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“And?”
“He wants to speak with you.”
Of course he did. I’d been waiting for him to issue the summons.
“All right,” I said. “I’m coming.”
I checked myself once more in the mirror and followed the Prize back to the Viewing Room where the other girls were busy tidying up.
A guard stood ready to lead me to the Supervisor’s quarters upstairs. It took less than five minutes, and I was standing in the Supervisor’s presence. I could see the old Supervisor had already been replaced after the recent riots.
I guess someone had to take the blame.
He was a thickly set creature with spiral horns and a solid but slow gait. He looked up from the papers strewn across his desk, raised his chin, and peered at me through the strongest part of his lenses.
“You’re in charge of the Prize Pool?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.”
He took a moment to look me over from tip to toe, his eyes catching on my breasts and wide waist for a fraction of an instant. He licked his lips before continuing.
“You’re aware of the recent riots at Ikmal?” he said.
It was hard not to be. “Yes, sir,” I said.
“We have reason to believe someone on the inside helped instigate these riots. The Lead Guard will be with us until the emergency riot crew has established calm at Ikmal. He will also investigate what caused the riots so this never happens again.”
I said nothing and just waited. What was there to say?
“I’m having the Lead Guard look into every part of the facility,” he said. “I trust you’ll be cooperative?”
“Of course, sir,” I said. “Who is the Lead Guard? I’ve always assumed that was the Supervisor’s role.”
The Supervisor leaned back in his chair and smiled. “It is. At least, it was. But no longer. It was decided the guards should have a more… independent role at the prison.”
That meant the Supervisor had lost some of his power and would no longer be the godlike persona he had been up until now.
It was a big change.
“Meet the Chief,” the Supervisor said.
Meet the Chief? I thought. Saying that implied that he was here somewhere and I didn’t see—
And then I saw him.
He stood in the corner of the room, so rock steady and still that I thought he was a statue. He was bigger than the other guards — much bigger. He stood a head taller and was extremely broad across the chest.
Like all guards, his armor covered him head to foot and a slit of black was carved into his helmet where his onboard computer system could access information from the main database. He clutched a plasma rifle to his chest like he meant to use it.
A very big change, I thought.
“He will be meeting you at a later date to conduct a thorough investigation into your operations,” the Supervisor said. “That will be all.”
I nodded respectfully and left, shaking my head. Problems upon problems. Things were getting complicated and I would need to watch my back.
Back in the Prize Pool, the young gleesarian I berated earlier glanced at me before bending over to continue her work.
Oh yes, I thought, I’d seen that look on her face before. It always spelled trouble. And I should know.
