AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He prowled the room like a meko panther checking gadgets and security controls before waving his wrist comm over the door panel. It slid open, and he stepped through before turning to face Selene.
‘I’ll be back,’ he said in his low, deep voice. ‘This door is paired to my comm for your safety. You can’t leave the apartment without my auth. I’ll arrange for all meals, drinks, and any groceries or toiletries you might need. One of our sec droids will deliver them to you. Just send me a list.’
‘So I can’t go exploring Eden II?’ she pushed.
He gave her a sober look. ‘Despite our current veneer of civility and commerce, this rock is still, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most dangerous places in Pegasi. Given your strategic importance, we’ll keep all movement limited. We’ll also travel when we need to in an armoured flyer to keep you safe.’
He tabbed his wrist comm and swiped a file to her own, which pinged in receipt. ‘That’s my comm sign. Message me if you need anything. I’ll fetch you as soon as possible to meet the Riders.’
‘So I can only leave this apartment with your say-so?’
‘It’s for your safety, Selene,’ he replied after a short silence. ‘You’re on a wanted list, and Massimo Makori is a desperate man. We can’t take any chances.’
Her face fell. ‘How will he know that I’m here, on Eden II? We tried to be discreet, and our flight here was cloaked.’
The man looming over her levelled his gaze on her. ‘Anything’s possible. So we need to keep playing it safe. This apartment is completely secure. So you’ve nothing to fear,khamila.’
That word again.Khamila. She wondered for a moment what it meant.
‘What if I need to speak to my people?’
Kainan leant back on his heels, in thought. ‘I’ll set up a secure channel between you and Colonel Rina on one of our drone satellites and patch it to your comm. Give it a try in about an hour.’
Selene didn’t know what more to say, so she said what was necessary. ‘Thank you. For everything.’
Kainan’s blue-gold eyes glowed with a rare emotion she couldn’t quite nail. ‘Don’t thank me quite yet. Not until we can help Dunia out of this mess.’
He stepped away from the door, and it slowly slid shut.
‘I’ll come back soon,’ he promised, his low, deep and commanding.
Except that on Day One, he didn’t come.
On Day 2, he still hadn’t appeared.
On Day 3, he hadn’t yet shown, and she was about to murder someone.
She’d resisted messaging him, mainly because her pride wouldn’t let her beg him. Besides, pleading for his return would be a diplomatically weak position to begin their negotiations.
All Selene could do was work out in the suite’s gym, eat, and because the secure channel now worked and the connection to Sysnet was lightning fast, comm Rina to complain and to get updates on the situation in Dunia.
She’d welcomed the news that General McKenzie and the Special Ops Command Force stationed at Rambasa and loyal to the True Prime had retaken control of the critical western front city. The victory was a significant step forward because Rambasa lay in the Neo Valley, the source of Dunia’s rich deposits of xentium, yielding trillions of tonnes annually from its vast orebody that was the largest of its kind in the known universe. Rambasa was also where the planet’s publicly owned mining company, Dunia Xentium Corp, the DXC, had built its HQ. From this seat, it managed all mineral rights to xentium production in the valley, on the southern continent of Wadi and the archipelago on the western coast of Usmina.
While this was all good progress, it raised Rina’s hackles.
‘Rumour has it Makori has upped the reward money and placed a bigger bounty on your head,’ she said on a call to Selene.
Pacing the spacious apartment, Selene peered at her friend’s face on her tab screen.
‘How much?’ she asked drily.
‘Millions.’
‘Dead or alive?’
‘Alive naturally. Massimo wants to get you in his grasp so he can strong-arm you into giving back control of the ore fields.’
Selene shook her head. ‘I can’t believe how I never saw through his fakery!’
