The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(52)

Lifting his eyes, he saw that she was giving him a sweet smile. “I’d rather you were here. Safe.”

“But, Torran, this is what people like us do, right?”

Torran hated that his words had come back to haunt him, but she was right. “Yes, this is what people like us do.”

“And this is why we have a connection. We understand each other, what we must do, the sacrifices that must be made.”

Nodding, Torran kissed the palms of her hands.

“So we’ll do our duty.” The sadness in her eyes was unbearable.

Torran stood and dragged her into his arms. Holding each other close, they could hear the last lines of the president’s speech and the anthem of The Bastion playing before the feed ended.

Their wristlets chimed, then turned off.

The world had altered around them yet again.



*



Watching Torran sleep, his head tucked beside hers on the pillow, Lindsey’s mind spun out all the possibilities of what could possibly occur on their mission. The SWD’s secret mission to retrieve Dwayne and Maria would not be so easily subsumed. The SWD would find a way to split the squads apart.

What would Torran do when he discovered his mission was actually to retrieve Dwayne and Maria?

Lindsey suspected she already knew the answer, and it filled her with dread.





Chapter 15


“Of course I was going to add you to the roster once President Cabot agreed that the Constabulary must be involved,” Commandant Pierce said, regarding Lindsey calmly from behind the pristine desk. Legs crossed, arms folded, the higher-ranking officer emanated confidence and power.

Standing before the commandant, Lindsey was silent. She’d fully expected to be called in to speak with Commandant Pierce, so the early morning summons on her wristlet hadn’t been surprising. Even after hours of lying awake with her overloaded brain processing everything she’d learned, it was difficult for Lindsey to unravel her twisted emotions surrounding the imminent mission and deal with them adequately. She was scared, of course, but also devastated by the fact that she and Torran were now set against each other even if he didn’t realize it yet. All night, she’d struggled with the conundrum before her. Would the SWD abandon their plan if the Constabulary was involved? Should she tell Torran about Maria and Dwayne? About what the SWD was planning? There were so many questions, yet she doubted she would be provided with the answers she needed to make wise choices.

As though waiting for her to say something, Commandant Pierce continued to regard Lindsey in silence.

“You’re sending me because of my skills,” Lindsey said at last, her voice unsure.

“Of course. I’ll need you out there thwarting any attempt the SWD may make to find the castellan and vanguard.”

Troubled at the thought of this task, she said, “That may be difficult, since it’s a joint effort.”

“I know you’ll find a way. My only concern is whether or not you’ll pass the physical the SWD is demanding each soldier must pass in order to be involved in the mission.”

Lindsey bristled a tad. After more than a year struggling with a disability, she was sensitive about her health. “I’ve maintained my fitness despite the injury, and since the repair, I’ve been working on strengthening my leg.”

“Then hopefully you’ll pass their tests.” The commandant hesitated. “Or make it look like you did.”

Lindsey puffed up just a bit at the reference to her hacking abilities. It was nice to be praised for her skills even though her physical aptitude was in question. “I assume they expressed concerns that I just came off the disabled roster?”

“Oh yes. But they have concerns about every soldier I put on the Constabulary roster.”

“By ‘they’ you mean Legatus Martel.”

Commandant Pierce’s gaze turned absolutely cold. It wasn’t directed at Lindsey, but it was unnerving just the same. “Yes, Legatus Martel. She’s an interesting woman. Her dossier makes a lot of claims about her military training within the SWD under Admiral Kirkpatrick’s elite guard, but I’m not certain I see the attributes born of such a career in her demeanor or interactions.”

“A bureaucrat in soldiers’ clothing...”

“…does not make a soldier.” Commandant Pierce smirked, and it was rather terrifying. “What has been agreed upon so far is that each soldier, both SWD and Constabulary, must meet a certain criteria, both physically and mentally. President Cabot wants each participant to be a veteran of an actual conflict. In other words, the survivors of the final push and the recent clearing of the valley are the prime candidates. I suspect this is for multiple purposes. One being that the squad will have some combat experience and, therefore, handle the rigors of the mission better than a green squad. The second is probably for propaganda purposes.”

“The heroes of The Bastion going out to save humanity once again.”

“Exactly. The one major victory I’ve won is that one of our own chief defenders will be in charge of the mission. I have submitted a list of ten names to President Cabot and Legatus Martel.”

“Will the chief defender know about the SWD secret mission to retrieve the castellan and vanguard?”

Exhaling slowly, Commandant Pierce leaned forward to rest her elbows on the desk. “No.”