Free Commandos by Madlen Namro Page A

angrily
slammed his fist against the console. The memory wipe had
not served her well. The lack of those years was exhausting
her mentally and she couldn’t fit back into reality. She felt
stripped of her feelings, empty inside. Her plan was to find
the hacker who would basically bring her back to life. Jo knew Levi well enough not to expect him to change
his mind. He never did. That was why she hadn’t even
asked him for the codes. She had to find another solution. “How would I know that?” The commodore was
furious. She could hear it.
“In that case I’ll see you once I’m back with David.” She floutingly ended the connection. Levi could not
believe she would disobey a direct order. How dare she
make conditions and demand the whereabouts of a hacker
whose location was known only to trackers… and possibly
not even them?
    * * * *
“You have a beautiful little boy,” said the nurse, handing the baby to Diana.
    The emotions she felt at that moment were stronger than anything she had ever experienced in her life. The miracle of birth, alongside death, was one of the two greatest mysteries of life, something that invariably made people think of the fleetingness of life.
    Alec was torn by contradictory feelings. On the one hand, he felt genuine joy at seeing his newborn son; on the other hand, he could not help but worry about the uncertainty of his future. Diana would not stop crying. He could see that for some reason she was deeply unsettled. His happiness was weakened by his complete misunderstanding of his wife’s behaviour.
    “I’ll come to collect the baby in a moment.” The nurse quietly left the room. Alec sat at the edge of the bed and curiously looked down at his son, gently touching his tiny fists and stroking his face and small head. Finally he gathered his courage to lift the boy up and took him for their first stroll around the room. Diana was still in tears. “Give him to me,” she whispered through the tears. The man quickly handed her the child, not wanting to
    further distress his wife.
“And now get out!” She looked at him coldly, leaving
him utterly bemused.
His surprise was so overwhelming that he was
completely lost for words.
“Get out!” she shouted, “Leave! Now!”
Slouched, completely mystified by the situation, still
unable to believe what he’d just heard, he backed out
towards the door at a calm, resigned pace.
There was so much confusion in his life, so many
unresolved matters, questions never to be answered,
remorse over the mistakes he had made. He felt scolded by
life, punished for all his wrong choices. In his search for
retribution he had blamed himself for everything happening
around him. Long, sleepless nights had fuelled his desire
for spiritual expiation, to free himself from the past, to reevaluate his life. Even as he stood at the threshold of this
new chapter marked by the birth of his son, as he held him
in his hands marvelling at the miracle of new life, he still
felt the subconscious certainty that he’d bound his life to
the wrong woman. He decided not to run from
responsibility, regardless of how tempting that prospect
might have seemed. But one thing he knew for certain,
without Jo, his life would be meaningless. It would become
void, never to be filled again, not even by his son. That
conviction made him swear an oath to himself that he
would fight for the woman he loved, fight against all odds
and anyone foolish enough to stand in his way.
    * * * *
    Levi’s pace quickened as he left his shuttle behind him. Now that Jo had so bluntly disobeyed his order he was no longer convinced she would go to pick up David rather than embark on some private quest to seek out Magdalena. She’d cut off all contact. Therefore, he summoned Leon and ordered him to hurry to the hangar and tell the technicians to prepare another space plane for take off. Moments later they met, out of sight of unneeded witnesses, Levi somewhat anxious.
    “Have you prepared the plane?”