Elden”, he replied in that soft voice of his.
I paused for what I considered a reasonable amount of time and then murmured: “Some students are talking of doing certain… bad things.”
His eyes narrowed: “What sort of things?”
“I don't know”, I replied with a hint of panic in my voice. “But I do know that they want to hurt you – I mean all of the Efeghis.”
“Who said this?” he asked.
“I can't tell you”, I replied, somewhat apprehensively.
“Do not worry. I give you my word of honour that they will not be punished. They will only be prevented from doing any mischief and that is what you want, is it not?”
After a moment's hesitation, I replied: “Yes…”
“Well then, please tell me their name”, he insisted.
After a judicious pause, I whispered, “Josiane…” before rushing from the table with my head down.
I sat down again opposite Auxana, giving her the merest shadow of a smile.
10 Auxana
Earthlings and Efeghis were bustling about in the big function room. The party wasn't for another two days but Commandant Amar had asked for the preparations to be started early. It was clear that he intended to make the most of this opportunity for earthlings and Efeghis to mingle.
This approach seemed to be working and I noticed that there was more and more contact taking place between earthling collaborators and the Efeghi soldiers. The most enthusiastic were Irina and Clarisse, chatting with a group of soldiers and dissolving frequently into gales of laughter. I wondered if they were already sleeping with any of them. Obviously, I was hardly in a position to cast the first stone.
This first party had an earthling theme, and the decor in the great hall resembled that of an end-of-year school prom. It was my job, with the help of two Efeghi soldiers, to hang the bunting up on the walls. From the look they exchanged with Olden, I realised that they too knew I was his mistress; but they were perfectly polite with me.
It didn't surprise me to see that Olden hadn't kept his promise; I'd soon spotted that he was an arrogant, strutting young fool. It was this very stupidity that made him the ideal source of information; it never occurred to him that I could pose any sort of threat and he talked freely in my bed.
All the same, I didn't know whether he was stupid enough to enable me to carry out Lauren's request in that morning's crystal.
She had slipped me her crystal in the corridor and almost immediately given me the signal to crush it. Squeezing it in my hand, I'd been able to listen to the latest instructions… and my heart sank:
Auxana, the system for opening the doors to the unauthorised zone is in the bracelet worn by the Efeghis on their right wrist. You must steal Olden's bracelet, but it would be best if you were to arrange for it to disappear accidentally before his eyes. I suggest you make it fall into your washbasin. He'll think his bracelet has been destroyed by the waste-disposal unit. It'll be up to you to create an opportune moment. We need that bracelet for the night of the party as that will be the perfect opportunity to go into the forbidden zone and dig around in the infirmary. Good luck!
Since that message, I'd been trying to devise a plausible scenario for dropping that bracelet. I'd also have to set some system in place for recovering it before it fell into the disposal unit's grinding chamber. All this in a room that was under holo-surveillance. And I only had two days to find the solution.
This brought me out in a cold sweat but it was too late to give up. As Lauren had said, we could at least take comfort in the knowledge that if they did torture us, the Efeghis could learn nothing from us. We'd had no contact with the Resistance and therefore had nothing to reveal. But any information we'd gathered on the Efeghis would be lost.
I finished hanging up my bunting and went up to the table laid out with the equipment for decorating the
I paused for what I considered a reasonable amount of time and then murmured: “Some students are talking of doing certain… bad things.”
His eyes narrowed: “What sort of things?”
“I don't know”, I replied with a hint of panic in my voice. “But I do know that they want to hurt you – I mean all of the Efeghis.”
“Who said this?” he asked.
“I can't tell you”, I replied, somewhat apprehensively.
“Do not worry. I give you my word of honour that they will not be punished. They will only be prevented from doing any mischief and that is what you want, is it not?”
After a moment's hesitation, I replied: “Yes…”
“Well then, please tell me their name”, he insisted.
After a judicious pause, I whispered, “Josiane…” before rushing from the table with my head down.
I sat down again opposite Auxana, giving her the merest shadow of a smile.
10 Auxana
Earthlings and Efeghis were bustling about in the big function room. The party wasn't for another two days but Commandant Amar had asked for the preparations to be started early. It was clear that he intended to make the most of this opportunity for earthlings and Efeghis to mingle.
This approach seemed to be working and I noticed that there was more and more contact taking place between earthling collaborators and the Efeghi soldiers. The most enthusiastic were Irina and Clarisse, chatting with a group of soldiers and dissolving frequently into gales of laughter. I wondered if they were already sleeping with any of them. Obviously, I was hardly in a position to cast the first stone.
This first party had an earthling theme, and the decor in the great hall resembled that of an end-of-year school prom. It was my job, with the help of two Efeghi soldiers, to hang the bunting up on the walls. From the look they exchanged with Olden, I realised that they too knew I was his mistress; but they were perfectly polite with me.
It didn't surprise me to see that Olden hadn't kept his promise; I'd soon spotted that he was an arrogant, strutting young fool. It was this very stupidity that made him the ideal source of information; it never occurred to him that I could pose any sort of threat and he talked freely in my bed.
All the same, I didn't know whether he was stupid enough to enable me to carry out Lauren's request in that morning's crystal.
She had slipped me her crystal in the corridor and almost immediately given me the signal to crush it. Squeezing it in my hand, I'd been able to listen to the latest instructions… and my heart sank:
Auxana, the system for opening the doors to the unauthorised zone is in the bracelet worn by the Efeghis on their right wrist. You must steal Olden's bracelet, but it would be best if you were to arrange for it to disappear accidentally before his eyes. I suggest you make it fall into your washbasin. He'll think his bracelet has been destroyed by the waste-disposal unit. It'll be up to you to create an opportune moment. We need that bracelet for the night of the party as that will be the perfect opportunity to go into the forbidden zone and dig around in the infirmary. Good luck!
Since that message, I'd been trying to devise a plausible scenario for dropping that bracelet. I'd also have to set some system in place for recovering it before it fell into the disposal unit's grinding chamber. All this in a room that was under holo-surveillance. And I only had two days to find the solution.
This brought me out in a cold sweat but it was too late to give up. As Lauren had said, we could at least take comfort in the knowledge that if they did torture us, the Efeghis could learn nothing from us. We'd had no contact with the Resistance and therefore had nothing to reveal. But any information we'd gathered on the Efeghis would be lost.
I finished hanging up my bunting and went up to the table laid out with the equipment for decorating the
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