The Betrayal RW Chapter 4 snippet 1

With a groan she opened her eyes, and a curse escaped her lips as she closed them again. Damn, she mused, the light was brighter then the remembered it being. Using a hand to block it from her eyes, she slowly opened them again. Taking a quick glance around her, she found that she was lying on a bunk in the medical bay of the Roanoke.

Closing her eyes again, she let out a long, slow sigh of frustration at everything. Just how the hell had she ended up in here, she thought. The last thing she remembered was being aboard the Toronto. Obviously, for her to be here; something had to happen and she didn’t have a clue about what it was.

Opening her eyes again, she saw Reynolds crossing the room towards her bed. A single glance at her face told Kate that something was drastically wrong. Unlike her, the doctor was unable to keep anyone from reading her face. Which made her an easy mark in the officer’s poker games, she thought with a chuckle.

“Ugh,” she groaned as Reynolds stopped beside her bed and analyzed the readings over Kate’s head. “I’m not dead…but why do I feel like I am?”

“You passed out,” Reynolds said, her face a mask of both worry and relief.

A terrible pounding was throbbing away at the back of her head, causing Kate to close her eyes again. Taking a deep breath, she found the cool air to feel good to her nostrils and that it seemed to relieve the pain somewhat. If it were possible, she would swear that an elephant was rampaging around in her head, given the level of pain she was feeling. What the hell was wrong with her anyway, she asked herself with another sigh.

“Damn that hurts,” she said as she closed her eyes again, the darkness helping to relieve the pain slightly.

“Skipper,” Reynolds said. “What do you remember?”

“What do I remember?” Kate frowned as thoughts crossed her mind. “I remember being on the Toronto if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That’s not what I’m asking,” the doctor’s voice turned serious. “Do you want to talk to her, Jennifer?”

“Kate,” Loving said as she stepped up to the bed. “You said you didn’t remember events I know happened.”

“I said I was having dreams about sniper rifles,” Kate said. “But I don’t remember any being there.”

“That’s the point,” Loving said, placing a hand on Kate’s shoulder. “They were there-and you can’t remember it. Why?”

“How the hell should I know?” Kate said, kneading her forehead to try to make it stop hurting.

“Because you’ve spent the last two days talking about events that no one knew about,” Loving said. “We never were able to determine fully what you did when you escaped the APC’s, but you talked about it in your sleep.”

“I did?” Kate pursed her eyebrows together. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You were talking to Rear Admiral Reyes,” Loving said. “Does that ring a bell?”

The mention of the former Intelligence Chief’s name made Kate’s eyes snap open. She felt them harden as she looked at Loving in contemplation. The man had been one cold bastard, she reflected, and just the mention of his name gave her the willies. There was something about him that made her wonder: would he have done something to her? And the answer that kept coming back was: yes. If he had thought he would benefit from it, he would have.

But the idea of wiping memories is outlandish, she thought. Isn’t it?

As she lay there, a rage started to build in her body. For some reason, and one she couldn’t support with evidence, she had a feeling he had done something to her. It was utterly outrageous to think he did, but she did. If anything, it fit his personality to do something like that anyway.

“That son of a bitch,” Kate snarled.

“What is it, Kate?”

“I can’t believe I trusted the son of a bitch,” Kate shook her head. “How could I have been so stupid?”