The Preceptor by Cain Hopwood

Author:Cain Hopwood [Hopwood, Cain]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SMI Publications
Published: 2019-01-21T07:00:00+00:00

— 32 —

Once again Anneliese drifted back into the land of the living to find herself back in bed. This time though she had a splitting headache, and Masaki was standing watch over her with a stern expression on her face.

“What did you do to me?”

“A nerve strike,” said Masaki holding out two tablets and a glass of water. “These will help.”

Anneliese accepted the pills, but looked down on them with a wary eye.

“They are just an over-the-counter painkiller. You do have a headache?”

Anneliese blinked. “Yes, a splitting one. I guess if you’d wanted me drugged you would have done it when I was out.” She swallowed the pills, washing them down. “How did you know I had a headache?”

“You took a nerve strike. I know firsthand what the effects are.” The slight Japanese woman bowed her head. “I am sorry for that. When I saw that the turbines had started, I knew I only had seconds before you might take off. I just reacted, acted on instinct.”

“You moved so fast,” muttered Anneliese. “I didn’t think anyone could move like that.”

A small smile formed on Masaki’s ruby red lips. “You should ask your lover about that, I’ve seen him move much faster than me.”

“You’ve fought Jon?”

“I’ve fought with him. Our units combined forces for a time. It was several years ago, in Brazil, before I went independent.”

“I didn’t think you could ever get out of the Regiment?”

“You cannot, but I was not in the Regiment; I was attached to the Chuo Sokuo Shudan. Our equivalent of your JTF2.”

“Why did you leave?”

Masaki’s face darkened. “I did not. They left me. Left me dying in the jungles of Venezuela as they retreated. But I survived.” Masaki’s face blanked, and she pressed her palms together as if praying. “I am talking too much, my mind is whirling. It is an after effect of the combat-pharm.”

“Is that what made you move so fast?”

“Yes, we have an implant. But there is a cost.” Masaki wavered on her feet. “Which I will be paying shortly. You must sleep. I will instruct the chef to bring you breakfast, and if necessary, lunch. Do not try anything with him, he will not be as gentle as I.”

“I won’t, I promise,” said Anneliese in her little girl voice.

Masaki started to leave, but then turned back. “I did not believe you to be a worthy and challenging assignment, but you are resourceful and cunning, and you very nearly escaped. I underestimated you, that will not happen again.”

As the door clicked shut behind Masaki, Anneliese leaned back onto the pillow. You don’t know the half of it, she thought.

* * *

Masaki didn’t reappear all day. Without her, it had been a slow day for Anneliese. Lunch had indeed been served by the cook, an enormous islander of very few words. She’d tried to engage him in conversation, hoping to get more information out of him than cagey Masaki. But it was to no avail. He refused to say a word.

She’d eaten,

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