BURN by Steel Dylan

Author:Steel, Dylan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

My footsteps were sure as I swept through the familiar candle-filled room. Ignoring the strained greetings of those around me, I went straight to Naia’s office, not questioning whether she’d be there. With everything going on, I doubted she’d leave the room for days. I wasn’t even sure she’d sleep until rations had been accounted for and distributed, but unless she’d found some sort of new drug that let her function without rest, she’d have to stop eventually. The couch in the corner showed signs of wear, and I suspected that was where she’d snatch sparse minutes as she was able. Even when things were running smoothly, it probably saw more hours of slumber than her real bed.

The door slammed against the wall behind me as I barged in.

Tired eyes rose to meet mine. “You’re back,” she said simply.

I nodded.

“Did you have any trouble acquiring the supplies?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“And the installation?”

“No surprises.”

“Good.”

I hesitated, and Naia raised an eyebrow. “We did have to eliminate a witness. One of Nuru’s men saw us before we could get to the elevator in his sector.”

“I see.” She pursed her lips. “Do you need any assistance with cleaning that up?”

I shook my head. “There’s no evidence.”

Naia sighed, frustration scrawled across her face. “Fransisco knew which tower you’d be going through. He should have included Nuru in the meeting as well, but he would have had to agree to split his share further, and there was no chance of that happening.”

She dug her thumbs into either side of the bridge of her nose, massaging circles.

“Luke wouldn’t tell me why we were installing the magnets,” I said. Yes, I was fishing, but I wanted to know what I’d risked my life for.

“He didn’t tell you.”

“No.”

The corners of Naia’s lips turned down. “He should have. He was supposed to.”

“He seemed to enjoy my ignorance.” I struggled to maintain my tenuous control over my anger.

She tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair. “I suppose Fransisco would argue that the wording of our agreement could be a little unclear,” she said in a low voice, mostly to herself. Her eyes lifted to mine. “Still, he should have told you.”

I tilted my head, hoping she would continue.

“It’s for transporting the rations once we’ve acquired them. The magnets will allow us to hang the rations from the outside of the tube and piggyback off the bullet that runs into one of our towers. The rations are being held in 54, but we can’t distribute them from there. The rations would be at risk anywhere outside of our sector.”

“You really think someone would risk their leader’s wrath?”

“Desperate people do desperate things,” Naia said. “And even if everything goes according to plan, everyone will still have gone two days without satisfied stomachs.”

I nodded slowly. “The rations need to continue being dispersed from Gamma. Is there a plan in place for that?”

“Except for needing to account for Fransisco’s cut, we will not deviate from the usual course. Individual sectors will send

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