Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) by Niall Teasdale (best summer reads txt) 📕

she was surrounded by researchers and trainers, she had been alone. She had got used to it, but that did not mean she had liked it.

‘Anyway,’ Trudy went on, ‘the humans turned up and suddenly I had a whole new research project. Humans are fascinating. Fascinating! When Cari’s family sent her here, I decided to tag along on the ship so I could see more humans.’ She paused, eyes fixed on Nava. ‘I’ve never met one quite like you, however. There’s something about you. I don’t know what it is… I got the strong impression you can sense when I’m nearby.’

‘I can. Though I admit it was supposition that I was sensing Harbingers until I confirmed that you were here. It’s a vague sensation of nervousness. There’s no direction or anything else, just a feeling that something a little disturbing is nearby.’

‘I don’t think I’m disturbing.’

Nava fought the urge to laugh. ‘Harbingers look like something out of a horror vid. Sorry.’ She paused, considering briefly. ‘Carina said you had seen some of these people she thinks are watching her. You don’t believe they’re from this secret organisation, but you’ve seen them.’

‘I’ve seen people who seemed to be keeping an eye on her. I’ve seen one here.’

‘I see. I think I’m going to trust you for now, Trudy. You can stop trying to hide from me. I’m sure that’ll make things easier for everyone.’

‘I haven’t been– Well, okay, when I worked out you could sense me, I did try to stay away. That didn’t work.’

Nava nodded. ‘It’s not that big a campus. And you decided that Carina should get to know me. I was bound to wonder who her invisible friend really was. And as for these watchers, whether they’re from Carina’s Key to Darkness or not, they would seem to represent a security risk.’

‘Okay. I suppose I can see your point. What are you going to do?’

Nava gave a small shrug. ‘Campus security is a matter for the Student Security Force.’

~~~

‘You believe her?’ Courtney asked. There was obvious incredulity in her voice. That was not exactly surprising.

‘I believe,’ Nava replied evenly, ‘that there are people on the campus who should not be here. It’s highly unlikely they belong to some cult intent upon releasing an ancient god of darkness. That does not change the fact that an independent witness has seen them. They are here.’

‘An independent witness who happens to be a Harbinger.’

‘That is a point,’ Mitsuko said. They were in the house. Nava had decided that this would all be better discussed somewhere unofficial and private. The lounge seemed as good a place as any. ‘Are you sure you can trust the thing?’

‘Of course not,’ Nava replied. ‘I can’t be sure I can trust anyone. I’m not used to judging the reactions of Harbingers, so Trudy is more difficult to assess. That said, I believe she can be trusted. I believe that someone is watching Carina and that at least one of those people has been sighted here. At the very least, I think the SSF should be on the lookout for intruders who may be invisible.’

‘Huh,’ Courtney grunted. ‘That’s not a tall order at all.’

‘I intend to lend a hand,’ Nava said. ‘I’ll stick with Carina for a few days and see what I can see.’

‘Well, I suppose we can issue an advisory and keep a lookout for at least a couple of days.’

Nava nodded. ‘I think that’s a reasonable response to a report of unusual activity on campus.’

‘Just out of interest,’ Melissa said, ‘what are you going to do if you find them and they are members of a cult intent on releasing an ancient god of darkness?’

‘I have no idea. If that is the case, however, I think we’ll have more to worry over than a few people snooping around the school.’

236/1/19.

Nava did not get a lot of calls on her ketcom. When it began chirping out its call indicator, she usually stared at it for a brief instant as though it were malfunctioning. She did exactly the same this morning – at breakfast, as it happened – even though the small screen on the unit was indicating that the call was from Fawn Tyrell, her ASF contact.

After that moment of surprise, she tapped the accept button and lifted the device to her ear. ‘First Lieutenant? This is an early call. I’m at breakfast, so if I need privacy…’

‘As long as I’m not on speaker, this should be fine,’ Fawn replied. She was sounding serious. That was generally not a good thing.

‘Please continue.’

‘Someone tried hacking into the ASF’s servers last night. They didn’t get too far, but it was a professional job. They backed out as soon as they were detected, and we couldn’t trace the route.’

‘I see.’ It was something to say. In fact, Nava did not see. If they had not been able to trace the attempt, they could not be thinking it came from the school, so why involve Nava? Technically, that would have been Courtney’s problem anyway. ‘Is there some reason you’re telling me this?’

‘Because what we did get was an idea of what they were looking for. They were after your confidential records. In fact, if they hadn’t been hunting for those, we might not have caught them. They got the general records out of the forward-facing personnel database, but they hit the harder security on the IRD’s servers and bounced. Have you pissed anyone off recently?’

‘No one I can think of. Unless…’

‘Unless?’

‘I’ve been helping a student here who believes she’s being watched. It’s complicated. I’ll send you some details and you can look into it if you wish. Perhaps her watchers have decided to get background on me since I’ve been hanging around her.’

There was silence as Fawn considered. ‘Send me the details and I’ll look into it. And be careful. Like I said, this was a professional hack. You may be dealing with some serious operators.’

‘I’m always careful, First Lieutenant.’

‘Be more careful.’

Nava glanced at Mitsuko, who was, of course,