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“Gellis, would you wait here. I’m sure Puto wouldn’t mind some company.” Freya issued another wink. “Talk to him, please,” she hissed into the maid’s ear.
Freya slipped into the office while Gellis took the bait, asking Puto when he’d last had time off for relaxation. She enunciated the last word in a seductive tone.
Freya dashed across to the console, praying that the key lock hadn’t been changed since she’d been in the room. She tapped out the pattern and the console lit up with lights flashing. She perched on the edge of Marco’s chair and viewed the monitor with its Vendian text and symbols. With a trembling finger, she poked at one symbol. It fired up a query screen.
The risk she was taking for another woman suddenly seemed too great. However, she wasn’t one to back out of a mission. When she’d been selected for the spy program, her trainers had given her ample opportunity to leave if she thought it too challenging. They debriefed her after every test or mock mission until they were satisfied she had the necessary skills to cope with nerves. They’d frequently made encouraging remarks about perseverance and versatility.
Breathe deep. Stay calm. She echoed the advice of those teachers and focused on the task, reminding herself that poor Lucilla was somebody special whose unusual indoctrination as a jenjin wasn’t like the others.
She spelt out Lucilla’s name and immediately a confidential file flashed up on the screen. When she opened it, the answers to her questions were there, but they weren’t what she expected. What she read horrified her. Why hadn’t Marco done something about Lucilla’s captivity—it was so wrong. Freya’s opinion of Vendu justice sank lower and it made her fear her own wrongful conviction would never be addressed. Would anyone on Earth know that she’d been accused of the wrong crime?
She’d run out of time. A nervous Gellis wouldn’t fob off Puto for long. What she did with her discovery would have to wait until she could speak to Marco. The trouble was, how to explain how she’d come by the information if Lucilla herself didn’t know?
An idea would come, somehow. She needed to find something suitable in Marco’s drawer to take with her, something that would convince Puto. She was reaching across the console to switch it off when the door burst open.
On the threshold stood Marco, his eyes popping open wide and the color of his cheeks flushed an angry red. “What are you doing here?” he barked.
Freya sprang to her feet and backed away from the desk. Nausea swelled in the back of her throat and her heartbeats leaped into overdrive. “I… I…” She’d no excuses planned for such an eventuality. Nothing suitable to say to him. “I thought you were busy,” she mumbled.
“Lalita reported you missing with Gellis. She was convinced you’d run away.”
“This isn’t Gellis’s fault. I didn’t ask her to come. Meesha insisted,” Freya hurried to defend her maid. “I put Gellis in an awkward situation and she demonstrated her loyalty to me.”
“Which is more than you’ve done for me,” he snapped, then took a deep breath. “Meesha has made a mistake, so has Gellis, but it isn’t for me to rectify those errors. However, it is within in my bounds to deal with you. What are you doing here?” He strode further into the room and examined his console. She’d shut down Lucilla’s file. “You’re spying on me, aren’t you? Is this part of your mission? To infiltrate a penal colony and steal information? I told you it was a military outpost and you use that to abuse your position as my jenjin.” His hands clenched into fists. “I trusted you.”
Tears splashed down her cheeks. Freya shook from head to toe. She’d not considered how he might view her actions. She’d spied, acted secretively, but not because she was undermining Marco’s authority. But how could she explain—he looked so cross. So disappointed.
“I’ve not stolen information. I was helping a friend, another jenjin. She’s here as a hostage, not a prisoner. For two years, Marco, two years of living in the Volta because her father is a rebel leader.”
Marco’s eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Which prisoner?”
“Lucilla. Planet forty.” Freya had backed herself against the window. Would he lash out at her? She peeped down into the valley. It looked no different, no safer. What had she done? She’d blown it. He’d send her back down there into the heat and cacophony of the laundry, leaving her to an unknown fate. “Please, you have to believe me. I did this to help Lucilla. Just read her file.” She pointed at the desk.
“I will. In my own time.” He turned away from her and the sight of his rigid back only made her feel worse.
“What are you going to do with me?”
“That I haven’t decided. Puto!” he shouted toward the door.
A worried Puto entered the room. “Sir?”
“Arrange to have this prisoner escorted to the custody center. Then, young man, we’re going to discuss protocols.”
Puto went pale. “Sir. What about this other woman?” He gestured through the open door to the equally anxious Gellis, who hovered outside.
“She may return to the Volta. I’m sure Lalita will deal with her involvement.”
“Please,” Freya pleaded. “She’s not to blame.”
Marco snapped his fingers and Puto scurried out of the room. Turning to face Freya again, Marco heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m too angry to deal with you now, Freya. You left the Volta without permission, which is a serious enough offense. But to add to my disappointment, you came here behind my back. Why didn’t you ask me about your friend? Do I mean so little to you?”
What could she say? She shared his disappointment, more so because in the aftermath of her foolish decision, she realized he meant much to her, more than he could probably understand. She was convinced she’d fallen in love with Marco. “I’m to be punished?” It was rhetorical. She knew she would be, but how and to what extent was unknown.
“When I’m ready, you’ll be punished, Freya. I will do what I see fit. That is the man I am, a leader—I seek control, discipline, and obedience in all things and I rely on the loyalty of subordinates. However, I still care deeply for you, Freya. I won’t send you back to the canyon. Nevertheless, you must respect my need for resolution in this matter. Without it, I can’t promise anything.”
She gulped down the wave of nausea in her throat. “Thank you. For not giving up on me. However,” she straightened her back, “I don’t regret what I’ve done. I’m will not stand idly by while injustice is done. I will continue to be what I am—an Earthling with a conscience.”
Was that an insult to him? He certainly jerked at the last word. She was sure she’d chosen the correct Vendian word.
