Alternate Strategies (Starship Academy Book 1) by L.C. Mortimer

Author:L.C. Mortimer [Mortimer, L.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

“She can turn invisible,” Ed announced to Jules and Cory. I blushed, pushing past him, and dropped down onto the little Earth couch. It felt bouncy and familiar and comfortable, and I loved it. I liked knowing that something, out of everything I was dealing with, wasn’t strange.

“What?” Jules turned to me and her jaw dropped open.

“What?” Cory asked.

I just shrugged.

“I never knew I could,” I said in a quiet little whisper. It seemed really, really stupid. What kind of person didn’t know they could make themselves turn into a chameleon? “But I don’t go all the way invisible. I just sort of…blend…”

“A Virtued came around the corner and scared us,” Ed explained. “She jumped back against the wall and all of a sudden, I couldn’t see her at all. Neither could the Virtued.”

“Wicked,” Cory grinned.

“No, it’s not wicked,” Jules said. “It’s wonderful.”

“Yeah, I know,” Cory rolled his eyes. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“Well, you should say what you mean,” Jules told him, putting her hands on her hips.

“Whatever.”

“Do you think the Commander knows?” I asked.

Was this the real reason I’d been brought on board the ship?

Were they going to teach me to harness these powers?

Were they going to show me how to use my invisibility to change the world and make it into a better place?

Or was this going to prove to be some sort of curse?

Was my invisible nature going to be something that destroyed me?

That was the real question.

“Of course he knows,” Jules said.

“He knows everything,” Cory agreed.

“But I mean…does this mean he knows what I am? And how I got to Earth?”

“Maybe you were adopted,” Jules said.

“Or switched at birth,” Cory threw out.

“Or maybe,” Ed looked at me carefully. “Maybe your parents weren’t from Earth, either.”

I shot him a surprised look. How had I never considered that? When I’d thought about my mom and dad, I’d tried to run through all of the different ways they could have not known what I was.

Was there a chance that they did know?

I closed my eyes and tried to remember. It had been so long since they’d died. It felt like an eternity sometimes. Before they passed away, had they said anything that stood out?

Had they done anything that made me feel like I was different?

We had always played games together: hiding games. My parents had been incredibly good at hide-and-seek. Looking back now, it felt stupid. Had they been able to become invisible, too?

Had they also held this ability?

“Maybe,” I finally whispered.

“You know,” Ed said carefully. “You never told us how they died.”

“They were killed.”

“Like, in a car accident?” Jules prodded. “Or were they killed by someone?”

“Um… the Virtued who investigated never really said.”

“Of course, they didn’t,” Jules rolled her eyes.

“Why don’t you like the Virtued?”

“Because they’re supposed to go above and beyond to keep everyone safe,” she said. “But they don’t. They don’t at all.”

“Did one of them let you down?”

“You have no idea.”

“They let me down,” Cory said. He was quieter than I’d ever seen him, and more serious, but he looked up at me with sadness in his eyes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.