The Meteor 2 by Calvert Joshua T
Author:Calvert, Joshua T.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-09-28T00:00:00+00:00
12
JENNA
The coast of Siberia looked like a washed-out Renaissance oil painting, a flattened brown plain against a green backdrop of stoic trees that, weathered and stooped, had braved the burdens of snow and wind for centuries. Autumn was just beginning, so scattered islands of red and orange in the canopy of leaves brought the odd touch of color to the desolation.
Jenna didnât know if it was her hypothermia, her injury, the shock of running into the Black Widow, or just this place, but she felt lonelier than ever before. Loneliness wasnât a new feeling for herâsheâd had plenty of experience with itâbut the fact that she had merely herself to worry about usually outweighed the feeling. She loved her independence, her freedom in choosing strategy and methodology. Cultivating and systematizing her own actions was exactly what had driven her into this job.
She didnât function well as part of a team because compromiseâto her thinkingâwas about as purposeful as eating a block of cheese when constipated. It tasted good, but it didnât solve any problems, it merely created new ones. Learning of Feynâs betrayal had brought that home to her. If you open a door, youâd better know whatâs behind it beforehand.
âI made a mistake,â she said. âI broke your rule, Tony.â She could hear his response as though he were with her.
âEvery human being has to trust someone in order to survive. Without trust, youâre an emotional cripple, and you canât run a marathon if youâre crippled. This job is a marathon, Jenna. You need help to get ahead. You need to use the slipstream of others to gain an advantage. But you can only cross that finish line alone. There is no second place in our trade.â
âIâm cold, Tony,â she quavered as she paddled with the BCD inflated on her back and approached the shore. She hadnât felt her arms and legs for a long time, but she could see that her impulses to move were still causing her body to obey. âIâm so cold.â
A couple of seagulls circled above her head, eyeing her suspiciouslyâor greedily.
The water enclosed her like a fist, yielding to every flap of her fins, yet patiently returning, as if to make it clear that it had all the time in the world, and hers was slowly but surely running out.
âHe betrayed me, Tony.â
One of the gulls uttered a hoarse cry.
âI really had a good feeling about him,â she tried to justify herself. âI realize I did wrong, but how could I have known he was counting on me to request him for the mission?â
A gush of the salty Pacific water sloshed into her mouth, temporarily choking her. Panic wanted to spread through her like wildfire, but she simply spat and coughed as much as was necessary without stopping her movements. The gullsâshe counted four nowâlowered their flight a little and were now circling not three meters above her.
âExcuses. I know,â she muttered, her teeth chattering so much by now that she could barely understand her own words.
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