The Cloudy Skulls (Cloudy Sandbox Book 1) by Eva Harper Read Free Book Online Page A

I’ve ever been on, and I just want to get home in one piece.’
    ‘We all do,’ I said levelly, watching his eyes. He still wouldn’t meet mine. ‘Look at me.’
    ‘Why?’ he asked.
    ‘So I can see if you’re lying. How can I trust someone that won’t even look at me?’
    After a long suffering sigh he did. In them I saw hatred and anger and fear, but no guilt. ‘I don’t like the red eyes, you see? Is that a crime? Reminds me of them…them things .’
    I could understand that. ‘If you haven’t been sabotaging my base, then who has?’
    Keswick frowned. ‘I still don’t understand why you think someone is out to get you.’
    ‘I found detonated EMPs outside the hangar. My guess was that you put them there to knock out the power so the base couldn’t direct our airslicer to land.’
    ‘Jesus, I didn’t know they were there. I swear I didn’t know anything about those.’ Keswick slumped back against the wall and ran a hand down his face. ‘Shit man, what the hell is going on in this damn place? Dead zones are no good, I’ve always said that. Always thought that stupid bitch Alice Cartell never should have pushed this through. They’re dead zones for a reason, setting up camp is just going to get everyone killed. At least she’s here to die with us.’
    ‘Nobody is going to die,’ I said.
    He laughed but it came out more like a choke. ‘No offence, ma’am , I don’t think you get a say in the matter.’
    ‘Yes I do,’ I said, and I started out of the room. I made it to the door before turning back to him. ‘You’re coming with me.’
    ‘I told you I didn’t do anything!’
    ‘I’m not arresting you, I need your help. Otherwise you’ll be right, and people will die.’
    He narrowed his eyes and stayed where he was for a long moment, but then he pushed away from the wall and came over slowly. ‘What do you need me for?’
    ‘I need that electric fence back up and running,’ I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
    ‘What do you think I was trying to do in here?’ he shouted, waving a hand at the computer station I had kicked him away from. ‘I saw the damage on the cameras, I tried to get the fence back up. I can’t, though, there’s a break in the circuit because of the hole. It needs to be patched up before I can get it back online.’
    ‘Fix the hole, got it,’ I said, nodding my head toward the door. ‘You’re still coming with me.’
    ‘Where now?’ he whined.
    ‘To fix the hole, like you said.’
    If possible he paled further. ‘Outside? Bitch, there’s victims walking around out there, that’s insane.’
    ‘Maybe, but if we don’t go out and fix the hole then there’ll be even more victims in our back yard. Then we really will be screwed.’
    ‘But why do I have to go out there?’
    ‘Because I don’t trust you in here,’ I said, leaving the control room and hurrying down the corridor. The sirens had stopped but the red warning lights were still flashing every few metres to remind us of the impending doom. I was hoping to find Parker, but the first useable person I ran into was Lucan. He joined our little group as I went on the search for our missing Lieutenant General. I hoped he hadn’t gone to be a hero and charged out there guns blazing to take out as many victims as possible. It was the kind of dumb thing I could see him doing.
    ‘Komatsu, can I speak to you for a moment?’ called a voice, and I reluctantly stopped to talk to Major Alice Cartell.
    ‘What can I do for you? You may have noticed we’re having a few issues,’ I said tersely.
    She nodded distractedly. ‘I was going to my room before the alarms started and someone tried to grab me from behind. I bit their hand and they pushed me down and I hit my head on the wall, then the alarms started just as I fell unconscious. I didn’t see who it was-’
    ‘Whoever it was deserves a medal,’ Keswick said, his hands balling into fists as he glared at Cartell.
    ‘I’m