Page 60 of Obsession

Ifshe got out.

I gave my head a violent shake, as if to dislodge such a traitorous thought. Of course, Britta would get out. She andKann would be extracted from the holo program and join the mission. I was sure of it.

I glanced at my jiggling leg. Then why was I such a nervous wreck?

Probably because I was the only strategist on the mission, and I was only a second-year cadet. This mission needed a strategist, someone who could think like the enemy, but I had never imagined that it would be me sitting in the ship and barreling toward enemy space.

“Are you okay, cadet?”

I jerked my head up, startled by the deep voice. Commander Vyk was no longer in the cockpit with Ariana. He now stood near the weapons locker, the silver in his hair and beard glinting in the low light of the ship's interior.

I stopped jiggling my leg. “Fine, Commander.”

He grunted, but I doubted he believed me. I didn’t even know if he trusted me to be on the mission. There was no question in my mind that he would rather Fiona be there instead of me. Not surprising, considering they were a thing. Not that I would dare say any of that to the stern Drexian.

I merely dropped my gaze to my device and pretended to be intensely studying the schematics. The team leader pivoted to the weapons locker and began to check what we’d brought.

As he inspected each blaster and photon rifle, I couldn't help but flinch at the thought of battle. My combat training wasn’t meager, but the idea of hand-to-hand combat with the lizard-like Kronock made my stomach turn.

Torq joined Vyk at the locker, and the two began discussing tactical strategy, their voices low, but carrying, in the confined space.

"The photon weapons will be our primary defense," Vyk said, checking the charge on one of the rifles. "But I want everyone to carry blasters—and blades.”

Torq nodded, his hand unconsciously moving to the Drexian blade at his hip. “In case we need to kill quietly.”

Vyk didn’t turn to Torq as he spoke. “You rank highest in your class in combat. You should not worry.”

Torq squared his shoulders at the praise. "I still hope Kann and Volten might join the team.”

Vyk let his hand linger on a blaster. "I hope Fiona stays exactly where she is—safe at the academy."

"I hope the same for Jess," Torq admitted quietly.

I kept my gaze on the schematics even though I couldn’t focus on them, as the two Drexians closed the locker and left the area. If neither warrior wanted their girlfriend on the mission, what did that mean for us? I started to jiggle my leg again, my nerves jangling and my heart racing.

Then Tivek slid over from his seat to sit next to me. “Would you mind sharing those plans?"

I wondered if he’d asked me to interrupt my nervous jiggling, but I couldn’t exactly tell him no.

"Of course." I tried to ignore the flutter in my stomach, as his shoulder brushed mine when he leaned in to see the display.

I pointed to the display of a Kronock prison schematic the Drexians had been able to source from a previous rescue. "They converted the lower levels first, using existing infrastructure where they could. These areas here and here were adapted into cells."

His jaw tensed at the word 'cells,' and I remembered with a jolt that his brother might be in one of them. Then it struck me that I still didn’t know much about the mysterious Inferno Force warrior.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked. When he nodded, I continued, "Why didn't anyone know you had a brother in the Inferno Force?"

Tivek's fingers traced the outline of a corridor on my screen, but he did not lift his gaze. "It wasn't a secret. I never hid my family, but my brother and I were always different. We took different paths.”

I didn't mention what everyone knew but no one discussed—that his path included washing out of the academy.

“So, you aren’t close?”

He gave a brief shake of his head.

It all made sense. Having family you weren’t close with was nothing unusual, but something told me there was more to the story than he was telling. There was more to Tivek than any of us knew.

“The sentry stations,” he said, changing the subject as he indicated several points on the schematic. “Were they added or existing?”

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