Free State of Alliance by Summer Lane

head.
    “No idea,” he says. “My best guess…an Omega spy.”
    “Who are you?” Chris growls.
    The man laughs. It’s a cruel sound.
    “You’re going to die,” he says gruffly. “All of you. You can’t stop Omega.”
    He jerks his head toward me. Even though he can’t see me – or touch me – I feel like I’ve been slapped. A dark, ugly feeling of foreboding squeezes my chest like an icy fist.
    Chris punches the man in the face, and he goes out like a light.
    “Take him,” Chris says, rising. He looks at Uriah.
    I take a few steps closer as the guards gather the man’s limp, unconscious body. As far as anyone knew, he – and the man who tried to stab me - was a soldier in the militia just like everybody else here.
    Not anymore.
    “I don’t get it,” I say. “He shot the man behind me.”
    I turn, seeing the dead officer at the table behind ours.
    “No,” Chris replies, his voice dark. “He was aiming for you.”
    He places his hand on my shoulder.
    We’re not safe here, either. We’re not safe anywhere.
    The shooter’s name is Luther. The man who tried to stab me is in critical condition, in a jail cell somewhere. Luther is sitting in a room with concrete walls and a one-way window. I stare at him through protective glass, watching his bloodshot eyes dart to the door.
    “He’s not insane,” Devin says, standing there, arms crossed. “He’s an infiltrator. An Omega hack.”
    Chris pauses. “We had an infiltrator aiming a laser at the Capitol Building dome in Sacramento,” he says. “And now you’ve got an assassination attempt on a California senator inside what should be an impenetrable compound.”
    “It was impenetrable,” Devin replies. “This guy is a patrol, a grounds guard. Remember Commander Amal, the Mediator in the Negotiations? She’s the Commander of the militia group Seahawks . He’s one of her men. Supposed to be trustworthy.”
    “Trusting people is the first mistake we make,” I murmur. “Trust no one.”
    Devin and Chris remain silent. My words sink in and I watch the spy in the interrogation chamber. He is not a psych case. He is calmly, defiantly sitting there, fully aware of what he has done.
    How is Omega doing this?
    How are they planting people so blatantly within our ranks?
    I say, “Let’s keep our priorities straight. We’ll find out if California was accepted into the Alliance by morning. This can wait.”
    “The vote was delayed,” Devin replies. “You might not find out until tomorrow afternoon.”
    I sigh.
    Vera is right. How long does it take to come to a decision? California should join. Period. What’s there to talk about?
    We exit the room – a dark, sterile place meant for observation of those being interrogated.
    “Senator, this won’t happen again,” Devin promises. “I mean, since the EMP, we haven’t had anything like this happen here. This is a freak thing.”
    “My security detail will take care of it,” I tell him, smiling slightly.
    In the moments after the assassination attempt, my mouth went completely dry, my hands shook and I felt slightly faint. Something about nearly being killed in a place that I trusted to be completely safe rocked my core.
    I have confidence that Chris, Uriah, and the rest of my unit will keep me safe while I’m here – and not for my sake. For the sake of California.
    By the time we reach our hotel rooms, Devin turns to Chris.
    “Hey. Can I talk to you for a second, man?”
    Chris nods. I stand at my hotel room door and watch the two of them wander to the end of the hall, still in sight but out of earshot. Judging by the expression on Chris’s face and the way Devin gestures to me, I’m guessing that they’re talking about me.
    Shocker.
    I roll my eyes and take my room key out of my pocket, slip it into the lock and open the door. It’s cool inside, musty. The dark wood of the bed and the table blend in with the floor. A solar-powered lantern is sitting on the table. I flick it on, giving