Read Online Earthbound (The Reach, Book 1) by Mark R. Healy - Free Book Online

out of an old neighbourhood many years ago.  Knile felt a moment of nostalgia as he looked upon it, remembering all of the time he had spent here.
    This had always been one of the busiest places in the city, and today was no exception.  Workers hustled around the place carrying loads of soil in wheelbarrows, nets, hoses and other implements.  There was also a multitude of armed men and women, since Grove employed its own security personnel, and these patrolled the outer edge of the dome in dusty green uniforms, rifles at the ready.
    Grove was in fact a series of interconnecting structures rather than one large dome.  It had grown over the years and been continuously expanded, with newer curved enclosures built around the exterior and then connected internally.  There was one large air intake at the top of the central dome, through which air was sucked and filtered and then distributed to other sections of the structure.
    There was also only one entrance, and it was heavily guarded.  Fortunately for Knile there were no Enforcers about.  They were not welcome here.
    “You got a plan for this?” Knile said as they approached the entrance.
    “I figured you’d use your body odour to paralyse security, and then we’d walk straight through,” Talia said.
    “Hey, I had a bath last June for your information.”
    There were two clusters of guards, one stopping everyone who tried to enter Grove and the other searching those who exited the enclosure.  Some of the workers breezed through, obviously well known to the guards, but others were given a more rigorous interrogation.  The examinations slowed the procession of visitors considerably, and it was several minutes before Knile and Talia reached the head of the line.
    “Permits,” one of the guards demanded gruffly, holding out a gloved hand.
    Knile and Talia glanced at each other.  “We don’t have any,” Talia said.
    “Then what’s your business here?” he said, eyeing them both suspiciously.
    “We need to talk to Giroux,” Talia said.
    “Don’t waste my time,” the guard responded.  “Shove off.”
    “Wait a minute,” Knile said.  “We’re old friends.  You can ask him yourself.”
    “I’ll make sure to do that,” the guard drawled, “the very next time I sit down to drink tea with him at our daily chit-chat.  Now unless you work here or you have official business inside, I suggest you take a hike.”
    “Forget about it,” Talia said, shaking her head at Knile.  “We aren’t getting anywhere here.”
    “So what do we do?  Where to from here?”
    “Anywhere that’s out of my face,” the guard growled, leaning in at them.  “Move aside.”
    “Back off!” Talia snapped.  “We’re going, okay?  Just–”
    At that moment a pair of meaty hands clamped down on both of their shoulders, and Knile and Talia flinched.  Knile turned and saw the rotund face of a large woman behind them.
    “Look who we have here!” she said cheerily.
    “Hildi,” Knile said, recognising her instantly.  He was about to say more when the woman’s arms slipped around his and Talia’s necks and she drew them in for a rough hug.
    “Like two lost little stray cats finally wandering home,” Hildi said, her voice sounding very nasal from the respirator that covered her nose, held in place by thick black straps around her ears.  Below, her red cheeks puffed out at the edges of her smile.  She pressed Knile and Talia closer and Knile was wedged uncomfortably between a thick arm and one of her pillowy bosoms.
    “Hello, Hildi,” Talia managed to get out as the air was all but squeezed from her lungs.
    “You know these two, Hildi?” the guard said uncertainly.
    “Course I do,” Hildi said sharply.  “Do you think I just go around hugging random people for the hell of it?”
    “Uh…” he began, but Hildi ignored him.
    “What are you doing, my young ones?” Hildi said, releasing her death grip a little and allowing Knile and Talia to breathe