27
Ren screamed as a final current of electrical shock surged through her body.
“Please, stop!”
Lissa Grubeck flipped a switch and the voltage stopped.
“Will you hesitate next time?”
Ren fell off the operating table.
She was on a spaceship traveling through hyperspace. A leather strap secured her arm to the table.
“An Emperess must not hesitate,” Lissa said. She entered a command on the door, and it opened.
Ren watched every keystroke…
Ten…
Five…
Four…
She grouped the last numbers into a sequence, as her algebra teacher taught her to do.
Ninety three thousand seven hundred and thirty nine…two four.
Her mind was hyper-aware, and she noticed everything, even the hairs on Grubeck’s arms as she exited the room.
She filed the numbers away.
Dyne picked Ren up. She was sweating, h
