Traitor by C R MacFarlane

Author:C R MacFarlane [MacFarlane, C R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781775356431
Publisher: Blue Pony Press
Published: 2018-08-19T22:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

SARRIN PUSHED OPEN THE GREY panel, catching it before it fell onto the grey floor and sliding out into the grey room. Kieran laid on the single bed, silent and unmoving except for the artificially slow rise and fall of his chest.

Certain he was asleep, she rounded the bed and peered down into his face. Unbruised. She pressed her five fingers to her chest in thanks. The terror that had flooded the ship, the images of Kieran surrounded by angry Augments, had overwhelmed her — sent her vision spiralling into blackness, the monster screaming at her to run. Only there was nowhere to run. The tight spaces between the walls of the ship held her, squeezed her tight, the weight pressing on her like a grav-trap in Evangecore. She spent unknown minutes — hours? — simply suspended. She would have stayed had it not been for the call of a particular biological function — a remnant of being human.

The latrine was standard — shower, toilet, sink, and vanity mirror. She ducked her head, averting her eyes as she passed the mirror. The privacy of the room was a luxury, and she bowed her head, holding it in her hands. Palms pressed into her eyes, shooting stars across the emptiness. Another bathroom in another time: Amy stood at the sink, soaking the edge of a ripped shirt in the running water. “Gods, Sarrin,” she said, reaching out to dab at Sarrin’s cheek, “why didn’t you protect yourself?”

Sarrin, age eight, sniffed, sucking up her quivering lower lip. Pain seared as Amy cleaned the blood from her already swollen face, the split in the skin stinging as the shirt brushed against it.

“I didn’t mean to hit you so hard. I thought you were going to move.”

And why hadn’t she?

“The next time they put us against each other, I want you to fight, okay. I know you can.”

She shook her head. “Why do we have to fight? I don’t want to hurt you.”

Amy bent down in front of her — at age twelve she was nearly a head taller than Sarrin. “Because I don’t want them to hurt you.”

A fresh round of sobbing rose from the knot in her chest. “I don’t understand.”

Amy drew her in, wrapping her arms around Sarrin’s little body. “I don’t want them to think you’re weak. You’re strong, I know you are. But you’re also kind, and that… that doesn’t seem to mean anything here.” She pushed Sarrin to arms length, looking intently into her face. “They will make us fight again, Sarrin. They know we’re friends, and that’s the reason why — they want to know if we will still hurt each other. When they do, you have to promise me you’ll try. No matter what happens, no matter what you do or I do, I will always be your friend. Always, always, always.”

Sarrin blinked, sitting once again in the little grey latrine. Amy had protected her, even when Sarrin was too stubborn to know the price of not obeying in Evangecore.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.