D'Arc by Robert Repino

Author:Robert Repino
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2017-02-23T20:05:51+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Trojan Horses

“How much longer are we going to do this to each other?” Wawa asked.

On the other side of the desk, Strator Grace Braga sat with her legs crossed and cracked her knuckles, one at a time. She wore her usual outfit—black T-shirt, khaki vest, camouflage pants with a holstered pistol. Ropey muscles bulged from underneath her sleeves. Her thermos made a coffee ring on the desktop. Behind Grace, the windows of Wawa’s new office put the chaos of Tranquility’s headquarters on full display. The officers on the floor argued, laughed at jokes, ferried papers and boxes from one place to the next. A few of them watched from their stations while pretending to write reports. A cat even had the gall to turn in her chair. After a withering glance from Wawa, the cat got back to work.

“I asked you a question, Grace.”

Wawa had summoned Grace to headquarters to talk about the SOA’s latest power grab. The day before, Grace lobbied the Archon for full access to Tranquility’s files, as well as the discretion to deploy Special Operations as she saw fit, bypassing the chief. One of Wawa’s own agents told her that he was under orders from the strators not to share anything with Tranquility.

“Do you think we’re hiding something?” Wawa asked. “Is that it?”

Having run out of knuckles, Grace folded her hands on her knee. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’m told you recruited an outsider to help with the investigation.”

Wawa opened her mouth to answer, then stopped.

“A certain person of interest,” Grace said.

“D’Arc?”

“Sheba. The Mother.”

“She changed her name, like everyone else. She asked that we not broadcast it.”

“I don’t care what she asked.”

“What’s your business with D’Arc? You want to recruit her for the Sons of Adam?”

“I want to know what she’s doing here. I want to know why she isn’t at her rightful place, at the Warrior’s side.”

“She’s her own person, Grace. She can do whatever she wants. Besides, aren’t you already monitoring her?”

With her lips closed, the strator ran her tongue across her teeth.

“If you have evidence that D’Arc has done something wrong, let’s see it.”

“It’s not D’Arc I’m worried about. It’s Tranquility. You’ve got the wolf country debacle. The Ramen satellite. The refugees. Now this. You’re on a roll.”

“I’ve made my point,” Wawa said. “You’ve made yours. The door is right behind you.”

Grace didn’t move. “It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s amazing how human you are.”

Wawa exhaled loudly through her snout.

“I’m sorry if you take that as an insult,” Grace added. “It’s just that, you speak like us. You have the same inflections. The same mannerisms. How much of that was learned, and how much was drilled into your mind?”

Wawa knew to keep her cool. She couldn’t afford to have Grace storming out of the office in full view of everyone. “Does any of that even matter anymore?”

“It matters. Have you ever wondered what else might be planted in that brain of yours? Some hidden instructions. Equations. A trigger mechanism perhaps. All buried beneath your human façade so you can earn our trust.

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