Read Online Ghost of Mind Episode One by Odette C. Bell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Odette C. Bell
Ads: Link
his shins
too, but nothing else.
‘ Who are you?’ he got straight to the
point. She didn't look like she was the type to like time
wasters.
The hood was still low enough so that all he
could see was her bottom lip. It shifted down in a twitch, but that
was it.
Sighing John shook his head. Why did some
people have to be so difficult? Okay, John wasn't so innocent that
he didn't know the answer to that; he'd been exactly like the woman
in front of him once upon a time. Not exactly the same - unassisted
by implants or armor, you wouldn't have seen John jumping off the
side of a building. But he was from the slums. He knew the costs of
surviving.
‘ Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. Tell
me why you ran, we'll take you back for a scan and file check, and
you'll be free. No need to make this hard,’ John tried, lowering
his tone, making it a little softer.
She didn't react.
Which left him no choice.
John walked right up to her. ‘I'm going to
remove your hood,’ he warned her, breath stuck in his chest for
some reason.
He wanted to know what she looked like, what
race she was. But most of all he wanted to look right into her
eyes. For no specific reason - it wasn't as if looking into the
doorways of the soul would further his investigation.
But he wanted to. And that particular flicker
of energy up his spine as he reached his hands towards the hood
only solidified his will.
He latched his fingers over it, not too
quickly; he didn't want to surprise her. Though he brushed past her
cheeks and he could feel her eyelashes darting against the external
membrane of his armor, she didn't move back.
She just stiffened even more.
John pulled the hood back. Or at least he
tried to.
He couldn't move it. Gritting his teeth, his
eyebrows descending over his eyes, John tried harder. His boots
locked further onto the hull, the magnetic field they generated
syncing with the metal and anchoring him down.
He pulled as hard as he could.
He couldn't shift the thing. The woman turned
her head to the side, her left cheek pressing into his right
hand.
John tried again and again, but he couldn’t
move the thing a centimeter, let alone get it off.
Sucking in a delayed breath, he finally
let go and took a sharp step back. ‘What the hell?’ he
swore.
She hadn't shifted much; she was still
sitting in exactly the same position with her arms held stiffly by
her sides. She was smiling though, if you could call it that.
Though her skin was still pale, her bottom limp had bunched up,
pushing into the slice of cheek that was still visible.
‘ What's going on here, how are you doing
that?’ John snapped.
She didn't answer.
In fact, she hadn’t said a word to him since
she'd demanded he put her down when he'd saved her from that alien
in the slums.
John took another step back. His eyes were
wide under the faceless helmet of his armor. If he wanted to, he
could turn it to transparent, making the plating disappear as a
powerful force field took its place.
‘ Perhaps human is not up to the task,’ one
of the security bots droned form behind him in its toneless
voice.
John turned sharply over his shoulder. John
was up to the task; even considering his armor had been
cannibalized to bolster the impediment field, he still had the
strength to yank a freaking hood back. He wasn't a geriatric here.
He worked out every single day.
Not bothering to answer the robot and knowing
that it wouldn't try anything unless John gave it a specific order,
he took a step back towards the woman.
She shifted her head forward, facing him, but
the hood still hid most of her face. Her bottom lip had lost the
kick, and had descended into a thin line.
He decided then and there - despite the
situation - that frowning didn't suit this woman. But it was a
useless and faintly sentimental conclusion, one that would not help
him find out who she was.
‘ Transport Beta to arrive at Central
Security Station in one minute,’ the computer suddenly
too, but nothing else.
‘ Who are you?’ he got straight to the
point. She didn't look like she was the type to like time
wasters.
The hood was still low enough so that all he
could see was her bottom lip. It shifted down in a twitch, but that
was it.
Sighing John shook his head. Why did some
people have to be so difficult? Okay, John wasn't so innocent that
he didn't know the answer to that; he'd been exactly like the woman
in front of him once upon a time. Not exactly the same - unassisted
by implants or armor, you wouldn't have seen John jumping off the
side of a building. But he was from the slums. He knew the costs of
surviving.
‘ Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. Tell
me why you ran, we'll take you back for a scan and file check, and
you'll be free. No need to make this hard,’ John tried, lowering
his tone, making it a little softer.
She didn't react.
Which left him no choice.
John walked right up to her. ‘I'm going to
remove your hood,’ he warned her, breath stuck in his chest for
some reason.
He wanted to know what she looked like, what
race she was. But most of all he wanted to look right into her
eyes. For no specific reason - it wasn't as if looking into the
doorways of the soul would further his investigation.
But he wanted to. And that particular flicker
of energy up his spine as he reached his hands towards the hood
only solidified his will.
He latched his fingers over it, not too
quickly; he didn't want to surprise her. Though he brushed past her
cheeks and he could feel her eyelashes darting against the external
membrane of his armor, she didn't move back.
She just stiffened even more.
John pulled the hood back. Or at least he
tried to.
He couldn't move it. Gritting his teeth, his
eyebrows descending over his eyes, John tried harder. His boots
locked further onto the hull, the magnetic field they generated
syncing with the metal and anchoring him down.
He pulled as hard as he could.
He couldn't shift the thing. The woman turned
her head to the side, her left cheek pressing into his right
hand.
John tried again and again, but he couldn’t
move the thing a centimeter, let alone get it off.
Sucking in a delayed breath, he finally
let go and took a sharp step back. ‘What the hell?’ he
swore.
She hadn't shifted much; she was still
sitting in exactly the same position with her arms held stiffly by
her sides. She was smiling though, if you could call it that.
Though her skin was still pale, her bottom limp had bunched up,
pushing into the slice of cheek that was still visible.
‘ What's going on here, how are you doing
that?’ John snapped.
She didn't answer.
In fact, she hadn’t said a word to him since
she'd demanded he put her down when he'd saved her from that alien
in the slums.
John took another step back. His eyes were
wide under the faceless helmet of his armor. If he wanted to, he
could turn it to transparent, making the plating disappear as a
powerful force field took its place.
‘ Perhaps human is not up to the task,’ one
of the security bots droned form behind him in its toneless
voice.
John turned sharply over his shoulder. John
was up to the task; even considering his armor had been
cannibalized to bolster the impediment field, he still had the
strength to yank a freaking hood back. He wasn't a geriatric here.
He worked out every single day.
Not bothering to answer the robot and knowing
that it wouldn't try anything unless John gave it a specific order,
he took a step back towards the woman.
She shifted her head forward, facing him, but
the hood still hid most of her face. Her bottom lip had lost the
kick, and had descended into a thin line.
He decided then and there - despite the
situation - that frowning didn't suit this woman. But it was a
useless and faintly sentimental conclusion, one that would not help
him find out who she was.
‘ Transport Beta to arrive at Central
Security Station in one minute,’ the computer suddenly
Similar Books
