The Aldean Chronicles: Spotlight (Part 2)

Uncle Max surprises Kat, Grey, and me by joining us for breakfast on Wednesday.

"Hey, uncle Max." I greet.

"Cassie." He sits beside his daughter. "Any way I can interest you in joining the military after school?"

"I can't for two reasons. One, I'm not in school anymore, so how can I finish? Two, I will be dying in this house."

"Bleak." He serves himself. "But I should thank you. That...event, six weeks ago helped us unmask one of the leaders of the Ryppers."

"Professor Cara?"

Uncle Max grows tense. "Let's not call her that."

"Who is she?" I don't look at him when I ask this. "She seemed to know a lot about earth."

"She's not from there. She's from Galfana." He takes a big gulp of his orange juice. "And her real name is Pearl Hanchez."

I hum softly.

"What we don't know is why she came to your school in the first place. Your dad and aunt think she wanted to keep a close eye on the three of you."

Kat is staring at her phone. "Dad doesn't think we're that big of a security risk."

"Being a big security risk isn't a good thing." Uncle Max says.

She rolls her eyes.

I try not to think about my evil teacher and stay quiet for the rest of breakfast

When we're done eating, Uncle Max asks how I'm feeling. "How're the legs?"

"Physical therapy is good. I can walk longer distances now."

He sighs deeply. "The poison, it really got in you." He shakes his head. "But I'm glad you're getting better."

"Thanks."

"So," he beams. "What do you say?"

"About what?"

"Shadowing me at work today?"

"Like, the military?"

"Same one." He nods.

"Have Kat or Grey done that?"

"No."

"But you want me to?"

"Precisely." He loses the smile and goes full military man. "For today, you will salute and address me as General. And we will leave at 0900 hours."

"Don't Princesses outrank Generals?" I ask to be annoying.

"Just be ready." He leaves me in the dining room.

The weather is getting warmer so I settle on light black pants, a stretchy, plain brown t-shirt, and combat boots. I wear no jewelry and have my hair up in a bun.

Uncle Max is waiting for me at the side entrance. He's dressed in his military uniform.

I'm very excited to leave. Even if it's only the ten-minute drive to Intelligence HQ in the Capitol.

We get into an official black car and ride to the main Military base in the Capitol.

It's a fortress complete with steel gates barricading the building, one exit with a security booth, and an array of guards patrolling the grounds.

The building itself is plain white and square-shaped. There are five floors and very few windows.

I don't know much about the building because that information isn't shared with the general public. There's a rumor that the criminals who walk in leave in body bags, and if you listen closely, you can hear the screams of tortured souls.

We breeze past the heavily guarded checkpoint, and Uncle Max takes a deep breath as we drive through the gate.

"Ah, home." He's staring at the building the way a child does an amusement park.

Guards at the entrance open his car door and salute as he walks out. They pay me no attention.

Uncle Max walks in and goes straight to the elevator. I ride it with him to the top floor.

It stops and he walks briskly ahead of me. He leads me down a long hallway and stops at big, blue double doors. The guards in front salute him and open them in unison. I step in behind him.

I expect the room to have a big table in the middle and old men in uniforms arguing around it.

The room is instead filled with computers. There are at least five rows on either side of the room. 70% of the people here are wearing uniforms, the others are dressed in proper workplace attire.

The officers and civilians who see Uncle Max salute him.

"General." A man walks up to us and hands him a tablet. "Lieutenant Colonel Palin found a gathering house."

Uncle Max walks up to a computer in the middle row.

The people around it move for him.

He looks at a surveillance map, multiple pictures, and what I think is a live video.

"Palin, organize a team. Move tonight."

"Yes, General." They all salute.

Uncle Max levitates around the room, looking at screens, giving orders, and reviewing tactics. Every once in a while, uniformed officers will walk up to him and say something in code. His face is neutral when he responds. You don't know if bluebird is "yes" or if Periwinkle is "not today".

Everything just seems so confusing.

After an hour of watching all this unfold, Uncle Max directs me to a group.

"This is my niece, why don't you tell her what you're working on?" Uncle Max introduces.

The group consists of a male and female officer, and a young guy in casual clothing.

The guy looks wary. The officers salute their General. "It's Operation Hanchez, sir." The woman says.

I want to vomit my breakfast.

She presses a key and Professor Cara's face pops up.

She's sitting on a single bed in a small jail cell. Her hair is longer, her eyes gaunt, and she's wearing a brown jumpsuit. She looks so different.

"Anything today?" Uncle Max asks.

"No. No matter what tactics we employ, she refuses to talk." The male officer says.

Uncle Max nods. "Keep me posted. I have a meeting with Infante Matteo in five minutes."

I try to follow him, but he stops me. "You're staying here."

"Excuse me?" I ask.

His face is strict, but his eyes are soft.

"I'm assigning you to Operation Hanchez for today."

"Uncle Max," I feel myself going weak. "Please don't do this."

He doesn't flinch. "I trust you'll be a good asset to the team, Your Highness."

He walks away and I'm frozen in place.

Finally, slowly, I turn back. There's someone else there. She's wearing a white coat.

"Dr. Golding." She introduces herself. "I am a Behavioral Psychologist. I work for the Military."

I nod. "Good."

The guy at the computer, whose name tag says Sterling, gives up his seat for me.

I thank him and take it. The only problem is I'm in front of the computer now.

I can feel the Behavioral Psychologist's eyes on me.

"Do you just stalk her all day?" I ask.

"We're um..." Sterling stammers. "Monitoring her. She isn't responsive. Never talks, never reacts. To anything."

I huff and say under my voice, "that is very different from the Cara I know."

The Behavioral Psychologist speaks up. "Princess Cassandra, do you mind me asking questions about your former teacher?"

"The one who tried to kill me in cold blood? And left me in a coma for five weeks? Sure."

She smiles. "What was your first perception of her?"

I shrug. "She seemed weird but fun."

"Did she engage in any suspicious activity?"

"It was professor Cara, everything she did was suspicious."

"I have a personal one. Every student I talked to said you two were close. How did that happen?" She taps her pen on her notepad.

I can feel myself unraveling. "Is this the right place for my therapist appointment, Dr. Golding?"

She smiles ruefully. "Forgive me, Princess?" She gestures at the two officers. "A word?"

The only other thing for me to focus on is the screen.

The guy beside me clears his throat.

"I don't think you remember me?" He finally says.

I turn to him. The look of confusion on my face tells him I don't. He sighs. "It's not your fault, we only talked for two seconds."

"I'm sorry, when was this?"

Sterling takes off his glasses and places them on the table.

"About a year ago. You were in Grovehills for a science fair. You complimented my entry."

"You're in Grovehills?"

"I graduated last year. I got this job in July."

"Wow, you rose very quickly."

He laughs. "I've been interning here since my third year. Lower-level stuff those first years. But then in my fifth year, I designed this program where you can detect if someone's sending magical waves from a distance."

"That's really cool."

He doesn't stop laughing. "It would be if it worked. No, I have the plans, it's just not viable right now. I work on it in my spare time, and work here mostly."

"Again, wow. You're 21 and you're already here."

"I'm 20, I got in early. And," he lets out a short laugh. "This is not a good job, no. It's just looking for terrorists and finding out the worst things people have done. And trying to decipher all the codes. And hoping you don't slip and say the wrong thing." He takes a big breath. "It's all very exhausting."

I stare at all the computers and fancy-looking equipment. "I can see that."

I look back at the computer in front of me. I can see the two officers and Dr. Golding now. The officers are asking Cara questions from a book and the doctor is writing down notes.

Sterling sees me looking and presses a button. The live audio comes on.

"Who else is in your organization?" The man asks.

Nothing from Cara. Pearl.

"Who is the informant in Intelligence?"

Nada.

The male officer looks wary about the next question.

"Who was your favourite student while you were teaching?"

Cara looks up now and laughs. For a split second, she's the person I remember. The one who helped me cry out of my feelings, the one who called me her Darea Morjan, the one who pointed me in the direction of the best, most life-defining research I've ever done.

Dr. Golding steps forward. "She's upstairs right now, do you have a word for her?"

My insides shrink and I'm back in that room. I'm back to watching her try to kill me. If I wasn't frozen, I'd look away.

Cara sits up in bed.

"Tell her," her voice is raspy. "To remember our final conversation. There are many of us. And they won't be as kind to her as I was."

I stand up and walk away from the computer. My world feels like it was turned upside down and I think I'm going to fall.

I throw the doors open and search frantically for a bathroom or closet or anywhere I can be alone.

I walk for a few minutes before finding a bathroom.

I lock myself in a cubicle and call Arin.

"Arin. I really need to talk to you." There's silence on his end. "Arin, I'm serious. This is an emergency."

The voice that comes back chills me to my bone.

"Hi, Cassandra." Uncle Max's tone is hard. "Dr. Golding is outside the bathroom door. She'll escort you."

And he ends the call.