Insignia by S. J. Kincaid Read Free Book Online Page B

idly turned it back and forth, watching it glint in the light. Knowing he was being manipulated didn’t make him feel any better about it.
    “If you’re not going to use those meal credits, can I?”
    The voice startled him. Tom’s gaze jolted. It took him a long moment to remember the English language and the fact that he was capable of using it.
    “So that wasn’t an avatar.”
    “Nope.” Heather Akron was impossibly prettier in person, with her dark brown hair escaping its loose ponytail, her yellow-brown eyes like no color he’d seen naturally before. This time, she wore a uniform: camouflage trousers and dark tunic. The bald eagle insignia of the Intrasolar Forces was on her collar, and beneath it were four triangular points stacked on top of one another, like the tips of arrows shooting upward. “Yours isn’t an avatar, either,” she teased.
    “No.” It wasn’t so funny this time, knowing she was seeing him up close.
    “May I?” She gestured to the keycard.
    “It’s the general’s. Go nuts.”
    Heather’s eyes twinkled as she took it. “Thanks. I used up my snack allotment for this week on lattes. It’s so bad, but I can’t say no to myself sometimes.”
    “You don’t have to. Say no to yourself, I mean. Not about lattes.” He stumbled over the words as she leaned in closer—close enough for her breath to brush his skin.
    “How about General Marsh buys us both a drink, Tom?”
    “That’s a great idea.” As long as Heather said his name like that while smiling at him like that, he’d agree that jumping in a nuclear reactor was a great idea, too.
    Heather winked. “Perfect!” And she swept off to the coffee stand across the mess hall.
    He watched her hips sway away and tried to think of witty things to say when she finally returned, even though he knew after that, she’d be gone. Beautiful girls didn’t hang around to talk to short, ugly guys with bad acne.
    So he was all the more astonished a few moments later when she lowered herself across the table from him and slid a drink his way, her fingers poking out of the holes of what looked like biker gloves or something. He could see the Intrasolar Forces insignia on her palm, too. He knew what that bald eagle insignia looked like with his eyes closed. He’d seen it on the internet, on the news. He’d never even dared to hope he might get a chance to wear it himself. He knew he was crazy, even hesitating like this.
    “I know I should cut back,” Heather lamented, sipping at her drink, “but I’m such a caffeine addict. I just love how wired it leaves me.”
    “Yeah,” Tom agreed, unsure what he was agreeing with, and took an overlarge gulp of the drink she’d given him. The hot liquid singed his tongue.
    “So how about it, Tom? Are you going to be a plebe soon?”
    He wasn’t sure how to answer that.
    “Oh, but I saw how you handled that tank simulation,” Heather went on. “I bet you won’t be a plebe for long. There are promotions twice a year, and I bet you’ll move quickly to Middle Company. After that, it’s Upper Company, and then, if you can network with the right people and get a corporate sponsor, you’ll join the Combatant group.”
    “Camelot Company,” Tom said, awed.
    “It’s mostly civilians that use the full name. We’re called CamCo here.”
    Tom straightened. “We?”
    “Uh-huh. I’m in CamCo.”
    He gaped at her. He’d probably seen her in action, too. Probably seen clips of her on the internet. “What’s your call sign? I bet I’ve heard of you!”
    “Well, I’m a newer Combatant, but maybe you have. I go by Enigma.”
    Enigma . He’d seen her! She was sponsored by Wyndham Harks, and he remembered this time on Jupiter’s moon Io … Oh, and that time on Saturn’s moon Titan, when … A half-dozen battles from the last few months flipped through his head. “I can’t believe it,” Tom marveled. “You’re Enigma. You’re one of the best. I remember that time you guys were fighting on