Although Scarlet's thoughts were as thick as mud, her fingers
were nimble and fast, dancing through the familiar motions of
powering down the godship.
Just like all those nights she returned to the farm after finishing
her deliveries.
She could almost smell the musty tang of her grandmother's
hangar, combined with the fresh, earthy breeze coming off
the fields.
She lowered the landing gear and eased down the brakes.
The ship settled, humming idly for a moment before she
shut down the engine, and it fell silent.
Something thumped behind her.
A woman began to yell shrilly, her anger made sticky and
confusing in Scarlet's cobwebbed brain.
A headache began to throb in the front of her skull, gradually
taking over entire head.
Scarlet flinched and leaned back in the pilot's seat, pressing her
palms over her eye to shout out the pain, the swamp of confusion,
the sudden piercing light that burst through her vision.
She groaned, slumping forward. No harness caught her
like she'd expected and soon she was hunched over her knees,
taking full gasping breaths as if she'd nearly drowned.
Her mouth was dry, her jaw aching as if she'd been
riding her teeth for hours.
But as she held very still, and choked on very deep
breaths, the throbbing in her head began to subside.
Her thoughts cleared.
The muffled yelling sharpened and spiked.
Scarlet opened her eyes.
A surge of nausea passed over her, but she swallowed
hard and let it pass.
She knew instantly that not her delivery ship, and she
was not in her grandmother's hangar.
The smell was all wrong, the floorboards too clean....
"... want Lieutenant Hensla sent down immediately,
along with a full team for scouting and ship identification..."
The woman's voice shot like electricity through Scarlet's
nerves, and she remembered.
The ship, the attack, the gun in her hand, the bullet hitting
Wolf in the chest, the sense of hollowness as the thaumaturge
burrowed into her brain, took over her thoughts, took away
all sense of identity
and will.
YOU ARE READING
Cress
Teen FictionTheir best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's being force to work for Queen Levana, and she...