Close Remembrance

Chapter 5-1

Chapter Five

The next morning, Mia again found herself alone in the lab. Saret was still traveling and hadn’t sent her his feedback, so she continued learning about the other projects until her stomach rumbled, reminding her that it was time to eat.

Getting up, she stretched and requested a popular Krinar stew for lunch. The intelligent lab building provided it five minutes later, and Mia sat down to eat at one of the floating table-planks.

For some reason, her thoughts kept turning to the conversation she’d had with Korum yesterday and the Resistance fighter she’d helped capture. Leslie was going to undergo mind manipulation, and Mia couldn’t help wondering how much the girl would be changed in the process. She couldn’t imagine someone tampering with her thoughts, feelings, and memories, and she felt bad that another person would be subjected to something so invasive. Surely there had to be a better way to dissuade Leslie from her futile fight against the Krinar. Perhaps someone could talk to her, explain that the Krinar didn’t have any sinister intentions toward Earth... Of course, it was possible that the girl’s hatred of the invaders went too deep to allow for rational thinking.

Sighing, Mia finished her meal and went back to the data storage unit. As she was about to pull up the infant mind development project, she paused, remembering a tidbit Adam had mentioned to her at some point. Saur—the K who’d tried to kill Korum—had once been an apprentice in this very lab, and he was supposedly quite good at mind manipulation. If some of his old projects were still stored here, they might help her gain a better understanding of what was going to be done to Leslie.

Suddenly excited, Mia ordered the unit to locate all the data that Saur had added. There was a lot, but she had plenty of time to kill.

Making herself comfortable, Mia dove into the intricacies of the tampered mind.

Five hours later, she got up again, deeply puzzled. She’d just begun to scratch the surface of everything Saur had worked on, but none of it was directly related to memory erasure. There were plenty of notes and recordings on behavioral conditioning and memory implantation—but only brief mentions of intentional memory removal.

If Mia understood it correctly, Saur had never even done memory wipe simulations, much less had any practice with live subjects.

Frowning, Mia stared at the data unit, oddly disturbed by what she’d just learned. Something didn’t quite make sense to her. If Saur didn’t know how to erase memories, shouldn’t Saret have said something about that to the Council? Her boss always knew who was working on which project; he was the one who gave everyone their assignments.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe there was some other data storage place that she didn’t know about where other projects were kept. It was possible: Mia was still new and learning her way around.

It was also possible that Saur simply hadn’t bothered inputting some of his projects into the common database. Adam had mentioned once that the dead apprentice was a bit strange—a loner who didn’t get along with anyone else. He could’ve easily had trouble following the lab’s protocol.

Still, Mia couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling in her stomach, a nagging sense that something wasn’t quite right with this picture. She needed to talk to Korum and soon.

Pausing to send Korum a brief holographic message telling him that she’d be home in a few minutes, Mia headed toward one of the exit walls.

And as she was about to walk out, the wall in front of her dissolved, and her boss came into the lab.

“Well, hello there,” Saret said, looking down at her with a smile. “You didn’t go home yet? I was hoping you’d get a chance to take it easy, with all of us out and about these past couple of days.”

Mia smiled back, trying to hide her nervousness. “No, I was just brushing up on some of the other projects here,” she said, staying as close to the truth as possible. “The one Aners is working on is really interesting. You know, with the infant mind development?”

“Sure.” Saret’s smile changed—becoming almost indulgent, Mia thought. “That’s a great project for you to get involved with. We can talk about it later, once you and Adam are done with your current task.”

“Great!” Mia injected the appropriate amount of enthusiasm into her voice and tried to ignore the way her palms had begun to sweat. “I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks again for giving me this opportunity.”

“Of course.” Saret’s brown eyes gleamed as he took a couple of steps toward her. Pausing less than two feet away, he said, “I’m glad you’re having a good time here.”

Mia nodded, still maintaining a big smile on her face. Maybe she was being an i***t, but the vibes she was getting from her boss today made her decidedly uncomfortable. All she wanted was to go home and talk to Korum about what she’d learned. Most likely, there was a good explanation for everything, but on the slight chance there wasn’t, she didn’t want to linger in the lab any longer than necessary. And it was the second time Saret had acted almost... weird.

“Okay, then,” she said brightly, looking up at his darkly bronzed face. “Please take a look at the report when you get a chance, and I’ll head on out for now. Unless you need me?”

Saret smiled again. “I always need you,” he said, and there was an unusually soft note in his voice. “But you must have your rest, I understand...” And Mia’s heartbeat spiked as he leaned even closer, his eyes seemingly glued to her exposed shoulder.

“All right then—” she backed away, “—I’ll see you soon.” And turning around, she took a step toward the wall leading to the outside.

“Is anything wrong, Mia?” Saret was suddenly in front of her, blocking the way. “You seem worried.”

Every hair on Mia’s body was standing on end. “Sorry,” she said insincerely, forcing a quick laugh. Even to her own ears, it sounded fake. “I’m just thinking about going to New York to see my roommate, that’s all.”

“Oh, is that right?” Saret c****d his head to the side. “And when are you planning to go?”

“Oh, it won’t be for long.” Mia cursed herself for blurting out that tidbit and prolonging the conversation. “We’ll go on one of the rest days—”

“So why are you so anxious?” Saret asked, a strange look in his eyes. “Is it because you found something you shouldn’t have?”

Mia swallowed, a cold chill snaking down her spine. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about...”

Saret smiled—the same friendly smile that had made Mia like him before. Now she found it frightening instead. “What made you look at Saur’s files today?” he inquired casually. “Don’t you know it’s against the lab protocol to access other apprentices’ projects?”

Mia shook her head. She hadn’t known, in fact. Staring at Saret, she felt like she was seeing him for the first time. He was Korum’s friend. Why was he doing this? Why had he misled everyone about Saur’s abilities? And, more importantly, what did he intend to do to keep Mia from telling everyone?

Thinking furiously, she realized that denial would be useless at this point. Somehow Saret knew about Mia’s discovery. “Why?” she asked him instead, keeping her voice steady despite the fact that her hands were beginning to shake. “Why didn’t you tell the Council Saur couldn’t have done it?”

Saret’s smile widened. “Because it was convenient to have them think he did,” he explained, and there was something triumphant in his gaze. “It wasn’t what I originally intended, but it worked out regardless.”

Her fear growing by the minute, Mia took a step back. Her every instinct was screaming for her to get out, now. Maybe there was still a good explanation for Saret’s actions, but she couldn’t take that chance. Casting aside all remnants of politeness, Mia swiftly lifted her wristwatch-bracelet to her face. “Call Kor—”

But she didn’t get a chance to complete her request. His hand was suddenly around her wrist, holding it in a steely grip. Strong fingers ripped away the device, crushing it in the process.

“Oh, no,” Saret said softly, dragging her toward him until she was pressed flat against his muscular body. “You don’t get to call him anymore, you understand?”

Stunned and terrified, Mia stared at the K who’d been her boss and mentor for the past month. His hand was wrapped around her wrist, twisting it in such a way that she couldn’t move at all. To her horror, Mia realized that he was hard, his erection pressing threateningly into the softness of her belly.

“What are you doing?” she whispered, hot bile rising in her throat. “Korum will kill you for this, you know that...”

Saret’s eyes glittered. “Oh, will he, now? He’s more than welcome to come find you here. The lab is set up quite nicely for his arrival.”

“What?” Surely he wasn’t saying—

“I mean, when your cheren arrives, I’ll have a little surprise for him,” Saret said, giving her a gentle smile. “You see, Mia dear, it’s about time you knew the truth about your lover. Come, let’s go into my office and we’ll talk.”

And without giving her a choice in the matter, he pulled her toward the back of the room, his fingers wrapped firmly around her wrist. Upon their approach, one of the walls dissolved, creating an entrance into the space Saret used for private projects.

Her knees weak with fear, Mia stumbled as he tugged her into the opening, the wall sealing shut behind her. Before she could fall, however, Saret caught her, lifting her up in his arms.

“There,” he said soothingly, sitting down on one of the floating planks with her held tightly in his lap. “I’ve got you... No need to worry—you’ll be all right,” he added, apparently feeling the tremors shaking her frame.

“Let go,” Mia whispered, pushing at his chest with all her strength. She could feel a hard bulge pressing against her thighs, and her stomach twisted with nausea. Her voice rose hysterically. “Let me go, right now!”

He didn’t reply, his eyes darkening as he stared at her. The expression on his face was almost... enraptured, Mia realized with horror. For some reason, he wanted her, and there was nothing she could do to stop him if he decided to act on that inclination.

“You said you were going to tell me something about Korum,” she said in desperation, her voice shrill with panic. “What don’t I know about him?”

Saret blinked, his gaze clearing a little. “Oh, yes,” he said, a self-deprecating smile appearing on his lips. “We were going to talk, weren’t we? Here, you better have a seat...” And lifting her off his lap, he placed her next to him, keeping one hand wrapped firmly around her arm.

Mia immediately tried to scoot back further, but his grip tightened, preventing her from moving from the spot.

“Listen to me, Mia,” Saret said, a small frown creasing his forehead, “I know you don’t understand why I’m doing this right now and it all seems crazy to you. But, believe me, it’s for your own good—for the good of all humanity. What your cheren intends for your people is not pretty, and he needs to be stopped. Do you know what he’s trying to get the Elders to agree to?”

Mia shook her head, her stomach churning as his grip softened on her arm, his thumb gently massaging her skin.

“He wants to take your planet from you. Did he tell you that?”

“No,” Mia managed to say, her heart pounding so hard she could barely think. Saret was lying to her, of course. He had to be.

“My so-called friend is a power-hungry monster,” Saret said, his gaze hardening. “It wasn’t enough for him to achieve the highest standing on Krina. Oh no, Mia dear, he had to extend his reign to another planet—to your planet. If it hadn’t been for him, we would’ve never come to Earth. He was the one who convinced the Elders it was necessary to control your planet, to save it for the future generations of Krinar. And now he plans to take it from you completely. Do you understand what I’m saying?”