Anna stared down at the white plastic of the tabletop. The mirror in front of her was a two-way one, and there was a camera in the corner of the room, recording her every breath. Maybe her last breath.
Good.
She didn’t bother to look up when the door opened and someone wearing a black uniform came in and sat opposite her. He placed his linked hands on the table, so she studied them instead. Big, competent hands, scarred hands with long fingers capable of choking the life out of her.
“I’m Commander Rehz Akran.”
She didn’t react. Did she need to know her executioner’s name? Was she supposed to pardon him or something?
“I have a bargain to offer you.”
She let out a slow breath and raised her head. Damn, he had a hard face, with eyes the color of space junk and a harsh mouth made even worse by the coiled scars that marred his jawline and throat.
“If you come with me and succeed in the task I set for you, your death sentence will be dismissed.”
“What kind of task?”
“An impossible one.” He shrugged his powerful shoulders. “To be honest, you’re unlikely to survive, but at least you can go down fighting instead of being strapped in a chair and injected with lethal poison.”
“I like to fight.”
“So I’ve heard. But if you want to survive, you’ll have to obey me.”
She attempted a shrug. “‘Obey’ is a difficult concept for me.”
“It’s your choice.”
“It’s hardly a choice. I have no idea what you expect of me.”
“That’s the risk you’re going to have to take. Stay here and die, or come with me and risk everything for a chance of survival.”
She met his gaze and saw nothing in it to reassure her.
“Sure. I’m in.”
Things happened fast after that. She wasn’t taken back to her security wing, but was led out through the complex defense systems and loaded onto a land shuttle and into a smaller cell that made her feel like she was in a coffin after all. A dull roar announced the shuttle was taking off, and she braced herself awkwardly against the wall.
She turned her mind off and pretended she was in Arizona, riding across the desert with her sister and brother, the wind in her hair and a stupid smile on her face. It was a horrible joke how she’d ended up stowing away on a ship bound for a planet that liked to pretend it was all alone in the universe. And now she was stuck here, with no hope of ever getting home.
It didn’t seem to take long to get to wherever they were going. She was woken from her trance by a new guard in the same black uniform that the other man had worn, and was marched outside.
The complex reminded her of the prison, but was set in the Mitan equivalent of the high desert. Nothing grew around the base, and clouds of red dust blew in an endless rolling streamover the stark landscape. In the distance there was a huge, black, flat-topped mountain. If she’d been hoping to escape, there wasn’t anywhere to go, but she was sure they already knew that.
She waited at the security checkpoint as she was scanned and finally let through, a guard on each side of her. There was no sign of Commander Rehz Akran either. The smell of antiseptic wafted across her nose, and they turned into what was obviously the facility’s medical lab.
A woman in a white coat came toward her and nodded at the guards. “Put her in containment unit one, please.” She looked appraisingly at Anna. “When you are secure, please strip so that I can carry out my assessment.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. If you don’t want to do it yourself, the guards will help you.”
Anna sighed and stepped into the white plastic space. She quickly took off the hated prison garb, and it was sucked away, leaving her with nothing but a cool breeze tightening her nipples.
The guards were sent out and it was just her, the doctor, and five thousand tests. She was given at least ten shots, including one against Mitan flu and an update on her fertility control, leaving her right arm throbbing from the puncture wounds. Eventually they were through, and Anna waited to see what would happen next.
To her surprise Commander Akran appeared and, after a quick glance at her, had a long conversation with the doctor, who was obviously rehashing Anna’s test results. With a resigned sigh, she slid down the wall, hugged her knees to her chest, and leaned her chin on them.
The doctor left and the commander opened the security door.
