Mira rounded the corner and froze, gun still in her hand.
“Drop it,” he warned. “I trained with the Falaichte. You won’t win this one.”
Slowly, Mira set her firearm on the ground—and lunged.
Christian sidestepped, catching her wrist and twisting, fast and controlled. She broke the grip and swung a blade. It clipped his arm, and a hiss escaped his lips as it tore his flesh. He retaliated with a shoulder check, driving her back against the wall and knocking the dagger from her hand.
Imara’s drone hovered overhead, beaming light down like a spotlight.
“Back away, sweetheart,” Imara taunted through its speaker, “we’ve got you cornered.”
Breathing heavily, her gaze flitted around for a way to escape.
Christian pointed his pistol at Mira once again. Then with a groan, she finally raised her hands.
“Smart move,” Christian muttered.
Ahna and the others flooded the chamber seconds later, their rifles raised.
Mira looked at them then straight at Christian. “You just made a big mistake.”
“Says the one with weapons pointed at her head,” Ahna replied. “Cuff her.”
Yosef snapped into action, securing the magnetized cuffs around Mira’s wrists. The woman spit at Christian’s feet before Yosef tugged her away.
It hadn’t been long after her call with Christian that the Kaizen came back to retrieve her. Every scientist she’d passed had stopped to stare as Gemma was led out of the temple. Their faces had been lit with a strange mix of wonder, caution, and—most cutting of all—fear.
But Gemma couldn’t blame them. Shewasdangerous.
After handing over her eyepiece, access ring, and comm device to the two Systems soldiers who’d met them at Zion, the Kaizen and Gunner marched her through a set of heavily reinforced doors, secured by a biometric lock, to the prison block.
Gemma’s vision blurred behind unshed tears as shemaneuvered down a long and narrow corridor lit with the same sterile artery of harsh light and the same black floors as the rest of the building. The air smelled like bleach and something faintly metallic. Every step echoed. Every breath was too loud.
They turned left and stopped at a cell forged entirely from electroglass. The sides and rear panels were frosted; the front one was clear as air, and Gemma suspected they all had been reinforced to be impenetrable. To her right was a clean toilet and sink; to her left, a water dispenser was mounted. And at the very back of the cell was a cot built into the structure’s rear wall.
She fought the urge to cry.
“Place your palm against the front panel,” the Kaizen instructed.
Gemma did as asked, and a blue light scanned her hand. Her name and vitals appeared on the electroglass, glowing in pale text. A lump formed in her throat.
“I’ll come and see you every day,” Gunner said. “Bring you books or playing cards—whatever you want.”
“Within reason,” the Kaizen added.
Gemma nodded as the front panel of her cell shimmered.
“Go ahead and step through.”
She held her breath as she obeyed, knowing the moment she crossed the threshold, she’d never come out again. The electroglass sealed behind her with a muted hum.
“Hang in there, kiddo,” Gunner said before his footsteps trailed away from her cell, along with the Kaizen’s, the sounds fading with each of their steps.
When she was left with nothing but the buzz of the amber ultralight above and the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears, the tears finally came. And this time, she didn’t stop them.
Gemma startled awake at the sound of a male voice. “Wake up, Proctor. Director Vidar is here to see you.”
Slowly, she pushed herself into a seated position on her cot. Rami stood in front of her cell, alone and in his typical expensive suit, his graying brown hair parted perfectly.
