Liberty by Annie Laurie Cechini Read Free Book Online Page B

who I am. The SUN knows I have this stuff, and up until very recently they thought I was dead. This vial is my ticket to deep space, freedom, a life away from the System. And now, apparently, Eira Ninge knows about it and isn’t afraid to kill for it. The carriers won’t find a body, so with any luck both the SUN and Eira will think I was obliterated in the crash.”
    “Not likely. Even with no body there’d be DNA evidence their scanners would pick up. They’ll know you’re alive, Dix.”
    I ran my hands through my hair.
    He was right.
    “I gotta get more Eternigen and get out of the System.”
    “Why?” asked Berrett. “How’d you end up with that stuff anyway?”
    I pressed my lips together, so used to lying by default that every word of truth took time to formulate. “I wound up with it because my aunt was the scientist who discovered it. Three days later, my family was in a terrible accident and I’m the only one who lived. I don’t remember much about my life before that. It’s all fuzzy. All I really know is that I want something more for my life. I want to find a new world, build a country where people are safe. I don’t want to spend my life sneaking around on eggshells. My best friend Hobs was working on replicating the formula so we’d have enough to get the whole crew out. He was getting close when—”
    My brain went blank, as though a heavy fog had descended in my head. I closed my eyes as all my emotions extinguished, blown out like a candle. I saw the image of Hobs’s lopsided smile burned behind my eyelids. All the smells and sounds of the Académie on Venus flooded my memory and pushed out the scents of Earth.
    I was transported back in time to the day before graduation, barely one year ago.

    “You’re going to get caught before I get a chance to finish this, you know,” Hobs had said. “I’m finally at a point in my career where I can begin to attempt to break down what that stuff’s made of, and your brilliant plan is to run cargo while I do it? How many ways could this go wrong?”
    “Only one, really,” I had replied. “We could die. Or we could earn some extra funds running cargo, which would pay for an on-ship lab. Come on, Hobs, you can’t resist the tantalizing possibility of your very own shiny lab.”
    He had gone glossy-eyed as he had envisioned the possibility. I knew I had him. Just a few more entreaties, maybe a little pout ..
    “You could get out from under the Einstein building, see the world,” I had said. “We graduate tomorrow, Hobs. What are your other options? Go work for the bad guys? Work for the System?” Hobs’s test scores had resulted in the SUN courting him since he entered the Académie, but I knew he wasn’t interested.
    Hobs had put his arm around me and walked me around the Académie campus. “If it were anyone else but you ....”
    “I know. That’s why I love you.” I had planted a kiss on his cheek, grabbed his hand, and laughed at him as his pale cheeks flushed. “Come on. Let’s go get our gear packed.”

    “Dix? You okay?”
    Berrett’s question snapped me back to the present.
    “Yeah, I’m just ... hungry.”
    Berrett laughed out loud.
    “What?”
    “That’s not what I was expecting you to say. So, you think that what happened to your parents was really an accident?”
    My throat clamped down. “Take a wild guess.”
    “I see.”
    I took the vial out of Berrett’s hands and clasped the chain around my neck. “Everyone who knew about this flarking thing is dead except me. The only reason I’m still alive is because I’ve hidden so well for the past five years, and now my cover is blown. If the SUN finds me, I’m dead.”
    “And how would leaping from an exploding ship not result in your death, exactly?”
    “I had it handled, okay? I just hadn’t worked out the details.” I ignored Berrett’s laughter. “Look, if I’m going to die, I’d like to be the one to decide how it goes down, alright?”
    “I guess I