Read Online Syndicate's Pawns by Davila LeBlanc - Free Book Online

crutches she made her way down the empty halls of the Jinxed Thirteenth .
    T here was one thing to be said about waking up so far in your species’ future, and that was being able to admire the technology that had been developed in the time she was out. While her old living space had been sterile and antiseptic, the Jinxed Thirteenth had a more lived-­in feel to it. As she admired the corridors, dimly lit with fluo-­lights, she could not help but feel like this vessel had been around for quite some time and had no doubt traveled vast distances across the cosmos.
    Many of the bulkheads, bolts and bits still had the familiar shapes and sizes that Jessie remembered from her past. It was oddly comforting to recognize fiber-­optic cables and the lightning bolt symbol drawn on the odd panel here and there. The constant ambient hum of the ship’s life-­support system was something that took some getting used to but was not altogether unpleasant.
    The engineer in her wanted to take everything apart. She wanted to study how the ship worked, examine its power core, and see how the ­people of her future had achieved faster than light travel. Yet Captain Morwyn’s explicit orders that Jessie touch absolutely nothing still remained in effect and with good reason.
    Because of this, Jessie contented herself with merely observing. She had no pressing desire to accidentally kill both her and the crew because of something silly like not being able to read a warning label. For that reason, Marla Varsin or Chord had been relegated to Jessie as her permanent escorts.
    â€œYou are not supposed to be out alone,” a young man’s voice called out sternly to Jessie in Pax Common. While Jessie could now understand a great deal of what she heard, she still struggled with actually speaking this new language. She turned around to see Captain Morwyn, his face cool and composed yet in no way happy. His eyes were ice blue, his hair dark, long and slightly unkempt. Morwyn sported a small amount of scruff on his face and his Covenant officer’s jacket was wrapped around his waist. He wore a plain black shirt and pants with heavy boots. The Covenant’s logo, the planet Earth, with six lines of light shooting out from around it, each line representing one of the six Intelligences that made up the Covenant, was emblazoned on a small patch on his chest.
    Jessie held back a groan when she saw the captain. She tried to remember the Pax Common term then spoke with a broken accent. “I’m sorry.”
    The captain quickly lectured something back to Jessie which she couldn’t understand. He seemed to notice by her confused look that whatever he was trying to communicate was not coming through and let out a slightly annoyed click of his teeth. He seemed to choose his next words more carefully and spoke them slowly and clearly. “You risk safety of ship.”
    â€œI wanted to stretch my legs.”
    â€œNot my concern.” Jessie did not like being lectured by someone who was younger than her. Yet she could not argue with the fact that Morwyn was the ranking officer of this vessel. Even on the old Earth she had once known there was decorum to be maintained on interstellar vessels. These were not put in place to placate egos—­although oftentimes that was what they were used for—­rather, they were put in place to ensure the survival of all those on board.
    How had a man so young inherited such a heavy responsibility? Jessie wondered. “I understand.”
    â€œYou do not or we would not be talking.” Morwyn’s tone was snappy, and one glance at him revealed that it had come out sharper than he had intended.
    â€œI told you I was sorry.”
    Morwyn rubbed the back of his neck. It was clear to Jessie that this entire situation was quite beyond the norms of what he had been trained for. She had noticed that the captain often behaved in a very stiff manner toward the members of