Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

34. Prison Break-In

A furrow formed on Meyer's brow for a split second. He had never heard of "Purification", but it sounded like it had something to do with the Purge. That operation, however, was largely considered over. Perhaps it was the name for their current mode of operation – the final moments of the Purge, their ongoing hunt of the last remaining augments that hid throughout space.

"A staggering amount of people have requested duty on Helion 7, Major General," Neris said. "That should give you an idea just about how desperate they are."

Yaremova didn't reply, she just lowered her head.

"You are good at starting a fire, Yaremova, but you will need to keep it from burning out too soon," Neris said. "That fire alone cannot fuel unconditional loyalty."

"Yes, Sir..." she muttered, and Meyer began to understand where she might have gotten her ideas of honor and loyalty from in the first place.

"What about Project Astraea then?" Neris asked.

He turned around to face Yaremova now, and fixed his dark-eyed gaze on her. Standing behind her, Meyer couldn't see her face, but the fact that she was speechless for a second told Meyer enough. Astraea was another project he had never heard of before, and he kept his ears peeled in curiosity.

"Still ongoing, Sir," she finally answered cryptically.

"How many men are on it?"

"Just me, at the moment, Sir."

Neris rubbed his hand over his perfectly shaved chin and seemed to ponder something.

"Yaremova," he addressed her, and the softness in his voice made Meyer raise an eyebrow in surprise, while the so addressed seemed to tense up even more.

"I need you focused on your work. Your actual work. Which is to run this station and coordinate Purification. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," she said in a flat voice.

"I appreciate your efforts, but if you burn out our forces now, we will never even get to those later phases of Purification, do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied again. The man talked to her as if she was a child, and to Meyer's utter disbelief, her answers somehow made her sound like one.

"Furthermore..." Neris' gaze darted away from her face and met Meyer's for a moment. "I would like you to reconsider killing prisoners on stage during your sermons. We have the authority to kill them, but the circumstances we write into those reports still matter."

"I understand, Sir," she answered through gritted teeth. "But that man, Becker... he was..."

"He was guilty, yes," Neris said. "Nonetheless-"

"He was vermin, Sir," Yaremova interrupted him.

Neris' second eyebrow shot up to meet his first, near where his hair line would have been, if he hadn't shaved the rest of his head completely.

"He collaborated with the worst of the worst of them," she continued her furious ranting unfazed, "He enticed desertion, and he-"

"Yes, yes, I know all that," Neris waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, and Meyer could see the scars on them. They were fainter than the ones on the man's face, but still clearly visible on his dark skin.

"But the point stands. Not on stage. Not like that. Understood?"

"...yes, Sir," she said, hesitantly.

"Good. Now there's one last thing. Doctor Blake is on his way here and I-"

"Blake?" she groaned. "Why is this abominable cretin still allowed to even set foot on this planet?!"