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“Just
take the watch back to the Academy,” Carson demanded. “And what’s
your name?”

“Cadet
Ye Lai, sir.”

“Well,
cadet, you have your orders,” Carson took a step back and closed
his eyes.

“Yes,
sir,” Lai answered properly.

“Hold on, where exactly in the 4th
District are you?”
Carson asked pointlessly as he checked the location of the call on
his own watch.

“Just
outside of Barney’s Saloon, sir,” Lai probably snapped a
salute.

“Right. Do you know Harper? Can you see her anywhere?” Carson
asked, realising how dumb the question was just as he asked
it.

“Ah . . . who?”

Of
course Lai didn’t know Harper, otherwise he would have handed her
the watch.

Shaking his head and sighing, Carson again told Lai to return
the watch to the Academy, and ended the call.

“What
the hell is she doing?” he asked as he whirled from the view and
headed for the door.

You
didn’t just lose your watch. It couldn’t fall off. It was built to
sit there on one’s wrist through alien incursions, ship explosions,
and apocalypses.

Nope.
Nida would have taken her watch off. But why? It was drilled into
you at the Academy that you left the damn things on. They were
communication and location devices, not to mention rudimentary
scanners and computers.

Yet
she’d clearly taken hers off . . . for some
reason.

Carson
swore again.

He’d
taken her to hospital, and he’d seen how freaked out she’d
been.

“Goddammit, Nida,” he said aloud.

Then
he blew a breath of air through his tightly clenched
teeth.

Just
because she’d taken off her wristwatch didn’t mean he couldn’t
locate her.

Every
cadet and officer at the Academy were micro chipped. But it was a
big deal to access the system that could locate them. He would have
to put an official request in. And to do that, he would have to be
explicit about why he needed to track Nida Harper down so
badly.

He
would have to tell people she’d taken off her wristwatch, and that
could get her into some serious trouble.

But it
couldn’t be helped.

Just
as he lifted his wristwatch to make the call, someone called him
instead.

Flustered, he answered before checking who it was.

“And
what the hell are you doing?” Travis asked without even a
hello.

“Travis?” Carson groaned. “Just get off the line. I’m
busy.”

“Yeah,
of course you are. Too busy to attend this E Club event, even
though in many ways it was organised on your behalf to celebrate
all of your incredible achievements.”

Carson
groaned again. “I told you, something really important has come
up.”

“Yeah,
of course it has,” Travis laughed. “You’re too busy to come and
help your buddy. Here I am, sitting at the bar, in desperate need
of a wingman so I can make my move on the lovely Alicia. But you’re
busy.”

The
name Alicia grabbed Carson’s attention. “Alicia’s
there?”

“Yeah,
with her flat mate.”

“Sorry? What did you just say? You
mean . . . what’s her name? Bridgett?” Carson
took a startled breath.

“Yeah,
no, I mean her flat mate. Nida. I think I remember the difference
between them,” Travis said, his voice straining as he did. “I may
have the lovely Alicia as a distraction, but trust me, I will never
forget her flat mate. Nor will I forget what happened to her
bedroom door.”

For a
second Carson did nothing but stand there.

He
couldn’t believe this. But Travis was right—he wouldn’t be
mistaken, and if he were making this up, Carson would kill
him.

“What?
You’ve just gone all quiet on me. Are you finally realising what
you’re missing out on? Because Bridgett is here too,” Travis
began.

“Listen to me, go and find Nida and check on her,” Carson said
quickly and sternly.

“What,
why? She just got here. She’s helping Alicia out.”

“An
hour ago I took her to hospital, then she walked out without a
word. She’s also taken off her wristwatch. Some guy called Cadet
Lai found it, and I’m having him take it back to the Academy,”
Carson couldn’t get through his words fast enough. “Just go find
her and keep an eye on her until I get there.”

“Wait,
what’s going on?”

“I
have no idea. Just go and check on her. I’ll be as quick as I can,”
Carson practically skidded for the door, ploughing out of it as it
opened.

Then
he ran, as fast as he could, to the closest transport
hub.

It
took him approximately seven minutes to cross town.

Then
he found her.

Cadet
Nida Harper

She
didn’t know what she was doing here. Well, looking for a
distraction, clearly, but beyond that, this was social
suicide.

Not
only was she the worst recruit in 1000 years, but the story of how
her implant had stuffed up was hot gossip.

Still,
when she’d walked in, Alicia had immediately shuffled her off into
one of the back rooms.

“I
can’t believe you actually came,” Alicia said with a chuckle as she
clapped a hand warmly on Nida’s shoulder. “I mean, you actually
came.”

Nida
nodded. “I love a good chance at embarrassing myself. And as the
room out there is filled with the Academy’s best and brightest, I
figured it was a great opportunity to really maximise my
humiliation.”

Alicia
rolled her eyes expressively. Then she did something
odd.

Really
odd.

She
folded her arms around Nida and hugged her.

When
Alicia pulled away, Nida was left dumb struck. “What was that
for?”

“You
looked as though you could use it,” Alicia answered perceptively,
“plus, I’m really proud of you. I know these kind of parties aren’t
your thing, but you still came to help me out. I have a feeling
you're a better friend than all my other so-called
buddies.”

Nida
smiled.

She
didn’t, however, take the opportunity to point out to Alicia that
the only reason she’d come here was to take her mind off
stress-induced dreams and a terrible bout of
hypochondria.

“Okay,
so, what would you like to do? You could serve drinks or help out
with the entertainment,” Alicia began.

“Ah,
not the entertainment,” Nida answered immediately. “But hold on,
why are we serving drinks? Aren’t people just going to order their
drinks from the computer?”

“We’re
going with the human touch for this event. Plus, there’s nothing
like a pretty, smiling cadet behind the bar,” Alicia winked at
her.

“Well
then, I guess you’d better ask Bridgett,” Nida joked.

“Bridgett? Oh, don’t get me started on Bridgett,” Alicia
spat.

“What?”

“Never
mind. Forget I said anything. But, you, my dear, will be perfect,”
with that, Alicia proffered an arm, and waited for Nida to hook her
own around it, before she led them both from the room.

It was
strange work to be behind a real bar and set with the task of
handing out drinks.

But,
oddly enough, Nida started to enjoy it.

It was
simple enough work. Someone would ask for a drink, then Nida would
find the correct bottle under the bar and pour a glass.

It was
also strangely soothing.

She
was rushed off her feet, and simply didn’t have the opportunity to
worry about how cold her left arm felt, or whether her dreams would
return that night.

Plus,
no one seemed to recognise her. Or if they did, they were too busy
to say anything.

Just
as she relaxed into her work, someone she recognised walked up to
the bar.

Bradley Marshall. He was from her year, and once upon a time,
they’d had classes together, before he’d been selected for the
training program into the Force.

Whereas everyone else had stood a respectful distance away, he
rested his elbow onto the wood, leaning as far in as he could. At
first, he had a flirtatious smile curling his lips, then he blinked
quickly, clearly recognising her. “Harper?” his tone distorted with
disbelief. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Serving drinks,” she answered blankly. “Now what do you
want?”

“This
is an E Club function, right?” he looked around, then back at her.
“You do know where you are?”

She
pressed her lips together but didn’t answer.

He
laughed at his own mean joke. “Apparently not. Or did they let you
in because they’re trying to keep you quiet?”

Her
lips pressed tighter together.

“What
exactly happened to you, anyway? You’re the talk of the Academy.
Carson Blake had to save you from yourself,” Bradley let out a snap
of a snide laugh. “Apparently if he hadn’t been there, you would
have impaled yourself with a frigging training block.”

“Hey,
do you need a drink?” Alicia walked up behind Bradley and hit him
on the shoulder.

Bradley turned around and shot her a suggestive smile. “Yeah,
you offering?”

“Oh,
god no,” Alicia shook her head, “but I am offering to kick you out,
how does that sound? You either shut up and ask the bar mistress
for a drink, or you leave.”

Bradley spluttered. “Excuse me? You can’t order me
around.”

“No,
but I can,” a man said as he walked up behind Alicia.

It was
Travis, Carson’s friend.

He
shot Nida an odd, worried look, then turned his attention back to
Bradley. “Stop being a dick, and that’s an order. Now get a drink
and piss off,” Travis shot Bradley a stern look.

Though
Bradley looked indignant, he didn’t say anything more. Neither did
he order a drink. He simply walked off muttering to
himself.

“Oh,
look at you,” Alicia giggled as she smiled at Travis, her
appreciation as bright as a thousand suns, “you’re a
hero.”

“Thanks,” Travis laughed. Then he turned that worried glance
back to Nida. “Are you okay?”

“Ah,
yeah. He wasn’t really bothering me,” she shrugged her
shoulders.

Travis
looked uncomfortable. He also appeared to assess her closely; his
darting gaze crossed over her face and settled on her right wrist.
“Um, you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Ah . . . yeah?” she managed.

“Are
you trying to spook her?” Alicia crossed her arms.

“Not
really,” Travis answered, still clearly uncomfortable, “I’m trying
to figure out if Carson is playing games with me.”

At the
mention of his name, Nida pressed a hand to her mouth.

Carson.

Damn.

She’d
left him in the hospital.

She’d
walked out without a word.

He was
probably still there.

“What’s he talking about?” Alicia glanced at Nida, sudden
excitement lighting up her smile. “Has Carson come to see you?” her
voice dipped with interest.

“Oh . . . ah,” Nida began.

“He
said he took you to the hospital,” Travis said, still looking
confused as he assessed Nida, “but you appear to be
fine.”

“Hospital,” Alicia’s voice became sharp, all playfulness gone.
“Nida, what’s going on?”

Nida
took a step back, enjoying the fact the bar had little lighting
compared to the rest of the room. Maybe if she descended far enough
into the shadows, people would forget she was there.

“Nida?” Alicia snapped again. “What’s going on?”

Before
Nida could answer, she heard someone call her name.

A
man.

He
marched up to the bar.

Carson
Blake.

She
swallowed hard.

He
reached the bar and didn’t pause—he jumped right over
it.

The
move was smooth, fast, and coordinated.

With a
thud, he landed right next to her.

She
gave a soft yelp in surprise.

“Are
you alright? Why did you come here when you left the hospital? And
why didn’t you say anything? And why the hell did you take off your
watch?” he snapped, irritation arcing through his voice.

She
blinked, still pushing a hand into her mouth.

Even
under the dim light of the bar, she could see his expression. He
was shocked and angry, very angry.

“Why
did you take off your watch?” he repeated, lowering his voice as he
glanced around him.

People
were starting to stare. Which was fair enough, as Carson had just
made a stellar entry by marching in, jumping over the bar, and
shouting at the bar mistress.