Free Souls by Susan Kaye Quinn

Author:Susan Kaye Quinn [Quinn, Susan Kaye]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Paranormal
ISBN: 9781481177061
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2012-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Julian’s arm locked even tighter around my lower back. “Well, we’re not going to hand Kira over to Senator Vellus no matter how much he would like her to come negotiate terms.” He stated that as an indisputable fact.

Hinckley didn’t seem at all surprised by Julian’s words. “Understood. What will our response be?”

Julian sighed and dropped his gaze, studying the scuffed and dirty floor next to us. “Give us a moment, please.”

Hinckley ducked back out, heading to the office where Myrtle was doing the chat-cast, which was also probably where the contact from Vellus had come in.

“Julian—” I said.

“Don’t worry.” He gently pulled me closer, kissing me lightly on the cheek before pulling back to look me in the eyes. “We’ll send someone else to negotiate. He doesn’t get to dictate terms, not while we have the station.”

“How does he know I’m here?”

“Lucky guess.” Julian ran his hand up and down my arm like he couldn’t get enough of touching me. I didn’t exactly mind. “He’s wanted to trap you for a long time, ever since you evaded him before. I’m sure he’s just fishing.”

“Why do we have to send anyone?” I asked. “I don’t like the idea of delivering someone into Vellus’s hands. He already has too many of our people.” My dad. Sasha. Hundreds of jackers whose names I didn’t know but who had people who loved them, wondering if they would ever come home. Wondering if they were already dead.

“Agreed,” said Julian, a shine in his eyes. “I’ll get on the chat-cast myself. This negotiation is just start—”

Several rapid-fire pops drowned out Julian, and we both jerked in surprise. He dropped his hold on me and pushed up from the table. A dozen more pops, louder this time, rattled the windows that lined the office. Julian bolted from the room with me right behind, bringing his flak jacket.

Hinckley had already reached the stairs and took two at a time. More gunfire rang out. Julian paused while I slid the flak jacket on him, then pivoted and ran to the office where Myrtle was. Her thin hands gripped the edge of the table where she sat. She focused intensely on the monitor, controlling a dozen chat-cast windows via the mindware interface. A live image of the water pumping station popped up. National Guardsmen ran low and crouched behind makeshift barricades they carried, shorter and heavier versions of the fence they had erected around Jackertown.

“What’s going on?” Julian asked her. “Who’s shooting?”

“Not us,” Myrtle said. “As far as I can tell, it’s the Guard, trying to keep us from firing on their people while they set up a perimeter around us.”

Julian leaned forward, his hand turning white as he held the edge of the monitor. “Where is this image coming from?”

“There are news people out there, Julian,” Myrtle said. “This is the local tru-cast.”

Julian fisted his hand and pressed it onto the table top. Then he slammed his fist, making the screen jump slightly. I knew he'd expected this to happen, but not so quickly.

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