The Clouded Sky by Megan Crewe

Author:Megan Crewe [Crewe, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781477829127
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 25060087
Publisher: Skyscape
Published: 2015-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

16.

Jule’s jaw flexes when I tell him why I’m back early. “You should have signaled me,” he says.

“Right,” I say. “Because you bursting in wouldn’t have drawn any attention.”

“I could have come up with a story,” he says flippantly, but his tone doesn’t match his expression. “You know it doesn’t matter, don’t you? If you’re in trouble . . .”

“If I’m really in trouble, I’ll use the bracelet,” I say before he has to finish.

I’m disappointed with the little information I was able to gather, but the next few days are full enough to distract me. The jaunt down to the planet’s surface to collect kolzo has been scheduled for later that week, and I put in dozens of hours on the navigation simulator to prepare. Britta comes by to touch up my disguise and check my progress, and gives me a thumbs-up. But my lungs still tighten as Jule and I hurry to the control room Thlo was able to arrange a slice of time in. It’s on Isis and me to make sure Britta and Odgan come back safely in their little pod with the last of the materials we need.

The control room is only slightly larger than the other workrooms we’ve used, crammed with one long desktop that stretches through most of the space. Indicators and readings glint on its surface, and a couple of floating displays already glow in the air above it. The walls are lit with screens: four small ones off to the sides, and a broad one opposite the console that shows only a shifting haze of gray. Thlo’s standing by it, talking to Win. Isis, who’s sitting by the far end of the desk, spins on her stool as we come in.

Win bobs his head to me as he smiles in greeting. It seems like ages since I last talked to him. I smile back, but I don’t know what to say. After so much time with Jule and Isis and Britta, I realize, he’s starting to feel like a stranger. That sense, contrasted with the memory of how close I felt to him our last few moments on Earth, sends an ache through me. Has he sorted out his concerns about his parents? Is his brother doing all right?

There isn’t time to ask. Thlo comes around the desk. “A moment?” she says to me, in a way that’s not really a question.

Since I didn’t hear anything of obvious value the other night, Jule and I didn’t break the ban on nonessential communications to report my observations to her. As soon as we’re a little apart from the others, I relate the few bits I did pick up—the group talking about Earth, Tabzi’s mother, Silmeru. “I wish I had more to tell you,” I finish. “But Jule’s looking into sending me to another, and—”

Thlo interrupts me with a flick of her hand, her gaze elsewhere. “We’re going to put a hold on that enterprise for now,” she says. “In the present circumstances, it’s not worth the risk.

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