Page 50 of Silver Elite

“I’ll call you whatever I want,” he replies to the great delight of theother recruits. I see Roe grinning. Anson chuckles, a sound like gravel scraping against metal.

I shift my attention to Cross, peering at him with the utmost innocence. “Would you like me to keep shooting, Captain?”

A muscle in his jaw tics, but I can’t tell if he’s irritated or trying to hold back a smile. Then he writes something on his tablet and glances at his lieutenant. “Who’s next?”

Chapter 12

They bring me a bed. Or rather, it’s waiting next to Kaine’s when the Black Cell members return to the barracks after evening meal. My first day as a Command recruit wasn’t as horrendous as I anticipated. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ve resigned myself to my fate. That night, I slide under the covers and plot my escape, but by the time sleep claims me, I’m no closer to figuring out how I’m going to get out of this place.

The next day starts with what is essentially a geography class. I hate this stuff. My seatmate, on the other hand, finds deep enjoyment in it. Lyddie devours the old maps projected from our sources. Locations with names like New Virginia and South Ontario jump out at us, all utterly foreign to me. Hadley explains they’re places that survived the bombings of the Last War, long before the ward system was implemented. And while they’ve long been free of radiation, they were never properly rebuilt.

I touch the glowing white holo-map, tracing my finger over the triangular piece of land that comprises the continent of Carora.

“What do you think is down there?” I ask Kaine, who’s sitting at the workstation next to ours. I would ask Lyddie, but she’s anoverachiever and has been biting her lip for the past ten minutes as she tries to memorize all these sites as if expecting to be tested on them.

Kaine shrugs. “Cannibals.”

I laugh. “Be serious.”

“I am. What other reason would they have to erase themselves from the map?”

“They haven’t, though. They’re right here.” I swirl my finger over the projection.

“From civilization, then,” he amends. “Nobody chooses to cut themselves off from all human contact for anything other than nefarious reasons.”

In the front row, Ivy and her seatmate Bryce seem to be homed in on Carora as well. “Why hasn’t the Command been able to install an outpost in Carora?” Bryce asks our instructor, a female soldier named Dava.

“It’s been attempted. But those plans were abandoned decades ago. It’s not worth the risk anymore.”

I remember Jim talking about this once. How the Company is no longer willing to dispatch soldiers down there. There’s been no communication from Carora in more than a hundred years. Anytime an aircraft or ship has traveled that way, it hasn’t returned.

“We send the occasional Intelligence unit on flybys, but always with no results.” Dava shrugs. “It’s no longer a priority for the General.”

We return to our maps after that, and I return to a state of boredom.

During our afternoon break, Roe sidles up to me while I stand in line waiting for my meal tray.

He’s not as handsome as his brother, likely because Cross bears very little resemblance to the General other than sharing his height and build. Roe meanwhile inherited Merrick Redden’s harsh features. The hard lines and unsettling dark eyes. And he walks with the arrogance of someone who’s never felt threatened his entire life. He’s always had the protection of Daddy. Yet not his last name—our morning instructor referred to his surname as Dunbar. I find that noteworthy.

“What?” I say when he continues to stare.

“Anson thinks you’re the sexiest woman here.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed…” He trails off thoughtfully. “I think I disagree with him.”

I step forward as the line moves. “Thanks for letting me know. I was wondering where I stood in the hierarchy of sex appeal among recruits. Now I know.”

He chuckles. “Ah. I see it now.”

“What?”

“What makes you appealing to him.” He leans closer. “Because you’re a complete quat.”

I can’t stop a snort. “Who taught you how to flirt?”

“I’m not flirting. I don’t want to fuck you.”

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