Red Sun Rogue by Taylor Zajonc

Author:Taylor Zajonc
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781943075263
Publisher: Blank Slate Press
Published: 2017-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Alexis sat on the command compartment chart table, legs swinging freely over the side as she absentmindedly contemplated the last of her cracker. It crumbled between her fingertips, stale and all but tasteless in the slowly souring air of the Scorpion. Sun-Hi was at the communications console, lost to the world as she concentrated on her oversize headphones. She’d probably played every file in the computer’s sound library ten, twelve times already. Yet she kept at the task with inexhaustible focus, barely even looking up when given her daily pre-packaged rations.

Vitaly stood watch at the helm station. He’d taken off his boots and propped his bare feet up over his computer monitor, letting the autopilot take the bulk of the navigational duties. Dalmar leaned against the nearest bulkhead, towering over Vitaly as the pair flirtatiously debated how long they could last without food before resorting to cannibalism. The Scorpion was all but silent, electric engines barely humming as the propellers gently fought a slight tropical current. Their island destination was close now, but Jonah’s internment in the decompression chamber had not yet come to an end.

“I’d eat you first! Chop-chop-chop!” announced Dalmar, reaching down to pinch Vitaly’s ribs just below his armpit. The Russian practically squealed in laughter.

“Nyet—I eat you!” retorted Vitaly as he slapped at Dalmar’s rear. Alexis stifled a snort as she watched the debate quickly devolve into a flurry of poking and poorly translated insults. It amazed her what a little sugar to the bloodstream, and a few regular meals, could do for crew morale.

Her chuckle turned to a sigh and then a yawn. It was nearly five in the morning and she’d already been up for two hours. She supposed it didn’t matter, not really. Day was no different than night within the belly of the Scorpion. The artificial light and lack of a regular watch rotation made it all but impossible to keep a schedule, which left her free to lose time in maintenance projects and her own drifting thoughts.

Dalmar retreated toward the stern, his booming laugh echoing down the narrow corridor. But that was Dalmar and Vitaly—drifting together and momentarily igniting like a crescendo of fireworks, only to drift apart once more. It wasn’t just the difference between cultures; it was something more fundamental than that. They were two wanderers content to share their worldly spheres—but only for a moment. It was as though they somehow knew larger forces would ultimately tear them apart, leaving them with nothing more than fading, happy memories of each other.

Maybe it would be the same for her and Hassan. Thrown together, only to be driven apart. In her weaker moments, she felt she didn’t really know the stranger in her bed. They shared so little—different cultures, different lives, their few moments together shaped by the fear and violence surrounding them.

Sometimes her only guiding light was his tiny kindnesses, like the nights when she turned over to find him awake and watching her, his arm tucked under her warm cheek.

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.