Opheliac by J. F. Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page A

taken advantage of.
    â€œJust who I wanted to see,” Jaes said.
    Alan raised an eyebrow, taking off his shoes. “I am?”
    â€œYes, I’ve been reviewing the information retrieved from Bean and Sprout with Sir Orioltogorthan. We know the Basatlavan’s next step and a number of their overall goals.”
    â€œI see.” Alan couldn’t help but be stung by the fact that his roommate and his boss already met and made decisions on Alan’s project. I shouldn’t be surprised. Sir Oriol enjoys undermining me any chance he gets. I’m his secret, disgraceful weapon that he’ll deny having ever used. Yet, for someone who’s the scum of the ship, I seem to have the best ideas on how to handle the Earth charges as well as make progress in our mission.
    Jaes gave him a weak smile. “I apologize. It’s my fault. The information being pulled from her was far too vital to wait for Sir Oriol to let go of his pride long enough to listen to you.”
    â€œI wouldn’t know. I haven’t looked yet.” His voice was a lot more terse than he had intended.
    Jaes’s expression softened. “I’m aware you’ve been on Earth observing. Believe me when I say I didn’t intend to go behind your back with this information. Like I said, it is vital to our cause, and could end the war, at least for this part on Earth. We’ll be having a meeting tomorrow. Sir Oriol and I are creating the strategy for our next mission. It involves the Basatlavan’s betrayal of the Gelandrosimbol. We also are confident we can capture, track, and rehabilitate more of the enemy charges.” His roommate was practically beaming. Alan should have been happier. All of those things were goals for his people ever since they arrived at Earth. If they succeeded, he could possibly return home to Altura early until his next station was selected. At the very least, he could join his father on another ship also orbiting Earth on the other side of the planet. So why did he feel so sad?
    Alan faked a smile. “Good to hear. The capture of my ex and the Doctor would be a huge step. Taking their charges would be beneficial as well. Bean and Sprout were a huge leap in progress, but neither of their tribes can know that we have gained access to them. We gathered a few other charges not long ago, but they were lesser-ranked and had no valuable information. Even our enemy won’t take them back. Rehabilitating them would be the best thing to do. I’m glad we finally can in a way that is painless and simpler.”
    Jaes nodded. “Getting the Ilotus has given us the chance to make some real advancements. There is centuries of information stored on it.”
    â€œImpressive,” Alan deadpanned.
    â€œIs something wrong?”
    â€œIt just seems too easy. Capture, rehabilitate, win. I don’t want to lose my realism. Anything could happen. The teenagers we’ve captured and tagged already weren’t afraid of us. They’ve been under our watch for months and have been so indifferent to all contact that has been made. It makes me nervous. The few we have rehabilitated or gotten to join our side, I’m not sure how much I trust them.”
    A scowl formed on Jaes’s face. “Yes, we took them from the Doctor, learned their identity, and they’ve since been abandoned. Watching them has proven to be…fruitless. Granted, there are only a handful of them that we were able to capture. We have the names of more, thanks to our double agent. If the other tribes knew how informed we are, they’d be a lot more aggressive against us and the Earth teenagers they have taken charge over. I’d prefer they abandon the teens they’ve already experimented on. It only helps us. The teens who have chosen to join our side have proven useful in other ways. They’re almost ready to join our teams.”
    Alan wasn’t so sure he agreed, but he wasn’t the