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.I couldn’t save my fiancée, but I can save so many more now.”Renna shook her head.“Then what is it you want exactly if it’s not revenge on MYTH for killing your fiancée?”“This has nothing to do with revenge anymore.Perhaps it did once, but I have a bigger goal now.” Samil’s face took on the glow of a true fanatic.“MYTH has resources beyond your imagining, but beneath their shiny exterior, they’ve become corrupted.They experiment on children.They’ve destroyed whole colonies at a senator’s whim.MYTH no longer serves the galaxy.They serve themselves.And I plan to change that.”Samil got to her feet, pacing behind her desk.“MYTH is only concerned with how to make more money, how to amass power, how to rule instead of how to serve.I want to create an organization that will become something people can believe in.” She nodded to the door.“Those people out there are only the beginning.The poor, the hungry, the crippled.They all want a better life.They want something more.And I plan to give it to them.”“As long as they become your slaves, you mean.”“I don’t want slaves, Renna.I want willing soldiers, and there are plenty of people who want what only I can give them.”“And what is that?”“I can give them a future.” Samil’s smile was so bright she could have lit the room.“And that’s all because of you.Your DNA will fix them, make them stronger.It will help the surgery and the implants and the technology to improve their lives.It will help them connect with each other.You should be proud.”“Proud that someone experimented on me against my will?”“Sacrifices have to be made,” Samil said with a shrug.“I’m sorry you’re in this situation, but I thought you, if anyone, would understand.With your history.”Renna’s heart kicked with unease, but she remained silent.“Don’t you see how similar we are?” Samil continued.“We both loved someone who betrayed us.We worked for an organization that doesn’t care what happens to us, as long as it remains in power.Our skills can save so many people.”“Correction.Your skills, my DNA.There’s a bit of a difference there.”Samil rolled her eyes.“If you must be literal.I have a great deal of respect for what you’ve accomplished and how far you’ve come from that tenement back on Earth.I know how hard it is to rise above something like that.”“You don’t know a damn thing,” Renna spat.“That’s where you’re wrong.” Samil pressed a button on her desk, and before Renna could blink, metal cords snaked from the arms of Renna’s chair and wrapped themselves around her wrists.THIRTY-TWOSamil pulled a small, clear plastic box from her desk while Renna thrashed and struggled against the ties of her chair.“What the hell is that? What are you doing?” she demanded.“A new test.There’s a microchip in here that will allow me to use your implant as a transmitter.I want to see exactly how far you’ve come in your abilities.” She held up the small box.“Does this look familiar? I hear you stole several of these from Dr.Aldani before you left his facility.”Renna’s blood ran cold.She knew exactly what Samil was talking about.Those devices were meant for long-range communication and infiltration of networks.Gheewala’s words came back to her—the implication that Renna’s changing implant could help her communicate with someone on the other side of the galaxy.She pressed her back against the chair, trying to get as far away from Samil as possible as the doctor approached.“What are you going to do?”“First I’m going to upload the new chip to your implant.If you survive, we’ll go from there.” She moved behind Renna and pressed a cool finger to the port at the back of Renna’s neck.“This may hurt a bit,” she warned.Then she jacked in the microchip connector.Colors and numbers blazed across Renna’s vision in a wash of hazy red pain.It seared her eyes and shot through her brain like a thousand zaps of lightning.Something clicked, and she felt the program start to run through her implant, spinning and whirring in her mind like clockwork.A dark fog grew at the edges of her vision.As the last of the code inserted itself, Renna moaned and slumped back in her chair.She couldn’t have moved a muscle if she’d tried.Samil smiled.“You’re still alive.That’s a good sign.” She pressed a finger to her own communicator.“I need someone to take our guest to the recovery room while I prep for phase two.”Renna tried to open her mouth, to ask what phase two was, but nothing obeyed.Everything was so heavy, her head felt like a boulder on her neck.She lolled back against the back of her chair and let her eyes drift closed.Samil’s wicked face was the last thing she saw before the darkness consumed her.“Wake up, Renna.” Dr.Samil’s hand squeezed Renna’s shoulder, and for a split second, she thought she was back at MYTH HQ, with the good doctor trying to save her.Then she remembered.Everything.Acid burned the back of her throat and her head pounded like she’d had way too much to Draven ice wine, but she forced herself to focus as she searched the space.It was some sort of recovery room, with a hard bed, a wall of monitors, and a long, metal table pushed against the wall.Samil’s silver med-drone floated behind her head, ready to help if the doctor needed it.“Time to see if the chip worked.” Samil tapped something into her tablet, and the holovid on the wall flickered to life.“Excellent.Looks like you’re back online.Now all I need to do is upload the software.”“Where’s Viktis?” Renna croaked.She knew Samil wouldn’t tell her, but she had to ask anyway.“He won’t be bothering us.I promise.”Renna struggled to sit up, but she could barely move.“What the hell did you do to me?”“Like I told you, I’ve upgraded your implant with a new communications system.Now we get to see how well it worked.” She tapped at her tablet again.“There.Program uploaded.How does it feel?”Didn’t feel like anything, if Renna was honest, but it wouldn’t do to let Samil know that.Renna glared.“How the hell do you think it feels? You violated my brain.It hurts like a bitch.”“I can’t get over how hard your body is fighting this.It’s astonishing.” Samil shook her head and glanced up at the holoscreen.“I wish I had more time to study you before our final phase.”The ominous words made the skin on Renna’s arms turn to goose flesh.What exactly did the woman plan to do with her?“Perfect.We’re into the system.You are amazing, Renna.” Samil smiled up at the holoscreens, and Renna followed her gaze.The screen showed a long, empty hallway, but Samil pressed a button and the image separated into four different panes, each showing a different part of some facility, like a security monitor.Another press and the cameras zoomed out to show the facade of four different buildings.The pounding in Renna’s head had turned into a high-pitched vibration that made her teeth ache.She clenched her jaw against the pain.“What exactly are we looking at?”“MYTH headquarters on four different worlds.Including the main headquarters on Titus Beta where you were held.I used the new microchip and your implant’s special attributes to jack into their security system.”Renna fought the urge to touch the port in the back of her neck.“How the hell did you do that? Dallas said they locked you out.”Samil preened.“Luckily I already connected you to the neural network installed in their facilities.It was easy, especially since you thought it was just another test.Sorry it hurt so much [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]