Note: Thank you Beth and Kerjen for your comments. They are very important to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.
Luther looked at his own image reflected on the mirror. He tried hard to scrutinize his face and every minuscule wrinkle was analyzed, but he did not come to any conclusion. If he had looked any different, either younger or older, in the last memory set in his mind, he could not tell.
He took one last look to his quarters in the research facility; they were so familiar… it was difficult to believe that they actually have never been his. It was still hard to accept that those clothes he had dressed himself with had never belonged to him. He was Luther Sloan, yes, but a different one from the last one that had slept in that room.
He had left the scalpel on the bedside table; he had taken a phaser instead. The ugly gash was now just a faint scar on his wrist, and it would fade very soon. He berated himself again for having attempted suicide, even if only to try to get out of a possible induced reality; he knew better.
The idea of going to his room after recovering in the infirmary had been a good one. At first, he had feared his encounter with the real Luther Sloan; he still did not know what to say, but resting in the dormitory had been helpful. He felt more comfortable with himself, and more confident. He was now ready to face Koval.
"Subject Luther Sloan Sample Unknown" left his hiding place. He had matters to settle.
The facility was practically empty. He avoided the labs and the few recreation rooms where he suspected most people would be, he took the less transited corridors. Two scientists neared him; they just nodded to him in greeting and passed by, engaged in their own conversation. Then, he reached the docking bay: the only way to get off the research center. There were two young Human guards at the entrance, dressed completely in black and holding phaser rifles. He knew them by name. Their presence was expected, but his heart rate accelerated anyway; he sweated. He neared them, his own weapon placed in its holster. In all his memories, his own security personnel had never questioned him. In all his memories, though, he had never known there were other people who controlled his life. He had had time to wonder if his operatives would be aware of who he really was; he suspected they were completely in the dark, they would let him pass. The men were Starfleet officers, even if they never wore their uniforms anymore. Once they saw him, they snapped to attention. No questions, no exchanged words. He just went on and took his first steps into the docking bay.
He swept his gaze around the area as he walked forward. Three Section 31 operatives; four Romulans. Not surprisingly, they all were armed. His eyes flickered warily towards the Tal Shiar officers. Do they know I'm just Koval's pawn? Are they aware I have been awaken by someone else? Until that moment, the Romulans had always obeyed him; they had accepted his authority because Koval had said to do so. Now, however, he had to wonder if it had always been a play and if now that for the first time he acted against his will, they would oppose him.
Purposely, he strode towards them, his hand never getting far away from his phaser. He addressed the higher ranking officer, a lean centurion who was laughing loudly. Romulans could obey, but they hardly ever showed him any respect. The Federation operatives glared at them, but stayed where they were.
"I will take one of your scout ships," Luther said as firmly as he managed to.
The centurion stopped laughing. He just stared down at him, his hands rested on his weapons. Luther's fingers lingered on his phaser, watching the four of them.
"Fine," he finally muttered. "Jhertal, go with him!" he ordered to his younger comrade, jerking his head to signal the nearest scout ship.
Luther kept his hand close to his sidearm, still distrusting them. The Romulans, however, knew nothing of his plans. He answered the haughtily look the two remaining officers dedicated to him with a cold contemptuous grin of his own and passed them by.
"Can I ask when you will be back, sir?" The centurion asked, there was no deference in his intonation, no real respect.
Luther could not care less. "No," he answered without looking back. They hardly ever knew when he or Koval where going in and out of the facility. A good reason why they would never suspect something was going really wrong for them.
The young Romulan opened the hatch for him and took the pilot position. Sloan remained standing behind him. A Human operative cleared them from the control station. Again, no questions were asked.
Once in space, the Tal Shiar agent turned to him, "So where are we going, sir?" Sloan noticed he just was a kid. He felt a pang of regret; the young operative was not going very far. He realized he could not remember the last time his conscience had bothered him. "To the Romulan border," he ordered briskly; he wondered if his voice had actually betrayed him.
"The ship will self-destroy in five minutes," the computer's voice intoned as unemotionally as it always did.
Luther took his hands off the scout ship's controls and stood up. He could not help to look for one last time to the man who had been his companion during his flight. The kid laid slumped over the navigation console, his face hidden. His gaze lowered to his abdomen. Some greenish blood had poured out from the blackened wound the phaser shot had inflicted him and now tainted the gray uniform. Luther just set his jaw and walked away from the crime scene. It had not been the first time; it would not be the last. Except that he could not help thinking that for him, really, it had been his first kill. He was not the other Luther Sloan, no matter what his mind insisted on reminding him.
He had landed the small vessel in a glade opening in a beautiful forest. The other Luther had walked that alien wood many times, when Koval had insisted he joined his private huntings. Most of the forest was part of Koval's manor; he had left the ship on the other side, so his security team would not detect the explosion.
He casually walked towards Koval's lands. Half an hour later he saw the wall that surrounded Koval's manor. It looked like any common stone wall but he knew it actually was guarded by state-of-the-art security measures. Luther could not care less. He knew well Koval's security system; he knew his bodyguards. And after all, it did not matter. He was not an enemy ready to break through his house, he was a guess. He was a friend coming for an unexpected visit. It would not be the first time. He loved presenting himself by surprise. And until that moment, Koval's service has never denied him entrance. "Mr. Sloan is always welcome," Koval had told the chief of his personal guard once. He had been very confident about his total control over the genetically enhanced Human. Now Luther relished on those words, on the way he would make him pay for his arrogance. Arrogance had been many times the Romulans' downfall, and they seemed to never learn. Surprisingly, Luther found himself laughing aloud as he reached the main entrance.