Chapter 21 · Dead Girl First

The scan room smelled like ozone and disinfectant. Keira stood in front of the biometric terminal and made sure her hands shook.

Not hard to fake. She'd barely slept. The chip Rian handed her last night was still tucked inside her boot liner, and her knuckles still ached from where she'd clocked him in the jaw before dragging his sorry ass out of that burning storage bay.

She was supposed to run. That's what the chip told her to do. But she didn't run, and now she was here, first in line for the scan that was going to rip her fake ID apart.

"Morris. Step forward."

Taren's voice. Of course.

Keira shuffled forward and kept her eyes down. Played the part. Exhausted human prisoner, beat to hell, no fight left. She'd thrown the last three training sims. Stumbled through morning drills. Let Selyra's tactical brief yesterday slide right past her like she didn't understand half the terms.

Taren stood beside the terminal, arms crossed. His pale Valkan eyes tracked her every step.

"Hand on the scanner. Look into the lens."

She obeyed. Slow. Hesitant.

The machine hummed to life.