Intrepid by J.D. Brewer Read Free Book Online Page A

fourteen, it’d just been Nobu and me. I think these past three years, we searched for Arti more to honor Corbin than to learn anything new.  
    Nobu pressed his hands into the windowsill. “Whoever sees Arti first gets out of gardening maintenance for the entire month,” he said. As much as Nobu loved being in the gardens on the top deck, he hated cleaning the mold off the automated maintenance machines and sprinklers.  
    “Deal, and the loser also has to—” but I didn’t get to finish the sentence. There was a buzzing on my wrist, and I looked at my Planck Activation Bracelet. Nobu felt the same buzzing and pulled up the message.  
      “Update on the most intractable girl in all the Multiverse.—S.O.” Nobu read out every word, mimicking the voice of the person who wrote it.  
    “That’s it. Who gave the Stupid Ox a dictionary?” I asked.  
    “Liam…” Nobu warned. “Be nice. He’s trying to be more serious in his correspondence. At least he didn’t say, ‘Update on the mutant,’ like last time.”  
    “So, you get to mock him, but I can’t?”
    Nobu grinned. “I’m older, wiser, and more handsome. I can do what I want.”  
    “So. No Arti today?” I asked, already knowing the answer as I slowed the boat to a stop. I didn’t want to let on how much it disappointed me, but I knew soon the headaches would prevent us from continuing the search for the year. Instead of voicing this, I placed a new wager. “Whoever condenses the data first gets out of dishes for a week.”  
    “Deal,” Nobu said, and he raced out the door towards his office, leaving me to secure Geeta .  
    “Cheaters never win!” I yelled and pressed the button to release the anchor.

Chapter Seven  

    The screen was bright where it spread out on the wall. Every time I zoomed in and out of the picture, I thanked whoever invented the projector codes that allowed the data-feed from my bracelet to turn into any sized computer I wanted on any surface I had available. I didn’t even need the Planck Activation Bracelet to stay in one place to project. The data simply traveled to where it needed to be.  
    I couldn’t imagine being one of the original Watchers, tied to the default screen that hovered above the Planck Activation Bracelets. It was a good thing our kind had superior vision, or when my ancestors pulled their noses out of their work, they would have looked like cross-eyed, squinting moles from all the staring they had to do at the tiny, tiny screens. Technological advancement let me see more than my predecessors, but that didn’t mean it altered the level of respect I felt towards them. I knew beyond knowing that I stood on the Shoulders of Giants, and it was my predecessors that allowed me to move past them. So when I thanked the inventor of the projector, I thanked those who suffered through earlier models at the same time. They made my job easier.  
    I had a good life on Geeta , and living in isolation on the boat made it so I’ve always known who I was and what I was created to do.  
    Always.  
    I was destined to be the greatest Watcher in my generation because I had an abnormal gift of connection. This was paired with the honor of being trained in this task from the very beginning. My entire life was about sharpening my skills on perspective, and I knew it would lead me to great discoveries.    
    I felt bad for the Explorers like the ones in Geronimo. They didn’t find out who they were until they were old enough to handle secrets. That’s the curse of being raised in a highly populated culture. But Nobu and I had always been old enough to know the truth because there was no one on Geeta to share our secrets with.  
    As I watched Texi year after year, I grew up alongside her. Lately, I wondered if carrying the weight of truth is just as difficult as carrying the weight of lies. She had to know something was off about her, and it must be disconcerting not being able to pinpoint just what it was that