Renna shook her head and composed herself. Look at her, playing by the rules. Finn would be so proud.
FIVE
Someone knocked at her door, and Renna glanced up from the data she’d pulled from the MYTH computers.
“Come in,” she called, shoving her tablet beneath her pillow. At least they’d finally given her a little privacy.
Dr. Samil pushed open the door and smiled at her. “Good morning, Renna.” She stepped into the room, a metal-globed med-drone gliding behind her.
Renna bit back a shudder at the tray of sterile tools the drone carried in its spindly arms. “Not a social visit, I take it?”
Samil nodded at the floating machine as it hovered near Renna’s head. “Did Monty give it away?”
“That and the instruments of torture he’s carrying.”
Samil chuckled and unwrapped a syringe. “Nice to see your flair for the melodramatic is still intact.”
“Maybe I can start my own robotic acting company once this implant takes over. Shakespeare in the Park: Cyborg-Style.”
The doctor frowned. “Renna…”
She shook her head. “It’s fine, Doc. I’m just tired this morning and my brain hurts. Let’s get the probing over with.”
In silence, Samil drew two vials of blood, checked Renna’s vitals, and listened to her heart. Renna stared at a spot of dust on the wall and tried to ignore her racing pulse and the feel of the doctor’s cool fingers against her skin.
Finally, the doctor pulled out her ventroscope. “I’m going to examine your vision now, Renna. Hold perfectly still. I promise this won’t hurt a bit.”
Renna arched an eyebrow. “You know I don’t believe you when you say that.”
“Would I lie to you?” Samil’s lips twitched, but her face stayed serious. “Now don’t move. This will only take a second.” Samil took the mask-like metal device from the tray and pressed it to Renna’s face.
Renna’s skin turned icy where it touched, but she only had a moment of wonder before a sharp red light stabbed into her eyes. Searing pain, like someone had taken a scalpel to her eyeballs, shot through her. She curled her hands into fists, nails biting into her palms as the pain subsided.
“Deep breaths, Renna. Are you all right?” Samil removed the device from Renna’s face and helped her lean back against the pillows on the bed.
“Damn, Doc. What the hell was that?” Renna asked weakly. She squeezed her eyes shut against the throbbing pain and took a shaky breath.
“A full neural scan. And it should not have been that painful. I’m worried.”
“That makes two of us.” Renna wiped a trickle of sweat from her forehead and tried to force her shoulder muscles to unclench. It felt like her whole body had been squeezed through a tiny tube lined with needles.
Samil muttered something under her breath and pulled Renna’s digital medical records up on her tablet. “I need to run some calculations,” she said, brushing her hair away from her face.
Renna clasped her hands together, resisting the urge to yank the woman’s ponytail holder out of her hair and weave a tight braid to contain the rogue tendrils. “Whatever you need, Doc. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” Samil said with a frown. “Major Dallas wants you to meet him in the debriefing room when we’re done here. I’ll let him know it’ll be a while. You’re in no shape to move right now.”
No thanks to her. Renna gritted her teeth. What the hell was the doctor doing in the first place? She was supposed to be working on a cure, not playing around with new toys and using Renna as a f**king lab rat.
“What’s going on?” Renna asked. “Is the degeneration happening faster now?” She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from the doctor’s lips.
“I’m afraid so. If we don’t figure this out, you’re going to run out of time.” Samil chewed her bottom lip as she studied the monitor. “The neural integration has slowed thanks to the drugs, and your body is fighting really hard to keep it that way. But even more interesting is how the implant is adapting to these changes. If I’m not mistaken, it’s establishing its own pathways, creating external networks instead of the internal ones we’d expect.”
External networks. That had to be how Renna had felt the Athena or how she’d hacked into the servers. But why did it hurt so much?
“I’m going to adjust the medication we’re working on for you. I think we should have something ready by this afternoon. I’m even more hopeful we’ll have a breakthrough by the end of the week.” Samil tucked her tablet back into her coat pocket. “Get some rest for now. I’ll have Major Dallas call for you later when you’re feeling better.” She patted Renna on the shoulder. “We’re going to solve this, Renna. You’re too important to lose right now.” Dr. Samil smiled and left the room, Monty humming along behind her.
“Too important to lose right now,” Renna muttered as she let her eyes drift closed. “What happens when I’m not important anymore?”
A few hours later, Renna rolled over in bed and stretched, feeling her muscles burn and stiffen. Lying around all day wasn’t helping her keep in shape. She needed to get the hell out of here.
Especially if Samil was right and she was running out of time. The urge to be with Finn burned like a glowing ember in the middle of her chest.
The flashing blue light on her tablet caught her eye, and she pushed away the sliver of fear and urgency that was her constant companion lately. Switching on her device, she scanned her messages.
There were the usual sale ads—she saved one from the specialty boudoir underwear designer she liked to splurge on. Twenty-five percent off on bras and lingerie. Maybe MYTH would hold a delivery for her.
There were two feeler emails from potential clients that she deleted without even reading. She didn’t have time for that sort of thing right now. Saving her own skin, ensuring Finn and Myka’s safety, and acting as Renna, Warrior Princess, for the galaxy was a bit more important.
The last message was her weekly subscription to the Galactic Free News. Renna’s gaze lingered briefly on the article about the arrest of Kitty Cordoza, one of most notorious mob bosses in the galaxy. Good. The woman deserved to spend the rest of her life in prison. She was the one who’d crated Myka Aldani and shipped him all over the system. Too bad Renna hadn’t been there to witness her detainment in person.