Page 14 of Guardian's Destiny

Silently glaring at each other, we entered the breakroom, where he announced, "I'll be only a couple of rooms down the hall if you need me."

I rolled my eyes. "What about the marks?"

"We'll see. Sometimes they allow more distance."

How convenientandwhatever, I thought balefully, waiting for the damn things to start burning when he left, but to my amazement nothing happened. Interesting. If I could just figure out?—

"So, what happened to you?" Zoe interrupted my train of thought.

"Hold on, let her ask questions first. I'm sure she has a ton of them," Luph interjected.

"Actually, Vraax already filled me in on most of it," I admitted. "I asked him to take me to Astrionis, and he told me about your mission and made it clear that I wasn't going to Astrionis until this is finished first." I couldn't stop the bitterness from leaking into my voice.

"Why do you want to go to Astrionis?" Hannah asked.

"I've heard other prisoners talk about it, that it's a refuge camp," I said.

"Other prisoners? Were you a prisoner on that space station?" Hannah sounded like an interrogator now. She didn't trust or believe me, or both. I needed to up my game. It was surprising, though. If anything, I would have expected more difficulties from Nova. Who reminded me of someone.

I tried to stick to the truth as much as possible. I left out the part where I had infiltrated the Space station, looking for information, and tried to steal one of their ships after I gathered what I needed.

"I escaped, but I broke my ankle in the process and have been hiding and scavenging for a week." I kept it short.

"Oh, you poor thing," Zoe exclaimed, looking at me sympathetically.

"Why were the GTU forces after you?" Nova stepped up to the plate, apparently not convinced by my story.

I tried to keep it nonchalant, "Probably because I stole food, and there was this minor incident where I tried to slip into the cargo hold of a GTU transporter."

This wasn't entirely true; I never even made it to a hatch, but telling them this was easier, and I wasn't about to reveal that I had killed GTU soldiers. No matter if these humans hadprotected and saved me. I didn't care what mission they were on; killing GTU soldiers was a major crime—one that would get you hunted by Space Guardians.

"Wow, badass," Zoe remarked, at least she was buying my bullshit. Not so much Hannah and Nova. I would have to throw some more crumbs at them if we were going to work together for a while. I wanted us to get along and not to be scrutinized every step I took. Besides, I liked these women, all four of them. They were very different from the people I usually hung out with, except Nova, who kept reminding me of someone. I hated that sensation. It tickled me at the back of my mind, teased me, but my little synapses refused to make the connection.

So when Hannah asked, "What were you doing before… the invasion… you know." I decided to give them the truth. There was no harm in it, and it had nothing to do with my current employers. Well, maybe some, but they didn't need to know that. Emperor Daryus had sworn me to secrecy on this. I still had a hard time wrapping my head around Zapharos, the Arkhevari, and the consequences of their existence. This strange group might have saved my ass from the space station, but they hadn't earned my trust yet.

"I was in the MARSOC before the CIA recruited me," I filled them in.

"MARSOC?" Hannah asked.

"A specialist unit of the Marines," Nova explained, surprising me. Not many people knew about this specialist unit. "Marine Forces Special Operations Command. What?" She looked at us. "My brother wanted to be one."

Brother?

I would have loved to know her last name, but there was no way that amongst the billions of people having been displaced from Earth and strewn around the vastness of the universe, Tuckwas related to her. That was just way too much of a coincidence. This would be way past fate and karma and all that Zen shit.

"I thought the Marines already were a specialized unit." Zoe cut my train of thought off and brought me back to our discussion.

"The best of the best," I agreed with a proud grin. Being with MARSOC had been the best years of my life. I should have never agreed to join the CIA, but you know what they say about hindsight, right?

"Guess they were jealous of the Navy SEALs and Army Rangers and had to have their own," Hannah giggled nervously.

"So you're CIA now?" Nova questioned.

"Was," I corrected softly. Her eyes did look like Tuck's. "I don't think there is a CIA any longer."

"No, probably not," Hannah agreed with a sad curve to her lips.

"Well, we can sure use you," Nova clapped me on the shoulder.

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