Cinder stumbled up the ship's ramp, pulling her shirt away from
her hips in an effort to get some airflow against her skin.
The desert heat was also relentless.
Then there was the sand, that annoying, hateful sand.
She had spent what seemed like hours trying to clean it out from
her cybernetic joints, discovering more nooks and crannies in
her hands then she'd known existed.
"Iko, close ramp," she said, sinking onto a crate.
She was exhausted.
All her time was spent worrying over Wolf and trying
to be gracious to the townsfolk who had brought her so
many gifts of sugar dates and sweet rolls and spiced
curries that she wasn't sure if they were trying to thank
her, or fatten her up for a feast.
On top of that were the constant arguments with Dr. Erland.
He wanted her to focus on finding a way to get onto Luna
without being captured, and while she had conceded that
that would have to happen eventually, she was still set on
putting a stop to the royal wedding first.
After all, what did it matter if she dethroned Levana on Luna
after she was crowned empress of the Commonwealth?
There had to be a way to do both.
But the royal wedding was only a week away, and Iko's clock
seemed to tick faster with every hour.
"How is he?" asked Iko.
Poor Iko, who was stuck alone inside the spaceship's
system for hours at a time while Cinder was at the hotel.
"The doctor started weaning him off the sedatives this
morning," said Cinder.
"He's afraid that if Wolf wakes up again when no one is there,
he'll have a mental breakdown and reinsure himself, but I
told we can't keep him unconscious forever."
The ship sighed around her—oxygen hissing out of the life
support system.
Reaching down, Cinder pulled off her boots and dumped the
sand out onto the metal floor.
"Has there been any news?"
"Yes, two interesting developments, actually."
The netscreen on the wall brightened.
On one side was a static order form with CONFIDENTIAL
emblazoned across the top.
Despite the spark of curiosity it caused, under's what
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...
