Shaping Faith: Chapter 14

Verona followed the woman, who she recognized as Nyra, into the elevator without a sound. As soon as the doors closed, however, she blurted out, “What happened? Will Lani be okay?”

“One of the missions went…wrong. She barely got back alive. We aren’t sure of anything yet.”

Verona tried to press her for more details, but Nyra refused to say anything else. So Verona followed her in worried silence through several checkpoints and into the main hospital wing of the base. She couldn’t help but notice how many people there were rushing through the hallways, or how serious their faces were. Something bigger was going on, Verona was sure of it, but she didn’t care right now. If Lani didn’t make it…

Nyra stopped Verona outside the emergency area, where most of the action was congregated.

“Let me warn you, it’s not pretty,” she said. “We think Lani’s stable for now, but she’s going to have to go into surgery soon. You’ll have a few minutes. That’s all. Don’t touch anything and don’t get in anybody’s way. A second’s delay could mean someone’s life right now. When I say we leave, you come. Understand?”

Verona nodded mutely.

Nyra pushed open the door and led Verona inside.

The first thing Verona noticed was the smell and the noise. The air reeked of blood and antiseptics, and although most of the patients were hidden behind white curtains, the urgent tone of doctors’ voices and the occasional spot of blood on the floor only fueled Verona’s imagination. Thankfully, Lani’s cubicle wasn’t far from the entrance. Verona pulled the curtain aside and went in, forcing down her nausea.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to Lani, who lay semiconscious on what was little more than a mobile bed. The bright, fluorescent lighting threw every detail into nightmarish relief – the bandages swathing the older girl’s shoulder, the way her eyelashes fluttered weakly. Verona didn’t think she had ever seen someone look so pale.

All Verona wanted was to pull Lani into a long hug, but instead she knelt by the bed and took Lani’s hand. She glanced up at the nurse who was monitoring Lani’s vital signs.

“What the hell happened?”

“Stray lasergun shot,” he said, shaking his head. “It only grazed her, but the police had them on the highest setting.”

Verona’s eyes widened. The highest setting on a lasergun had a blast radius that could kill three people, if they were standing next to each other. What on earth had Lani been doing, to merit such force?

“She’s still got plasma burns all down her left side. She’ll be going into surgery soon, to graft some new skin and encourage her old skin to heal,” the nurse said, glancing down at Lani’s prone figure.

Lani shifted in her bed. Verona’s eyes darted to her face. Her eyes blinked open and tried to focus on Verona. “You came…” she mumbled.

“She’s probably pretty out of it – there’s a lot of painkiller in her system right now,” the nurse said.

Verona nodded and squeezed Lani’s hand more tightly. “You’ll be fine,” she told Lani. “I’m sure you’ll be.”

Lani smiled weakly. “I know. All part … of the job. I’ll be up and about … in no time.”

Somehow, Verona doubted that, but she figured Lani was trying to make the best of the situation.

Seeing the look on Verona’s face, Lani gave a weak laugh. “I’m glad you came,” she said, her eyelids starting to flutter. “I’ve missed having you around.”

Verona smiled. “Me too.” Though I really wish this wasn’t why I got to see her again.

Behind Verona, she heard curtains being pulled back. She turned to see two more people enter. “It’s time for her to have the surgery,” one of them said, not unkindly. Verona gave Lani one last encouraging smile time and left the cubicle.

Once outside, she sagged, letting her breath out in a huge rush of air and forcing down the urge to retch. She never wanted to be by someone’s sickbed again. Just seeing Lani lying there, looking so helpless – it was such a contrast to the spirited, passionate friend she knew. Lani didn’t deserve to be lying there with half her side blown off.

Nyra was there, waiting for Verona, but she was tactful enough to give her time to compose herself. In a moment, Verona straightened up.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “Should I just go back to class now?”

“It’s all right,” Nyra said. “But we need to talk. Follow me.”

Verona followed her out of the emergency wing and down a side hallway where there was nobody around. Speaking in a voice quiet enough that Verona had to strain to hear it, the woman began.

“What happened back there – letting you see Lani – that was extremely irregular. I’m sure you noticed it wasn’t just Lani in need of medical attention.”

Verona nodded.

“The specifics don’t matter – all you need to know is that Lani was leading a mission, an important one, and it failed. More than that – it was a disaster.” Nyra’s voice broke and her lips compressed into a thin line. Just for a moment, Verona could see how upset Nyra really was. Then the older woman regained her composure.

“Lani was lucky to get out alive,” Nyra said flatly. “We lost half our strike teams – some captured, some killed. Important people, Verona. They shouldn’t be able to tell them very much thanks to our techniques, but to be frank, those techniques are nearly untested. We aren’t sure if they will work. So to be safe, we’re moving.”

“What?” Verona said.

“We’re evacuating all the unimportant people to a lesser base, at least temporarily. The alert should come in an hour. But more importantly, we’re speeding everything up. We need new strike teams, and fast. We lost years of work tonight. Many good people. We’re accelerating your group’s training. Normally, you wouldn’t be promoted for at least another month, but we’re doing it now. And we have a proposition for you.”

Verona swallowed. “What is it?”

“We want you to lead a strike team. We want to train you in Lani’s job.”

Verona gaped at her, leaning against the wall to steady herself. Images of Lani, lying in bed covered in bandages flashed through her mind, but Lani’s face was replaced with her own.

“It wouldn’t be any time soon,” Nyra hurried to say, seeing Verona’s astonishment. “You’ve got plenty of training to do before then – you’d probably get at least three months.”

Verona found her voice. “Are you flipping kidding me?” she gasped. “You think after seeing – that – I’d agree to go out on one of your spy missions and get killed?”

“Like I said, you’d have plenty of time to train –“

Verona cut her off. “Why on earth would you pick me? Why don’t you give me a job I’m actually good at? All I wanted was to be a Shaper – you’ve got plenty of Shaping that needs doing! Let me do that! Go ask Kyle, or someone who’s good at all this. Someone who actually wanted to be here!”

She was shouting now, out of control, but she didn’t care. The nerve of them – to ask her, after what she had just seen –

Nyra’s eyes were sparkling dangerously. “Calm yourself, Verona,” she snapped. “Do you think we’re stupid? We’ve had our eye on you ever since Lani persuaded us you were worth rescuing. We were going to wait longer, of course, but under the circumstances…”

Verona folded her arms. “So what? It’s not like I’ve turned out to be anything special.”

“On the contrary, we haven’t been disappointed,” Nyra countered. “You’re a quick thinker. You like learning. You’ve picked up combat skills fairly well. But we’ve also picked you for your Shaping ability. We were watching what you did in the combat simulation – the move with the gun was exactly the sort of innovation we need. The kind we could help you hone. We know things, Verona, about Shaping and about the Rooms – tricks and techniques above and beyond even the most skilled Shapers. Tricks that are useful in all kinds of places – even in battle.”

Verona was startled to find that the offer began to look a little more tempting. A few extra tidbits of knowledge aren’t worth getting yourself killed!

“We’re not going to compel you,” Nyra said. “But I would like to remind you – we’re doing this for Nirvana. For the sake of every citizen of the Hundred Worlds. What we do here could help millions of people achieve Balance. It will shorten the cycle by generations. Some would say it is your duty to do this.”

Verona found she couldn’t meet Nyra’s eyes and averted her gaze. As terrifying as the risk was, Nyra’s words cut deeply. These people were guided by Nirvana, after all – and Nirvana would know whether or not Verona could handle it. It was Verona’s duty.

And though she’d never admit it, the thought of being able to leave this hole in the ground every once in a while was very tempting. And out from under the Blocking field, perhaps she could even contact Analia. Maybe she could make amends.

“I’ll do it,” said Verona quietly.

Nyra nodded and clasped Verona’s hand. “Thank you.”