Rachel walked along the corridors of the towers for a long time, listening to the sound of her combat boots on the marble floor. She tried to work out what she should do but her thoughts kept coming back to her daughter. She had been angry with Lisa the last time that they had spoken. They hadn't separated on good terms. Things were getting busy in the towers and they had spent so little time together in the last few days. She didn't want that distance to become a barrier between them. Lisa was her only daughter and she loved her more than anything. The bond they shared had to be preserved, regardless of what else was going on around them.
Rachel brushed a hand through her hair. So far all the fighting had been outside the towers but she wanted to check on Lisa and Annie before the situation with the Kamari could deteriorate any further. She didn't think she would get many opportunities in the coming days.
She watched her boots coming to a natural halt, and when she looked around, she realised that she was standing outside Lisa's quarters on level 249 of Tower Two. She could barely remember how she had got there, but her legs were aching from walking up so many stairs. It felt good to push herself physically. It gave her mind a much needed rest. She didn't have to use the gemstone every time she wanted to go somewhere. Sometimes the journey was just as important as the destination. She felt much better after her long walk, more relaxed and calm than before.
Taking a deep breath, she held her wrist console against the panel beside the door.
'Rachel!' Annie said when the door opened. Her brown hair hung to her shoulders in a tangle of curls, and her brown eyes were like deep pools, eternally full of hope.
'Hello, Annie.'
Annie dry washed her hands. 'I heard klaxons. I didn't know what to do. I tried to call you a few times.'
'Yes, I noticed. I'm sorry, Annie. I came as soon as I could.'
'I wasn't sure whether we were supposed to evacuate somewhere when all those klaxons went off.'
'Stay here,' Rachel said. 'If you need to be moved I'll arrange it myself.'
'Okay, Rachel.'
Rachel glanced around the empty lounge. 'Where's Lisa?'
Annie frowned. 'I thought she was with you?'
Rachel let out an exasperated breath. 'I swear that girl takes after her father.'
'Sorry, Rachel. I would have tried to stop her but I didn't even see her go. She was in her bunk room for a long time. I thought she was doing her studies, but when I asked her something she didn't reply. I looked in her room and she wasn't there. She must have passed me in the lounge while I was folding her clothes. I don't know how I missed her. I've been thinking about it for a long time. I'm just not concentrating these days.'
'Don't blame yourself, Annie. Lisa is a handful for anyone. She might not be six years old anymore but she's just as mischievous as she ever was. Do you remember when she used to disappear for hours and hide behind the rose bushes?'
Annie's face lit up with a big warm smile. 'She liked it there, didn't she? That was a nice house.'
'She did but I think she got lonely sometimes.'
Annie's face sagged. 'Yes. Why doesn't she make any friends, do you think?'
Rachel chewed her lip as she thought about it. Lisa had never had many friends, not even when they had lived opposite her father's news agency in the middle of the city. 'She doesn't have many opportunities with a mother like me.'
'Don't say that, Rachel. You're a good mother.'
Rachel grimaced. Kind words hurt more than blows at times. 'I'll deal with this now,' she said. 'I'll find her and bring her back. Try not to worry, okay?'
Annie nodded but the crow's feet around her eyes were more visible than ever.
'Can I get you anything?' Rachel said. 'Are you doing okay, cooped up in these claustrophobic rooms?'
'They're not claustrophobic. I like this place.'
'Sorry you can't go out and walk about. It just isn't safe right now. Maybe in a few days things will settle down and then...'
Annie squeezed Rachel's hand. 'Don't worry about me. I'm happy here. I'm never happier than when I'm spending time with your daughter.'
Rachel nodded. She didn't know what else to say. She would love to spend some time with her daughter too, if only she could find her.
Rachel left Annie alone with a pile of clothes and some synthetic food that didn't look very appetising. She locked the door behind her and hurried down the corridor with new purpose in her step.
This was the last thing she needed. Lisa didn't seem to understand how dangerous it was outside her quarters. It wasn't safe for her to be wandering around the towers on her own. Even Rachel didn't feel safe at times. She would have to give Lisa another talking to. She just hoped it wouldn't drive them further apart.
When she looked up, she saw a familiar face at the end of the corridor. It was one of the younger troopers that she hadn't seen for a while. She had a pretty face, with glossy brown hair that hung to her shoulders in three long plaits. She smiled as she approached, displaying a set of healthy white teeth. Light bruising surrounded her nose, but it didn't seem to be bothering her at all. Perhaps she had fallen foul of one of the training droids. They could be unpredictable at times. The trooper nodded as she walked past with tightness around her sparkling green eyes.
Rachel tried to remember who it was. She hadn't seen her for a while. The trooper's name eluded her until she had almost reached the other end of the corridor, and then it came to her with a sudden realisation. It was Trooper Sam Tapenocki, the woman who had been missing since Riser Trent had first been kidnapped by the Kamari.
'Hey!' Rachel said, turning around.
Tapenocki fired her impact pistol towards her.
Rachel heard the shot whizz past her ear. She pulled out her own impact pistol and gave chase as Tapenocki fled down the corridor.
The corridor curved around a corner to the left. Rachel stumbled but then caught her balance with one hand against the wall. Tapenocki was pulling away from her, disappearing out of sight. The corridor twisted again, obscuring Rachel's view. When she turned the corner, she found the corridor empty ahead of her. Tapenocki was nowhere to be seen.
Rachel slowed her pace, coming to a complete halt as she tried to catch her breath. Tapenocki had proven to be a fast runner for someone so young. Rachel's own pace had been well below par. She told herself that it was just because she had been caught by surprise, but she couldn't help wondering if she was getting out of shape. She didn't know when she would have time to use the training facilities again and she hadn't spent as much time out on patrols recently. A life in the towers was too sedentary for her liking. Maybe using the gemstone to travel everywhere was going to be a really bad idea.
The corridor was empty ahead. It was too long for Tapenocki to have reached the far end before Rachel had turned the corner. That meant she must have gone into one of the many doors that lined both sides of the corridor. Rachel checked the nearest doors, one by one. They were all locked. Did Tapenocki have the access codes for this corridor? Rachel wasn't sure. Maybe it was time to pull in some help, but first she wanted to check something.
She reached up to tap her jacket collar, opening a comms link to Lisa's quarters.
Annie answered in a quiet voice. 'Hello?'
'Annie, are you still alone?'
'Rachel? Yes, I'm here. Did you find Lisa?'
'Not yet. Is there anyone with you right now?'
'No.'
'Are you sure about that?'
'Yes, Rachel. I'd tell you if someone was here. What is this about?'
'Don't open the door to anyone unless I tell you. There's something going on in the corridor outside.'
'Rachel? You're scaring me.'
Rachel switched channels to make a call to Parker.
'Rachel, where are you?' he said through the comms link.
'I'm in Tower Two. I was looking for Lisa but she's not here.'
'Is everything okay? You sound out of breath.'
'I don't know where my daughter is. Have you seen her anywhere?'
'No. I haven't seen her. I can scan through the visual logs if that helps, maybe I'll be able to spot her somewhere.'
'Yes, please.'
'Do you think she's still in Tower Two?'
'I don't know.'
'Never mind. I'll start with Tower Two's visual logs and work my way out from there. Do you want me to organise a team to go look for her?'
'No. It's okay. I'll deal with it. Just let me know if you see her anywhere. I think she just went for a walk, but this isn't a good time for little girls to be walking around on their own.'
'No. It isn't.'
'Parker?'
'Yes.'
'I saw Trooper Sam Tapenocki just now.'
'Where?'
'Here in Tower Two.'
'She's on our lost in combat list. Did she explain where she's been all this time?'
'No she didn't. She tried to shoot me in the head though.'
'That explains her absence. Do you have her?'
'Not yet. She got away from me, but she can't be far away. Can you check the access logs for all the rooms on level 249. I think she went through one of these doors but there are too many rooms to check on my own and they all seem to be locked. Maybe she used her wrist console? I don't want her to sneak out while I'm looking in the wrong place. I was hoping you could narrow down my search.'
'I'll check now... Give me a minute. Hmmm... Yes, one of the doors was opened in the last couple of minutes. Room nine.'
'Thanks, Parker.'
'No problem. Shall I send backup?'
'No. I think I've got this one.'
Rachel closed the comms link and traced her steps back a few paces along the corridor to a door that she had already passed. Room nine was on her right. Maybe Tapenocki wasn't such a fast runner after all. Maybe she was smart instead.
Rachel relaxed her shoulders, standing just outside the door. She slowed her breathing and concentrated on the wall on either side of the entrance. As she let her thoughts roam free, she got a sense of the wall's internal structure. It's dark solid surface evaporated before her eyes, becoming insubstantial until she could make out shapes and colours on the other side. A warm brown glow emerged from inside the room. A figure formed, with its back pressed up against the wall on the left side of the door. Rachel smiled. She hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath until she exhaled deeply, releasing the tension inside her. The wall flickered, becoming solid once more.
Sometimes being a lord had its perks. Her abilities didn't frighten her anymore. Now that they were grounded with a reality that defined her, she could accept them as part of herself. She was a sand lord. She was able to do things that others couldn't do. There wasn't anything wrong with her.
She slipped her impact pistol back into its holster and pulled out her console instead. With a few taps of her finger, she configured the door to open in five seconds. Slipping the console back into her combat trousers, she positioned herself just outside the door, standing at a slight angle on the balls of her feet.
When the door slid up into the ceiling, she swung a punch through the open doorway, curving it around to the left until it struck something soft with a reassuring crunch. She heard the slap of her knuckles smacking into Tapenocki's face. A second later, something thudded on the ground.
When she poked her head through the doorway, she saw Tapenocki lying unconscious on the floor with blood dripping from her nose. So much for her straight white teeth.
Rachel tapped her jacket collar, opening a comms link to Parker once more. 'Okay. I have her.'
'That was quick.'
'Can you send someone to take her to the detention cells, please.'
'Okay. They're on their way.'
Rachel reached up and felt wet blood on her ear. Maybe Tapenocki's shot hadn't been so wide after all.
'What was she doing there?' Parker said through the comms link.
'I don't know. I think she was carrying an equipment sack when I first saw her.'
'What's inside it?'
Rachel looked up. She was standing in a suite of rooms that used to be an officer's quarters but it looked like it had been empty for some time. No doubt the previous occupant had died in combat like so many young soldiers. Was that why Tapenocki had chosen this particular door rather than one of the others? Did she know the rooms were empty?
Glancing around, she found Tapenocki's equipment sack on the floor nearby. Kneeling down, she opened it before rummaging around inside with her hand. 'Hand-held proton cannons,' she said. 'There's five of them in here.'
'General Markov said a lot of hand-held proton cannons had gone missing. Maybe Tapenocki is responsible for that? Do you think she's been hiding them somewhere?'
'Why would she do that?'
'So we can't use them against the Kamari,' Parker said.
'It seems like a pointless gesture. It would take her a long time to make any real difference. Our armouries are full. We have plenty of other weapons to choose from.'
'We're already missing about half of the proton cannons. Maybe she's been doing this for a long time.'
'Hmmm.' Rachel closed the sack and stood up, brushing a hand through her hair. She walked across to the adjoining bunk room and found a dozen more sacks piled against the wall. 'I think I just found her stockpile. There's a lot more sacks in here.'
'Do they all contain proton cannons?' Parker said.
'Let me check,' Rachel opened the sacks, one by one. 'Proton cannons in this one, and some plasma grenades. There's a bunch of impact repeaters here too. It looks like Tapenocki has been busy.'