Page 5 of Heart’s Prisoner

“Thank you for joining us.” The woman gave a salute and the screen disappeared. The car came to a stop and Nicole stood up as the doors slid open.

“Follow me.”

Lana carefully exited the car. She followed Nicole, turning left and then around to a set of doors behind the terminal. When they approached, the doors opened and Lana paused, eyes widening.

“Jesus...Jacob really hadn’t been joking,” she whispered. She followed Nicole into the bright, vast foyer that was the base’ city welcome sector. A several-stories tall, football-field-long strip that held a fountain at its center and a digitally enhanced ceiling above that portrayed light like the sky.

It was flawless.

To each side were various stores, restaurants, and bars almost like she was stepping through a mall or resort. The walls and ceilings were white and gray, the floor was a colorful mosaic of green and blue, and the Lazris star was displayed as a piece of floating metal within the fountain beyond. Banner-screens hanging from the ceiling displayed ads for the various stores; one looked like a luxurious spa–another, a fine-dining restaurant. Trees and plants had been planted in various pots along the sides of the walkway and Lana could see they were real, not the fake, cheap kind she had seen in her old base.

As they walked, they passed groups of other personnel, most making their way to the glass elevators between the shops that would take them up to other floors within the city sector. Nicole passed them by without a glance while Lana watched them curiously. Something caught her eye from above and, when she peered upward, she caught sight of several drones hovering silently, several feet from the ground.

‘Interesting method of security,’ she thought. She had seen no standing guards either. Lazris didn’t seem to want to waste bodies by having them just standing around to watch.

As they approached the end of the great hall, they came to a set of much larger, metal elevators, at least eight in total. Nicole brought out her keycard, swiped it, then pressed the button on the side, going down.

“I’ll take you down to your unit first so you can get situated and comfortable, then we can start our tour of each level and…”

Lana couldn’t hide the impatient grimace on her face which Nicole seemed to notice and stopped.

“Is it really necessary?” Lana said hesitantly.”I think I got the gist while heading down here…”

Nicole’s mouth turned up. “Ready to get to work huh, Doctor?”

“It’s been a long two months of waiting. Can you blame me?” ‘And I've been waiting for this chance for even longer,’ she thought.

Nicole glanced around, then looked back at Lana. “It’s usually protocol but…” She gave a little shrug. “Well, I guess an exception could be made for you. Though I ask that at some point you do make your way through the levels. You’ll want to become familiar with them.”

Lana placed a hand to her heart. “Promise I will.”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. “We will make a quick stop to your unit and while you’re inside I will call in on level twelve and let them know you are coming down,” Nicole stated and hit the button for level nine. The elevator doors closed and it immediately began its descent.

“Thanks, Nicole,” Lana said gratefully.

Nicole slipped another smile. “In truth, Dr. Kingsley has been pretty impatient to see you too. He’d be grateful to hear that you're ready to go. It’s been pretty wild down on twelve...” Nicole cleared her throat. “At least so I’ve heard.”

“Kingsley…” Lana looked at her curiously. “You are related?

“My uncle. And the head of the department.”

“Ah,” Lana said. “Well, if he is as nice as you have been then I have nothing to fear.”

“Unfortunately…” Nicole’s eyes turned on Lana. When Lana looked at her with slight concern, she laughed. “Don’t worry, he’s no drill sergeant, but he can be...intimidating when he wants to be.”

“I guess it comes with the territory.”

Nicole let out a breath. “Yes, you’ll definitely get the serious ones around here. The stiff-necks I like to call them.”

“Do they mostly run security?” Lana joked, thinking of the officers running the security clearance.

“Mostly. I’m sure you know how it can be on base.”

“Oh, do I.”

The two laughed and Nicole glanced at her, bright-eyed. “We are glad you’re here. It goes without saying that I'm a fan of your work. I studied a little bit about interspecies communication and neo-biology back in the day. Fascinating stuff. I read your paper on the Gyda. Got to meet a few myself.”

“So you know what I'm up against now then?”

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