Stella has given her life to the Coalition, but her soul belongs to the men on her team. When they see something they shouldn’t, her men are locked in stasis while she is held hostage to keep the charade of their situation hidden. Her cooperation is the ransom to keep her men alive and when someone offers her an opportunity to rescue them, she would give anything to see them free. Anything.
The monitor with the current date and time scrolling across the bottom of the screen was always within her reach. Captain Stella Yivell was tortured with the image of her men in comas with minimal brain activity. The split screen gave her another image of their data history.
“You will be ready this evening, Stella, or your little troupe will be reduced by one.” Councilman Arken Shahs was a handsome man, but just looking at him made Stella queasy.
“I will be ready.” She faced him when she spoke. He hated talking to her back and she wasn’t always able to hide the bruises in the clingy evening gowns he required her to wear.
He looked as if he wanted to pick a fight, but he turned and left her alone with the images of her men.
Her men, her team. They had trusted her to keep them safe, but stumbling into the remains of a black op after an entire population had been killed for mineral rights had put them in way over their heads. They were a standard check and report patrol, running one day ahead of schedule. One simple day.
