Read Online Children of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy - Free Book Online Page B

as soon as he leaves the ship.”
    “Again, that’s nothing to do with me.”
    “But you can petition for it.”
    Natesa shifted uncomfortably, like she was annoyed at being dragged into all this. “Very well. I’ll see what I can arrange.”
    “And there’s one more thing. I want to talk to Lukas Pirgot.”
    “Your old bodyguard? Whatever for? I told you some time ago, he’s a traitor who—”
    “I don’t believe that story. In any case, you promised me contact with him if I came back to work for you.”
    “You broke that deal when you assaulted me, threw me off your damn pirate ship, and disappeared for a year.” Natesa kept her voice level, but her tone was deadly nonetheless. “It serves no purpose to bring him back into your life. He’s yet another irrelevant distraction and a bad influence.”
    “When has Lukas ever been a bad influence on anyone?”
    “He was convicted of treason. I’ve no doubt he’d tell you all kinds of things to make you doubt me and CCU. You need to see him for what he really is—a sick old man with a grudge.”
    “Wait…Lukas is sick?”
    Natesa faltered, as if she realized she was only telling Edie things that would make her even more determined to contact him. “Don’t concern yourself with Lukas Pirgot.”
    “Why are you putting up barricades? If you let me talk to Lukas, if you free Finn, it’ll go a long way toward making me more interested in Project Ardra.”
    Natesa drew a tight breath. “If you dare do a thing to compromise the secrecy or success of Project Ardra—”
    “Believe me, if I was going to compromise the Crib in any way, I’d set my sights higher than Ardra.” Such as saving the Fringe worlds from Crib oppression. Edie felt her face warming and cursed herself for saying too much. She couldn’t let Natesa rile her.
    But Natesa was too worked up over Edie’s many requests to notice. “There will be no contact with Lukas. As for Finn, I’m watching him closely. It seems you’re unduly influenced by such men. And an ex-Saeth, of all things!”
    Edie gritted her teeth but kept her mouth shut. On the rare occasions when Natesa worked herself up like this, speaking only made things worse.
    “I’ll allow him to remain here only because I’m forced into it by that wretched leash. As a civilian and an ex-convict, he can’t be allowed access to any sensitive material. We have restricted areas on the ship, and other…considerations. I will allow him relative freedom to pursue his own interests while on board. There is plenty of supervised work available, if he would like to earn some creds.”
    Edie liked the sound of pursue his own interests . He might be able to find Cat, even plan an escape so they could get to the Fringe. But Natesa wasn’t done.
    “Even if I find this infojack and the leash is cut, I can’t say I’m comfortable with him roaming about the Reach knowing so much about Project Ardra. We could never trust him.”
    Edie felt a shiver of fear down her spine. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Don’t be naïve, Edie. Ardra is far too important to trust to a Fringer lag.”
    “If he does leave, and mysteriously vanishes, I’ll know what you’ve done. And you’ll have lost me forever.” Adrenaline pumped through Edie’s veins as she recognized the precarious position Finn was in. Natesa wanted Edie’s willing cooperation. But at some point, perhaps her desire to control Edie would override that consideration. Perhaps she’d just hire an assassin.
    Something in Natesa’s expression changed—so subtly that Edie almost missed it. Her eyes widened slightly as if she’d just realized what Edie was thinking. Then her face softened. “You have nothing to fear. Good heavens, I’m not a monster and I don’t appreciate the insinuation. All I’ve ever asked of you is that you do your job.”
    “Listen to me, Natesa. Finn has no interest in spilling your precious secrets about Ardra. As far as I know, all he wants is to