Free Rebel's Quest by Gun Brooke

her head and her body, she massaged them in as if she was rubbing her cloaked persona off.
    After the shower, she punched in a command, and the body-dryer did its job within ten seconds. Her hair was curlier than she liked it, and she made a face as she brushed it before braiding it. She suddenly remembered how, on several occasions, Roshan’s soft hands had performed this task. They’d shared a dorm room at the University of Ganath for almost two lunar years. Good friends, bordering on something more, they’d never had the opportunity to explore the possibilities because the occupation tore them apart.
    Jin-Jin O’Landha, Roshan’s strong, almost regal mother, had fought the Onotharians valiantly, and it had torn Andreia’s heart out to learn months later of her death. By then, Roshan had already withdrawn from her. Her hatred for all Onotharians had been strong enough to almost touch.
    Roshan quit medical school, as did Andreia; her family had pressured her to join the “movement,” their euphemism for the atrocities their race committed, which had left her few options.
    As Andreia pulled back the covers and sat on the bed, memories of the last decades flooded her. It had taken her almost a year to join the resistance as a covert informer, and after five, her detailed and accurate intel had paved the way for her to assume command, albeit from a distance and with Ily and Bondar O’Dal as her only confidants. After Bondar was ambushed and killed in action sixteen lunar years ago, Ily alone remained by her side, together with two assistants.
    In the meantime, Roshan, who’d lashed out at Andreia so vehemently when the war began, sold out to the Onotharians, an act which Andreia couldn’t understand and never forgave. We killed your mother, whom you idolized. As for Roshan’s father…Andreia shuddered. She didn’t want to remember what had happened to Roshan’s father a few years later.
    A sound rattled against her dresser across the room, and she flinched. The Class 1 transmitter buzzed repeatedly as Andreia hurried to it, her mind reeling. This couldn’t be good news.
    Uncertain if someone was attempting to compromise her identity, Andreia pressed the switch to respond. “Yes.”
    Unintelligible sounds came from the transmitter, and at first Andreia thought the voice scrambler was malfunctioning.
    “…under attack!”
    “Who is this?”
    “Paladin to Boyoda. Come in. I ran into an ambush. I am under attack!”

    *

    Andreia’s mind whirled as she tried to wrap her brain around what Paladin just said.
    “Are you injured?”
    “Yes. I fell off my bike and lost my firearm. I can’t contact anyone else. Four OECS agents are down, and I can’t see the last one.”
    “Do you have any weapons to hold off the assailant?”
    Static drowned out Paladin’s first words. “…laser-blade, that’s all. Damn!” More noise and a loud thud. “These are my coordinates. Request backup.” The transmitter beeped twice, and a string of numbers showed in the display. “I’ve found an opening to an old yellow-topaz mine. The minerals protect me, but I can’t transmit in there…” More unintelligible words came through the static. “I can play hide and seek with this guy for a while, but with my injury I’m in trouble.”
    Andreia thought quickly. She couldn’t transmit anything to the leaders from her private quarters without risking exposure. And they couldn’t afford to lose Paladin or, worse, have her alive in enemy hands, to be interrogated. Andreia knew the OECS’s methods well, and they sickened her.
    “Stand by, Paladin.” Andreia decided not to waste any time. Using the map setting on the large view screen in her bedroom, she punched in the coordinates. Paladin was trapped in the dense forest north of Ganath.
    “I’m on the move again.” Paladin sounded out of breath. “I hear him behind me, but he’s still on his bike, and as long as I stay low…Your guess is as good as mine. Will you be