Page 41 of Obsession

Okay, maybe adventure wasn’t the right word since we would be sneaking into Kronock air space. But I would miss him, and I would miss my best friend, Fiona. She had a way of putting me in my place that no one else could get away with.

I gave myself a brief shake. There was no use obsessing over what wasn’t ideal about the mission. Just like there was no point in worrying over Britta and Kann. Smarter engineering mindsthan mine were hard at work, and I had no doubt they would get them out safely.

Which left me to focus on the mission. I groaned as my thoughts flitted to anything but the flight plan, and sighed with relief when there was a gentle tap on the door.

“Come in,” I called with much too much eagerness.

I didn’t know who I’d been expecting—Volt, Fiona, Morgan?—but I had not expected the admiral’s wife Noora and her assistant Reina to sweep into my office. Well, Noora swept in with her gossamer gown fluttering behind her, and Reina hurried along behind her in a tight neon pink dress that forced her to take tiny steps.

“Oh—” I fumbled with the flight plan as I straightened. “How can I—?”

“Apologies for intruding,” Noora smiled, as Reina wrung her spindly hands.

“Not at all,” I stammered. I’d spent some time with the admiral’s human wife, but not a lot, even though I knew she’d been behind bringing human women to the academy.

“We wanted to see you before you left and wish you good luck,” the woman with dark hair pulled up in a high bun said with a warm smile.

“We’ll be thinking about you, hon,” Reina added in her chirpy voice.

Ariana returned their smiles. “Thank you.”

“And don’t worry about things here,” Reina added with an exaggerated wink. “We’re going to keep an eye on your friends.”

Noora gave Reina an amused glance. “She’s right. I’ve asked the admiral to keep me informed on the progress of the rescue mission as well as the situation in the holochamber.”

“You mean the mission that we don’t know about?” Reina said in an exaggerated whisper.

Noora laughed. “That one.”

“I’m more worried about Britta and Kann than I am about our mission,” I admitted. “And I’m worried about Volt if anything happens to his best friend.”

Reina’s blue hair bobbled as tipped her head back and forth. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head, hon. We’ll look after him.”

This made me giggle. Volten had no idea what he was in for, if Reina decided to make him her project. “That helps, thanks.”

Noora walked to my desk and produced something from her hand, placing it on the surface and sliding it toward me. “Zoran can’t give you this in case the High Command finds out, but they won’t come after me.”

I picked up the scrap of paper with numbers written in black ink. “What is it?”

“If things are ever desperate, send a transmission to that number.”

I glanced at her, not sure if she was kidding or not. “What is it? Who is it?”

“I hope you’ll never need it, and never discover the answer to either of those questions.”

I blinked at her. “You can’t tell me?”

She shook her head. “I should not be giving it to you, but I’ve stopped caring so much about rules.”

“Is this a secret Drexian rescue team or something?”

Reina shook her head vehemently before stopping and shooting a chagrined glance at her boss. Noora only smiled at her, turned on one heel, and walked to the door. Then she paused and gave me an enigmatic smile over her shoulder. “Or something.”

Then she disappeared through the door, her long skirt swishing behind her.

Reina bustled after Noora, her gait truncated by her tight, column dress. When she reached the doorway, she blew me a kiss with one hand. “Good luck, hon.”

Then they were both gone, and I was alone again.

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