Killswitch by Victoria Buck

Author:Victoria Buck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781611167382
Publisher: Pelican Book Group
Published: 2016-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

29

Riding up the side of a cliff in a sling didn’t require an exoself. What Chase needed was a tranquilizer. “Don’t be afraid,” he told himself. He swayed below Switchblade, Michael, Joseph, and some guy named Shorty. The four of them tugged on the ropes that had Chase tied in a blanket. None of them seemed to hear his faint muttering.

“Don’t be afraid.”

He wished he knew what time it was. He wished he could read the intel that must be filling some WR file about the almost capture and subsequent loss of Chase Sterling. He wished he had night vision and super hearing and the strength to pull himself out of this predicament.

An animal—he wasn’t sure what sort—let out a squeal and then rustled away from the spot right next to Chase’s head. Maybe it was best that he couldn’t see in the dark right now.

“You doing OK, boss?” Mel waited at the top with a VPad. Chase had another one strapped to his chest close enough for him to speak into it.

“Mel, what time is it?”

“Quarter ‘til four.”

Couple of hours until daylight. They’d never make it to Gagnon before then. What kind of vehicle waited above? Something inconspicuous, he hoped. Pain crawled up his leg. His head throbbed, along with his shoulder. His processors felt nothing. That was the cruelest wound of all.

“Almost up, Charlie.”

The voices at the top of the ridge became clearer. Chase could make out the figures of the four men tugging the ropes. Mel seemed to be on her knees, leaning over the edge, watching him.

At last he reached the top. Mel practically fell on him and kissed his head. She gave a swift and quiet voice to a prayer. The men released Chase from the sling and moved him to the back of—

“A hearse? Seriously?” Chase lifted his head to examine the windowless rear compartment of the old car as his would-be pallbearers lifted him inside.

“Compliments of the Addams family,” the guy named Shorty said with a laugh. “That’s an old TV show.”

“I know all about old TV shows,” Chase said. “But I’ve never in my life seen a car like this on the road. Don’t you attract attention driving this old thing?”

“Nah. I really am an undertaker. I serve the downtrodden. Locals know me. Feds know me. They think I’m doing them a favor by burying the homeless free of charge. They don’t know I’m hauling goods for the Underground Church.” He laughed again. “And they sure don’t know what I’m hauling tonight.”

Chase lay his head down on a soft pillow and Mel covered him with a blanket. She settled in beside him, and Switchblade pushed the door of the carriage to eternity shut. He’d ride up front with Shorty. The two men from Blue Sky Field would head home with a message for Chase’s mother and for the rest of people waiting there. The ones depending on a transhuman.

“I’ll be of no use to you at Blue Sky Field now. I don’t want to let anybody down.

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