Broken by Odette C. Bell

Author:Odette C. Bell [Bell, Odette C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Odette C. Bell

16

Joshua Cook

He followed Carinthia. But rather than lead him to the captain’s office, she led him to a discussion room on another deck.

Though Josh hadn’t served aboard the Chronos, he was familiar enough with its layout to appreciate he was in the wrong place. “Where are you taking me?”

Carinthia stiffened as she opened the door before him. “Just hear me out.”

The doors opened to reveal a large discussion room with a round table in the middle. Embedded in the smooth wood were various display panels and consoles.

Seated around the table were a few ensigns and officers, none of whom he knew. And, importantly, none of whom were the captain.

He turned sharply to Carinthia. “What’s going on here?”

“Josh… just listen to what we’ve got to say.”

“Wait, are you serious? Did you bring me here on a false pretense?”

“Josh, please. Just, for old times’ sake, listen.”

He stared at Carinthia warily. Though his gut instinct was to turn and walk away, something kept him standing there – the old Josh.

Carinthia waved him in.

Reluctantly, he followed.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I would be negligent if I didn’t tell you.” Carinthia turned and crossed her arms.

His automatic response was to cross his arms, too. He stared at her with the kind of expression he hoped would relay how angry he was.

“She’s not who you think she is,” Carinthia pointed out as she sighed, took a step back, and leaned against the table.

Mimi.

This was still about Mimi. Carinthia didn’t give a damn about what was happening to her once-best friend.

Mimi had died – died right in front of him – and all Carinthia wanted to do was turn him against her.

He rounded on her. “I cannot believe—”

“She used her dad to put pressure on the Academy to have all charges against her dropped,” some ensign said.

Josh looked at the guy. “What?”

“We can prove it. We’ve got logs that show Theodore Chester made approximately 50 calls to the Academy high brass after the so-called accident.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Josh laughed this accusation off. “The guy’s her dad. He was probably worried.”

“His company has a strangle-hold on Academy procurement,” Carinthia interrupted. “He has enormous influence over their decisions.”

“His company and his role as owner and operator are controlled by galactic corporation law. He cannot apply undue influence to any party, let alone the damn Academy,” Josh snapped.

He was vaguely aware he was acting way out of character. Old Josh hated all companies and would’ve been the first to agree that guys like Theodore Chester had way too much influence.

New Josh didn’t care. New Josh saw this for what it was – a coordinated attempt at character assassination.

“It wasn’t the first time she tried to cover up her mistakes,” a random ensign said as she crossed her arms. “We were both working on a project in engineering class, and she totally stuffed up the calibrations. She didn’t even look at the proper safety protocols – she could have got me killed.”

“Really, so who decided it

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