Manipulate (Book 1, Alien Cadets)

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Shara watched Greg push his claws into the wet square of cement and planned her first murder. She stood in the middle of the crowd, blending in and eyeing her target. She didn’t want to draw the attention of the security guys, or even worse, Greg himself. If anyone could identify her as a Rik assassin, it was him.

Even Greg would need a lot of luck to identify her in this crowd, however. She felt relatively safe. After all, she was human now, not Rik.

When Greg was done pop-starring himself, the cadets began to scatter. The sun beat down on the pale concrete, making the courtyard blaze. Most of the tourists had on sunglasses. She should have gotten some. Sam and a few of his friends continued to speak to the press, others clumped in groups, talking among themselves. Sam and Nat were among her primary kill targets, but today was for Target One, Jonathan.

Jonathan was one of five cadets who would be primary witnesses in the Earth’s trial. He was the primary for the Los Angeles group, and he was her task today. The other primaries, in the other cities, would be taken care of today also.

Shara knew his personality profile by heart. He was friendly, homely, and brilliant. He had an eidetic memory, probably part of the reason they chose him. He was also one of the few cadets who’d been disciplined for ‘inappropriate behavior,’ during his Spo training. Shara suspected that he’d been fooling around with one of the girl cadets. He was a good target.

He stepped away from the crowd into a tiny shop at the back of the courtyard. Shara followed him. The shop sold postcards and fake Golden Globe awards that said, “#1 Grandson,” and things like that.

The store was two steps lower than the courtyard, and she stepped down into the dimness with a feminine sway to her hips. That’s what her tutor taught her in his ‘seductive technique’ lesson. Jonathan was in here, all right, looking at postcards of women in small bathing suits.

Shara got close to him, a matter of a few steps, and looked at some of the postcards. They didn’t appeal to her very much. The women would look better with fitted clothes and maybe some knee high boots. Shara wore a pair of fantastic velvet Capri’s she’d discovered in the clothing district. Earth culture never ceased to amaze her. The sheer volume of their output was remarkable. For instance, these pants hugged her bottom just right, and she’d found some wonderful earrings at Rocks and Runes. She felt pretty and sexy, all those human hormones were fantastic. The outfit was just right for seducing and kidnapping a cadet. She might change clothes before she did the killing, though. This outfit didn’t say, “Killer,” to her. Something more yellow, perhaps.

She saw Jonathan glance at her, and she looked up at him with wide eyes. “Oh wow. You’re one of them, huh?” She giggled. “Can I take a picture with you?”

“Uh… sure.” She snuggled up and put her arm around him, pulling out her cell phone to snap a picture.

“Thanks!” she said. “How long do you get to hang out here?”

“A couple hours…’till four.”

Shara held onto him. “Did you know we’re right next to the Hollywood Bowl? I was gonna go check it out. Do you wanna come?”

“I’m not supposed to leave,” he said, taking a step toward the door.

“Are you sure?” Shara asked. “It’d be so much fun to see it with you. See, I’ve had this goal.” She lowered her voice, getting close to him, and whispering, “I want to make out on the stage of the Hollywood bowl. But my boyfriend dumped me last week. Can you believe it? Now I don’t have anybody. What can I do?”

Jonathan turned pink. “I would come. But if I disappear, there’s security – “

“Oh, I’ll bring you back in time!” Shara said. “We’ll just have some fun first. Don’t they let you have any fun?”