The Eve (The Eden Trilogy) by Keary Taylor Read Free Book Online

stepped inside, we found Royce, Dr. Evans, and Dr. Beeson.
    “All done with the plans yet?” I asked as I settled into a chair.  Avian stood just behind me, his arms crossed over his chest.
    “Nearly,” Dr. Evans said, his voice muffled slightly because of the glass. 
    “I wanted to run some things by you before we finalized plans,” Royce said, opening a notebook and pulling a pen from behind his ear.  “So, according to our freakish friend here, he needs to get back to the NovaTor Biotics facility to get this code and a few supplies for the Nova—”
    “The Nova?” I interrupted.
    “The transmitter device,” Royce clarified.  He gave a sidelong glance at Dr. Beeson and Dr. Evans that said he didn’t love the name.  “Anyway, he needs to get some supplies for the Nova we won’t find around here.  I’m designing a solar vehicle with Dr. Beeson’s help, that will get him there quickly, but won’t require fuel.  We’ve been lucky in the past with gas, but luck doesn’t last forever.”
    “Makes sense,” I said, nodding my head.  “How long will it take?”
    “We have a single person vehicle we should be able to convert in a week, maybe two,” Dr. Beeson said, looking over some files.
    “So a bigger vehicle is going to take a bit longer to convert, right?” I asked, sitting back in my chair, propping my elbows up on the table behind me.
    “Excuse me?” Dr. Beeson asked, his brow furrowing.
    “My sister is still out there,” I said, crossing my ankle over the opposite knee.  “She remembers everything that happened to her.  She’s probably alone, or someone could have found her and twisted her into who knows what kind of weapon.  I’m not going to not look for her.  I’ve got to start somewhere.  NovaTor seems like a good place to begin.”
    The three of them looked at me for a long moment.  There was disapproval written all over their faces.
    “We cannot afford to delay in setting the Nova off,” Royce said, shaking his head.
    “And what are the odds that you will ever find her?” Dr. Evans asked.  “It’s a big country out there.   A big continent.”
    I looked to Dr. Beeson.  His expression was conflicted.  But he understood.  I saw it in his eyes.
    “I have to at least try.  She is my only family.  The only one who understands what it’s like to be what I am,” I said, my voice hard and firm.  “So I’ll be going too.”
    They were all quiet again for a long while, arguments forming behind their closed lips.
    “You know it’s pointless to argue with her,” Avian said.
    “I wasn’t going to be the one to say it,” Royce retorted, shaking his head.
    “Fine,” Dr. Evans said.  “A slightly bigger vehicle shouldn’t be too big of a deal, right?”
    “I don’t think so,” Royce interrupted almost before Dr. Evans could finish his sentence.  “Eve just became the most valuable being in the entire universe.  There is no chance I’m sending just you and her out into the wild.  She’ll be going with an arsenal of back up.”
    “That big of a team will require a fifteen passenger van!” Dr. Beeson protested.  “That will take three weeks to construct!”
    “Then we’ll wait three weeks!” I said, my blood boiling.  I understood everyone’s points, but that didn’t mean the entire conversation wasn’t annoying.
    “Were you not the one who told me about a particular Bane sweep?” Dr. Evans asked from behind the glass.  He was getting angry, and I’d never seen anything scarier than an angry Bane-human freak.  “What makes you think they won’t move faster than predicted?  What makes you think they couldn’t destroy the NovaTor facility tomorrow?”  By this point he was shouting, his cybernetic fists pounding on the glass wall.
    Avian pulled a firearm and pointed it in Dr. Evans direction.  “I suggest you calm down, sir,” he said, his voice deadly serious.
    “All of you just shut up,” Royce said, irritated, as he stood