Read Online The Crucible: Leap of Faith by Odette C. Bell - Free Book Online Page B

dispenser. She slathered
it over her hands and wiped it over her whole face, even getting
some in her eyes.
    She blinked past the pain until
she was satisfied she’d scrubbed enough that every trace of blood
had been removed from her body.
    There was no need to be so
fastidious – the computer had already confirmed that Ensign
Weatherby’s body was not carrying any pathogens. If it had been,
she would have worn a full EV suit.
    So the only reason to scrub the
blood from her face so fervently was that it disturbed
her.
    Deeply.
    There was no one else in the
medical bay, so she was free to admit that to herself.
    There was something about this
case that stole away her grit.
    Suddenly there was a beep from the
console behind her. She startled so badly her elbowed jolted into
the decontamination cream dispenser, and a great big glob fell down
and splashed over her shoe. Swearing, she leaned down, smudged it
clear with her fingers, and cleared her throat. “Doctor Wallace
here.”
    “Doctor Wallace, this is the Star
Forces Central Command. We have received your report into Ensign
Weatherby’s death.”
    She blinked, face crumpling in
surprise. “Central Command? This is low priority,” she countered.
The Central Command were the same unit that housed the Joint
Admirals Committee. They dealt with the very security of the
Alliance, not with autopsy reports.
    “We will decide
our priorities. Your ship will now stand by. We are sending
the Armadale to
deal with this situation.”
    “This situation?
The Armadale ?” She
couldn’t keep the surprise from her tone. The Armadale was a strike vessel. The
kind of prototype ship you sent in to deal with pirate
infestations, not to deal with curious autopsy
reports.
    Her mouth was dry, and her heart
was beating so hard in her throat, it felt like it would tear the
flesh in two.
    “You are instructed to complete
further tests. You will send those tests to us
directly.”
    She dearly wanted to ask what the
hell was going on, but she had to be careful. Sass the Central
Command, and she could lose her career. She took a breath, pressed
it through her clenched teeth, and found herself saying
automatically: “send through the test instructions.”
    “We already have. We will be in
contact again. Central Command out.”
    She stood there and blinked. But
before her surprise could shake through her too much, she found her
gaze pulling towards the shattered remains of Ensign Weatherby once
more.
    That sick feeling flared in her
gut again, and she took another step back, swallowing
hard.
    The computer beeped to indicate
Central Command had sent through their instructions.
    She slid her gaze over to the
panel, even though she was at the wrong angle to see it correctly.
For some reason – despite how crazy it sounded – she didn’t want to
turn her back on that body.
    But she simply had to.
    …
    Ensign Jenks
    I would have at least three weeks
before I had another seizure. I needed to figure out where I could
find more Omega class weapons before then.
    Though they were illegal, that was
a mere technicality.
    There’d been some
on my old ship, the Fargo . I had no idea who’d stashed
them there as there was a House of Lords and Ladies embargo on
them. They were very much illegal. Omega weapons, when used
incorrectly, could jeopardize space-time, causing minute fractures
in the fabric of reality. The fractures would heal, given time, but
if enough accumulated, a black hole could form.
    And yet they had
still been on the Fargo .
    There would
probably be some on the Ra’xon too, I figured.
    The first thing you learnt about
the Galactic Star Alliance was its rules did not apply to its
rulers.
    All I had to do was find the
weapons….
    My whole life was currently
devoted to surviving. To finding my next dose of compound 78.
Without it, my telekinetic abilities would reveal themselves, and I
would be taken back into the Farsight Program.
    I hadn’t always been like this.
I’d had dreams once