Rebecca didn’t know where she was when she opened her eyes but she considered the fact that she’d woken up at all to be a pleasant surprise. Her room reeked of quiet death and hand sanitiser. She couldn’t move her head, a tight bandage wrapped around her neck, constricting. She rolled her eyes. Then she noticed Kelly and murmured, ‘There’s a hole in my neck, isn’t there?’
‘Yeah, kind of a bummer really.’ Kelly smiled, a genuine smile, nothing hidden, nothing held back.
‘I never thought you could get shot in the neck and, you know, not die,’ said Bec. ‘Did you catch the guy who did it?’
‘Yeah, we caught him. He’s in interrogation now. As for you, the bullet ricocheted off something, it was the shrapnel that got you. Hit you pretty good, but missed all the important parts, if it had hit your jugular or your windpipe, who knows? You should consider yourself lucky.’
‘If I was lucky I wouldn’t have gotten shot in the neck.’
Kelly pulled her signature half-smile.
‘Where are we?’ Bec asked.
‘Still in Cairo. Now that you’re awake and stable, we can think about moving you back to Tokyo but your recovery is still going to take some time.’
‘What about Sato and Hiroshi?’
‘You need to give it a break for a while. Look, we have a whole lot of data to sift through, plus new potential NR members to interrogate. It’ll take time, time that you need to recover.’
‘This is my fault,’ said Bec, a mournful look in her eye.
Kelly stood up.
‘What? Why would you...?’
‘This is all because of that virus – I helped them write it. All that time, Zef knew.... and they killed him for it. He died because of me.... and then Robb. They’re gonna use it for god knows what and more people are gonna get hurt....’
Kelly placed her hand on Rebecca’s cheek and wiped away a tear with her thumb.
‘Bec, listen to me, we all do bad shit,’ her eyes became distant for a moment, ‘I know that better than anyone. But that’s in the past. I know you, I watched you tackle a cyber-terrorist like a badass and shut that virus down. You took responsibility, didn’t you? You probably even saved some lives. You’re a good person.’
The pain that flared up in Rebecca’s neck was a good enough incentive to stifle her tears. She grabbed Kelly by the shoulder and held her close.
‘I’ll stop them from using the virus. I’ll destroy every trace of it. I won’t let you down. I promise you Kelly – captain.’
She looked Kelly in the eye. The captain had pretty eyes. They were so close she could feel Kelly’s warmth.
‘You don’t have to it alone,’ Kelly said. ‘We’re a team. I got your back.’
‘As soon as I’m better,’ said Bec, with a newfound determination.
She recalled having cried during her last visit to the hospital, but this time was different. She felt stronger now than ever before. Without thinking she had been holding her captain’s hand.
The doctors forced Rebecca to spend more time recovering at the Tokyo GCDU infirmary; her wound had more or less healed, the extra time was just a precaution. But Rebecca was impatient. She laughed them off when they recommended she undergo stress counselling, and then, at Kelly’s insistence, she was free to return to work.
Not much had changed at HQ. Rebecca stepped out of the elevator and into a quiet room. The captain took Rebecca’s backpack and set it down on the couch. The glass interface had been updated: two new names (with facial IDs) were added; Bluelion_929 (Dimitri Aleksandrovsk) and Echovision_99 (Emily Song).
Finally, the GCSD believed that they had revealed who Nexus Rogue really were. The final members were named and soon to be destroyed.
‘Ah, look who’s back from the grave,’ said Yuri from the kitchen.
Boris was nearby but he didn’t look at her—he must have been in a bad mood, like always.
‘I’m tougher than I look,’ Bec laughed.
‘Judging by that scar I am inclined to believe you,’ said Yuri.
‘Where’s Akira and Connor?’ Bec sat on the couch and looked at the glass interface.
‘Interrogation,’ said Kelly. ‘Knocking the teeth out of the people who did, you know…’ Kelly touched her own neck to indicate Bec’s scar.
Rebecca began to think that maybe she should wear a scarf from now on.
Kelly stood up and walked over to the glass interface, it lit up blue when she waved her hand, expanding the profile pictures of Dimitri Aleksandrovsk and Emily Song.
‘I suppose you’ll want to be brought up to speed. We’ve confirmed that there are only two other key members of Nexus Rogue’s operation. Dimitri Aleksandrovsk is ex-Russian military and ex-Bratva with exceptional IT skills, not so different from yourself, really, so it’s no wonder that NR picked him up. Emily Song is a Chinese-American activist who apparently has some issues with “the system”. Once we capture all four remaining members of Nexus Rogue our mission will be considered a success.’
‘Then the hunt continues,’ said Bec, a little too casually.
‘That’s right,’ Kelly agreed. ‘You know the drill.’
When Rebecca returned to her work afterwards, she laid in her bunk and did some basic research on her laptop. She couldn’t help touching her scar, running her fingers over the rough texture of her own skin, even though her neck still ached when she prodded it or moved in a way she wasn’t supposed to. This scar would be here forever, she realised, a memory that would never go away.
ns 172.71.223.180da2