificed themselves.

I pressed two fingers hard into my brow, drawing a harsh
breath.

I couldn’t understand how I could have been so
naive.

“
We will interrogate the cadet,” Forest began.

“
I’ll be able to help you.” Hendra suddenly released her hands
and pressed forward until she was sitting on the edge of her chair.
“I ... want to do this. For the Academy,” she added.

“
Under ordinary circumstances, considering what she put you
through, I would decline your offer. But as you are the most
talented telepath we have on campus, I’m afraid we’ll need your
skills.”

I shot the Admiral a quick look.

She clearly picked up on it as she stiffened. “Ordinarily, I
would never consider using telepathic interrogation. However,
considering the number of secrets that could have been leaked ...”
she trailed off and swallowed hard. “We need to find out what she’s
done.”

I felt sick. Sick about everything. I knew the Admiral was
right, but ... telepathic interrogation was the kind of thing the
Kore Empire would do.

Hendra caught my gaze. Despite her own considerable distress,
she made eye contact and shot me a commiserating smile. “It’ll all
be okay,” she promised.

The heavy, ominous feeling in my gut told me that was
unlikely.

Chapter 15

Axira

I knew she would come to see me.

I doubted he would. I’d seen Jason Singh’s face after he’d
believed Hendra’s lie that I’d attacked her. He’d looked at me like
I was a monster.

A monster ....

I’d been a monster for centuries, I could be one for another
few days. Until I sorted this.

I still didn’t know what I should do. I was still torn about
revealing my identity now and proving Hendra’s treachery, and
waiting to see if another option would arise.

Right now I pushed to the edge of my cot as Cadet Elle Singh
approached me.

There were two security guards with her, even though I was
behind a containment force field. After she assured them she’d be
fine, they wandered off, just out of earshot but not out of
sight.

“
I heard what happened,” she said.

I waited for her to tell me I was a monster, to reject me, to
do something other than offer a commiserating smile.

“
And I don’t believe it for a second,” Elle
continued.

I couldn’t contain my shock.

By now I knew Hendra would have spread ‘memories’ of my
attack.

If she was as skilled as I now suspected, I imagine she would
have also planted ample evidence.

....

So why would Elle still believe me rather than the apparently
substantiated allegation?

“
It doesn’t make any sense,” Elle continued. “She’s hiding
something.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

I couldn’t speak, though – I didn’t know what to
say.

This was the first time someone had ever defended me like
that. The first time someone had chosen to believe I wasn’t a
monster, even though there was ample evidence to prove I
was.

I stood up. “Thank you,” I managed after a substantial
pause.

“
Don’t thank me yet. I’m not going to stop until I prove
you’re innocent. I’m going straight to my mum—”

“
You don’t need to get in trouble for me,” I counselled
quickly.

“
If you can’t get in trouble for your friends, who can you get
in trouble for? Plus, I wouldn’t still be in the Academy if it
weren’t for you. The least I can do is return the favor and prove
this is wrong.”

“
Thank you, Elle,” I repeated.

“
First thing I’m going to do is work on my idiot brother. I
cannot believe he bought Hendra’s act so quickly. All he needs is
one pretty smile, and he’ll forget all his training and
sense.”

I didn’t comment.

“
You just sit tight. Trust me, I can do this. Hendra’s going
to assume everyone believes her. I’m going to have an advantage as
the only person in the whole Academy who isn’t so goddamn
gullible.”

Despite the situation, I let out a small laugh.

I’d underestimated Elle, hadn’t I? Sure, she couldn’t run
fast or fight well, but that did not mean she wasn’t a formidable
warrior.

“
Sit tight. Next time I see you, I’ll get you out of here,”
she promised. She offered me a friendly wave, a brave smile, and
even a sloppy salute. Then she walked out.

....

I stood there and stared.

I didn’t know how I felt. Before Elle had walked in, I’d been
plotting how to take Hendra down. I’d been after
revenge.

Now my attitude had shifted.

I didn’t want revenge – I wanted to protect Elle and the rest
of the Academy, even if she was the only person on the entire
campus who had any sense.

This was what Ma’tovan had been on about, I suddenly
realized. The difference between being a warrior and a
guardian.

A lesson I was about to learn.

...

Jason Singh

“
I cannot believe you are such an idiot.” My sister rounded on
me. She’d found me in the corridors. Now she practically pinned me
against one of the walls with her fury.

“
Elle, what are you talking about?”

“
All it takes is a pretty smile, right? Some girl offers you
one of those then you don’t stop to think.”

My jaw hardened.

“
She didn’t do it. I can’t believe you even think she’s
capable of something like that.”

“
... Elle, just calm down.”

I knew my little sister liked to protect her friends, but
this was ridiculous. There was no doubt Em had done it. I’d seen
every awful second – by proxy, but it still felt as if I’d endured
it myself.

“
No, not until you come to your senses.”

“
Elle, I saw it myself. Hendra shared her memory with me,” I
heard bitterness twist through my tone as my heart pounded harder
in my chest.

“
No, brother, what you got was a complete fantasy. And what
you’re feeling now – all that rage and shame – that’s a fantasy
too. She planted it in your mind. She’s a telepath – she can do
that. I can’t believe you were stupid enough to accept her memory.
It’s influencing you when you should be stepping back and realizing
what’s actually going on here.”

“
Elle,” I tried to use a soothing voice.

“
Jason,”
she shot back with a snarl, “Listen to me. Think about this.
Why would Em agree to a meeting in public, then go into Hendra’s
office and beat her up? You think Em is that stupid? If she wanted
to punch that idiot telepath in the nose, she would have just done
it. This makes no sense. Why would someone plan an attack like
this? There would be no way to get away from it.”

“
Elle, Em is ... unstable. She would have seen it as an act of
power, of dominance. She would have thought she could get away with
it, because in her mind she’s untouchable.”

“
Oh my god, I can’t believe you are this stupid. You know
telepaths can create memories, right? Manufacture
feelings.”

“
Hendra isn’t that powerful.”

“
How do you know that?”

“
She was tested before she was brought onto Academy grounds –
all telepaths are. It’s dangerous to have a powerful telepath
walking around; they can glean secrets from passers by ...” my
voice trailed off.

“
Em already told me that Hendra is telling everyone she’s been
leaking Academy secrets. Hendra is using Em as a scape goat while
she’s the one spreading secrets.”

“
... Em told you this?”

Elle nodded her head resolutely. “Just before Hendra beat
herself up and ran screaming into your arms, she confessed to Em.
Told her she was going to use her as a scapegoat, took pleasure in
the fact no one would ever believe Em. Hendra is the psycho, not my
friend.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but the words wouldn’t
come.

“
Think about it, brother. How would Em be able to discover so
many secrets? She might be a really good runner and great with a
gun, but the Academy has incredible security. She wouldn’t be able
to walk into someone’s office and snoop through their computer, not
even if she was the best hacker in the world.”

“
We’ve already found experimental hacking equipment in her
quarters,” I countered. I shouldn’t have – that was a secret my
sister didn’t need to know. Yet I wanted to make her see she was
wrong.

Em didn’t deserve her protection.

“
Which would have been planted there by Hendra.”

“
Elle, you just need to accept—”

“
I don’t need to accept anything. We’re going to find
proof.”

“
... What?”

“
The assassins you have in cold storage – we need to check
them.”

“
What? How do you know—”

“
The rumor is all over the Academy, brother. Now listen to me.
I’ve been doing a bit of research on Kore assassins – actually it’s
been for a project, and I think I’m going to ace it. Anyhow, aren’t
they modified depending on their task?”

I stared at my sister mutely. Where was she going with
this?

“
They are,” she answered her own question. “What’s more, there
are certain assassins that can receive telepathic information,
right? There are,” she answered her own question again. “Now, all
we have to do to clear Em is to walk into cold storage and check
those assassins. If we find evidence of telepathic ability, then
we’ll know Hendra is lying.”

I couldn’t reply. I wanted to point out the numerous flaws in
her reasoning, but I was too stunned by what she was suggesting.
... And worried.

Could it be true?

I shook my head as soon as I thought that.

Elle leaned in and grabbed my arm. “Come on. You owe it to
her to try.”

I felt cold at her statement.