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.And with that, we turn the corner and take a deep breath.Logan looks at me and I look at Logan, and we hold our lips in a tight line.Then both of us burst out laughing.But it’s only for a moment.“Wow!” I say.“That was stunning!”“Intense!” Logan says, wiggling one brow and grinning at me.He reaches out with his hand to sweep a stray lock of hair that’s gotten loose from my ponytail and got stuck to my slightly sticky forehead.His touch sends a pleasant tingle along my skin.As he does that, his fingers linger, and his expression grows serious.He starts to lean in closer to my lips, but I put my hand up against his hard chest and hiss at him with a half-smile, “Logan! Not here! Come on, let’s do this thing.Take care of your business.”He purses his lips regretfully, then nods, smiling at me again.“Okay, I’ll take a rain-check on that very yummy mouth of yours.Fine, are you ready? Let’s go see your CP.”“Right around the corner.” And as I say it, my pulse starts racing double time, in a combination of inexplicable uncertainty and stress.Did I do the right thing, bringing Logan here? I suddenly wonder.“You sure this is going to be okay?” I ask him, as these new doubts assail me, and we start walking.“Oh, yes,” he replies, and his face is composed.“You never told me how serious it is, what it’s really about?”“In a minute, you’ll see.”And we are at the doors of the CCO.The two guards are the same from last morning, so they know me.They give Logan only a brief look, while one guard calls the CP on his wrist comm.Apparently Command Pilot Kassiopei is in his office, otherwise they’d have just let us in without checking first.The doors open and I go inside, followed by Logan.Aeson Kassiopei is at his desk, and he barely glances up.However, as soon as he notices Logan enter right after me, his gaze focuses and suddenly he looks at us with his full attention.“Command Pilot Kassiopei,” I say, feeling my head pound.“I’m sorry for this somewhat unexpected thing, but—this is my friend Logan Sangre—Cadet Logan Sangre.And he has something very important to discuss with you.He came all the way from the flagship, and—”“What’s going on?” Aeson Kassiopei interrupts me, resting his hands on the surface of his desk.His voice is cool as he observes Logan and me.In that moment Logan steps forward past me, moving me off to the side with one gentle but firm hand.He then performs the formal salute in a crisp, businesslike manner, for the CP’s benefit.“With your permission, Command Pilot Kassiopei,” Logan says.“I have something very important for you.”And in the next moment Logan flicks his wrist and points a small but lethal Atlantean gun at Aeson Kassiopei.I cry out, while an instant wave of cold, horrible panic hits me in the gut.“Logan!”Meanwhile, Aeson has gone very still, and merely watches Logan with an unblinking serpent stare.His hands remain motionless, resting calmly on the surface of his desk.“Logan!” I scream again.“What are you doing?”But the two young men ignore me.Their deadly gazes remain locked on each other.“I can take you out with a single shot, right now,” Logan says quietly, calmly, like a demon.Aeson does not blink.There is a moment of impossible frozen time.And then Logan lowers the gun and flicks his wrist to put the weapon away, back into his sleeve, in a remarkable sleight-of-hand move.“Fortunately,” he says, “it is not why I am here at all.”“Fortunately for you,” Aeson Kassiopei tells him.And then he slowly lifts the palm of his own elegant hand from the surface of his desk, and I see a similarly discreet but lethal gun pointing at Logan.The micro-weapon is nearly flat, easy to conceal, and can be operated with one finger.I recall it’s called a needle-gun because it fires a series of tiny needle-like lasers close together in a line, forming a slicing “blade” of light.“I am pleased to not have to kill you today, Cadet Sangre,” he says casually, and then makes a similar subtle wrist-flip to put away his gun.He then sits back in his seat, a picture of infuriating and impossible composure.“Now.Tell me why you’re really here.”Logan seems to be impressed.He raises one brow and nods to acknowledge the unexpected stalemate.“Command Pilot, this was a necessary demonstration—”That’s when I exhale loudly in impossible relief.And now a wave of anger at Logan has flooded me.“Are you insane?” I exclaim.“What the hell did you just do? How dare you raise a weapon at him like that? And how do you even have a gun? My God! I brought you here on my good honest word—”But in that moment Aeson raises the palm of his hand to me, to signal silence.I shut up.“A demonstration,” Logan continues.“I needed to show you how relatively easy it is to pass through all your layers of security, procure a weapon and be in a position to threaten or assassinate even the highest officer on your ships.”Aeson Kassiopei watches him impassively.“And your point?”“My point,” Logan says seriously, “is that I have been given real information that there is going to be a high-level hostage situation involving all the Imperial Command Ships.And it’s going to happen within the next few days and possibly as early as in the next few hours.”“Go on.” Aeson’s expression is unreadable.Logan takes a step forward and points to a chair before the desk.“May I?”“Sit.”He sits down slowly across from the Command Pilot, acting as a well-trained soldier who knows when not to make any drastic movements.“I am going to tell you something that puts me at cross-purposes with my own original orders.First, you need to know that I am a member of an Earth organization called Earth Union.We are not terrorists.Earth Union is sanctioned by the United States Government and the United Nations as a special operations task force to protect the interests of the planet Earth, in light of the present crisis.” He pauses to observe Kassiopei’s reaction.There is none.“We are mostly observers,” Logan continues.“However, we have also been trained to mobilize and act upon specific orders if we receive them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]