Secret War: The Annihilation Plague (Part 2)

Chapter 19

Karmen awoke, and her gaze found the ceiling above her that was encased in darkness. The light hung only about a metre and a half above her bed. She sighed and rolled over in her bed to view the rest of the mattress of her queen-sized bed as empty as it was before.

She sighed and sat up, allowing the mouldy sheets to slip off her and her black bodyglove. Karmen usually liked to sleep naked, but in these shitty beds, she didn't dare, especially with the sickness infecting the city.

Karmen was beginning to regret her earlier treatment of Attelus; she'd finally had him; it was...great to finally be with the man she'd harboured such strong feelings for so long. But now she didn't, and Attelus had only done what he believed was right. And they'd needed to know Kalakor's history more than they needed to learn about the "Imperial Truth" She still had no idea what that was despite trying to research the term on the cogitators and the Librarium during their travelling in The Audacious Edge. She even had to put up with interacting with little miss-perfect Adelana, although she made damn sure not to tell them exactly what she was looking for.

She frowned and checked her wrist chron on her bedside table; it was 2 am, and it wasn't quite time for Enandra to update them of Attelus' status. Karmen just hoped he was okay. She looked at the empty bed again; she'd considered re-igniting her relationship with Arlathan but decided against it. If Attelus was still interested when he returned, she felt it could seem like cheating if she got with Arlathan if this turned out to be a break.

Also, having sex in these beds would be damned disgusting, to say the least.

The micro-bead on the table next to her chron piped. She took it and checked the calling code to find it was...

Speak of the devil; she thought and accepted it.

'Arlathan?'

'Enandra's called. She wishes to speak with you,' he said.

'Okay, fine,' Karmen sighed and climbed out of bed. 'I will be there in a minute.'

Karmen entered the lounge with a newly made cup of caffeine. Arlathan stood over Vex, gazing into the glowing cogitator monitor.

'You're here,' said Arlathan. 'Vex has got the two-way visual calls up and untraceable.'

Karmen nodded, having already guessed that and walked around to face it. Enandra was on her command throne and nodded to Karmen.

'Sorry to wake you up, Karmen,' she said.

Karmen shrugged. 'I had woken up just before that anyway. You heard from Attelus then?'

'I did,' said Enandra. 'He's fine now, got himself captured by Sisters and a member of Soloton's warband, but he managed to work his magic and convince them to free him, as I thought he would, and they called me. I thought you would like to know.'

Karmen smiled. That was Attelus; he really had a way with words. 'Good to hear. How did he manage that?'

'He promised Soloston that I would come down the convent and speak to him in person, so I am going down very soon. Soloston will only tell us of what happened on Gurtar if I speak to him myself. I have also yet to receive any word of backup coming. I am just hoping that we aren't subjected to the presence of a regiment of Scintillan Fusiliers, damned pompous aristocrats.'

Karmen stopped herself frowning, Enandra yet again forgetting Karmen was an aristocrat, a "blue blood" as Estella Erith; Karmen didn't know why she was taking exception to it now, the positions of their former lives didn't matter any more, and Karmen knew well how infamously up themselves the Scintillan regiments were.