In the Deep by Kelly Jennings

Author:Kelly Jennings [Jennings, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, science fiction, families, class warfare, genetic engineering, space opera
Publisher: Candlemark & Gleam
Published: 2021-06-23T04:00:00+00:00

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The storm that had been threatening on the horizon all morning swept into Pakuru as they returned from the reed forest. Automatically, Velocity toggled her uplink to ask Uri for a weather check. No connection. She grimaced, squinting at the thick grey river of clouds pouring over the mountains. Snow whirled around them. The day had already been frigid but now the temperature plummeted, turning so bitterly cold her muscles ached. The storm of snow blotted out everything more than half a meter away. Garcia shouted, pointing. Velocity nodded to show they would follow, and Garcia bent her head to plunge through the white roar.

She and Jusuf followed, keeping Garcia barely in sight as they wound through the mining complex and down the road—toward the hostel, Velocity thought, though the lack of visibility made it hard to be certain of her bearings. Sooner than she expected, Garcia hauled open a door and waved them inside. Velocity ducked past her, finding herself in a weather-lock. This wasn’t the hostel, though. She turned to Garcia just as Jusuf came tumbling inside, snow whirling around him. Garcia shut the outer door. The howl of wind stopped abruptly, creating a silence so absolute Velocity’s ears felt numb.

Jusuf shouldered open the inner door, and went inside—it was a noodle shop. The small space was warm and steamy, redolent with the scent of grease and garlic. The tables were empty, except for one at the far end of the shop, by the galley. The kid working the galley called out, waving them toward this table. “Warmer down here!” he said. “Come sit, come sit.”

Still numb from the wind, Velocity headed that way. Jusuf, to his credit, hesitated. So he was in position to resist when they were swarmed from all sides by six or eight people wearing expressions of panic and ferocity. Jusuf dodged, caught one by the elbow and shoulder, and slammed him over a table; he had taken hold of another when Garcia caught his collar and slapped a patch on the back of his neck. Whatever it was, it was fast-acting. He collapsed at once, his limbs loose and sprawling.

Velocity was in the grip of two other miners, one of whom, she noted with annoyance, was Sheng. She toggled her uplink. Still no connection. Baring her teeth at Garcia, she said, “This is how you honor alliances?”

Garcia pointed at Jusuf, and Sheng released Velocity to go hunt through his pockets. Another miner seized Velocity before she could try anything. Sheng found a Sema NX hidden under Jusuf’s jacket. She took away his dock as well, dropping it into a Faraday bag held by another miner. She passed the Sema to Garcia, who ejected its power pack and tapped its screen expertly. “Full charge,” she said.

“You’re making a mistake,” Velocity warned. “The Pirians are your best shot at any sort of freedom.”

“Are we short on patches?” Garcia asked no one in particular.

Sheng answered: “Don’t you want to interrogate them?”

Garcia scoffed. “Not here in the skip.

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