Sway's Demise Read Free Page A

away the shell in front of the sensory organ. It was essentially blind until then, and he could get near to it without risk of injury.
    The test dummy slumped in the corner with no exoskeleton, and was missing the additional two leg appendages. It looked more like an awkwardly shaped human with too many limbs than a Priyon.
    Sway crept closer to Reese, taking shallow breaths through her nose as the excitement gathered in her chest. What she would do to surprise him was unknown to her, but stealth was necessary to carry out whatever plan happened to emerge.
    He spun from his seat, tackling her to the ground. “Oh thank god, it’s you. If you’d been River, this would be awkward.” He smiled sarcastically, then planted a wanton kiss on her lips which she returned with vigor. Sway’s slender fingers wound through his wavy auburn hair, and she could think of nowhere else she’d rather be than in his arms. All too soon, they pulled away from each other, knowing at any moment they could be without privacy.
    “How was electives hour?” He yanked her from the ground.
    She brushed stray debris from her worn corduroy work pants, grumbling. “The usual: too short, too few tools, grumpy children, grumpier elders.”
    “Did you finish it yet?” He pulled on her hand to sit with him as he continued working the knots.
    “Maybe,” with raised eyebrows, she added, “but maybe not.”
    He smirked, “You didn’t finish it.”
    “I’m so close! Christine said I couldn’t take any tools home, so once again, it will have to wait until tomorrow.” She lied about the pilfered exacto blade hidden carefully in the wall behind the bunk bed she shared with Dymtre. It was where Sway hid all of her prohibited paraphernalia.
    She almost felt bad about it; stealing. It wasn’t as if she didn’t intend to return it eventually. With the except for one item. She found an unguarded pistol years earlier, which quickly became her pistol. She knew without it she would never have made it into the trainee group that started two years previous. Or perhaps she had more of her mother’s marksmanship in her than she knew.
    There was a large search for the pistol, and the armory attendant got in some trouble, but after a few months the hoopla died down. Very suspiciously, nine-millimeter ammunition started disappearing one at a time since then. Even more suspiciously, the shells returned 10 at a time for reloading.
    She was sure someone in Beacon knew she had the pistol. It was hard to hide gunfire no matter how many kilometers she ran out into the forest. Still, no one bothered her for it. It wasn’t as if she was preparing to kill anything, or anyone, she simply found target practice entertaining.
    There was something gratifying in hitting a bullseye on a target forty meters out with just a handgun. Sway knew even some of the best marksmen in Beacon weren’t as accurate at that range, and it gave her immense pride, especially with her mother having been who she was to Beacon.
    Reese pulled her from thoughts of mothers and goodies hiding in her room with a gentle pinch, “Where did you go?”
    “Nowhere. Just thinking about our little two year anniversary present.”
    “Two years.” His brown eyes darted away in thought. “How the time flies.”
    “I only remembered it was two years because it was the day we both tried out for Beacon training. The day I embarrassed you.”
    “We went over this,” He waved his finger at her. “I went easy on you because I was afraid to hurt a girl. We both made it in, didn’t we?”
    Pecking his lips once, she whispered, “Yes, we did.” The eventuality of initiation came rushing to the forefront of her mind, and her palms clammed up. “Are you nervous?”
    “Not a bit. We’ve both made leaps and bounds, progressed beyond all the other initiates, even the older candidates.”
    He pulled her closer, taunting, “Why, are you?”
    “There’s not a single thought of failure in my mind.” A lie. She