Supernova by Jessica Marting Read Free Book Online

had managed
to force herself to stop crying, but at some point soon the tears would come
again and not let up until her body decided it was ready. She pushed her
overgrown bangs out of her eyes and straightened her shoulders, determined to
show these spacemen that twenty-first century women were made of sterner stuff
than she looked. And felt.
    Under
the angry man’s glare, she stood up. “Sirs,” she said, glancing between them. “Lily
Stewart.”
    The
blue-eyed man held out his hand and Lily accepted it. So that little piece of
etiquette hadn’t changed in that last 850 years. “Rian Marska, acting captain
of the Defiant ,” he said, in that same quiet, commanding tone she
recalled from the night before. He had the firm grip she would have expected.
    Releasing
her fingers, he introduced his companion. “This is Lieutenant Grigha Steg,
security chief.” The man called Steg grunted an acknowledgment and kept his
hands fisted at his sides.
    Captain
Marska and Lieutenant Steg took seats around the doctor’s desk, a detail the
security chief objected to. “It would be better to interrogate her on deck
four,” he protested.
    Whatever
deck four was, Lily didn’t want to find out.
    “No one’s
being interrogated,” the captain said. “Not yet. Sit down.”
    “But,
sir...”
    “Lieutenant,
I appreciate your caution, but no.” He turned to Lily. “I need you to be
completely honest with me. We’ve never had an incident like this in Fleet, and
my commanding officers and Steg here think you may be a spy. Are you?”
    “No,”
said Lily automatically. Suspicion bloomed across the security chief’s face and
the captain raised an eyebrow. “I’m a receptionist and administrative assistant
at Lazarus Cryonics. Or I was,” she clarified.
    “What
else?” Steg demanded.
    Lily
thought about what else she was. Downtown apartment-dweller. Regular voter in
elections. Driver of a 2009 Toyota that had seen better days. Former director
of operations at Stewart Tree Farms. Would-be high school history teacher, when
she had the grief from her father’s death purged from her system enough to return
to school. “I have a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of
Ontario,” she said finally. “And before moving to Toronto and taking the job at
the cryonics lab, I worked for my father’s company.”
    “What
kind of business?”
    “Christmas
tree farm.” Catching Rian’s questioning look in the corner of her eye, she
explained, “A holiday. We grew trees to sell for it. Mostly Douglas and Balsam
firs.” She sighed. “I guess Christmas isn’t observed anymore.”
    “Earth
still has an annual winter festival,” Ashford assured her. “Not with what you’ve
just described, but I’ve heard of Christmas.” She looked at him, surprised. “I
grew up there,” he added.
    She
brightened. “Where are you from?”
    “Earth’s
demographics and geographic borders have changed a great deal,” he said. “I’m
from the Northlands, which was previously unpopulated. Most of Earth’s
population lives there now.”
    Lily
tried to guess where the Northlands might be. “You’re from the North Pole?” she
guessed. Maybe the hippies had been right about climate change. She
caught Steg’s irritated look and tamped down her nervousness. The man looked
like he could comfortably arm-wrestle a grizzly bear and have enough energy
left over to rip a door off her car. He sighed in frustration, and the captain
shot him a warning look.
    “Earth
has been home to shipyards for over four hundred years,” Marska explained.
    “No one
actually wants to live there,” Steg added.
    “Another
word out of you and you’re going right back to security,” the captain
threatened. Steg shut up. “Go on, Miss Stewart.”
    “Lily,”
she said automatically.
    Their
eyes locked and for another brief second she felt something melt in her. Then
it was gone, and his next words were all business. “Please continue.”
    But
something