Page 84 of Nova Academy

She really was firing me…

I trailed behind her, barely keeping up as she led me up a flight of stairs, through two separate rooms, and into a door that was previously hidden behind a tattered tapestry. Inside was a small round table and that was it.

The colonel locked the door behind me, and the sense ofwrongness from this entire situation grew.

When she finally faced me, her expression was pinched, the wrinkles I was used to seeing on her face from a life well-lived were now deeper crevices that, paired with her suddenly hunched posture, made her look much older than her true age.

‘Alexander, I hate to bring you here but there is much we must discuss,’ she began, but I cut her off.

‘Are you firing me?’

Her inhale was sharp. ‘No, I am most certainlynotfiring you. Alexander, Ineedyou.’

My relief over the security of my job was short-lived. ‘What do you need, colonel?’

‘I know our last discussion was… not the best,’ she began, ‘but I need you to understand that I had no choice. My every move is being watched. I was barely able to get away to come meet with you today.’

I frowned. ‘What?’

‘Your removal from The Program mission was not my call. In fact, people higher up the food chain than me have been pushing for your termination ever since. I stood up for you and managed to get you a position instructing at Nova Academy, but there was another reason I wanted you there. I just couldn’t tell you before because they were listening. They’re always listening…’

‘Colonel, what’s going on?’

‘There is corruption among us, Alex. From as high up as the IU council themselves. There have been rumours of a war brewing between the IU and our neighbouring unions, and some believe that The Program is our only way forward.’

No…

‘I wanted you at Nova Academy to look into it because I can’t do it myself. The Program is using the new intake of cadets to recruit to their cause.’

‘No.’

‘Yes. Alex, wariscoming, but I don’t know which one will come first. The Program must be stopped, but they are being funded by the highest level in the Intergalactic Union. The surrounding Unions wish to eliminate the threat by destroying us all, so wehaveto squash The Program to prevent an intergalactic war.’

My back smacked against the wall and I slid down, my legs no longer strong enough to hold my weight. ‘How deep does this go?’ I asked. ‘Is it just funding? How many IU officials are backing them?’

She let out a long, drawn out and exhausted breath. ‘I don’t know. My intel is going cold. I need you on the inside.’

My gaze shot back to hers at that comment. ‘On the inside?’

I didn’t think I had ever seen the colonel look so grim. ‘I have something you need to see.’

She moved to the table and pressed a button, and what looked like a wooden tabletop suddenly turned black, revealing itself to be a holo-table. A few more swipes and she was pulling up surveillance footage from the docking station at the Entario Waystation. It was date- and time-stamped from two weeks prior.

‘What…?’

The colonel increased the zoom on the hologram and pointed at a single figure in the crowd. ‘See this woman here?’

I nodded.

‘It has been determined that this is the female subject that escaped from The Program two years ago.’

I gasped. ‘But… I wasthere.’

Her lips thinned, turning white. ‘Keep watching.’

I did as instructed, following the woman with my eyes as she wound her way through the crowd with her head down to avoid detection from the cameras. It hadn’t worked. She pushed through the door to the restrooms, only instead of heading into the women’s she entered the men’s room.

‘Keep watching.’

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