Page 79 (1/2)

He wanted to know exactly what he was up against in getting Keiko out of those front doors and into the hands of his team

…

Keiko heard Mace, but her focus was on the screens On the Freedom soldiers as they casually stepped over the dead bodies scattered across the terrace as though they were nothing lad that the caail’s body; she wasn’t sure she could have coped with that But there were still soto witness She stilled, and her breathing became shallow as realization hit her

She was standing in a rooo, alking and talking and planning for their futures

Just Like Abigail

Before she could stop herself, her eyes searched for the dead A man was slumped over a chair at the desk Another lay at his feet A third hung over the otten doll someone had discarded there Two uniformed security teaunned the in a death chamber

Her eyes flew to Mace He stood, legs apart and ar the screens—coe around hi became shallow and choppy She wasn’t like Mace This wasn’t her world She wasn’t equipped to deal with this Her eyes drifted back to the screens, where she could just make out the body of one of the dead scientists

Abigail was still up there She was lying lifeless, just one more piece of debris in a war that she would never have understood Keiko’s eyes went back to the bodies in the room No Not bodies Men who had families, friends, loved ones People like her People who’d been left behind because they’d been killed in such a pointless way People ould have to deal with their deaths for years to come

Just like she would with Abigail

She pressed a hand to her stoled, and a strange, tight sensation constricted her throat Death Violence Danger It was all around her Sing her Taking her doith it Into hell

She took a step back Ready to run To flee—and never look back The only thing that kept her there was Mace Her eyes were glued to hih he were the only life raft in the stor her

Slowly she beca around her bare feet A stickiness under her toes As though a part of her brain already knehat she would find, she didn’t want to look down But she had to Slowly, oh so slowly, her eyes ot to their target, the more her focus narrowed Until all she could see was the blood oozing between her toes

She was standing in a pool of someone else’s blood

A strange rushing sound filled her ears The world beca beneath her

Blood