Scent of Treachery by Smith, T.L. (free books to read txt) 📕

every beat. Hearing it, seeing the scans, imagining the real thing didn’t prepare her.

She pushed every emotion she had into that dark place, shutting down all but the sound of Taylor’s voice as the surgery began.

 

 

 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

 

Foster had his eyes closed, listening to the damage reports. “The crew cannibalized the Dolan 4 to repair the communications array. They lost one more crewman and more injured, including Ni…Dolan. Primary docking bay is compromised. Using secondary system in the cargo bay. We have three more days before the Evac ship arrives.”

“Well, pack up your gear, pull all the memory files, the rest we’ll break down and transfer to one of the other stations.”

“What? You’re… I’m not… Foster, you know I can’t do that!” Jayda braced herself for an argument. “You go find this Lou Barron, or whoever’s contesting my patents. That’s who did this. Go after them and let me get back to work.”

He pulled on his firm ‘not going to get your way this time’ look. “You can’t stay out there with all that damage.”

“I have the damage contained. Just send repair teams.” She could be as stubborn as Fos. “I can’t leave.”

“No, you won’t leave. There’s a difference.” He softened up a bit, leaning forward. “It’s time to stop punishing yourself.”

“I’m not!”

“Like hell you’re not. You’ve used your past to hide and your disability as an excuse to stay hidden. I’ve seen the medical reports. Most of your wounds are healed. Any weaknesses now are self-inflicted from living in zero-g so long.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Jayda growled into the link. “I’m not leaving. Go find who did this and leave me alone.”

Foster slammed his hand down on the desk, so hard Jayda jumped. “You listen to me, Doctor. You’re going to evacuate that station if I have to come out there and drag you out of there myself.”

He pointed his finger at her. “You were the target. You and your private experiments, not us. A week ago you were one of our prize assets, but now you’re an expensive liability. Until this matter is resolved we’re putting you under protection. Then, and only then, will we give you another base to work from. With conditions.”

“What conditions?”

“Haven’t fully decided.” Foster’s glare softened. “You’re an asset, a liability, but also somehow a friend. I’m doing this for your own good. Prepare to be evacuated.” He terminated the link before she could respond.

“YOU CAN’T!” She shouted at dead air, then proceeded to argue all the reasons she couldn’t leave, to herself, ranting until she was out of breath.

Her comm chimed again as she tried to breath. It wasn’t Foster. “What, Dr. Taylor?”

“Capt. Dolan is requesting to see you, again.”

“Tell him I have work to do!” Jayda terminated the link. He’d asked several times since he woke up from surgery, but she couldn’t open that door again. When the Evac ship arrived they’d all be taken to the nearest base. Better to break those ties now.

As for her evacuating, Foster would reconsider. It would take a while before he got anyone to come after her. By then they’d know who tried to grab her. By then she’d give Foster an alternative to transferring her.

She tapped open her comm. “Denny, report!”

There was a slight delay. “Yes, ma’am! What can I do for you?” He sounded completely different from the scared boy they released from the storage bay.

He was sure they would jettison him to join his pirate buddies, but further interviews confirmed he was a Vanished, one of thousands of kids abducted from colony raids. They grabbed kids so young they’d forget their real lives.

Denny was something of an exception. He remembered being a real kid, from a real family, from people who didn’t do such horrendous things to others. He was old enough to keep his mouth shut and his head down. Until now.

He attached himself to Jayda. He helped her avoid the crew, bringing her supplies and information. “Denny, can you bring me dinner?”

“Immediately!” He chirped.

He wouldn’t be long so she switched to the station plans. Other than the airlock door and the decon room into her lab, most of the damage was surface, nothing structural. A repair team could repair everything in a few weeks, except station security. She marked the bulkhead doors.

The door behind her opened. “Thank you, Denny. I have a lot to do before my next comm-link with corporate. Got to have a plan.”

“For what?”

Jayda swung around to see Nick sliding a tray onto her small dining table.

“What are you doing here?” She looked to the door to see Denny with one of Nick’s security men draping an arm over his shoulders.

He pouted. “Sorry, ma’am, they made me!”

“It’s okay, Denny. Some people don’t know what the word ‘no’ means. Go on with your jobs.” Security let Denny go and the door closed. Jayda refocused her anger. “Why are you here? Why are you walking around?”

Nick pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’m under orders to exercise. Your Senaprox has been speeding up my recover, and the nerve regeneration.” He held out his left hand, flexing his fingers slowly. “Taylor thinks I’ll see a full recover, eventually. Should be a good case study for your testing.”

“No, you’re not.” Jayda turned back to her station plans. “Using the medication on you, on anyone, is basically illegal. It’s not approved yet.”

“Yeah, Taylor said the same thing, so we removed any mention of it from our official reports.” Nick rapped on the tray. “Come eat.”

Jayda tried to ignore him, but she was tired. She left the plans up and ground her teeth to walk over to the table, taking the other chair.

Nick never took his eyes off her. “You’re walking better. It’s good you learned to do without those braces.” Nick lifted the cover off the main dish. “Getting back to a full-g will be tough, but once we’re on a larger station I’m sure they can adjust your temporary quarters gradually.”

“They won’t need to.” She ignored the