Blink: 3003 (Book 1)

07

The instant of darkness gave way to the familiar sun-blue glare of the Blink headquarters excursion chamber, and the primary Nav-Rod that served as a galactic anchor for every single operative. Much larger than the ones attached to the Blink shuttles, this rod stood a monstrous six metres in height and eight inches thick, embossed with evenly spaced bands of glowing blue. Amber rubbed her eyes with one hand as she adjusted to the change in light.

Looking around instinctively she was able to quash the little feeling of apprehension that accompanied every single Blink. The rest of Hammerhead Squad had safely arrived with her. The five other operatives looked considerably more at ease than she felt. Eventually she'd managed to get her body under control after the near miss at the hands of their lone gunman, but her mind didn't let it go so easily.

She found herself hanging back almost without meaning to, embarrassment, anger and fear all churning together in horrible vortex. The others fanned out, congratulating each other on a job well done, as though they'd forgotten the incident already.

"Okay people," Darien said. "Good work. Dump your gear; let's debrief and then take the rest of the day off."

"Music to my ears," Idas chuckled, clapping Uther on the back with a grin. They filed through the door of the excursion chamber without a care in the world. The rational part of Amber's mind could keep pace with them. On paper the operation had been a resounding success: no fatalities among the hostages or operatives, and they'd taken in the criminal alive along with it. Exemplary, by the standards Blink set for itself.

But not to her. The memory of the gunshot; the instant where she'd been sure her life had been cut short, replayed over and over in her mind. She could still feel the faint throbbing pain in her lower abdomen where the bullet had driven the body armour back against her skin. Amber closed her eyes; shook her head to fling the memory away for a few more seconds.

Eventually, and to her immense surprise, it was the squad's blunt-spoken second-in-command who noticed her lagging behind, and the girl dropped back, her biological eye narrowing. A moment later they were side by side.

"Okay, let's hear it. How're you holding up, Newbie?" asked Niamh, slinging an arm around Amber's shoulders.

Amber shrugged. "I...I don't really know."

"Just say what you're thinking."

She glanced at Niamh, looking into the strange combination of the emotionless emerald iris and her shining, green eye.

"It's just...hell, I'm sixteen years old and that guy nearly killed me. He nearly ended everything for me on some lifeless hunk of rock in the middle of nowhere. If he had...it's just not fair."

"So what exactly are you saying?" the other girl asked, steering her toward the door.

"I don't think I realised what I was getting into when I agreed to come here." Amber hung her head, shame washing over her, and something else totally unfamiliar.

Failure.

But then she felt a hand tap her under the chin.

"Hey, keep your head up," Niamh said firmly, all humour now gone from her voice. "I get it – you're feeling pretty shook up. I know that was a rough ride for your second time out, but you've got to put it behind you. Sometimes this job's dangerous, but you handle it, day by day, alright? Don't let one angry bully with a gun ruin your day."

"Yeah." Amber couldn't manage anything more convincing than that. She shrugged Niamh's arm from her shoulders and followed the squad out of the excursion room towards the barrack room where they kept their personal equipment stores.