CHAPTER 31 (Amara)
“Do you want to talk about it?” Nerzogk leaned against the ship frame in Amara’s mechanics' lab.
“Not particularly.”
“You aren’t the only one forbidden from entering. He’s on lockdown during the bot’s evaluation.”
“I was supposed to be an exception.”
Nerzogk’s reptilian slit eyes narrowed. “Even more reason to be glad for your temporary dismissal.”
Amara dismissed the upgraded core she’d been working on, admitting the depth of her distraction. “He thinks he’s alone.”
“He is alone.”
Her shoulders sulked. “Maybe I have gotten too involved.” She took her plasma knife from her tool belt, spinning it on her workbench to distract herself and stave off the lump tightening in her throat.
“You’re finally realizing that?” Nerzogk grunted.
The blade’s red edge blended into a crimson circle as it spun faster and faster between her fingers. “Did you know, Nerzogk? About the details of his change? About….”
“I knew about it,” the jade vorgon confirmed before she could complete the sentence and get herself into more trouble.
“The way he’s being treated could be considered blasphemous.” She stopped the plasma knife’s edge; the bright red circle banished to splotches in her vision.
Nerzogk’s chuckle vibrated through her lab. “The days of cowering to the ancient ones are long behind us.”
“Has the doctor made progress in her experiments?” Amara asked, her voice just above a whisper.
Nerzogk shook his head.
“I heard the Director is opposing the General’s attempt to lift the isolation order.”
“Agent Terrokk will be disciplined if he keeps letting information slip to you.”
“The bot’s clearance is taking too long.” Amara’s fingernails bit into her palm as her fist tightened around the knife’s base. Terr’s dark eyes haunted her, and she couldn’t help comparing their hollow, unrecognizable depths to the expression she’d last seen from the Aviator. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
A heavy leather-slick hand rested on her shoulder. “It’s not your concern, Amara.”
She wiggled out of Nerzogk’s attempt to placate her.
“I know it’s not my concern,” she lied. Nerzogk gave her a knowing golden glance, not buying it. She avoided eye contact and frowned at her plasma knife. “The council’s bureaucracy is stifling what should be our main advantage. It’s ludicrous.” Her false bravado mellowed to match her sulking shoulders. “No matter how I look at it, the Intelligence Department’s grip on the case doesn’t bode well. Have you ever considered that, maybe….”
“Amara, you’re off the case for now. You should take a mental break from it as well,” Nerzogk warned with an underlying rumble.
“He’s my comrade,” Amara whispered with conviction. “I can’t just abandon him.”
When Nerzogk didn’t reply, she bit her lip and sharpened her focus on her work, calling back the core she’d been working on. She couldn’t risk continuing the conversation without betraying the tremble swelling in her throat.