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

‘Looped feed up and running,’ Tilly replied instantly. ‘Full control of security system. Security guards accounted for. His system is no match for me.’

‘Cut the personal remarks!’ Gonzalez ordered sharply.

‘Yes, Colonel,’ Tilly replied, sounding exaggeratedly abashed.

‘Ground clear,’ Rivas muttered. He was perched so close to the wall of the residence he could almost touch it. His Stealthy was about a hundred metres away, where he had landed it in a small clearing in the woods, invisible through any of the windows. The evening felt chilly as dusk approached, but he hardly noticed.

He knew that the two security patrols weren’t that far away. Personally, he would have loved to have knocked them out, but if those in the outhouse, stuck watching the security cams’ feed, tried to get in touch, or if Wagner called them for some reason, they needed to be conscious enough to reply. No, he would just have to manage the situation, hoping that Tilly would keep him informed if for some strange reason they varied their patrol routes and headed towards him. Then he might not have any choice but to take them out; for now, he firmly suppressed the odd sensation of being trapped.

‘Keep at it,’ Gonzalez acknowledged.

***

‘Oh…’ Eloise gasped, her eyes dropping involuntarily to her shoes as soon as she stepped onto the plush carpet. Where did all that mud come from? The filth she had brought from the slums looked terrible, contrasting with the sterile and extravagant environment. ‘I didn’t realise,’ she mumbled, embarrassed about her insufficiently Elite appearance.

It was the first time since the nightmare had started that she found herself in the distinctly Elite environment she had grown up in. Roc de Chere was perfectly satisfactory, but it was strictly functional without any flourishes. Wagner’s residence was jaw-droppingly lavish and utterly oversized for one man.

‘Not to worry, Ms Moretti. Not to worry,’ Wagner reassured her quickly, but didn’t try to approach her. ‘I understand that the clinic gave you a quick check-up and some meds before the airtaxi picked you up, but one can hardly expect a Leech clinic to have decent showers, or clean clothes. If you would like to use the guest bathroom to freshen up, I can—’

‘No!’ Eloise interrupted, skittish eyes temporarily locked on Wagner. It wasn’t that hard to look jittery when she recalled what had happened the last time she left Wagner’s presence. ‘Not the guest bathroom. Your bathroom! I’m not going anywhere that you don’t frequent regularly. I was kidnapped from your police station, from your XST. No guest bathroom. I want your master bathroom, and you’re going to sit right outside and wait,’ she demanded, and Gonzalez found himself nodding in approval. So far, she was doing exactly as told.

‘My apologies.’ Wagner half-bowed again. ‘I totally understand. My master bathroom is your bathroom, and I will indeed sit right outside the door… on my bed,’ he said, and just for a second a flicker of that sick predator lit his eyes, but it was gone so fast Eloise wasn’t sure she had actually seen it.

‘Good.’ She nodded and followed his gesture, climbing up the staircase.

Her extensive VR experience gave her one huge advantage. There was no chance she would give herself away by walking without being told which way to go. She was used to knowing the layout of VR enviros and playing as if she didn’t, waiting for VR characters to show her around.

The staircase was massive, with a hand-carved black walnut banister made out of actual wood that must have cost a fortune in a world that no longer had to rip nature apart for commodities. The steps were gentle, using up far more space in the huge hall than was strictly necessary, but the ease with which one could climb them, glide up them, really, was pleasantly luxurious. Another little detail Eloise filed for future use in a VRP while clinging to her old habits for sanity.

‘Would you like to nano-facture some clean clothes for yourself?’ Wagner asked, stepping into his bedroom behind Eloise. ‘I’m afraid female fashion is not programmed into my nano-dispenser, but you should be able to access some of the popular fashion designers’ collections with no problem.’

Eloise nodded and approached the far side of the bedroom. She was hesitant to turn her back on Wagner while she keyed in the necessary instructions. As taught by Rivas, she continued looking around with haunted, skittish eyes, giving the cam implanted in her dominant right eye a good look at all the corners that weren’t covered by security cams.

‘I don’t care about fashion,’ she explained as the nanobots began working on her typical set of comfortable everyday garments.

A couple of minutes later, she strode to the bathroom, hugging her new cotton trousers, top and underwear and a pair of simple trainers, and didn’t even glance at Wagner, who had spread himself comfortably on his bed, watching her with a lurking smile. Inside the bathroom, however, her body failed her and she collapsed to her knees.

‘I can’t,’ she whispered, so quietly it would have been lost if it weren’t for the mic’s ability to enhance even the faintest sound.

‘Of course you can.’ Gonzalez’s voice was as solid as usual. ‘You have done everything perfectly so far. Get up and shower,’ he instructed.

For a second Eloise didn’t move, but then she rose and began undressing, hands moving on autopilot, and Gonzalez reached to blur the image from her cam. His attention was all on a second display showing Wagner.

‘What is he doing now?’ Eloise asked mid-shower. The panic and tightness in her chest were annoying, but almost controllable. She wished she had some proper sedatives with her, but if Wagner discovered them, she would have a hard time explaining where she’d got them. The lousy shot she had been given at the Leech clinic was wearing off, leaving her jittery as the remnants of the diluted, poor-quality nano-meds were purged from her system.

‘Hasn’t moved from