NOVA

Chapter Two

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A cold rush of dread overwhelmed him. Nevian followed Merrow anyway. What else could he do? Waste a few minutes and be late? Miss the meeting and raise suspicions? Pretend to be ill, and then be forced to dump his entire schedule to make his 'illness' more convincing? No. He had to go.

His mind whirled, faster than lightspeed. What would Jaenen do, if they found out that he had captured the Nova? They would most likely demand she be imprisoned on Neptune. Or even likelier, they would ship her to Earth or the U.J.M. to get into their good books. Or kill her.

But what would Jaenen do if they found out Nevian's plans? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Jaenen was a calm, if weak, person, but

"Sir," Merrow's frayed voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Is the Nova... safe?"

He allowed himself the time to look at Merrow. Worryingly thin frame, watery and pale brown skin, closer to grey than any conceivably healthy shade, flat hair so dry it looked like it could crack. It was no wonder that Merrow was nervous. 

"No," He answered shortly. "But she's cooperating."

Merrow nodded, looking distinctly more alarmed than he had before. Although, reasonably speaking, he was probably the safest out of everyone in the Fort. Transmission and communication rooms were plated in as much protection as possible. His private transmissions room looked no different on the surface, but within the marble and decorative metal carvings were walls of real metal, the sturdy stuff, designed to withstand proper damage. When he stepped in after Merrow, the doorway was several feet thick. 

"I assume Sternis keeping an eye on the Nova?"

"Yes." He nodded. Merrow fell into silence as they entered. Wide and sharp with black walls and polished floor, neatly fitted with electrics and comfortable furniture. Nevian quite liked this room. When Jaenen wasn't forcing him to attend meetings at the last minute, that was.

He took a quick look at the display panel to distract himself. It looked like a small meeting, just him, Jaenen and Anvie. The request for privacy was typical but put him on edge anyway, whilst the typical time length of an hour made him sigh. He hadn't even had the time to rest or eat. Perhaps he could send Merrow off to collect a drink for him before the meeting started.

"I'm setting the meeting up now, Administrator." Merrow said. He sighed. No drink, then. The information on the display panel stated that the meeting was supposed to start ten minutes ago. He winced, but he trusted Merrow to put the connection up quickly. He was the very best transmissions worker that the Lesser Moons had to offer. "Get yourself ready, the live feed should begin in a few moments."

Nevian calmed himself. If everything went to plan, it wouldn't be Jaenen's for much longer. But for now, he had to appear as if everything was normal.

Merrow pressed something, and the screen burst to life. He gave him a nod and scuttled out of the room. 

"Accept meeting?" a button on the screen asked. 

He gazed at the screen in disgust as he prepare himself for the sheer volume of boredom these meetings subject him too. He hoped this would go quickly, but he couldn't say that he had particularly high hopes.

Nevian sighed. He pressed the button.

It took a moment for the connection to work, but when it did, it revealed the face of his very worse enemy.

Appearance wise, Administrator Jaenen of Neptune was a mild person. Their pale blue eyes were set deep into their round face, and their once long, blonde hair seemed to get shorter and greyer every time he saw them. As always, Nevian felt a familiar surge of sickening envy when he looked at their features for too long. Oh, the planet should be his, and yet it belonged to his worse enemy.