Read Online Kraken Mare by Jason Cordova, Christopher L. Smith - Free Book Online Page B

hadn’t quite gotten around to reading them yet. I’d been on rotation since I’d arrived and had been putting it off. I made another mental note to go over them later after my shift ended. If I was going to start doing transport work, now would be a great time to know more about the prisoners.
    “What about the last one? Bastille, right?”
    “Baptiste. And quite frankly, he just flat-out scares me. He’s just as polite and calm as Holomisa, but, I don’t know. There’s something in his eyes that just seems off. I’ve never met anyone like him before, and we had some pretty bad mothers back home.”
    We arrived at the first cell on the block, which belonged to Captain Holomisa. I looked at Poole, uncertain. He gave a reassuring grin.
    “Just follow my instructions and observe for now,” he said. “You’ll get a chance later.”
    “Got it.”
    “You ready?” Poole’s thumb hovered over the button.
    “As I’ll ever be.”
    The wall went clear. Holomisa looked up from his book, nodded, and marked his place. He stood and approached the door, turning around and clasping his hands behind his back. His movements, while slow, were deliberate, and didn’t seem to be challenging us or mocking in any way. Just someone making sure we knew he was complying, no ulterior motive.
    “Nothing up my sleeve…” I muttered. A quick smile flashed across Holomisa’s face. I gave him a funny look before I shook my head. I wondered if he could read lips as well. It wouldn’t surprise me.
    Poole triggered the lock, and the door slid into the floor. Holomisa took one careful step backwards and stopped. Poole carefully snapped the cuffs on the captain’s wrists, then bent to attach the leg restraints. Bigfoot stood to the left of the prisoner, hand on his tranq gun in case something went wrong.
    “Ok, Captain, you may turn around and exit your cell.”
    Holomisa did so, and then surprised me. He spoke.
    “Ah, Lockhart, it is good to see you again.”
    I did a double take.
    “Can’t fool you, can I?” the older guard said, chuckling. “Thought the name tag would throw you off this time.” He shot me a look and grinned. “Captain H here is batting a thousand. Only one on the station that can tell us apart without a cheat of some kind.”
    My brain did a quick somersault, reassigning a name to the person I was standing next to.
    “Shall we, gentlemen?” Holomisa nodded in the direction of the elevator. I found myself taking a step involuntarily, momentarily forgetting that I was the one with the authority here. I flushed at Poole’s — Lockhart’s, damn it — grin.
    “Don’t worry, rook, he has that effect on everyone at first.” To Holomisa, he said, “Introductions, first, Captain. Captain Holomisa, this is John Manning, recently in from Soma, and recently out of the Marines.” Holomisa gave a small bow in my direction. “Manning, this is Captain Emery Holomisa, formerly of the US Army.”
    “Captain, your reputation and career precedes you,” I said. “I wish we could’ve met under different circumstances.”
    “Likewise.” A slight smile crossed his lips. “Soma? Surely you have some interesting stories.”
    “Just one, Captain. And don’t…”
    “…Call you Shirley?” A toothy grin came and went quickly.
    “Uh, yeah.” I couldn’t help but to grin back. “A fan of the classics, I see.”
    “I have absolutely no idea what you two are talking about,” Lockhart said, shaking his head. “Let’s head down before you guys start in on the war stories.”
    All in all, Holomisa was a model prisoner. He quit talking as we started walking towards the elevator; however, I had the feeling it was so we wouldn’t become distracted and could perform our duties properly. Respect for our position, regardless of the situation. It was comforting, in a way, and somewhat inspiring.
    Jesus. I’ve known the guy less than five minutes and I’d follow him into Hell.
    I forced the thought back and