Birthright

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Alex paid the orange-haired kid behind the counter and stared at the drinks in her hands. One ice-cold, freezing her fingers, and the other blazing hot. The coffee was hers, but the cold Frappuccino topped with a cinnamon-swirled cream belonged to someone else.

Sydney Nako.

Deciding the Frappuccino was good enough, Alex crossed the atrium's wide, white-tiled floor and over to a back table where the Sanser girl sat. She looked better than she had an hour ago, when Kray had rescued her from Stan Aries. Her face, smooth and creamy-white, didn't look deathly-pale anymore. Her light-brown eyes were less timid, curiously taking in the atrium and the few students that had already gathered before the lunch hour.

She was a petite girl, exotic-looking and a bit lethal because of the Sanser bindings on her forearms and neck, but fragile at the same time. A beautiful, ordinary girl. If not for the fact that Aries had attacked her, she never would have crossed Alex's radar. She wouldn't have mattered. But now she did.

A quick glance at her holowrist told Alex it was 11:28 a.m. In another half an hour, the Physical Training students would be let out, as would other classes all across campus, and the atrium would be flooded with hungry teens. She had plenty of time to sit down with Sydney Nako, get her to confirm that she wouldn't tell anyone about what Aries had done, and then she'd blend back into her old crowd and no one would be the wiser about what had happened.

If that didn't happen, if Sydney reported what had happened to her and the whole thing was blamed on the Concordance Policy, it would blow back on her. Her father would never forgive her. Success is born out of ambition. If you're going to do something, don't do it halfheartedly. Otherwise I might as well give up on you now. I don't want to waste my time grooming you to become the perfect soldier if you're going to disappoint me in the end.

More importantly, the Concordance Policy was her father's lifetime investment. He'd slaved and bartered and threatened to make sure it was passed in the High Courts, all because he saw a vision that few did. A world where the Sansers could govern their own, work together with human beings for the betterment of earth.

If the Sansers had some power and autonomy, the rebels would have no leg to stand on. Their recruitment depended on spreading hatred for Metas and humans. Which wasn't hard to do, since there was a clear us-vs-them distinction between the Mainland and the Skads. But with Sanser Enforcers also patrolling the streets, partnered with their Meta counterparts, how could the rebels accuse the ANEF of being anti-Sanser?

Or at least, that was the hope. It would be a long time before that reality was realized though. And incidents like this one might be enough to bring the whole thing down.

Alex smiled at Sydney when she reached her. "Here you are."

She handed the girl the Frappuccino, relieved when her eyes lit up. She didn't like sweet drinks herself. Her father had made sure that her diet was balanced when she was a kid, devoid of sweets and snacks and frivolous foods, as he called it. He never appreciated it every time her mother snuck candy into her lunchbox.

"We missed the rest of class," Sydney said, taking the drink. "That means we're in last place."

Alex smiled wryly. Going from first place to last. Her father would have an aneurysm if he found out. At least she had an excuse this time if he confronted her about it. He might be out there in the political world, combating corporate enemies of the Concordance Policy, but there were other obstacles even here at the foundation.

Like Stan Aries.

"You can take the second-last spot," Sydney continued. "It's only fair."

Still smiling, Alex shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'll get back what I lost today."