She’s all that matters.
And Vael…
Vael’s the one thing I can’t afford to want.
Not anymore.
________________________________________________________________________
The message hits my terminal with a sharppingthat sounds louder than it should.
The subject line reads:Personnel Transfer Authorization – Field Deployment Request.
I don’t open it.
I don’t have to.
I already know.
Tarek.
That slippery bastard finally made his move.
I stare at the screen for a long time, fingers hovering over the console like maybe if I don’t touch it, it’ll vanish. Like maybe I’m hallucinating.
But it’s real.
And it’simmediate.
I shove away from the desk hard enough that my chair bumps the wall.
By the time I reach Vael’s medblock, my nerves are already vibrating. My boots hit the floor like war drums. The nurses scatter.
He’s sitting on the edge of the diagnostics table, shirt half-on, still sweaty from his last rehab session. One look at my face and he knows.
“What did he do?” Vael asks.
I slap the transfer notice down on the tray beside him. “Field command. Fast-track orders. Supposed to deploy with the Seventh Relief Unit on Rixor Three in forty-eight hours.”
His eyes narrow. “There’s noreliefon Rixor Three. That zone’s a front.”
“I know.”
“He wants me gone.”
“He wants leverage,” I say. “Or maybe a corpse.”
Vael’s jaw clenches. His knuckles go white on the edge of the bed. “Coward.”
“Strategist,” I mutter. “The kind who cuts throats with smiles.”
He’s quiet for a long beat, eyes locked on the order.
Then he says, low and deliberate, “He’s trying to erase me again.”
“No,” I say. “This time he’s trying toforceyour hand.”
He exhales sharply. “Then let’s give him a ghost.”
