Read Online Redemption of Light (The Light Trilogy) by Kathleen M. O'Neal - Free Book Online Page B

the bookshelf over the table. Large for a battle cruiser, the room occupied a twenty foot square. A table and four chairs took up the left wall, next to the door that led to the latrine. In the back, a double bed sat, gray blankets rumpled. Another blanket, blue and white striped, lay on the seat of one of the desk chairs. Cole glanced at Baruch. The man had a tough, inquisitive expression on his face, but Cole knew him too well. Jeremiel had been having a hard night. Deep lines etched the flesh around his blue eyes. Had Baruch slept in the chair rather than chancing the dreams that sleeping in his and Carey’s bed would have spawned?
    Two desks with glowing com units sat side by side along the right wall. Jeremiel stood over the second unit, his hand propped on the top of the monitor. A litter of crystal sheets, com disks, and a golden locket were scattered across the desktop. The sight of the necklace made the ache in Cole’s chest intensify. He’d given it to Carey for her thirty-fifth birthday—eons ago, just after they’d joined the Gamant Underground.
    “Sorry, Cole,” Jeremiel offered, seeing what had caught his attention. “I didn’t think … that’s where she left it.” He reached for the locket, as if to get it out of sight.
    “No, it’s all right. Please, leave it.”
    Jeremiel let his hand hover over the necklace for a moment, obviously trying to judge from the look on Cole’s face whether that was the best maneuver or not. He pulled his fingers back. His blond hair and reddish-blond beard gleamed in the soft light. He wore casual clothes, an ivory-colored shirt and black pants.
    Cole walked quietly to the table and set the bottle down, then disappeared into the latrine to grab two petrolon glasses. He filled each full and handed one to Jeremiel, ordering, “Here, drink this.”
    Jeremiel took the glass and one of his bushy blond brows arched. He held the glass up to the lustreglobe, watching the light dance in the liquor with amber brilliance. “That’s a healthy dose.”
    “I hate to get drunk alone.”
    “I know that from past experience, but I’m not sure I want to keep you company tonight.”
    “Yes, you do. You just don’t know it yet.”
    Jeremiel cocked his head quizzically. “Generally, I trust your judgment.” He took a sip of the rye. “Did you come to talk about Carey or Horeb?”
    Cole wondered how he could ask so calmly, as though they’d be discussing the relative merits of chocolate versus vanilla iced desert. For two weeks Cole had been absorbed with his grief, hearing Carey’s laughter, seeing the sparkle in her emerald eyes, feeling the warmth of her touch that last day on Kiskanu. In the past eight hours, Jeremiel had undoubtedly been remembering, too, and with an anguish even more wrenching than Cole’s own. Yet Baruch could stand here like a marble statue, staring emotionlessly at Cole.
    “I came to talk about Carey.”
    For several seconds, Jeremiel just stood. “Go on. I’m listening.”
    Cole surveyed the holos of mountain scenery that Carey had loved so much; they covered every wall. The largest, a four by five foot picture of the Tetons on Old Earth lit the wall near the entry. The craggy pinnacles glowed lavender in the fading rays of sunset. Snow frosted the steep slopes, flowing into every crevice like pearlescent milky icing. He ambled over and stopped beneath the magnificent peaks. “I’m worried.”
    Clothing rustled. “About the new medical techniques, you mean?”
    Cole turned and appraised Jeremiel severely. “I should have guessed that your thoughts would have been running along the same lines as mine. Yes, that’s what concerns me.”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    Cole’s mouth gaped in shock. “What the hell—”
    “Even if she is alive, there’s nothing we can do about it right now. Horeb must be our first priority and the war effort can’t spare either you or me … and there’s no one else I could ask to risk his or her life to go