Read Online Senescence (Jezebel's Ladder Book 5) by Scott Rhine - Free Book Online Page B

a
statue.
    “What happened?” Stu asked.
    “Some idiot tried to kung fu an
instrument panel. Ruined both of them,” the guard explained. “Using the charge
in the cuffs to short the controls was brilliant.”
    Must have happened when I fell
on them. “I improvised.”
    “Too bad the plan failed and your
friends couldn’t spring you from the cell.”
    “Nobody was supposed to free me.
Ask your empath if I’m lying,” Stu said. “I was against the wall of that cell
until a minute before that blast. The explosion would have made me into hash.
Somebody tried to kill me …” when we arrived in the system. Oleander left
behind the E01 equipment from our attackers, as well as a few bugs. “You
guys should find out who—because if I die in your custody, everyone is going to
blame the US government for silencing me.”
    Stu paused. “Why does my face
hurt?”
    “You got a little singed by the
control-panel fire.” Onesemo looked nervous. “You said you’d answer questions?”
    “Not for Dr. Mengele.”
    “That’s Kazerinski. Who will you talk to?”
    “Fortune Enterprises.”
    “No can do,” the guard said flatly.
    “Someone from the UN Space Agency.”
    Onesemo shook his head. “You’re
accused of crimes against the US. That has to be resolved first.”
    “Okay, I’ll talk to you,” Stu
offered. Maybe you can tell me the charges.
    “That’s above my pay grade, sir.”
    “Tell them I have a bond with you.
The others on your team can watch. If I see Kazerinski again, all you’ll get is
name, rank, and serial number—Stewart Llewellyn, civilian pilot and envoy,
nineteen.”
    The guard snickered. “Your serial
number is nineteen? Seriously?”
    “It’s a new country,” Stu said.
“There were eighteen original citizens, and I was the firstborn. So, yeah.”
    “I’ll see what I can do.”
    ****
    A few minutes later, a technician set up special cameras in
the aisle of the infirmary. A few beds had to be rolled out to make room.
Onesemo read from a computer tablet. “How many people were in your invasion
force?”
    “I’m not invading. I flew down to
reason with you people. Most of my crew didn’t think you’d listen.”
    “Were they the ones who tried to
bomb us?” asked Onesemo.
    Stu felt a wave of guilt. “Why
would my own people try to blow me up?”
    “We’re not talking about tonight,”
Onesemo said. “We’re referring to your landing.”
    The guy had been so nice. Stu was
ashamed to lie. “The pod—” He stopped when he tasted ashes. Mira radiated
smells that echoed her emotions. This phantom taste could only mean one thing. Onesemo’s
a bloody empath! I’m trusting him because he’s playing me . He grew up
around empaths. The best way to fight manipulation was to tap a strong emotion
from another source. “When I tried to land, I identified myself according to
the conventions. Someone launched missiles at me,” Stu said, his voice rising.
    The pulse monitor alarm went off,
and a nurse rushed in. Stu smiled at her and gave her his most pitiful look.
The nurse glared at Onesemo. “You said you wouldn’t be applying duress to the
patient.”
    Onesemo said, “This is another
Icarus incident. National security has priority.”
    “Who told you that?” Stu asked.
    “I’m asking the questions here.”
    “There were no Icarus fields on my
craft. Search it if you like.”
    The guard read his slate again.
“You know we can’t search your craft. There’s nothing left except the pilot’s
seat and the canopy.”
    Stu shrugged. “The Magi don’t like
to show their hand to uplift candidates, especially hostile ones. It’s part of
their code. I can’t control that. If you hadn’t shot me down, the pod might not
have blown up to preserve their secrecy.”
    “Where is Ascension ?”
    In a scrap heap. “Somewhere
you’ll never find it.”
    “That ship belongs to the UN Space
Agency,” Onesemo snapped.
    “Then why did you kill everyone aboard
with synchrotron