Escape from Nova Nine: A Space Opera Adventure with Romance, Pirates, and Pets by Carol Van Natta

Author:Carol Van Natta [Van Natta, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chavanch Press
Published: 2022-03-14T18:30:00+00:00

8

NOVA NINE FACILITY • GDAT 3243.121

Julke straightened her pillow, then turned over on the narrow bed, away from the faint lights, and rearranged the blanket so it was even and just skimmed her shoulder. The cells were cool but not cold. Like most prisoners, she slept in her clothes so she’d have a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning.

Considering how long she’d been awake, she was going to need it. She was losing time in every way that mattered. Memories of Waorani’s defeat and its devastating effect on the prisoners tangled with dark visions of what the warden’s sadistic elite interrogators would do to the man. She’d been close enough to feel their sadistic glee. They’d want him awake, helpless, and aware of his destruction.

In the cell behind her, Lantham snored. No sound came from Sutrio’s.

Their square block of four cells was the first in a long corridor of them, with thick rock slabs between each block. A shared cylindrical core of plumbing and ventilation occupied the center of the four conjoined cells. The machine patterns in the rough rock gave mute evidence of having once been mined before becoming prison cell walls.

During designated sleep hours, the mine lowered the embedded lights to five percent, barely enough to avoid obstacles on the way to the fold-down fresher and cold-water faucet.

Just as she was considering yet another few laps around her cell, she heard the soft slaps of Zade’s bare feet hitting the metal floor in his cell. She’d heard him nearly as often as she’d gotten up herself.

Impulse born out of need had her rolling out of bed and crossing to his side of her cell. Rather than speak, she reached out with a touch of empath talent.

He vectored straight for her. “You okay?” His soft words were more breath than sound.

“No.” The darkness made it easier to admit. “Could you sit with me?” Suddenly she was fifteen again, asking her grandmother to hold her after her brother’s murder, hoping the familiestam matriarch would bend just this once.

“I’d like that. Be right back.”

She sank to the floor in relief and leaned her shoulder against the thick, wide slat. It amused her to imagine that instead of using the fresher, he was quickly hiding myriad griffins who had snuck into his bed after lights out.

When he returned, he sat on his side of the slats. “Would it be alright if we touched?”

In answer, she reached her smaller hand through and brushed cloth with her fingertips. His hand surrounded hers instantly. After hundreds of days of keeping her head down and guard up, it took conscious effort to relax some of her containment. It wouldn’t be kind to flood him with her chaotic cauldron of feelings.

He met her halfway.

Just like the first time, their talents twirled toward and around each other like two flames. The raw emotional storm caused by the events in the dining hall had battered them both. She offered him comfort where she could. He soothed her torn and jagged edges.

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