Stolen Future by Cameron Coral

Author:Cameron Coral
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2019-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Ryken’s eyes grew wide as he stared at me. I was trying to get my bearings inside the pod. I found myself seated on a plush velvet blue-green cushioned bench. The back of the pod was curved and raised three feet over our heads to create a dome above.

Now that I was close up, I saw a light stubble covering the man’s chin. His eyes were dark, charcoal or ash gray. He stared at me, his mouth wide, then coughed after inhaling too much of whatever he was smoking.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“You know who I am,” I said. “You spent part of the evening next to me.” He searched my face for a few seconds. For someone who had tried to turn me in, he was a good actor.

Realization donned on his face—more acting. “From Lightspeed.” He leaned back, relaxed his shoulders, and took another toke from the tube. “You left that place at the right time.”

“Yeah.” I sipped my drink. “My instincts warned me to get the hell out of that place. To get away from you.”

He tilted his head and his forehead wrinkled. “From me? Why would you say that, especially after I helped you? Why are you here anyway? Did you follow me?”

I forced a laugh. Already, I didn’t like this guy. He was off-putting, entitled. I said nothing and waited for his next move. Waited for him to admit what he’d done. But he just sat there and smoked, watching me. Underneath the table, I clenched and unclenched my fists in my lap. Then he had the nerve to yawn.

“Oh, sorry,” I said. “Did I interrupt your nap time? Or perhaps the mermaid is about to step in and service you—”

“Shut the hell up! You don't know what you're talking about.” I wasn’t expecting his volcanic eruption and flinched. After a moment, the anger that had flashed in his eyes was gone, and he glanced at the stage.

“What do you want?” he asked.

I leaned forward and placed my arms on the table, hoping I looked intimidating. “I need to know who you told about me.”

“Who I…?” His face was blank.

“The police? NeuroDyne?”

His lips quivered, and he nearly broke into a smile but held back. “You think I called the police and NeuroDyne on you?”

I nodded slowly and seriously.

“Screw that!” He laughed, then raised a hand to his mouth to stifle giggles. The corners of his eyes wrinkled before he turned serious again. “You have me confused with someone else.”

“Don't play dumb with me,” I said, my voice firm. “You sat next to me. You must've seen my screen.”

He took another hit from his smoking tube and shrugged. “I glanced at your screen. You were looking up something about news reports. To be honest, I have other things going on. I wasn’t worrying about your shit.”

I straightened against the cushy seat and slammed my palms on the table. “Don't lie to me! You called the police and then ran out before they arrived. Why didn’t you stick around to talk to them? To claim the—” I stopped, knowing I’d said too much.

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