Read Online Damage Control - ARC by Mary Jeddore Blakney - Free Book Online Page A

conversation with his
colleague in their language, the second soldier typed something on
the post again, and Jade felt the pod lift off.
    “Where are you taking me to?” she asked.
    “We don't know,” the first soldier
answered.
    “You don't know where this pod is going?” If
there was one thing that got under Jade's skin, it was being lied
to. She really should have kept her mouth shut, though. She wasn't
exactly in a position to be mouthy.
    But her captors didn't seem to mind. Instead,
they both laughed, and Jade jumped in her restraints. She had never
thought of Chuzekks being as capable of laughter.
    “I know where this pod is going,” said the
second soldier, still smiling. “I'm the pilot.”
    “We are taking you to a larger ship,” the
first one explained. “We do not know your destination after
that.”
    Or, more likely, they didn't want Jade to
know her destination after that. But there was no point in pursuing
the subject with them. They were trained soldiers, and she wasn't
going to get anything out of them that they didn't want to tell
her.
    So she'd been captured by the Chuzekks. Why?
It wasn't that she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong
time, as they say. The Chuzekks had actually sent quite a lot of
pods and soldiers, specifically for her, Jade Massilon. But
why?
    It must have had something to do with Zuke.
She hadn't been intended even to know he was there. “Our meeting
was due to an error,” he had said. And now, they probably thought
she possessed some sort of secret. Well, she didn't.
    But how could she convince them that she
didn't? She felt herself start to panic and pushed the thought
away, forcing herself to concentrate on the Chuzekk script
overhead. “Twenty-six-pod status optimal,” was the translation they
had given her. Or was it “optimal status”? Her eyes lost their
focus on the readout. Her head began to swim and her stomach
churned. Her face and ears felt hot. Or was it cold?
    Suddenly the first soldier turned from his
readout and gave her a backhand slap on the cheekbone.
    She gasped.
    “Breathe!” he ordered.
    By the time the pod had landed and she was
released from her restraints, Jade was stiff. While the first
soldier—the one who had slapped her—helped her out of the pod, the
second one stroked the top of her head. He seemed to be petting
her, as though she were a dog.
    The pod sat in a large, windowless room along
with about a dozen other pods and one bigger craft.
    Another soldier approached—a female. Jade had
seen female Chuzekks on television ever since they had taken over
the satellites, but this was the first time she'd actually met one.
Most were smaller than the males. While this one was no exception,
she was still six feet of sculpted muscle. She grabbed Jade's right
bicep, as though testing its strength. “I am Koll,” she said. “I
will take you to your room.”
    “Jade Massilon,” answered Jade. “But I guess
you know that. Can I contact my family now? I need to let them know
I'm alright.”
    “No,” answered Koll. “Orders. No contact to
Earth, no contact from Earth.”
    “Is there any way I can appeal that?”
    “Perhaps, but not today.”
    Koll exchanged a few words with the two other
soldiers in their own language. Then she took Jade's arm, in what
now seemed to be the standard prisoner-escort method, and pointed
her between two rows of pods to an opening in the far end of the
huge room.
    They came to a shallow ramp, and Jade
stumbled.
    “You is stiff because of the garoshh,” said
Koll, steadying her. “I will help you.”
    “Garoshh?”
    “The rig placed around your ribcage to
immobilize you.”
    “I just learned a new Chuzekk word,” said
Jade wryly. “Garoshh.” The ramp had been going up, and now it
started going down again. Looking ahead, Jade realized the floor
was full of ramps and steps, rises and hollows.
    Koll laughed. “That is bad first word. Try
'shass.' It is sea.”
    “The sea?” said Jade. “The