Series: Zandian Brides Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57939 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Nothing–no outcome–could be worse than this one.
Not even death by chip.
I was just trying to keep us alive, but what if Daven was right? Katia might die because I didn’t speak? Why did I value my promise to Flora more than my commitment to Daven?
I haven’t heard yet if Katia still breathes.
The room I’m locked in is smaller than the one I lived in upon first arriving, and it’s chilly, probably from the shielding materials. Also because it’s subterranean. It’s not awful, but neither is it pretty, and although I have a sleeping platform with a cover and there’s a small bathroom facility attached, I’m alone. And scared.
Food was delivered through a hole in the door last night and this morning, but I have yet to see any being.
I bang on the wall, hoping to maybe connect with Flora, Alyza, or Janae, but my fist makes no noise at all on the thick concrete, and I give up immediately, collapsing on the cushions and bursting into noisy tears.
How did things get so bad so quickly?
Well, my lies didn’t help, that’s for sure.
I wrack my brain trying to come up with an idea about how to fix things with Daven, but there’s nothing.
First I need to fix things with Zandia. I need to prove we’re not a threat. That we can be trusted. That we haven’t, nor will we ever, betray Zandia.
The only way to do that–other than to offer our lives up for them to destroy the chips and our brains with them–is for me to get to Larew to deactivate all of our chips.
With all of my might, I focus on the chip and the memories stored there. Stars, there are so many things I recorded while they trained and tested me. Things they’d never in a million sun cycles let a slave like me hear–except they thought of us as dumb and disposable. Probably figured we’d be dead within a short time. Maybe they were just sloppy.
As I strain my brain for anything related to Larew, a whole batch of new memories unlock.
“Stars!” I gasp. “I remember it all!” Passcodes to the lab buildings, the entire layout of the facility, the guard changes. I overheard–and clearly recorded–all of it while they were working on me.
“I can do it!” I cry to myself in excitement. “I can make it all go away! I know how to deactivate all of us from the main panel!”
Then my heart sinks. Even if Daven–or any being here–bothers to listen to my new memories, they will hardly trust me now. It would be dangerous and foolhardy to travel to Larew just to deactivate all of us. Now that Daven hates me, he’ll probably petition to have me banished. Surely no being here will actually take on the risk of traveling to an enemy planet for this!
“Daven!” I scream, even though I know he’s not near, and nobody can hear me through the thick dungeon walls. “Please, I’m sorry, and I can fix it!”
I hear the beep of a lock activating, and the door swishes open. I leap from the bed hoping–stupidly–it will be Daven. Did I summon him with my fervent pleas, somehow?
It’s not Daven.
It takes me a moment to realize that the being standing there is the answer to my prayers.
Better than Daven. No, that’s not true. Nothing would be better than Daven, but she may be my answer to restoring Daven’s faith in me.
It’s Mirelle. The only human pilot I’ve ever known.
I fly at her, embracing her as if we are old friends. I half expect her to shove me away, but she doesn’t. She accepts the embrace for a few moments before she gently extricates herself.
“Mirelle! I need you,” I gasp.
“I thought you might,” she says. When she catches my surprise expression, she explains, “You mentioned something when we met.”
“Yes! Yes, I did. I need your help. My friends and I have been surgically altered. We have chips embedded in our brains. The only way to deactivate them is to get to the control center on Larew. The lab where I worked. I was the lab tech. I assisted the scientists who worked on this tech. I know how to disable the chips.”
Mirelle’s eyes narrow. “If you knew how to disable the chips, why didn't you do it before?”
“They would have killed us all! I was never left alone or unattended. And I had no confidence in myself. How could I have done such a thing?” I shake my head. “At the time, I wasn’t ready to do such a thing.”
“So what makes you think you can do it now?” Mirelle crosses her arms and examines me with calculating eyes.
My stomach knots, and cold sweat breaks out between my breasts. “I don’t. But I have to try,” I croak. “There’s no other option. I need to try to save my friends and ensure Zandia is safe.”