Chapter 3

Wren sat in the control room, working on a transcript of one of the prisoner interrogations she'd completed earlier that day. The audiovisual recording had already run through a program that interpreted the spoken words to create a written account of the session. It automatically removed any irrelevant exclamations, which the prisoners frequently shouted out during their encounters. However, extraneous comments still slipped through every now and then, and sometimes words were removed that shouldn't have been, so part of Wren's job was to make sure the transcripts were as accurate as possible, while excluding all unnecessary data.

Wren understood why it was so important for her to make clean reports for her superiors. First and foremost, it kept her interrogation method secret, but there had also been a few problems in the beginning with some of the intelligence analysts not dealing too well with their sexual arousal from viewing the recordings. They'd been unable to focus on their jobs, and their work had suffered because of it. As soon as the project leaders had realized it didn't actually make sense for the analysts to watch the entire interrogation, when the real information could usually be summed up in less than a few paragraphs, they'd eliminated the analysts and added the job of transcribing to the list of interrogator duties.

The blonde finished the last transcript and encoded it for transmission. Before she could voice her request, though, the screen lit up with an icon denoting a priority one incoming signal.

Wren frowned. It was extremely rare for her superiors to request a communication link with her. If their signal was intercepted, it would be too easy for the Argolians to pinpoint her location by following the transmission to its destination, whereas the short-burst one-way transmissions Wren sent each night were almost impossible to trace back to her position.

Wren composed her features and tried to prepare herself. She had a pretty good idea why she was being contacted, but if she showed even the slightest apprehension, she could end up giving herself away. She took a deep breath.

"Receive transmission."

"Voice authorization accepted. Connection established," the computer's synthetic voice announced a second later.

The screen changed to reveal the long face of an older looking man with silver hair and chiseled features. After a few seconds, his expression changed to show that he could see her. Wren sat up a little straighter under his scrutiny.

"Wren. We haven't received this evening's reports yet," he said by way of greeting.

"I was just about to send them when you called, Sir. Just a moment," the blonde requested, as she hit a few buttons, and then spoke her name to authorize the transmission. "You should have them now, Sir."

"Yes, they're here," he said a moment later, sounding thoroughly unconvinced, even though he was staring right at them. He continued skimming the file for another minute, and then finally looked up. "Well. I'm sure you know why I'm calling. Last night's report shows you've visited Colonel Luce of Claw Clan twice in only three days, and my colleagues and I are a little concerned. During your probation, you never once broke protocol. Why have you done so now?"

"Her case file stated she was top priority."

Wren watched, as the man looked slightly to his right to read a monitor. She focused on her breathing to keep her heartbeat under control, as she realized what he was doing. She hadn't been double-checked by a lie detector in months. She knew she would have to phrase things carefully.

"You've had other top priority cases. Why break protocol for this one?" he asked suspiciously.

"None of those other cases involved someone as important or as well known as this colonel. Her capture was the first time she'd ever failed to complete a mission, and I understand that was only because a malfunctioning autodigger excavated too close to the surface, weakening the ground, which collapsed when she and her unit tried to cross it to presumably take down a critical communications tower. According to the packet I received, she was close to being promoted to Brigadier General, and therefore may have information regarding-"

"Yes, yes, I know all that. I wrote the report. So, you believe you can safely speed up her interrogation?" the man questioned with new interest, having seemingly put his fears to rest.

"She's been extremely cooperative so far. As expected, she's had no prior experience and was unprepared for my... techniques. I believe, in her case, moving quickly may prove more beneficial than the standard deprivation schedule. A constant assault with no time to regroup and strategize may be the only way to break her, Sir."

"Hmm, yes. You may be right. Well, then. I'll discuss this with my colleagues, but for now, you're cleared to see her once every other day. Try to stay on schedule with the other prisoners, though. Antari of Scorpion Clan out."

The screen went black and Wren collapsed back in her seat, releasing the breath she'd been holding.

Telling only the truth, while not actually giving a direct answer to the question was the only way Wren knew to fool a lie detector. A skillful enough questioner could usually spot such tactics, but Antari wasn't an interrogator. He was an organizer, capable of coordinating various groups and subgroups to get a job done, but that was all. He'd overseen the project that had created her and her predecessors and was now her direct superior, but that was about as far as his intelligence went.

Wren tapped a few buttons and the blackness was replaced with an image of Luce kneeling in the middle of her room, apparently meditating. Wren had served the nearly two-dozen prisoners their last meals of the day less than an hour ago, so this was normally her time to sleep.

Instead, she sat and watched her prisoner. Even in the woman's stillness, Wren could see the power and intensity that made Luce one of the most feared women on the planet. Though Wren was mostly cut off from the outside world and therefore knew very little about the day-to-day specifics of what was going on in the war, she'd received extensive reports about Luce when she'd arrived. There'd been very little personal information about the colonel beyond her name, age, and rank, but her list of accomplishments had gone on and on. It had given Wren a great deal of insight into the current state of affairs, not to mention Luce herself.

Only three years ago, Argolus had been on the brink of surrendering. A nation built by scientists just wasn't equipped to wage war, though they'd held out for over half a century. It helped that they could replace their adult population in less than two years: nine months in natural or artificial wombs and another year in accelerated growth tanks produced adjusted-age twenty-three-year-olds ready to serve their country.

However, mere numbers weren't enough. Though they were far beyond the Delphinians in nearly every form of genetic and biologic technology, the Argolians were just barely keeping up in the weapons department. Their sole focus was defense, while the Delphinians spent most of their resources on developing new offensive weapons.

Then Luce of Claw Clan had seemingly come out of nowhere and single-handedly turned the tide of the war in favor of the Argolians. During only her second engagement, she'd purportedly taken command when half her unit and all of her superior officers had been killed. Somehow, she'd managed to rally her remaining troops into holding their ground until reinforcements had arrived and fended off the Delphinian attack force.

In only three years, Luce had risen to the rank of colonel, systematically taking back land that had been controlled by Delphinia since right after the beginning of the war. Her ability to anticipate her opponent's tactics and formulate multiple contingency plans had gained her a reputation as being unbeatable. The fact that she personally led most of the assaults she planned had only increased her status as a hero to her people.

Now, it was Wren's people who seemed to be facing certain defeat. A great deal of time and effort had been put into killing or capturing Luce, but a simple accident had finally been the woman's undoing. If not for her capture, the collapse would have been considered a tragedy. Dozens of Delphinians had lost their lives when the contaminated atmosphere from the surface had entered the underground city from the errant tunnel. According to the report Wren had read, the government had done its best to spin the details to its advantage, claiming the capture to be a gift from the Goddess, while those who had died were hailed as heroes for having sacrificed themselves in exchange for such a wonderful prize.

Luce had almost joined the list of fatalities, though. She'd been horribly injured by her fall into the deep underground tunnel. Wren had seen the pictures. The sight of Luce's right arm and leg sticking out at odd angles had almost made her throw up, and she still shuddered just thinking about it.

Of course, one would never know it to look at Luce now. Her frame was solid, as were her muscles, and the only fat she carried on her body was in her breasts and buttocks. She had no scars to mar her skin. She could run faster, jump higher, and hit harder than her Delphinian counterparts. She could even breathe the polluted atmosphere of their planet as well as she breathed the purified air circulating in her cell. If their weapons technology had been just a little better, Wren had no doubt the Argolians would have conquered Delphinia long ago. However, things hadn't worked out that way and now Luce was her prisoner.

Wren finally managed to tear her eyes away from the monitor and pulled up her schedule for the next day. She replaced the fourth name on the list with Luce's. The prisoner had been broken several months ago, so bumping him off the list wouldn't disrupt any of her other interrogations. The blonde looked over her agenda for the rest of the month, making adjustments here and there to accommodate Antari's new orders, and then closed down the program.

She stood up and immediately grabbed the edge of the console, as her stomach cramped violently, making her gasp from the pain.

"Oh Goddess," she whispered, as she tried to blink away the tears stinging her eyes.

She carefully retook her seat and waited for the searing pain to subside, as she held her stomach and rocked. The stabbing sensations had been hitting her off and on all day, starting with her being woken in the middle of the night. She'd been unable to do anything but lie there and cry for several minutes, while fighting the compulsion to go to Luce. The images of tasting the woman and being held in her strong arms had almost been enough to get her moving several times, but somehow, she'd managed to restrain herself and had simply ridden out the pain until morning. So far, the episodes hadn't happened during a session, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

Wren gritted her teeth, determined not to give in just yet, as the sharp pains gnawed at the inside of her belly. They eventually faded to a dull ache, and she was able to breathe a little easier again.

"Just one more day. I can wait one more day," Wren half pleaded with herself, but even as she said the words, she brought up her schedule and moved Luce's name to the top of the list.

Wren closed the program once again and cautiously pushed herself to a standing position. The dull burning sensation remained the same, as she slowly made her way out of the control room and headed for her quarters. She just hoped she'd be able to sleep through the pain and get some rest in time for her first appointment in the morning.