Page 77 of Nova Academy

‘Love you, too.’

???

I was itching and eager to talk to Artemis because last night’s discussion did not end with a plan in place. Instead, we’d both gone to bed ready to hunt a rapist but no set starting point. I had already been combing through the ship’s security footage on my holo-tab at Alex’s behest, but so far there was nothing. Beyond the footage from the first attack, if I hadn’t seen the state the bastard had left Ari in too then I never would have known something had gone down.

The footage was a blank slate. Cadets and officers came and went, there was nothing unusual to be found, and I was not only at a loss but a complete standstill. But with Artemis on the case as well, maybe she’d see something I’d missed. It was doubtful. I was the most observant person on The Carina, and I absorbed everything I witnessed like a sponge. If I’d missed something, it would have been practicallyimpossiblefor anyone else to pick up on it.

No, there was another explanation. Someone had tamperedwith the footage. Before or after the crime was committed, I couldn’t tell, but it was somewhere to start with Artemis. Unless she had more information to help us. I needed to bring it up with her.

I was excited about Arty taking charge in the investigation by conducting her own, and I was desperate to tell Xander. I didn’t, though. Somehow I managed to hold my tongue, the looming cloud of disaster if he ever found out about the secrets I was keeping holding my tongue. He would go into a real tizzy when he discovered Arty wasn’t who she claimed to be. His first instinct would be to assume she was an enemy spy, probably sent by The Program.

Honestly, the list of secret illegal organisations was growing by the day, and I was starting to get concerned we would never stamp them all out before another one popped up. We were in for a rough few solars at this rate.

It hadn’t escaped my calculations that if we didn’t shut them down soon, we would be heading for an intergalactic war. There was no way our neighbouring unions wouldn’t retaliate if they ever discovered what was going on right beneath our noses. We were safe for the time being until then, but if we didn’t eliminate the threats soon we would find ourselves with enemies on every side. It would be an all-out massacre of the entire Intergalactic Union.

Xander understood this, which was why he was fighting so hard to be heard. The only reason I could think of that they sidelined him and assigned a new captain the mission was because one or more of the higher-ranking government officials were in on it and were covering their asses. Which meant I could only conclude that our politicians were even more corrupt than people assumed,orthey were aware of another threat that boosted The Programs illegal experiments into a more useful category in which we were turning a blind eye for our own benefit.

Neither option was appealing.

Unable to catch Artemis alone before the cadets needed to report to combat training, I ended up bumping into Jorna on my way down. We used to be semi-friends before she lost her team and earned the promotion to first lieutenant, her friendship with Alex forcing us together more often than not. It wasn’t as if I didn’t like her, but she always seemed more interested in other people than me. I wondered how she was faring these days. I was aware of her budding relationship with Markus (gag), but I didn’t know their dynamics.

Was it just sex? Did she love him?Why Markus?

‘Hey,’ I grabbed her attention. Her eyes had grazed over me as if she hadn’t seen me, but they snapped back when I spoke. They were dull and empty, and I fought back the urge to flinch under their scrutiny. It was as if she had lost any internal light right alongside her team, and it gave the impression of soullessness.

It was creepy.

‘Adara,’ she greeted. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m good. How are you? I heard you and Markus got together.’

The light that had previously been absent suddenly flickered in her gaze. It was faint, but definitely there. A shy smile tilted up the corners of her lips. For as long as I’d known her she had jumped from one bed to another, never willing to settle down. She had gone celibate as far as I was aware after the incident, but the idea that she was healing and finally coming out of her shell filled me with hope. Not so much for me, but because she and Xander had once been close. At one point they had been frequent bed-buddies, and I’d thought they would end up together one day.

I was glad that hadn’t come to pass, but I knew he cared about her and wanted her to get better.

‘Yeah, he’s been pretty amazing,’ she said, her voice tinged with a hint of girlish delight.

‘That’s good,’ I said, unable to provide a better response. I didn’t want her anywhere near Markus, especially with the newinformation I had about him. He might have been bringing her out of her funk, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to completely destroy her again. That was the only direction I could see this heading.

But I couldn’t warn her. Not without proof, and not without shoving Artemis directly into the line of fire.

When we parted ways, I felt nothing but a sense of guilt and unease over the situation. Markus had successfully embedded himself into the lives of so many good people, and none of them could see him for the monster he truly was...

Wait.

He was the only monster I knew was on board The Carina. And he had a connection to both the assault victims… Surely not. Surely the culprit wasn’t under my nose this entire time.

But it made sense. Before he became a part of The Carina’s crew he was the personal chef for the Christiansons at their private residence. He had travelled with them wherever they went and was a member of their full-time staff. Helivedwith them for almost five solars.

Katira Christianson was the first victim, followed by her roommate who happened to be her best friend? And come to think of it, the talk of harassment amongst the female crew members only started around the time Xander took him on as the ship’s head chef…

Holy shit.

I knew who the unsub was...

CHAPTER 33

Artemis

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