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“I did. Just like you told me to, Var’Len. After I asked him the questions.”
“When did I say this?” Zirkov asked, playing the part of this Var’Len she saw in his place.
“In the morning. Before work. But I can’t shoot him. He’s important.”
“Indeed. Killing the Commander of GI7 would cause problems for Earth Intelligence.”
“I don’t mean them. Or those stuffy aliens he works for at Galactic Intelligence.”
“Then who?” Zirkov asked as he navigated the stairwell with her in his arms.
“Me. He’s important to me.”
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
ZIRKOV
Zirkov stared at all the tubes running from Maggie’s arms to the machines beside her hospital bed. Seeing her lying still, her head wrapped in gauze, and her color so pale scared him. What if she never regained consciousness? The very thought shook him to his core.
“Movement,” Stenikov stated as her head shifted slightly. Her eyes didn’t open, or even flutter. The younger marshal stood at the foot of her bed, guarding her. He alternated from looking for signs of improvement to watching the DAA agent standing outside her room. The warrior didn’t trust the DAA any more than Zirkov did.
“I don’t think Agent Morris noticed. He’s busy watching the female nurses.”
Zirkov glanced at the DAA agent through the glass pane. “As soon as Magdalena wakes, the DAA will want to question her. Then they’ll arrest her under suspicion of being an enemy agent.”
“How did the surgeons even know she’s a DAA agent?”
“They didn’t. When they found the implant in her brain, they contacted the DAA. They’re under a mandate to report all alien technology.”
Zirkov didn’t want to think about the DAA right now, not until he knew Maggie would recover. He ran his fingers up and down her forearm, steering clear of the tubes. She’d woken so many feelings in him, and now he might lose her.
“It’s been three days. She should be awake.”Please, Magdalena. Wake up.
“I spoke to the lead nurse,” Stenikov said as he moved to the window and peered at the street below. “Three days is not much per Earth standards, but the level of medicine here is alarming. I’m surprised Galactic Intelligence didn’t grant your request to take her to a planet with advanced medical facilities. Earth doesn’t even have steripatches to close wounds. Humans use the intestines of mammals and a needle. A needle, Commander.”
“Earth Intelligence warned Galactic Intelligence not to interfere with their investigation into Maggie. If it weren’t for the alien technology they removed from her, the humans wouldn’t care. They’ve condemned her without giving her a chance to defend herself.”
Zirkov looked at his comm when it vibrated. Konnitch. “Yes?”
“GI3 finally cracked the code in her diary. You won’t believe what the cipher was. Your name.”
Zirkov ran his hand along Maggie’s cheek as she lay there so incredibly still. He had no choice but to ask. “What did it say?”
“Only one page of significance. She wrote about a meeting on her roof and being given a mission. No reference to the person she met. These are her words… ‘Ask him the questions. Find out what he knows.’”
“Var’Len’s orders,” Zirkov said.
“That’s my guess. Do you want me to forward a copy of the translated text for the entire diary or only that section?”
‘I don’t want you to know what I wrote, okay? They’re my private thoughts… about you.’
Zirkov closed his eyes. Her coloring had dropped three shades when she’d said that. He’d thought she’d been hiding something integral to his investigation. Now he knew, but it didn’t change anything.
“Not necessary. She didn’t want anyone…me… knowing her thoughts. They should remain as private as possible. Keep what you learned to yourself and destroy the translated text. We found what we needed.”
When the transmission ended, Zirkov looked at Agent Morris standing guard outside her door. “Konnitch found more evidence the DAA will use against Magdalena… if I share it with them.”
“Will you?” Stenikov asked.
