The Verum Trilogy - Survivor

Chapter 4

Soren found Locke in his office, writing at his desk. He knocked on the open doorway and his brother glanced up.

"What do you want?" Locke asked bluntly.

"You're in a hell of a mood. The commander wants an update on the Verum survivor." Locke sighed in annoyance, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his face.

"What do you think I'm working on?" he answered irritably. "She wants daily reports of her progress. Daily. I haven't ridden Aethos in a week. We're both starting to hate her—from a purely administrative standing, of course."

The week had been one of Locke's worst, attention divided between Bree's notable lack of progress and Luca's over aggressive tendencies anytime he came within swinging distance of the Verum survivor.

"Has she said anything about the fire?"

"She doesn't say anything about anything. You've got to set some expectations with Ma'am, dude. Squint is not going to make it through the program. She can't draw a bow, she can't swing a sword, her academic scores are shit, Blondie wipes the floor with her in drills, and that's with Braids helping her practice in the evenings. Even if she managed to snag the attention of a hatchling from the Bondery, she won't survive a day on the front lines. Dropping her from the program would be the kind thing to do."

"You need to dig for information before that happens," Soren lectured, crossing his arms over his chest. "And before you say anything, I'm with you. The last thing I want is an enemy of the State on the back of one of our dragons. But we aren't just here to convert a Verum survivor to the Corps. I don't need to remind you how dangerous deathlings are, and even after burning the entire city to the ground, no one could find the egg Verum took. From an intel perspective, we're lucky she survived. I can't tell you why Ma'am wants her in the corps instead of an interrogation room, but it's not our job to ask. It's our job to execute."

"And I want to know how she expects me to train with Aethos and interrogate a recruit when all my time is spent writing the same damn reports every day. I'll talk to her, alright? But ask Ma'am to cut me some slack here."

Soren nodded.

"I'll see if I can get the reports down to a weekly basis. But she's going to expect you to be able to give a verbal brief if she needs it before then."

Locke sighed in annoyance, leaning back in his chair.

"Deal."

-

Alia glanced up from her notes as a knock on the door interrupted her studying. She slid down from her bunk and opened it. Her team leader stood in the doorway, dark eyes meeting hers. A light blush crept up her neck.

"Hey, Braids. Looking for Squint. She in here?"

Alia shook her head.

"No, I think she's doing laundry. Can I help you with anything?"

"Mm, doubt it." Locke rubbed his jaw and her eyes followed the motion. "You've been drilling with her in the evenings, right? Any improvement there?"

Alia snapped her gaze back to his.

"Honestly? She doesn't quit, and I respect her for it, but..." she bit her lower lip. "Her upper body strength is just... virtually nonexistent. When she gets an opening, the hits aren't hard enough to do any damage."

He nodded.

"And her studies?" he asked.

"You'd have to ask her. We haven't worked together on lectures. Luca was supposed to help her some, but..."