She closed her eyes, remembering too clearly how it had been. All night. She hadn’t gotten enough after the first time, and he had been willing to give her what she’d wanted over and over again. He had made love to her with his mouth till she had finally fallen asleep from exhaustion and satiation. Her last thought had been that she didn’t mind not being able to move if he’d keep doing that forever.
Helen shook her head. She had lust in her brain. And she’d better get herself back under control because there was a full day ahead.
The intercom’s buzz brought her back to reality. She crossed the room to answer it. It was Dr. Kirkland, of course. She’d better screw her head back on tightly because today was debriefing day. She sighed. Great choice of word, Helen.
An hour and forty-five minutes later, with a big breakfast in her, she felt almost back to normal. Dr. Kirkland had examined her injury, touching her bruise and the surrounding area, gently probing. It still felt slightly prickly to have someone touching but at least that strange traveling electrical tingling wasn’t happening. She even felt comfortable enough to discuss it with Dr. Kirkland. He listened to her description quietly.
“It’s still present, sort of,” she told him when he asked whether the sensation was gone. “It’s never happened before when I remote viewed so, yeah, I’d say it has to do with the serum.”
Of course he knew about her visitor. Figured. He had to be told since he was her doctor. She commended herself for looking nonchalant when he brought the subject up.
“I would have recommended trying the dimethyl sufoxide substitute today if you were unable to walk.”
Helen looked Dr. Kirkland squarely in the eye, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. “My monitor introduced whatever it was to me.”
She didn’t mention the dark. Or the other parts of the introduction. She didn’t think her monitor would supply those details as well. She knew him that well, at least.
“It’s a compound that we’ve been working on that emulates the properties of a commercial solvent.”
“I’ve heard of DMSO,” she told him, surprised that she could even recall any of the conversation from the previous night. “I have a friend who was a weight lifter and he told me about its use, especially for painful injured tissues.”
Dr. Kirkland nodded. “Oh yes, it was quite popular among weight lifters for a while. They’re always the first to try out controversial products.” He picked up his chart. “So, no need for any painkillers today and we’ll monitor your leg carefully. I’ve reviewed the tape of what that man in the elevator did. You were lucky he didn’t pull it in the other direction or you’d have a broken leg today instead.”
Helen cocked her head. “But I’d have been able to walk on it, probably.” She laughed at the doctor’s expression. “I wouldn’t have known, Doc. I didn’t feel anything at that point.”
“That’s the very real danger of the serum,” he said. “I’m going to double-check on the dosage and compare it with the other testee’s body weight. There must be an answer to your problem.”
Hell chose not to go into that particular subject again. “In an operation where I may have been alone and needed to get out of Dodge, perhaps it could save me from being caught,” she said instead, giving him a wry smile. “Pain can be an impediment to saving my own life.”
Dr. Kirkland smiled back. “You two are getting too in sync. Your monitor said those exact words to me last night.” He checked his wristwatch. “This morning, I mean.”
“And one of these days, you’ll slip up and say his name and I’ll know his identity,” Helen said lightly. “Right, Doc?”
“You know the protocol to a successful experiment, Hell,” he said, as he squiggled onto her medical chart. “There are different parts, some of which are meant to ensure that the testee isn’t skewing the results by giving expected answers.”
“Doc, I’ve already passed the remote viewing with flying colors. They have the key to prove it,” she pointed out.
“Maybe there are other tests,” Dr. Kirkland said. “You can bring this up with your monitor in the next VR session.”
Seeing Hades so soon? Even in VR? She gulped. “When?”
Thank goodness Dr. Kirkland didn’t see her reaction. “After debriefing and a break. He wants another remote viewing session done today.”
“Well, that explains the absence of coffee at breakfast,” Helen said, as nonchalantly as she could manage.
Nineteen
Helen mentally repeated their names. Alex Diamond, Shahrukh Kingsley (oh, fitting name for Big Swimming Guy), Michael Hunter—a shock to hear Flyboy’s real name—and he winked at her, with that smile that had probably generated a few thousand female sighs, Jack Sullivan, Armando Chang, looking half-asleep, Heath Cliffe (she arched her eyebrows slightly at his name, too, his brown eyes lighting up with amusement when she gave him a bland stare as his gaze traveled down to her leg), and Jed McNeil—is the man attached to that denim jacket?
They were the official COS commandos. She knew four of the original were killed in action during that mission a few years back, and only two of those positions had been filled—Jack Sullivan and Armando. They were finally formally introduced to her as a group, a sign that she was now part of the team. Right? She wasn’t sure,
Then there was Drew De Clerq, the team coordinator. She found out that he was just acting operations chief in the mission she had been on. Operations chief was actually Alex Diamond’s title. How interesting. When GEM and COMCEN formed a merger, T., her operations chief, had comanaged Alex’s job with different commandos when he went missing.
At the moment, her chief, taking a seat across from her, was studiously avoiding looking at Alex Diamond throughout the introductions. Or at least, it seemed that way to Helen. She wanted to laugh. Those two reminded her of two lions in a mating ritual. It took the beasts forever to get together but when they did—
She hid a smile.
“Any questions about who is who, Hell?” De Clerq asked.
