Chapter 18. A Daughter of Shadows
Elara stood before a wall of screens in Damien’s underground command center, one of the last remnants of Voss intelligence not compromised by Spiral. Surveillance footage, decrypted data packets, intercepted communication signals, everything flowed in a river of noise around her.
"Run the feed again," she said.
Juno, Damien’s lead analyst, tapped a key. On screen, Elara’s mother, Dr. Mairee Solen appeared in grayscale. Her gait was as sharp as Elara remembered: purposeful, powerful, rehearsed.
"She’s using her old Resistance cipher," Juno noted. "Layered with new Spiral tech."
"So she wants me to find her," Elara murmured.
Damien stepped into the room, arms crossed. "Or she wants to lead you somewhere you won’t come back from."
Elara didn’t blink. "Then we go anyway."
Damien watched her closely. There was a fire in her now, not the reckless kind, but something honed. Precise.
"You’ve changed," he said softly.
She turned to him. "I’m not just fighting for survival anymore. I’m fighting for clarity."
Kira’s fingers trembled as she tried to hold the disassembly tool. The plasma bolt rattled, nearly slipping from her grip.