Read Online The Syn-En Solution by Linda Andrews - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Linda Andrews
Tags: Science-Fiction
Ads: Link
apartment. Nell peeked at her surroundings. The coffin-like bed she’d lain in before the groping goons had found her, melded into the black debris drifting under her. Its comforting blue glow faded into the shifting shadows and left her adrift in the cavernous room.
Exhaling her mounting fear, she tumbled head over ass in the air. Her shoulder slammed into a smooth column, ending her somersaulting but rattling her teeth with the abrupt stop. Which way was up now? Nell shook her head. Her blonde hair drifted in front of her face, waving gently as if she floated in water.
This had to be a dream. If she really drifted on the tide, then how come she heard no crashing surf? She could be underwater. And breathing? Not likely.
Could she be dead?
A wave of burning inflamed Nell’s breasts. Death wouldn’t hurt this bad. Beads of moisture frothed over the raw skin where that woman’s syringes had punctured sensitive tissue.
Why had that psychotic Grace Jones wannabe attacked her?
Nell had signed up to save the world not to be tortured by some nut job in a Ninja uniform. She struggled to think, but her precious thoughts seemed shrouded in cotton batting.
Memories played peek-a-boo. There then gone. Not connected to anything that made sense.
She remembered… The portly rent-a-cop who dismissed her with a glance, the Don Juan who set out to charm her, and the plastic women who lounged by the window in the Save Our World’s branch office. The tinny voice of the computer receptionist had called her in for her second interview and then….
And then…
Her brain slammed against a blank memory.
A shiver traveled through Nell that had nothing to do with the frigid air leaching the heat from her body. What had happened to her? How did she get here? Where exactly is here ?
Another blast of pain caused her back to arch, but her arms clenched around her folded legs, keeping her locked in a fetal position. Moving would be bad . The little voice cresting the wave of breath sounded too much like Nell’s perpetually disapproving mother. Nell only obeyed because her mother was almost always right.
Almost always.
Nell would take the odds. At least the voice was familiar in this alien world. Alien? Her stomach threatened to empty its contents into her mouth. No. Reason wrestled with her mushrooming fear. Alien as in unfamiliar, not ET or Mr. Spock.
Look around . Her eyes obeyed, but her heart still pulsed in terror’s cadence. Red glowed in the hiss of steam.
Blinking, Nell focused on the letters. E. Could that really be English? Yes! Hope stirred to life. An ‘X’ followed the ‘E.’ She searched her vocabulary for words. Exhaust. Extinct. Exit.
Exit!
She could leave this Godforsaken place. Her body refused to uncurl. What the heck was wrong now? Why wouldn’t her body obey her will?
Stay still. Wait for help .
Help? The notion stirred in the silence. Miz Jones and her pawing minions weren’t about to help her. Heck they’d probably stuff unpleasant things in places Nell preferred not to think about. Being naked and paralyzed, she doubted even her cutting sarcasm would stop them. At least it held her fear at bay.
Listen .
Nell gritted her teeth at the mother-knows-best tone of her subconscious. How had that part of her brain taken control of her body?
Survival .
That sounded more like instinct than conscience. Nell shook her head to clear the confusion. What did it matter if all those Discovery Channel programs merged into one? She needed to find a way out of here, and that required her limbs to obey her conscious thought. From the corner of her eye, Nell detected movement.
Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
Turning her head to the left, she peered into the gloom. Did that shadow just move or was it a trick of the light? Eyes burning from the strain, she tried to discern objects in the shades of gray, charcoal and inky black. Gradually, she discerned the oval shape of a head pinned to wide shoulders by a
Exhaling her mounting fear, she tumbled head over ass in the air. Her shoulder slammed into a smooth column, ending her somersaulting but rattling her teeth with the abrupt stop. Which way was up now? Nell shook her head. Her blonde hair drifted in front of her face, waving gently as if she floated in water.
This had to be a dream. If she really drifted on the tide, then how come she heard no crashing surf? She could be underwater. And breathing? Not likely.
Could she be dead?
A wave of burning inflamed Nell’s breasts. Death wouldn’t hurt this bad. Beads of moisture frothed over the raw skin where that woman’s syringes had punctured sensitive tissue.
Why had that psychotic Grace Jones wannabe attacked her?
Nell had signed up to save the world not to be tortured by some nut job in a Ninja uniform. She struggled to think, but her precious thoughts seemed shrouded in cotton batting.
Memories played peek-a-boo. There then gone. Not connected to anything that made sense.
She remembered… The portly rent-a-cop who dismissed her with a glance, the Don Juan who set out to charm her, and the plastic women who lounged by the window in the Save Our World’s branch office. The tinny voice of the computer receptionist had called her in for her second interview and then….
And then…
Her brain slammed against a blank memory.
A shiver traveled through Nell that had nothing to do with the frigid air leaching the heat from her body. What had happened to her? How did she get here? Where exactly is here ?
Another blast of pain caused her back to arch, but her arms clenched around her folded legs, keeping her locked in a fetal position. Moving would be bad . The little voice cresting the wave of breath sounded too much like Nell’s perpetually disapproving mother. Nell only obeyed because her mother was almost always right.
Almost always.
Nell would take the odds. At least the voice was familiar in this alien world. Alien? Her stomach threatened to empty its contents into her mouth. No. Reason wrestled with her mushrooming fear. Alien as in unfamiliar, not ET or Mr. Spock.
Look around . Her eyes obeyed, but her heart still pulsed in terror’s cadence. Red glowed in the hiss of steam.
Blinking, Nell focused on the letters. E. Could that really be English? Yes! Hope stirred to life. An ‘X’ followed the ‘E.’ She searched her vocabulary for words. Exhaust. Extinct. Exit.
Exit!
She could leave this Godforsaken place. Her body refused to uncurl. What the heck was wrong now? Why wouldn’t her body obey her will?
Stay still. Wait for help .
Help? The notion stirred in the silence. Miz Jones and her pawing minions weren’t about to help her. Heck they’d probably stuff unpleasant things in places Nell preferred not to think about. Being naked and paralyzed, she doubted even her cutting sarcasm would stop them. At least it held her fear at bay.
Listen .
Nell gritted her teeth at the mother-knows-best tone of her subconscious. How had that part of her brain taken control of her body?
Survival .
That sounded more like instinct than conscience. Nell shook her head to clear the confusion. What did it matter if all those Discovery Channel programs merged into one? She needed to find a way out of here, and that required her limbs to obey her conscious thought. From the corner of her eye, Nell detected movement.
Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
Turning her head to the left, she peered into the gloom. Did that shadow just move or was it a trick of the light? Eyes burning from the strain, she tried to discern objects in the shades of gray, charcoal and inky black. Gradually, she discerned the oval shape of a head pinned to wide shoulders by a
Similar Books
