Recompense

SIXTEEN

I stop just inside the door. The apartment isn't as plush as the one I've left behind in Epson City, but it's far more inviting than the dormitory. I walk into a tiled kitchenette with a small table and chairs and through to a carpeted living area arranged with overstuffed furniture. Two doors on opposite sides of the living room reveal bedrooms, each containing a private bath. The few belongings I left in the dorm room locker have been placed in the larger bedroom.

I carry my armload back out to the sofa. I am tired and eager for a hot shower, but curiosity gets the best of me. I sink onto the cushion and spread the box's contents on the coffee table. Along with files containing typed and handwritten pages, it contains a dozen banned books—a Bible, myths from a variety of cultures, and the same edition of Jack and the Beanstalk that Miss Whaley owned. In fact, with so many forbidden books spread out before me, the moment feels very much like the hours I spent in Miss Whaley's office.

I pick up Jack and the Beanstalk and open the front cover. The name Evelyn Parnell is written in a fine, curling hand. It makes me wonder briefly who that long-ago child might have been. I read through the old story of the boy who exchanged his family's milk cow for a handful of magic beans and then climbed the vine that grew up to the heavens overnight. After discovering a castle belonging to a cruel giant in the sky, the boy robbed the giant of his three greatest treasures, escaped down the beanstalk, and then chopped it down, sending the pursuing giant to its death.

I smile to myself and close the cover of the familiar book. It has brought me back to my childhood, but I can't imagine what bearing the folk tale can possibly have on our current case. Rising, I drop the book onto the coffee table with the others, take a hot shower, and crawl into bed. Today has felt years long.

I'm still yawning when I meet Ethan the next morning. "Can't we push this back an hour and half? I'm not in training anymore."

"We're always in training."

I drop into a deep knee bend and flex my quads. "In that case, I do my best training at six."

He smirks. "At six, Captain Chase has agreed to continue your weapons instruction. Unless you've changed your mind. Willoughby's kept her on to help out with the kidnapping case. He's got Padrillo involved too."

I remember my decision in the wilderness to become more proficient in hand-to-hand combat. I'd prefer Ethan to teach me, as he did that week in the mountains, but Captain Chase is a respectable instructor. "Yeah, I still want to."

"Good girl." He pulls both arms behind his head, using one to stretch the other. Even in the dim glow of our holobands, it's hard not to notice the fabric stretching over his triceps and bulging across the front of his shirt.

"How about after yesterday we just go an easy eight this morning, conversation speed," I suggest.

He agrees, and we set off down the trail side by side.

"So, what did Willoughby say to you after he dismissed me last night?" he asks.

"He finally told me what I'm doing here. He said even as a child I displayed certain character traits he admired."

"And how does a young Outlier attract the attention of the head of Axis?"

I've never told Ethan about the murder trial. "Chance, I suppose. He said he noticed me through the CDS. Then he assigned me a bunch of materials to look over, just like he did to you. He thought my background might give me a fresh perspective on them."

"Find anything interesting?"

"Not yet. I was pretty tired last night."

"Understandable." He peeks over at me. "You did well on your first assignment. I'm proud of you, Jack."