“Affirmative,” she replied, turning the corner. He followed her. “Just preparing mentally. You weren’t at the Q and A. Busy?”
“Sorry. Had some errands. But I’ll be here to watch you at work.” His smile was boyish. The serious look disappeared like magic. “Forgive me?”
Helen arched a brow. “For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“For not warning you about Armando.” He shrugged. “He can be a bit overwhelming.”
“Do you trust him?”
Flyboy regarded her solemnly. “He’s my teammate.”
“But he’s the newest member of your team, right? So, how do you know exactly when you can trust him?”
“One quickly learns to trust while working together in dangerous situations. It’s teamwork, Hell. If I don’t trust him, the concept doesn’t work.”
Therein lay the problem. As contract agents, GEM operatives didn’t operate in groups. “But a team still has to mesh,” she pointed out.
“Granted, but we’re talking about the V-Program here. Not to be all bigheaded about it, but it’s a chosen few.” He cocked his head. “We weren’t thrown together by coincidence or contractual obligations. Are you having trust issues? With the team?”
“No, not with the team,” Helen murmured. She hadn’t even thought of the team, since she hadn’t actually worked with them. As far as she was concerned, she was on her own, remote viewing, and then the team would come in afterwards.
She and Hades, she amended, but in virtual reality, wasn’t that like being on her own?
“Does Armando tell you what’s happening to him?” She made a face at his pause. “Come on, the others might not see through his act but I do. The question is, is it just him or the serum?”
Flyboy turned and stepped in front of Helen. His blue eyes appeared darker today, more intense. She could sense his hesitancy, he was keeping something from her. “I don’t know,” he told her. “You might have to find out for us. Armando is sure to talk to you more after you’ve used the serum, to compare notes, if nothing else.”
Helen tilted her her head sideways, narrowing her eyes. “Hey, that’s extra work. Nothing in my contract about probing one of the famed commandos’ minds.” She was going to do it but not to Armando Chang. “If he’s a problem, why is he still on active mode?”
“Our commander hasn’t deactivated him.”
“Well, then it’s between him and your commander, right?” She leaned back, tossing her hair carelessly. “All these commandos running around in active mode…my imagination’s working overtime.”
Flyboy’s eyes twinkled. “Sweetheart, I’ve just seen your reworked program avatar. Believe me, your imaginationisthe one running rampant.”
Helen made a moue. “Damn, isn’t there such a thing as privacy? How’s a girl going to have some fun around here?”
He shook a long index finger at her. “There is very little privacy at Center. Only in special quarters.” He smiled at her again, this time wolfishly. “Want to check them out?”
She made a show of cracking her knuckles. “Well, after a shot of that serum, I should have the courage to venture into the sacred sanctum of the commandos. Do you all live here? Borrrrring.”
“Not all the time. Only when we have a job to do.”
“All right. Give me the directions and I might give you a ring at your quarters.”
Flyboy waggled his eyebrows. “Can I trust you not to sabotage the place?”
Funny. She was just thinking about trust. These commandos were too damn perceptive. She really needed to find out more about them.
Later, after Flyboy left, Helen thoughtfully fingered the communication card Armando Chang had slipped into her hand at the meeting earlier. Now she knew how to find him when she needed him.
In a secret test facility, Virginia
“This is a very easy exercise, Agent 51. You should breeze right through this.”
Of course he would. He was one of the chosen few. “I feel great. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can do this. Trust me, I’ll find out what’s in that envelope in no time.” What he needed was a cigarette but he knew better than to say that out loud.
“We want you to feel comfortable. How are you feeling?”
