Rising Tomorrow (Roc de Chere Book 1) by Mariana Morgan (essential reading txt) 📕

when they had her under the influence of the mind-altering drug. But the nano-hells they had used were exceptionally mild, there to help guide Eloise’s actions and words during her encounter with Wagner, not something to be used for hard conditioning. It should never have been possible to program the question into her mind with such intensity while making Eloise forget all about it. That type of extreme conditioning took time and far stronger drugs. And more skills than Ingram thought she had.

Dammit, that should never have happened, she thought, desperately hoping Gonzalez wouldn’t choose that moment to look at her.

Reality conformed to her hopes. Gonzalez was too focused on Eloise to notice much else. Her violent response, the memory literally slamming into her, was a typical sign of heavy nano-hell conditioning being disturbed by probing questions for facts and memories believed lost. His fingers flashed across his wrist-comp as he pulled out the report their Medibot had provided on Eloise when it patched her up after Givors. There was no mention of such harsh drugs.

‘Are you saying, Ms Moretti, that you do not know anything about Wagner’s past? That you have no idea why you asked that question?’ he probed.

‘Yes. I mean, no, I don’t know why I asked him that. I don’t know anything about him.’

‘Lieutenant?’ Gonzalez turned to look at Rivas.

‘I didn’t know Wagner was a Leech, sir. I certainly didn’t plant that question—’

‘Relax, Raymond. Such conditioning would have taken more time than you had.’ His eyes instinctively flicked to Ingram, but by that point there was nothing suspicious to be seen on her face. She was puzzled, her own brows slightly furrowed as she pretended to ponder the curiosity herself.

‘Ms Moretti, have you said anything else recently without knowing why? Any other moments of such strong confusion?’

Eloise opened her mouth to say that there had been plenty, that the whole conversation with Wagner had been one hell of confusing event, but then she realised that wasn’t true.

‘No, not like that. There were moments when I spoke without thinking, words just flowing, but it wasn’t the same as accusing Wagner of being born a Leech. That one was different. Felt different…’ Her voice trailed off as she felt another surge of memories.

Luckily the repeat performance was more subdued, and the pounding headache and nausea subsided quickly.

‘Is that a problem?’ she asked, her eyes narrowing in thought, and more than just a hint of fear had crept into her voice.

‘It’s probably nothing. Just extreme stress. But to be on the safe side, I would like the Medibot to run a full check on your nervous system. Most conditionings leave traces.’

‘But I haven’t been in a position to be conditioned. I mean, yes, I know a number of suggestions were planted into my unconscious before Givors’—she tried hard not to look accusingly at Rivas—‘but that’s not the same. I would have known if…’ She trailed off again. ‘I wouldn’t know, would I?’ she asked with resignation. Eyes down, she took a step backwards and allowed her body to collapse into a chair. Will there ever be an end to all this?

‘No, Ms Moretti, good conditioning will leave you not knowing it was done. I can’t think of a situation when someone would have been able to apply it, however. It takes time. But just to be safe, please let’s have you checked out. It won’t take long.’

Dammit. Ingram’s brain fidgeted uneasily, pondering what the blasted machine might dig out, but all she said was, ‘Ms Moretti, the psych evaluation VRP will be waiting for you when you’re done. We have time.’

CHAPTER 46

Olympus R&D Compound

60 km south-west of Turin

Afro-European Alliance

Thursday 30 April 2725

DAY 11

‘Done,’ Sergeant Kizenberg whispered, and shoved her pad, displaying the current status, into Gonzalez’s hand as an afterthought. She was crouched, hiding behind thick vegetation, working on the fence surrounding the compound. ‘Tilly’s got us in.’

‘That fast?’ Ingram’s voice came over the same frequency. She herself was crouching a little further away, keeping an eye on the overall situation.

The steep hike had challenged them, but every minute counted once Sergeant Atkins had landed the toad-like Hippogryph. There had always been the temptation to use Stealthies to get Gonzalez’s people onto the mountain’s slope—they had more than enough experienced pilots to pull it off—but the transport aircraft would come in handy if they bumped into any of Cassandra’s employees and wanted to bring them back with them.

The Hippogryph class of transport airshuttles was ideal for the purpose. It was nowhere near as nimble and responsive as a Stealthy, but it was nano-armoured and could actually cruise at a higher speed, even if it took longer to accelerate. It had capacity for three in the cockpit and twelve in the cabin plus gear. In an emergency it could lift off with almost twice the load, though building up speed and altitude would be like pushing an elephant up a hill, and Gonzalez had no intention of setting any new records.

On the outside, the Hippogryph was heavily coated in nano-paint that blended in with the background, capable of fooling anyone at more than about forty metres in daylight. At night, with little moonlight, there was actually a risk of someone accidentally walking right into it. In flight, the paint was of limited advantage, since the engine’s heat signature was more significant than that of a smaller, lighter aircraft, but on the ground, it was far more effective than the old-fashioned camo nets. The rocky terrain and thick, near-virgin vegetation around Olympus were an added bonus.

With the Hippogryph safely on the ground and hidden away, Rivas had landed his Stealthy long enough to allow Ingram to jump out and then taken off to keep an eye on the compound from the air. It was good to be on the ground, participating, but at the same time Ingram couldn’t resist a pang of envy as she watched Phantom lift off.

A few minutes later, after a murderous half-crawl, half-climb up