JillAndTheGenestalk by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page A

to wrap her foot.
    “Stupid. Now, I have to mop blood up before I can do anything else in here.” Talking to herself was an attempt to sooth her jangled nerves. In her entire life, she had been unable to imagine a situation like this, but it had rushed up and wrapped around her without her authorization or the ability to plan for it as a possibility. Now, she was dealing with the fallout.
    Limping back to the pilot’s seat, she stared out at the empty sea of stars. The nebula that would hide her trail would be reached within the hour, and hopefully, it would conceal her long enough for a safe haven to present itself.
    “I have no idea where I am going.” It was all there in that one sentence. She had the shuttle to her name and nothing else. Anywhere she found, she would have to trade her tech for her safety.
    All attempts to hide her jewellery in the shuttle had been thwarted by her mother and the bridal party. With the wedding going from theory to fact in four days, she had had precious little time to even think, let alone sneak around.
    Her foot throbbed, and she winced. She was going to need stitches.
    Jill was dozing at the helm, just minutes from the nebula cloud, when her ship was rocked to one side.
    “Damn it.” She opened her scanner and wrinkled her nose at the larger ships piloted by her husband-to-be’s family.
    She took it off automatic and proved why she was the best pilot on Noshon IV. Diving, rolling and engaging in sudden stops, she managed to confuse her pursuers. Jill locked out her audio systems, as she had no interest in their demands.
    The nebula cloud was a welcome embrace. Her scanners showed her pursuers scattering in confusion, but the display also showed that she had taken a few hits. She had an atmospheric bleed in one of the outer tanks that was restricting her to the air she was breathing in the shuttle. One day until she was dead. She had one day to find a place to hide.
    * * * *
    Yono looked up from her monitor. “T’los there is a ship coming in. The trajectory is too sharp, and it isn’t responding to hails.”
    T’los munched on his apple and looked over his cousin’s shoulder at the screens. “It’s dead?”
    “If it isn’t now, it will be. Wait. There is a life sign on board. Really weak. Damn. No wonder.” Yono blinked and ran her hands over her keys.
    T’los looked down at her. “You are deploying the catch?”
    “I am. If the pilot couldn’t hear the interdict warning, then they need medical attention. That means they need to survive the landing.”
    He sighed. “I will run the pickup. We will bring a med team. When will it be down?”
    “Ten minutes. The outer posts have been relaying its progress. Get going. Nader field.”
    “Yes, Yono.”
    He smiled as he left his cousin’s station. Since her degradation, she had lived through her monitors. He winced as he thought that it might one day be his fate as well. Their species may be long lived, but with their weaknesses embedded in their very genes, it was hard for any of them to see a future for their people.
    Ah well, there was an alien who needed his help now. Hopefully, they could breathe the atmosphere of Stok.
    * * * *
    Jill ached. The ship had cushioned her as well as it could from the impact, but the ground it had landed on had taken up the rest of the shock. They were on something springy.
    She unbuckled her harness, powered down her ship and headed to the rear hatch. She blew the door and stumbled out, landing on a green webbing of thick vines that cushioned her as she caught her breath.
    Dimly, she heard shouts that approached rapidly. Dark shadows inserted themselves between her and the sun, and hands lifted her onto a gurney.
    She winced. “I don’t have money to pay for medical care.”
    A low voice from high above her said, “Then it is a good thing we do not charge for it.”
    “Where am I?” The figure was walking next to her, and she made out masculine features and not much more.
    “You