Settling in at ISS proved a whole new experience for Christen. Their training program was intense in a whole different sense of the word, and although Moore's tutelage had prepared her well, it still felt like being caught up in a maelstrom of rules, protocols, and new experiences.

When training finished, she placed eighth in the cadet rankings out of two hundred. Moore suggested that she does just well enough to be noticed but not too well. If she placed any lower, they would not assign her to him, and if she placed any higher, she would be absorbed into the advanced training program.

Moore wanted her at his side; whatever training she needed, she would get in the field and under his tutelage.

He was a legend at ISS, and the Major would have been a specialist by now if not for something that happened in the past.

***

"How are things going?" Dana asked when Christen had a moment to herself in the locker room, although she wasn't alone.

*CLOSE OBSERVATION OF MY FELLOW CADETS AND INSTRUCTORS GIVE ME THE FEELING SOME OF THEM ARE NOT QUITE WHAT THEY SEEM. MOORE HAS ADMITTED THAT THE BRASS HAVE SUBTLY SIDELINED HIM SINCE THE MISSION AT THE BASE. THEY KEEP SENDING US ON FIELD MISSIONS THAT TURN OUT TO BE A WHOLE LOT OF SURVEILLANCE AND A WASTE OF TIME. THEY EVEN BLAME HIM FOR THE MASSACRE AT THE BASE, DESPITE BEING CLEARED BY THE THE REVIEW BOARD AT A SUPER-SECRET HEARING.*

"Moore isn't wrong. Before the debacle at the base, he was in line for a promotion, but now someone has red-flagged his file. It wasn't Weiss, but security issues prevent him from telling us who had the authority to do that.

"Major Lagerveldt's file had been red-flagged since the bus incident; her red flag status had been downgraded to black, which means she's one false move away from desk duty in some basement. Before the bus thing, Lagerveldt had a white flag status which meant someone had marked her career for being fast-tracked."

*WHAT BUS THING?*

"Moore didn't tell you?" Dana asked, seeming surprised.

*NO.*

Dana sent her the files, and she read most of them even before she shut the locker door and returned to the main floor.

"Your file has been green-flagged for review since Moore showed an interest in training you. That means that no matter how well you fare, your career will go nowhere as long as Moore has you in his new unit."

Dana had modified the standard-issue ISS watch for Christen's needs since she wasn't allowed to wear any other, but it still had a few glitches. Just then, the reception was spotty.

Weiss had her assigned to Moore the day she graduated, and although they had gathered a large amount of information on ISS personnel, they still didn't have the access or opportunity to learn any more.

*THE ONLY WAY THE BRASS WOULD LET MOORE BACK INTO THE INNER CIRCLE WOULD BE IF HE MANAGES TO CRACK A CASE SO BIG THAT PROTOCOL WOULD FORCE THEM TO STOP SIDELINING HIM.*

"Moore used to be involved in all the big threat investigations; now they have reduced him to following around suspected terrorists. Most of which turn out to be bogus assessments," Dana said, having access to his files.

Christen preferred wandering around in plain clothes and observing people more than the somewhat unfriendly atmosphere in the bullpen due to her connection with Moore.

She had a knack for blending into a crowd and not losing track of her quarry because she wasn't restricted to using human senses.

Despite being hobbled by the watch, she could still follow a scent trail or a heartbeat and see much better than them. Even though her prowess confounded them, they learned to trust her.

Sighing, she slid into the back of their SUV.

The heat outside wasn't fun, but she didn't feel it as much as her companions.

"This is a wild goose chase, sir. Scratch Serani off the list. The man's having an affair with his secretary and frequents illegal underground casinos. His wife hates his guts, his dog needs training, and he should see a doctor before those steroids he pops to impress his girlfriend makes him drop dead of a heart attack," Christen reported, and Moore frowned, eating his noodles.

"Apart from your uncanny instincts, I hope you have enough evidence on that camera to give substance to your claims," Moore said as the Major handed Christen a food container.

They followed Serani and close members of his family for three days, and unless they were the best terrorists ever, they were just people going about their lives. Investigations on everything from his financials to his childhood came up empty.

Christen scarfed down the contents as she opened her laptop to put their files and records together for review at headquarters. She barely noticed when Lagerveldt handed her a second container as she lost herself in work.

Someone opened the door and slipped into the car to find three guns pointed at them, but Christen already knew it was Dana before she pushed back her hoody.

Christen lowered her gun and shifted her laptop out of the way.

"Chill, we need to talk. Weiss has a lead that he wants you to follow off-book, but he didn't want this to go beyond the four of us. The Director needs you to work your way back into the inner circle. Unfortunately, he can't follow up on the suspect list you've created until you can vet them yourselves.

"Weiss has a friend from his days in the army, and this guy knows things. Continue to pretend to watch Serani, but the person you should be surveilling is Arina White. She's connected to the ISS through a family bond, but there's a secret file on her at the FBI.

"The lady is not the philanthropist and socialite she pretends to be, running guns for terrorist organizations and then funneling the money back into the US through her charities. Beware, though, she's got friends in all the right places," Dana said, handing them a thumb drive.

"Don't work on this from your ISS computers. Go off-grid. Tell ISS you're following up on a cousin of Serani who works in the same building as Arina White. Leave no stone unturned. Also, take note that she has mercenaries working for her and that the FBI has an eye on her. Don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar," Dana said as she stole the almost empty container from Christen.

Christen smirked and handed her the chopsticks.

"You could have this container instead, Director Strickland. I always get extra because your sister seems to be a bottomless pit," the Major teased, and Dana laughed.

"I've noticed that her bones seem hollow," Dana said, emptying the container before taking the other.

They both had an appetite they could never explain.

Moore handed each of them a soda.

"So, Weiss thinks blowing this up would give us an inn and expose the flank of one of his traitors?" the Major asked, and Dana nodded.

"This is great. Where did you buy it?" she asked, and Moore Grinned.

"May's, the owner is my stepmother and loves to feed people. I told her I had a friend that scarves down her food like it's the apocalypse, and she keeps putting in extras for 'my young recruit' like Dana's a school kid that needs mothering," the major's gray eyes sparkled as she pushed her dark blond hair back behind her ear.

The movement caught Moore's attention, and his greenish-brown eyes became dark with pain as his ruggedly handsome face turned soft.

Interesting. Seems Moore still has feelings for his former fiance.

The file Dana gave her had been very revealing.

"May is a six-foot Chinese woman who is as graceful as a dancer. Born in the US just like her mother, she's about as Chinese as it gets when the doors of that restaurant are open, but the second they close, she's more American than we are," Moore said, enjoying his coffee. "She looks thirty instead of fifty-five, doesn't miss a thing, and she's the most fun you can have with someone who was almost your mother-in-law."

Shadows dampened the laughter in his eyes as his gaze briefly caught in those of Lagerveldt.

Christen understood the glance of understanding and pain that passed between the two. Only loss did that, and she knew all about loss.

"She drinks wine, loves a hamburger, and she's whip-smart, and although she could have been a doctor or a scientist, her mom had three children to look after when their father died. May left school at sixteen to work in the restaurant that serves only traditional Chinese food, but she studied to be a cordon blue chef some years later," Lagerveldt continued the story.

"When my father married her, he helped her turn her business into a chain of restaurants, and she recently opened a very upmarket establishment near here. May's oldest daughter, Aura, manages it, and her younger sister, May, is the head chef," she revealed fondly.

"How old were you when your father married May?" Dana asked with interest.

"Four. Mom was sick after she had me and died shortly after my second birthday. May is the only mom I've ever known, and she treats me the way she does her three kids.

"She had another child with my father three years after marriage. My half-sister just turned sixteen, and she's brilliant, doing pre-med next year, and will be the first woman in May's bloodline to go to university.

"Grandma Ling is ecstatic. She's seventy-two and doesn't look a day over fifty. May towers over her with about two feet to spare, and to this day, they think I'm doing medical research for the army," the Major revealed, and the sisters glanced at each other.

Until that moment, Christen didn't realize how lucky they were that they didn't have to lie to each other about their lives.

"Thanks for this; I was starving. We've been having trouble with Alex, a friend of Christen's. He can't understand why she doesn't come home on leave and misses her. Unfortunately, I can't explain the circumstances to him. Christen will have to have the day off on Sunday to ease his mind," Dana requested, and Moore nodded.

She was very aware of her 'friend' Alex's displeasure; his unhappiness gave her a splitting headache from seventy miles away.

"Love you, Sis, see you on Sunday," Dana said casually as she slid back out of the car, and even as the words warmed Christen's heart, it hurt.

This was once the relationship she had with Anna until her sister discovered the truth and blamed her for it.

"Is this 'friend' a lover?" Lagerveldt asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.

"No, agent nosy, he's a friend. Alex is..." How could she explain this? "Autistic. Although very high-functioning and brilliant, he has trouble understanding emotions and simple concepts like not coming home when you said you would because you must work."

"How long have you known him?" the agent asked.

"About a year, but he has grown emotionally attached to me, and I am the only person he has allowed close to him in years."

The lies about Alex didn't bother her. Apart from his species, everything else was true, and she didn't really see him as an alien creature. In her head, he seemed like a part of her, separate but connected.

"How did you meet him?" Moore asked, having listened to the conversation with interest.

"Through Dana, but we have more important things to talk about," Christen stopped the conversation before the lies snowballed.