The Beauty of Our Weapons by Jilly Paddock

Author:Jilly Paddock [Paddock, Jilly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pro Se Productions
Published: 2019-04-10T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten: This Pretty Phantom

Why did I always wake up with such an atrocious headache? Bad karma in a previous life, I suppose. There was a buzzing in my ears, a gritty soreness in my eyes and a metallic aftertaste in my mouth, which birthed a few suspicions that my stupor had been unnatural, even drug-induced. I squinted up at the oh-so-superior pristine white ceiling of a small, clinical room, which I shared with a tubular steel bed and a sink on one wall. Had to be a hospital, could have been on any one of a thousand planets clear across the galaxy. Where then? Deep down in the marrow of my bones, beyond logic, beyond intuition, I knew this was Earth, a feeling so sure, so certain, that I’d put money on it. I turned my head, finding the lack of a window—no help there. I did discover that I was attached to an IV drip-set, stat saline solution plus glucose, but that was the sum total of all the data I gathered.

Zenni? I called silently, hopefully.

No reply. The link between us was down. No way to raise him without skin contact. Shit.

The sound of the door opening demanded my attention. My first visitor was a woman and I knew her face—Dr Beth Ayres, EI’s resident medic. Behind her was another doctor, Michael Collins. Both maintained mind-screens as protection against me and their expressions were just short of hostile. My guess was right—this was dear old Terra, and I must be either at Delany Corp or in the bowels of Merope Station. All my previous mission debriefings had been informal chats over tea and biscuits with my boss-lady, Chandre; now it looked as if I was set for the no-holds-barred classic interrogation. After what I’d already faced, it was an insult.

“I’m supposed to ask where I am, huh?” I said, before either could speak. “That’s the accepted format, isn’t it?”

“Didn’t I tell you she’d be next to recover?” Collins observed sourly. “The bitch is tough!”

“This bitch is your prime agent. If you can’t be gracious, you might try being civil!” I snapped.

“Prime agent? Oh, you’ve really fouled up on this one, Anna! As of now, you’re out of EI, and I mean for good!”

“You don’t have the right to fire me—” I protested.

“Michael, go easy on her.” Beth cut in. “She’s weak from whatever sedatives were in her system. She can’t stand up to treatment like this.”

“Spare me the mean-guy-and-friend scenario—I don’t need that crap!” I said, before Michael exploded again. “If you want answers, you’ll have to ask the questions nicely. I’m in no mood to play along with your power games. Upset me again and I’ll leave.”

“You’re in no condition to teleport out of here!” Collins scoffed. “How can you? You don’t even know where you are!”

“Haven’t I warned you about telling me what I can and can’t do? As for where I am, this is the Delany site at Lindsay. Next question?”

From the glint of anger in his eyes I knew I’d guessed right.

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