Read Online Conviction by Tammy Salyer - Free Book Online

shocked expression and begins to reassemble into the mask of worldly hardness he’s spent his formative years trying to create. Once more, his behavior reminds me of me, of being forced into growing up and toughening up before feeling ready. Because there isn’t a choice.
    “I’m not going to ask again,” Soltznin says, her tone steely. She holds her Bowker in her palm, lowered but still threatening, and I’m surprised by the irritation I feel at her.
    “Did your dad send you after us?” I ask.
    “Uh, yeah. He, uh, he knew there was trouble, and he wanted to know what might happen.”
    He wanted to see if there was a chance he could benefit from our “trouble” more like, but I don’t take it personally. “That took some balls, what you did.”
    He shakes his head, unsure if my tone is admiring or mocking.
    “You got that artillery from the smuggler Temple was telling us about, didn’t you?”
    He nods. “We bought it for protection.”
    “Well, it works,” I say. “Nice job, kid.”
    David, down from his eagle’s nest, joins us. “This the kid who said he could get us a buyer on the e-craft?” I nod, and after taking a look at me, he continues, “Are you sure you’re not hit, Aly? There’s…” He gestures at my face and neck.
    With the hand not holding my carbine, I wipe my cheek. My fingers come away covered in sand-infused, coagulating blood. “Ah, shit.”
    Drew loses it, doubling over and stumbling away a few steps as whatever his last meal was rumbles out of him with the velocity of a rail gun. The sound of his retching is the only noise on the still plain.
    “None of it’s mine,” I comment, waiting for the kid to get it together. “You know, if this smuggler can get his hands on something like that quad and that kind of firepower, he may be the real deal. Exactly the kind of person we could use to flip the ship.”
    “None of these fucking scavs can be trusted,” Soltznin says.
    “Your point?”
    “My point is this whole idea needs to be rethought. We don’t belong out here.” She starts to say more, then pauses, getting control of what sounds like a change of heart.
    Carefully, deliberately, I say, “We can’t turn back now. We’re deserters, Tech Sergeant. Or should I just say ‘non-citizens’? There isn’t any going back.” My eyes flick to David, looking for backup. But that’s not what I see.
    He says, “Look, little sis, we need to consider what Soltznin is saying. If the Corps finds us out here, deserters…this may not be the right move—”
    I cut him off. “Let’s discuss this later. It’s late and we could lose more light. We need to set up a watch and defense. Who knows what other kind of company we’ll get, and we’re not in a position to go anywhere right now.”
    David nods in agreement, reluctantly, and Soltznin says nothing.
    “I’ll help.” Drew, recovered, stands nearby listening closely.
    “Help what?” I ask.
    “I can help you keep watch.”
    Soltznin snorts dismissively. Drew’s eyes narrow at her.
    “Thanks, kid,” David says, “but you shouldn’t be out here in the first place. This”—he waves a hand toward the smoking ATVs—“isn’t something you want any more to do with.”
    “Look, helmet head, I know everyone around here, and everyone knows me. If they see me here, they’ll think twice about bothering you.”
    “They see this and this ”—Soltznin holds up first her Bowker, then a modified CCIX rifle she’s pulled from the hand of one of the dead men—“and they’ll think twice. We don’t need help from a scav. Especially a little one like you.”
    “Soltznin—” I start angrily.
    “Forget it. He isn’t sticking around. Can’t you see he’s trying to play us?”
    “Yeah? That’s why he just mulched four guys into tomato soup vapor? ’Cause he’s trying to trick us?”
    “Jesus, wake up, Tech.” Her voice is filled with the same disgust her expression has held since we landed. “You’re nearly as