The Light After Earth by Kate Haley

Author:Kate Haley [Haley, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Adam hadn’t been sure of the right call, and he had promised he would stay with the ship. It felt wrong to break that promise, but he was almost certain Slug’s quip about stabbing their cousin with a screwdriver had been just that and that he wasn’t actually supposed to do it. Lani was in the mood to wreck something and he wasn’t prepared to put her in the med-bay just to stop her. The safest course of action seemed to be to go with her and keep an eye on her, so he sent Slug an update and did just that.

Lani had done her research, all five minutes of it. She knew where she was going and what she wanted. Adam wanted to do his best to stay out of trouble. On a scale of clubs he’d been to Light and Magic was pretty nice. Maybe it was just early. The place wasn’t packed. The light was good. The ceilings high. The venting controlled. Adam sat at the bar and read a book on his comms and drank his beer and waited to hear from his sister. Hopefully the world wouldn’t end first. The folk in these parts seemed awfully focused on the shifts in Gilgamesh.

He'd never taken much stock with journalism personally. He didn’t like the way the media fabricated and dramatized reality for clicks. Maybe that was just because he’d been involved in so many stories growing up. He knew deeply and personally how little the self-proclaimed reporters actually knew about the events they reported on.

Someone pulled up next to him. Adam looked up and smiled.

“What are you doing here?” Al asked.

“Staying outta trouble,” Adam replied. “Or doing my best, ae. Look, I’m sorry about earlier… about the bet with Lani. I know you’re private about that kinda stuff—”

“Where is she?” Al pressed.

“She’s upstairs, and I’m pretty sure she feels bad about it too,” Adam continued. “Y’know Lani though, she wouldn’t admit she was wrong if you held a gun to her head. Not the type to apologise, even if she knows she done wrong, and she knows—”

“That’s not important right now,” Al cut him off again.

“It is important, chief,” Adam disagreed. “I’m glad you and Slug are working out. I know she’s my big sister and she thinks it’s her job to look out for me, but that works both ways, and her taste in guys is awful, I mean… wow. She really knows how to pick ’em, y’know? And I’m not sure if you’ll be good for her, that’s not for me to decide, but at least we all know you’d never want to hurt her, not on purpose.”

Al paused. Adam was watching his face, trying to discern if he’d said the right thing. It wasn’t always easy to know. People could be like that. You never knew what they were thinking, but you could work out what they would do. Mysterious, yet predictable.

“Adam,” Al began softly. “We have to go. If we don’t find Lani in two minutes, we’re leaving her behind.

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