Earthbound (The Reach, Book 1) by Mark R. Healy Read Free Book Online Page A

this.”
    “Well, not all of us can spend our time making society a better place, can we?”
    Talia glared at him.  “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Look at you,” Knile said, sweeping his hand across the table.  “Still in the dirigible- building business, huh?”
    “Yeah, so what?”
    “So you’re effectively taking people’s life savings in exchange for the false promise of freedom.”
    “That’s bullshit, Knile.  People buy dirigibles because that’s the quickest way out of this city.  The quickest way to someplace better.”
    “Yeah?  Don’t you find it odd that no one ever leaves the city in a dirigible?  All they ever do is hurl themselves at the Reach in the vain hope that they’ll make a landing up there somehow.  They think that if they get past the security at ground level they’ll somehow make their way to the top.  But we both know that doesn’t happen.  We both know they all get shot down before they ever get close.”
    “Listen, I just help make these things, okay?” Talia said, irate.  “I stitch and I sew and I cut, and then they take the parts away and attach all the other bits that make it work.  After that, it’s not my business what people do with the dirigible.  That’s up to them.  If they want to try their luck over at the Reach, that’s their decision.”
    “Yeah.  And you line your pockets in the meantime.”
    Talia’s mouth compressed into a firm line and she stepped aside, her arm indicating to the stairs.
    “You can leave any time.  Nice seeing you again.”
    Knile rubbed a hand across his mouth, silently berating himself.  He was out of line and he knew it .   Talia didn’t deserve that kind of grief from anyone, least of all him.
    “Look, I’m sorry, Talia.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “I mean it .  You got under my skin and I said some thing I shouldn’t have .”  He drummed his fingers on the table.  “You’re right.  You’re not forcing anyone to buy the dirigibles.  It’s their choice.”
    Her arm dropped and she looked at him dubiously.
    “Let’s cut to the chase, Knile.  Why are you here?”
    “I need your help.  But before that, I really need something else.”
    “What?”
    “Do you have anything to eat?  I’m starving.”
    She relaxed a little.  “I can probably spare you something.  Follow me.”

    In the kitchen Talia leaned on the counter, watching him tear into a hunk of bread and a strip of beef jerky – in reality a protein bar derived from crickets, commonly referred to as a bug bar – in between gulps of water from an aluminium flask he’d taken from his hip.  She wondered how long it had been since he had eaten.  He was certainly leaner and more gaunt than the last time she had seen him.  He’d evidently been doing it tough out in the lowlands.
    “This is good,” he said, his mouth full.  “Real good.  Thank you.”
    “It’s really nothing special, Knile.  I guess when you’re starving, anything tastes good.”
    “I guess.”  He fumbled at a pouch on his belt and produced a cred chip.  “I can transfer you some cash for this–”
    “Don’t be stupid,” she said.  “I don’t want your money.”  She smiled sourly.  “Besides, I’m living the highlife, don’t you know?  I’m loaded from fleecing all of these rich people with my dirigible racket.”
    Knile smiled apologetically.  “Go on.  Rub it in.”
    Her expression turned serious.  “You’re really going to go through with this, aren’t you?”
    He nodded.  “Yeah.  And I don’t have a lot of time.  My ride is tomorrow night.”
    “What?  That’s insane!  How on earth are you going to make it all the way up the Reach by tomorrow?”
    “If anyone can do it, I can.  I’ve done it before.”
    Talia grabbed another bug bar from a plastic container on the bench and walked over to Knile, holding it up for him.
    “What happened up there, Knile?  Where’s Mianda?”
    Knile took the bar gratefully, but he