Skye Object 3270a by Linda Nagata Read Free Book Online

DeSearange? The mediot? She does the news almost every day. I live with her.”
    â€œOh right. She’s a founder too.”
    Founders were the original citizens of the city, who had emigrated to Silk 272 years ago. They had arrived to find the city strewn with the bones of the people who had built it, all of them dead of a mysterious plague spawned in Deception Well. Only in the last twenty years had city authority begun to understand the plague. Before then, no one had been allowed down to the planet for fear of contracting the disease. Now anyone could visit, though only on closely supervised tours. There were two small settlements on the coast where a group of scientists and engineers lived full-time, but only a few elite explorers were allowed to mount expeditions into new territory.
    The elevator reached the bottom floor and opened. “I’m fourteen now,” Skye said as they walked through the lobby. “But I’m not ready to live in Ado Town. I like living with Yulyssa. I had other guardians, but I never got along with them . . . I guess I was a little angry then. Yulyssa is different. She’s one of the oldest people in the city, you know . . . old enough to let me be myself.”
    Devi looked uncomfortable. “I wish I could say the same about my mother.”
    The lobby doors opened and they stepped outside onto a path that glowed with a soft white light. Devi paused to scan the sky. Skye followed his gaze. Only a few stars could be seen through the milky glow of the nebula. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “We could get something to eat.”
    â€œOh. I guess so. I mean, sure. Where—?”
    â€œMessage, Skye,” Ord interrupted. It rode on her shoulder, so its silky voice spoke directly in her ear. “A message from Zia.”
    Devi’s dokey glared at Ord, growling at the robot’s artificial voice.
    Skye too felt annoyed at the interruption, but at the same time she also felt strangely relieved. “So play it.”
    â€œHey ado,” Ord said, precisely imitating Zia’s voice. “So I guess you went to see M. Hand after all. Meet me at the Subtle Virus when you get free, okay? I want to know what M. Hand said, helpful or not. And don’t get moody on me if the news was bad. If you don’t show up, I’m going to sneak into Yulyssa’s apartment and lock a gutter doggie in your breather.”
    â€œWow,” Skye said. “Glad that wasn’t personal or anything.” Then she laughed at the embarrassed look on Devi’s face. “Is the Subtle Virus okay with you?”

    Zia ambushed them at an intersection near the restaurant. She slid out of a side street just after they had passed. Then she tapped Skye on the shoulder, making her jump. “Hey. It’s just me.”
    â€œAnd that’s the problem.”
    Zia grinned. Then her gaze shifted expectantly to Devi. “Hi.”
    â€œHello.” Devi’s brown cheeks grew a little flushed.
    Skye felt suddenly angry. She didn’t want to introduce them . . . but that would look pretty stupid, wouldn’t it? So what if Zia was a flirt. It didn’t mean anything.
    â€œZia, this is Devi Hand.”
    Her eyes got wide. For a few seconds she looked frightened, as if she were imagining him as a real person. Then her grin slowly slid back into place. “You’re not real.”
    â€œSorry.”
    Zia laughed. “Well I’m not.”
    A commotion erupted in the street below. Skye turned to look, happy for any distraction.
    From where they stood, the street curved down and to the right, diving into a cluster of two story buildings with restaurants on balconies that overlooked the street. Ados ducked and darted aside, some of them laughing, others shouting threats and obscenities. “What is it?” Zia asked. But Skye could see no reason for the furor. Not at first.
    Then a black spot no more than a couple of centimeters long