ONE
CITADEL
The young man caught the tip of his hat between his fingers and dipped his chin at the slender woman with honey blonde hair. “Good morning, Ma’am. How are you this fine morning?”
“Splendid, thank you, Constable Vance.”
Olivia forced a smile, swiped her ID badge at the different checkpoints, disappeared within the swarming throng and headed for the elevators.
She bit her bottom lip, canted her head to the side while she waited for one to reach the lobby’s floor. To her left, an elevator dinged. Its door retracted to the side and vanished into the wall. She peered about the lobby, inhaled a rickety breath and entered, jolting slightly when it closed. She faced it, blue eyes regarding the virtual display above its door while the numbers leisurely interchanged with each other.
1) Surrender is unacceptable.
2) Then why am I doing this?
3) Maybe I’m hopeful their efforts are fruitless.
4) Chris James and my students should’ve noticed I’m not her by this point.
5) What if my hope is misplaced?
The elevator door slithered to the side to reveal a rather short, thirty-two-year-old man. He stepped inside, pressed the same button she had on ground level. Quiet as a mouse, his close proximity elicited an ill feeling in the pit of her stomach.
6) Dammit, Pratt Jones is here. Making sure I’m following orders, are we now?
He retrieved a comb from his pocket and sleeked back the stubborn, lengthy ash-blond fringe over his skull down to his neck, then returned it to his inner jacket pocket.
7) We have arrived at our destination.
The man gestured into the empty corridor, grey eyes sparkling with deceit. “After you Colonel Alexander.”
She moved forward, but then stopped on the threshold. “Came along to see if I would obey like a sweet old lady, Pratt? Did they threaten you, too?”
“Actually, I volunteered.” An artful sneer lined his lips. “Come, come, move along. He’s waiting and we don’t want to disappoint, now do we?”
An uneasiness settled in her bones, but against her better judgment she walked forward.
About eighty meters in, they entered the emergency staircase leading to and from the different floors.
“So, where to Jonesy?”
The man chuckled softly, eager to unnerve her. She shuddered with resentment.
“Shouldn’t it be Mr Jones?”
“Oh for crying out loud. Just point me in the right direction.”
“Up to Level 9.” He motioned at her, warning sternly. “And don’t get cheesed off. I own you, Blondie.”
He shoved her onto the metal platform, directly for the rising stairs. Olivia gazed somewhat reluctant, resisting the urge to give his jaw a proper jab, and adhered. Witnessing Chris James’ stubbornness over the years, now fed whatever loyalty still lingered within her. There was simply no way she would make this easy for Pratt or for Wade.
Moments later, they entered a well-lit room, expressly designed for high-tech weapon’s development. She knew the orchestrator was a computer engineer, the unique and suited equipment confirmed it. Scanning the rest of the room, she wondered how they constructed it on this particular level. Seeing as the entire facility’s electrical and emergency power sources retained here. Hats off to them for concealing it so well. Even she wouldn’t have recognized the addition to the floor. And once this was discovered, the Citadel would have a field day researching the furtive possibility.
She sighted the short hefty man, hair flaming red with a messy beard shaping his jaw. His beady olive-green eyes revealed a hint of something that elicited a bout of gooseflesh upon her skin.
“Welcome, Colonel Olivia Alexander, to my humble abode. I’m so happy you finally gave in to reasoning and co-operated. Granted, for two months you put up quite a resilient and stubborn resistance. But who are you against your Shifter duplicate, who knows your deepest darkest secrets and troublesome weaknesses?”
The men laughed in tandem, savouring the sweet moment. She grimaced, her expression altering to regret. After years of classified missions, capture-escapes, and near-deaths, love should never have been a weakness.
Wade Gilliam motioned for her to take a seat at a large mahogany desk. She walked over and quickly noted writing materials and papers scattered across its surface. Underneath those, hid designs of a newly developed technology. Though, rather than staying away, she allowed it to draw her in like a moth to a flame.
“What‘s this?” She asked.
“It’s why you’re here, Colonel Alexander. Ye will have the privilege of finalizing the designs.”
“Is this a joke?” She snorted. “You certainly have the qualifications. All I’ll be doing is wasting your precious time.”
“Don’t toy around with me, wummin.”
She closed the designs to avoid further temptation. “I really can’t help you.”
Wade’s hand slammed upon the desk’s surface, startling her from the task. Her eyes trailed his arm until they met with his vehement gaze. The urge to smile wryly emerged, but she quickly suppressed it.
“That’s haver and you know it, Colonel Alexander.”
The emphasis on the occupation and surname annoyed her to the core. She respected the title; as first, she was a soldier at heart, and a computer scientist by maternal inheritance. She had earned both titles by being faithful and competent. Not by stooping down to this man’s standards.
Wade scrutinized her countenance and noted her pondering.
“You’re the finest computer scientist this Capital has to offer. And have accomplished yer best work under tremendous amounts of pressure. You’ve saved this sorry Domain we live in more times than anyone can dare to count. So don’t be an eejit. Do ye understand? Or would ye like to relive the event of last week?”
Resentment furrowed her brow. She observed how his lips curved with a malicious smile.
The kidnapping and weeks of confinement, along with this arrogant manipulation, elicited a bitter taste in her mouth. Was it worth the risk to provoke them? When in a week’s time, the Commander’s presence in this building would allow her a sliver of aid to dissolve this nasty predicament. But then again, according to scientific probability, she had one in a million chance of walking out alive. Chris James Thomas had none, therefore her life she would gladly forfeit to save his. It is the duty of a soldier.
“I really have no choice.” She declared crestfallen, accepting the circumstances for what they were.
He agreed with a nod.
“And as long as I cooperate, he will be safe?”
He nodded his confirmation once more.
It’s a lie, I know, which makes surviving that more critical. Added to that – they went through all this trouble to construct a secret room. Nothing prevents them from screwing with the system and erasing my entrance from prying eyes. Meaning, I’m in trouble either way.
“Olive, ye there?” Wade snapped his fingers before her eyes. “Do we have an accord or should I ask Mr Jones here to make that call?”
She locked eyes with him, grimacing with his close proximity. “Yes, yes, I’m here. I’ll do whatever you ask of me, but remember this won’t be taken lightly once it’s exposed.”
The engineer threw his hands up in mock pleasure. “The famous Olivia Alexander lives to see the farthest horizon one more time. Aren’t ye satisfied?”
She glared at his smug face. He’s mocking me?
Never underestimate the bond between soldiers, Mr Gilliam. He’ll notice my replica soon enough. They’ll find me.
“Don’t worry, bonnie.” Wade clasped his hands behind his back, and walked for the centre of the room. “The necessary precautions are in place to prevent our failing. No one will know what has been done here until it’s too late.”
The Colonel turned in her seat and scrutinized his self-assured demeanour.
Haven’t you read Villain 101? They always miscalculate their abilities and tactics. When, lurking around the next corner is someone steadfast and observant, and thus outsmarts the intelligent idiots.
She glanced back at the designs and inquired softly. “All right, so what exactly do we have here?”
Delighted, Wade walked over to the desk, leaving Pratt standing at the door. His olive eyes sparkled in anticipation of the outcome and extended his hand to expose more of the blueprint.
“We will construct a device capable of detecting and revealing cloaking devices. Mainly buildings.”
“So basically, you want to create something that will make invisible objects visible?”
“That’s correct, aye.”
She had developed the smaller cloaking devices meant to hide scouting crafts from view. However, this demand was for a much larger scale, and expected the opposite result. Which begged to mind two questions: who created tech on such a scale in the Oasis? And was the person after Shinzui?
