wall. Closing my eyes, I sank to the ground.
“Jarana, you okay?”
It was Lux’s voice. I held my hand with my thumb up toward the monitor.
“What’s wrong with your com? I can’t hear you.”
I glared at her and gave an exaggerated shrug before leaning my head back and closing my eyes again. Truth was I’d donned the defective helmet on purpose. I liked not having to talk to them. Three days had passed since Erik had gotten drunk in my living pod, and Maska was still out. For a time, I thought he was faking it, and Kei had caught me poking him with one of the sharp medical instruments.
Lux cleared her throat noisily. “If you’re okay, why aren’t you getting your lazy ass up?”
Remembering one of Lux’s favorite communication methods, I held up my gloved middle finger.
Her laughter rang over the one-way com before she cleared her throat again. “By the way, Maska is awake. Egan is hunting down Erik so the two can talk. Will you give them a day or so before you start insisting I fly you off planet? Not that I’m saying I will or anything.”
Not for the first time, I wished I could have flown my ship here. I had the skills to navigate the debris fields surrounding the planet, but the explosions had released heavier gases into the atmosphere. They’d dissipate in time, but they were too strong for anything but a ship made of our kithronite. One ship had managed to get through—the one that had rescued Egan and two other on-planet survivors—but gases had rotted the hull. The pilots had just dropped off the Gwinarians when disaster struck. Now, Lux was the only one with access to the only kithronite ship.
The bitch.
I sighed. She didn’t know I’d already promised Erik the time. I wished I hadn’t. I wanted out of here and away from those two men, and even more, I wanted off Kithra. The night before had been the worst. I’d downed the last of my whiskey and paced every inch of nearly every pod tunnel. All except the one where I’d had that memory of playing with my sisters.
I was having to work for the numb—which meant it wouldn’t stick around much longer. Better to be far away from this world when my emotions made their reappearance. The only way I knew to stop them would be to take the last job and go after the remaining escaped Replicant.
Letting out a deep breath, I stood. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be working down here today, so I ignored Lux’s questions and left the mines. I didn’t stop by my pod to change, just continued on to the poor excuse of a workout area the others had set up.
In the past, we’d had swimming pools and gyms attached to every section of living pods. I missed the pool I’d grown up using. It had been built to replicate the waterfalls and cave pools on the planet’s surface—an area we couldn’t explore outside of proper suits, but so beautiful, photographs of the settings had graced most calendars in the cities. The room we had now held two air treads and a set of virtual weights. Grinning, I grabbed the goggles, remembering how much I’d loved them when I was younger. The settings hooked into brain waves, making the user really believe he or she was lifting weights, and though nothing gave the body actual physical resistance, the mind supplied it. Muscles were used as if weights were really being lifted. I placed them over my head and scowled when I realized I still wore the metal shell. I stripped down to the fitted suit layer.
Lying back, I wrapped the goggles around my eyes, flipped them on and chose the third weight setting. The pull and cry of muscles I hadn’t been using did what I’d hoped. My mind stayed away from all the upsetting things and focused on the workout. I lifted for nearly an hour before dropping my arms to the mat. I managed to gather enough energy to raise one arm and pull off the goggles before letting them drop to the floor.
I felt eyes on me. Damn, I’d forgotten about the coms. Prying one eye open, I
“Jarana, you okay?”
It was Lux’s voice. I held my hand with my thumb up toward the monitor.
“What’s wrong with your com? I can’t hear you.”
I glared at her and gave an exaggerated shrug before leaning my head back and closing my eyes again. Truth was I’d donned the defective helmet on purpose. I liked not having to talk to them. Three days had passed since Erik had gotten drunk in my living pod, and Maska was still out. For a time, I thought he was faking it, and Kei had caught me poking him with one of the sharp medical instruments.
Lux cleared her throat noisily. “If you’re okay, why aren’t you getting your lazy ass up?”
Remembering one of Lux’s favorite communication methods, I held up my gloved middle finger.
Her laughter rang over the one-way com before she cleared her throat again. “By the way, Maska is awake. Egan is hunting down Erik so the two can talk. Will you give them a day or so before you start insisting I fly you off planet? Not that I’m saying I will or anything.”
Not for the first time, I wished I could have flown my ship here. I had the skills to navigate the debris fields surrounding the planet, but the explosions had released heavier gases into the atmosphere. They’d dissipate in time, but they were too strong for anything but a ship made of our kithronite. One ship had managed to get through—the one that had rescued Egan and two other on-planet survivors—but gases had rotted the hull. The pilots had just dropped off the Gwinarians when disaster struck. Now, Lux was the only one with access to the only kithronite ship.
The bitch.
I sighed. She didn’t know I’d already promised Erik the time. I wished I hadn’t. I wanted out of here and away from those two men, and even more, I wanted off Kithra. The night before had been the worst. I’d downed the last of my whiskey and paced every inch of nearly every pod tunnel. All except the one where I’d had that memory of playing with my sisters.
I was having to work for the numb—which meant it wouldn’t stick around much longer. Better to be far away from this world when my emotions made their reappearance. The only way I knew to stop them would be to take the last job and go after the remaining escaped Replicant.
Letting out a deep breath, I stood. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be working down here today, so I ignored Lux’s questions and left the mines. I didn’t stop by my pod to change, just continued on to the poor excuse of a workout area the others had set up.
In the past, we’d had swimming pools and gyms attached to every section of living pods. I missed the pool I’d grown up using. It had been built to replicate the waterfalls and cave pools on the planet’s surface—an area we couldn’t explore outside of proper suits, but so beautiful, photographs of the settings had graced most calendars in the cities. The room we had now held two air treads and a set of virtual weights. Grinning, I grabbed the goggles, remembering how much I’d loved them when I was younger. The settings hooked into brain waves, making the user really believe he or she was lifting weights, and though nothing gave the body actual physical resistance, the mind supplied it. Muscles were used as if weights were really being lifted. I placed them over my head and scowled when I realized I still wore the metal shell. I stripped down to the fitted suit layer.
Lying back, I wrapped the goggles around my eyes, flipped them on and chose the third weight setting. The pull and cry of muscles I hadn’t been using did what I’d hoped. My mind stayed away from all the upsetting things and focused on the workout. I lifted for nearly an hour before dropping my arms to the mat. I managed to gather enough energy to raise one arm and pull off the goggles before letting them drop to the floor.
I felt eyes on me. Damn, I’d forgotten about the coms. Prying one eye open, I
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