Living Hell by Catherine Jinks Read Free Book Online

.’
    ‘Well – that sounds like fun.’
    ‘ I tell you, if it keeps on like this, we’ll all be happy to die.
    Just to escape from his riddles .’
    I had to laugh. I couldn’t help it. ‘Dygall, we’re not going to die,’ I said. ‘The chances are so slim. Really. Come on, now – you’re always complaining about how bored you are. Isn’t this exciting enough for you?’
    ‘ It would be more exciting on the Bridge .’
    ‘Just call me,’ I told him. ‘If you need me, just call.’
    I finally managed to sign off. Then I called Yestin, who didn’t seem terribly interested in the yellow alert. He kept talking about his rodog, which he had named Bam. Bam still had a glitch in his circuits – something about electron flows. We discussed that for a while. Then I asked Yestin if the burn had affected him in any way; I knew that he would be sensitive to the slightest change in our gravitational forces.
    ‘ Oh – I was feeling a bit sick ,’ Yestin admitted.
    ‘Really? That’s tough. I’m sorry.’
    ‘ Hey, it’s no big deal. I’m always sick. Anyway, I feel fine now . Mum gave me something. ’ The rodog barked. ‘ You know, he doesn’t jump so well. I think I’ll put springs in his legs .’
    ‘Where are you, anyway?’
    ‘ GeoLab. With Dad.
    ’ ‘And your mother?’
    ‘ She’s here too .’
    ‘Well – that’s good. So you’re all right, then.’
    ‘ Yeah, I’m okay. I guess. Thanks for asking .’
    ‘Take care, Yestin.’
    ‘ Cheney!
    ’ ‘What?’
    A pause. At last Yestin said, ‘ It’s weird, isn’t it?
    ’ ‘What?’
    ‘ All this. The alert, and everything .’
    ‘Oh. Yeah. It’s certainly unusual.’ I tried to sound positive, and it wasn’t so hard. ‘But we’re going to be fine. Don’t worry.’
    ‘ I won’t .’
    ‘Look after yourself.’
    ‘ You too.
    ’ ‘Linkdown.’
    My heart was in my mouth when I called Caromy. You won’t believe this, but the prospect of talking to her frightened me more than the emission wave did. I had to clear my throat several times before patching through.
    She seemed surprised to hear my voice.
    ‘ Cheney? Where are you? ’ she said.
    ‘The Bridge. Where are you?’
    ‘ Pump station one, of course. What’s the matter?
    ’ ‘Well . . .’ I took a deep breath. ‘You see . . . I just . . .’
    ‘ It’ll be all right, honey. You’ll see .’
    ‘Yes, I know. But – I mean, if it isn’t -’ ‘ It will .’ She spoke firmly. ‘ I know this crew. I trust this crew. This crew will get us through, and so will Plexus .’
    It could have been me talking. Caromy was doing her duty as a Big Sister to every Shifter on board. But that’s not what I wanted.
    ‘Caromy, that’s not why I called you.’ I suddenly thought: Why didn’t I do this on Vindow? I need to see her face! ‘Can we switch to Vindow, Caromy?’
    ‘ Oh, Cheney, it’s not a good time. I’m inputting, right now.
    What did you want to say? Is that naughty Dygall bothering you again?
    ’ ‘No, no. It’s nothing like that.’
    ‘ What, then?
    ’ I cleared my throat. ‘If something bad happens -’ ‘ It won’t .’
    ‘But if it does , Caromy! If it does, just in case, I wanted to tell you . . .’ What? I tried to find the words. ‘You’re an inspiration!’ I blurted out. ‘To all of us! Especially me.’
    ‘ Oh, Cheney. That’s so sweet. But you’re pretty inspirational yourself, you know. All the little kids look up to you, I know they do. You’re a great role model. You’re always so kind and thoughtful, and you never lose your temper, or forget about our ultimate goals -’
    ‘No, no!’ She had misunderstood. I wasn’t talking about the Brotherhood program. I wasn’t talking about civic duty. ‘That’s not the point! What I want to say is this . . .’
    But I never did say it. Because at that moment, Plexus was put on red alert.
    And Caromy had to sign off.

CHAPTER
FIVE
    Things started to happen very quickly. When I left the