Jupiter's Halo Book Two: The Fall

Chapter 12

The expression on his face was filled with perplexity. It creased his handsome brow and did nothing to dispel the image of a wealthy i***t that he seemed to fit so well into.

“You don’t sound like you,” he complained.

“I know. But it is me,” Admina replied.

She had to get used to thinking of herself by a different name now. The procedures were complete, the persona and its various habits practised and perfected as much as time would allow. She was someone else now. Not Admina Earone anymore but not yet fully her target.

The split of the mission and the constraints of time had forced her to adopt a temporary position. An interim disguise that was neither one thing nor the other. She hated it but it was necessary.

She’d chosen the nickname her brother so often used; Red. It was a simple name, easy to react to by habit from the years he’d refused to address her by her real name. It would suffice until she reached her destination and the fullness of her immersion took place.

“I don’t know that. You could be anybody. Why can’t I see you?”

She’d set his image of her to blank, protecting the secrecy of her new face from his inquisitive eyes and endlessly loose tongue.

“It wouldn’t help if you could,” she replied.

They’d been over this. She’d simply wanted to say goodbye and wish him well. To caution him against the foolishness he was so very prone to in her absence. It was not going to be short. The expected timescale was more margin for error than prediction and without a full understanding of the role her target was set to play, they could do nothing more than plan for long, deep cover. It might be years before she saw him again. Daft as he was, he was still her brother and she loved him.

Love wasn’t typically evident in the Martian aristocracy. Duty, loyalty, honour. These were the characteristics deemed important. Her choice of profession, if she’d ever really had a choice, took care of those and by chance, her brother was just the right mix of endearing and playful i***t to engender her affection over the years.

Despite being the older she'd somehow always ended up looking out for him and a part of her couldn't help but worry that should she return, she might do so to find he'd done something terminally stupid without her restraining guidance.

“So you’re just leaving me,” he said with peevish sadness. “No goodbye, no sage words to guide me while you gallivant around the system on your adventures.”

Admina couldn’t help but laugh. He really did have a fantastic imagination and no concept of what her life was like.

“This is your goodbye you fool,” she chided gently. “As for sage words, is there any message I could leave that you would actually heed enough to be useful?”

She saw him chuckle boyishly.

“No, I suppose not. But I promise you wholeheartedly I will try.”

There was sincerity in his words, but the smirk on his face showed the lie of them.

“You understand although you may not see me, I can still see you yes?” She smiled as she spoke, watching his face twist as he grasped the concept she’d had to literally point out.

“I’d forgotten that,” he admitted. “How about I promise to try my best?”

She laughed again and saw the smile on his face as he heard the sound.

“Your laugh hasn’t changed.”

Admina caught herself. That was a problem. She’d worked hard at every aspect, every action and reaction. She had practised the myriad laughs her target had shown and mastered every one. Her brother, it seemed, brought out the innateness of her in a way she couldn’t fight. She would have to remember that.

“Thank you,” she said quietly and again saw how her words caused his features to dance in confusion.

“Pardon?”

Behind her the door to her seclusion suite slid open silently, the light of the outside world reflecting from her screen and masking the picture of Martius’ face.

She turned to see Grayson outlined by the brightness.

“It is time,” he said simply.

Admina nodded.

“I must go,” she spoke to the screen. “Look after yourself as I would.”

She heard the beginning of Martius’ protest but his words were lost as she muted the link.

“I love you, brother.”

She took a last look at his face, staring out from the screen, it’s look of acceptance tinged with sadness and longing. She was going to miss him, but she’d had to say goodbye. Hopefully not for the last time.

“I’m ready,” she said, standing and closing the link.

The screen faded to black, her brother’s face disappearing from her view as it now had to from her mind.

Grayson simply nodded and stood aside to allow her space to exit.

Red Soyal stepped through the opening, leaving the last vestiges of Admina Earone in the darkness of the seclusion suite. Grayson followed, letting the door slide closed behind them.