EXCERPT
“I hate to see you go, Two. I am very reluctant to send you on this mission, but you are our best operative, and this is a delicate situation.” He turned his attention to the office door when it opened and shut again. “Schmidt…you have the details of the mission?”
“Of course.” Schmidt settled himself into a chair, then gave her a nod. “Two.” She held her breath as he securitized her for a moment, a note of approval lighting his blue eyes. “She is an excellent choice for this exercise.”
Exercise? I am being forced into a deathtrap with a one-way ticket. She sighed.
At least Schmidt was a little easier to deal with. Although the two men had worked together for many years, he lacked the cruel edge that emanated from his partner.
“Sir, may I ask the objective of the mission and to which planet I will be sent?”
Freydis ran from the shelter of the porch to dance beneath the silver moonbeams and watch the shower of ice warriors twisting high above the trees. It was the legend. Yet she knew they were only snowflakes caught in the high north wind. Soon they would flutter harmlessly to the ground. She tilted her face to the sky and felt exhilarated as the crisp breeze caressed her cheeks.
A chill shot down her spine, and she swore she saw a shadow darkening the snow-covered ground. She scanned the woods and the horizon but found nothing there. “All this superstitious mumbo jumbo has gone to your head, Freydis,” she mumbled, then shivered and rubbed her arms. It wasn’t just the cold that caused her to tremble. After another quick glance at the eclipse, she rushed into the cottage and slammed the door because she couldn’t shake the feeling that something or someone was out there watching her.