Sorcha The Alien Book One

Chapter Sixteen

I step into an elevator with my two unofficial guards and Shazna, who hasn't stopped smiling. The lift ascents through the base and my hard work is undone in mere minutes. All my walking and climbing and crawling erased. I feel deflated, I feel useless. My exhaustion is absolute, a heaviness that seeps from my bones.

"How long until the solar activity desists?" Shazna asks.

"Nine hours," my captor answers as his fingers press into my bicep.

"You hear that, Sorcha?" Shazna smiles, she tucks her hair behind her ears and displays a chiselled jawline. "In nine hours, we'll leave here, and I can finally introduce you to Fendan."

I turn my head from Shazna and watch the screen on the wall. An image of the elevator climbing through the base, entra standard time in blue, and a countdown timer. Hours left in lockdown, until the sun's heat recedes, Shazna needn't have asked, but she did.

The lift stops and the doors open, but we do not move. Someone steps into the lift, armed and suited in metal. With a flick of her hand Shazna dismisses her two clerical assistants.

"Emerlit," Shazna groans, and her lips pinch together, "I requested Anabale."

Emerlit dips her head. "I apologise, Anabale is on Cantral's trail, she sent me instead."

"Hmmm, I suppose, she is the better tracker," Shazna says. "Sorcha is small and slow, I'm sure even you can manage to guard her."

"I won't let you down," Emerlit says with enthusiasm. She taps her hand on her suit, and glances around. "The east, west and north, quadrant lifts are still not working ... lucky this one is."

"Until we find Daeanal, this will be the only working lift." Shazna wipes her hands over her face. "Oh, if to have to explain this to Fendan ..."

"I'm sure he will understand—"

"I find your voice tiresome," Shazna groans, "desist using it."

The lift stops once more and we exit on the top level, outside Fendan's apartment. Like déjà vu we enter, it looks identical to last time I was here. Of course it does, it was only yesterday. The cushions are angled in the same position as if no one has sat on the sofa since Daeanal. But there is one change, the windows are blackened, they hide the view and reflect the room and my timid face.

"Check Sorcha for weapons," Shazna says as she steps into the kitchen, she peers around a corner. "You should have done that in the lift. I shouldn't have to tell you, Emerlit."

Emerlit waves a scanner over me. A faint vibration emits from the device, a barely there buzz. My body tenses as she unzips my jumpsuit and finds the explosive Cantral gave me. Her head snaps back to Shazna, but Shazna's attention is elsewhere. Our eyes meet, she chews on her lip. My fear reflects in Emerlit's visor, my chance of escape is about to be ripped from me. Her hand grips my zipper and yanks it up smoothly.

And the explosive remains hidden by my chest, with my heart pounding against it.

"She's clear," Emerlit says.

Shazna takes a long drink. "Excellent, seat her on the sofa."

I'm frog marched to a sofa and pushed into plush cushions a little roughly. My hands smooth over the soft fabric, pale blue, like an Earth sky. Shazna strides closer. I don't regret leaving Earth, but I wish fervently I was somewhere other than here. Anywhere other than here.

Shazna's black hornet eyes bore into me. "You will not disclose to Fendan the events that took place here." She sits, too close for my liking. "You will not tell him Cantral was here."