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Chelsea Handler Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (epub
Brit Brinson [Dia of the Dead Dia of the Dead (epub)
Cody Goodfellow [Radiant Dawn Radiant Dawn (epub)
Cate Tiernan [Immortal Belove Immortal Beloved (epub)
C J Busby [Deep Amber 01] Deep Amber (retail) (epub)
Carl Ashmore [Time Hunters 01 The Time Hunters (epub)
Drew Hayes [Super Powereds 02 Super Powereds Year 2 (epub) i
Beth Harbison [Shoe Addict 02 Secrets of a Shoe Addict (epub)
Cara Lynn Shultz [Dark World The Dark World (retail) (epub)
Craig Halloran [The Chronicle Hunt for the Hero (epub)

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.Saying nothing, Ericca stepped back, took the pilot’s seat, and turned away completely disinterested.Raising her feet to the console, she crossed one over the other, interlaced her fingers behind her head, and leaned back.Along with Riley, Jordon noticed and wondered if anyone else had.He could guess what it meant and knew things would soon come to a head between him and Ericca.“So how did it go?” he asked to avoid drawing attention to the young woman.Riley drew an arm around Rachel, his friend, his fellow seventeen-year-old, to half-hug her.“Smooth.Race bypassed the new Talon’s security systems in three minutes.”Rachel Kori shrugged.“Sorry, brother dear.I wasn’t expecting their security system to be so retro.I’ll do better next time.I promise.”Everyone laughed.Three minutes was remarkably fast, even if Rachel didn’t think so.She was Jordon Sr.and Mara’s other child, and like Jordon Jr., she was an accomplished gadget-maker.Mara took Rachel’s shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze.“So now we have two of the new Talons to give to Providence intelligentsia.What condition did you leave those two enforcers in?”“Well,” Josh answered, “we did leave them two perfectly good, fifty-year-old Talons.Minus a few extraneous parts, give or take.I mean, a transmitter is really just dead weight, isn’t it? Having one would’ve added to their fuel consumption.Best they not have them.”Joshua Chisholm, and his ten-year-old brother, Nate, were Freefall’s loadmaster – cargo lifter pilots.It didn’t take strength to run the muscular lifters.It just took a careful, quick mind, which both boys had.“Hey, they should be happy,” Riley said with a sly smile, “Saber class Talons are classics.And the radio we left in each will pick up some great AM stations.”The crease between Jordon’s brows deepened.“AM stations?”Josh nodded.“Yes, sir.By my calculations, radio signals from old Earth should be reaching this sector of space just about now.”Jordon chuckled.“AM indeed.So, what do you suppose they’ll hear?”Josh frowned.“It’s AM radio, sir.More than likely, if they fine tune the signal, they’ll hear old-time Gospel.That’s what we were thinking anyhow.”Riley’s grin had a devious cast.“That or Rush Limbaugh.Either’s good.”Jordon grinned.“Come on—all kidding aside, what situation did you leave them in?”Feigning confusion, Joshua and Nate glanced at each other.Neither said anything.But Rachel raised her hand and shouted as if in a game show.“Pick me! Pick me!”Along with Mara, Jordon chuckled.“Okay, sis.What’s their real status?”Very proud of herself, Rachel spoke cheerfully.“Well, to help them find their way and get to the nearest planet, each ship has a good working scanner and just enough fuel to land.”Riley scoffed.“Unless they prefer soft landings.Unpowered, a Talon’s glide path is same as a rock’s.”Race looked at him with incredulity.“Riley, my calculations were exact.They just need to be frugal with the fuel.No big deal.That, and find a patch of flat ground to land on.”Jordon snorted a laugh and Mara chuckled.Apparently the kids gave the inspectors just enough fuel to get to Hawthorn if they were, as Rachel suggested, very frugal with their fuel consumption.Ericca sat quietly and contributed nothing, but her unobtrusive behavior didn’t escape Jordon’s notice.Distracted by the girl’s attitude, he dismissed everyone, watched her for a brief moment, then followed the others out, leaving her alone with her thoughts.Chapter-FourLater that hour Jordon found Ericca in a corridor.“Hey,” he said, catching her hand to stop her, then just as quickly released her.He folded his arms.He gestured with one hand but instead of looking casual—his hope—his movements were forced, stiff, and contrived.This seemed to amuse her.“Ericca, you okay?”“I’m fine, sir.Why do you asked?”“Are you? You’ve been short, snippy.Is it something I’ve said? Something I’ve done?” He brought his hand up to his chin, and rested a finger across his lips but the motion was clumsy.The more he tried relax around her, the more his muscles fought him.Her answer—a slight shrug.“It isn’t you.It’s me.”“This isn’t the life you would’ve chosen for yourself, is it?”She paused and bit her lip.When she spoke, she chose her words carefully.“Archer and I have been on our own for quite a while.We were trained to handle ourselves in a fight.That’s what we do.This sedentary life takes getting used to and, in fact, I don’t really want to get used to it.”“Well that’s the shipping life.Huge expanses of boredom punctuated by spikes of excitement.Nothing I can do about that.”She forced a faint but friendly smile.“Why did you hire Archer and me?”“Well now, that is a story, but not one I wish to tell in the hallway.” Turning to his office, he gave a quick snap of his head, bidding her to follow.He took a seat at his work desk, and Ericca took a seat across from him.“Once,” he began, “while my family and I were out enjoying the sights, someone broke into this ship.We lost a valuable machine and irreplaceable tech that day.I feel better having the added security.I thought you knew that?”A black cube sitting on his desk caught her attention.She picked it up to study as she spoke.“Sir, that’s what you said when you first signed Archer and I on as security.Our presence should’ve made you bolder, braver, but instead, according to Race, you’ve grown more timid.You avoid planets with even the slightest reputation.” She flipped the cube into the air and caught it without looking.“That isn’t true.I—”“Captain, you know the greater the risk, the greater the reward, right?” She flipped it again.“Sure, but—”She flipped it higher, irritating him with her indifference to the cube’s importance.He rose from his seat.“I know that, Ericca, but—” He leaned across his desk and on her next toss, snatched it before it hit her hand.Seating himself, he replaced the cube in its cradle.Her eyes flicked to him, then the cube, and then back to him.“Sir, take advantage of Archer and me being here.We’ll do our best to keep you safe.I promise.”Crossing his arms, he raised his eyes to the ceiling, and tapped his chin thoughtfully.“I just don’t think the rewards justify the risks.”“It’s a wonder you make ends meet.”He dropped his eyes to her.“You want a raise, is that it?”“I don’t want a raise.Fires and furnaces, sir, I’d take a pay cut if we can just break this blasted hometown monotony.A scrape once in a while, a shootout, a fistfight, give us something to do; something dangerous.That’s all we’re asking.”“There was this job,” he said referring to stealing these two Talons.“That was dangerous.”“That was dangerous only because you made it so.”“What?“The fact is, that was amateur hour.”“Really?” he said, incensed.He and his mom had taken great pains to work out every detail.“And what would you have done?”“Oh.now you ask.”“What do you mean?”“You’re a gizmo guy.I get that.But I’m your chief security officer.I should be the first person you come to about matters of security.Not Mommy.”“Leave Mom out of this.”“You should stick to making your whatzits and leave security operations like this last one to me and Archer.”“Excuse me? I am the captain of this vessel, and—”“A job you’re completely unsuited to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]