These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman Read Free Book Online Page A

coded in some way, but lacking knowledge of this particular system, I have to trace them out manually, deciphering amid the tangle which are the two I want.
    “Need any help?” The question is tense but civil, revealing nothing.
    I jump, jolted out of my concentration. “Not unless you were an electrician out there on the frontier, and given I’ve heard they don’t even have lightbulbs, I doubt it.”
    A faint noise behind me, a muffled exhalation. Is he laughing at me?
    I glance over my shoulder, and he’s quick to avert his eyes toward the  ceiling. No wire cutters, so I use my fingernails. One advantage Simon  never had—he couldn’t strip wires bare-handed. And he never would’ve dared use his teeth on live circuits.
    The Major is silent behind me, and when I sneak a second peek over my shoulder, his eyes are still on the ceiling. A little of my annoyance fades. He did save my life, with no guarantee he’d have time afterward to make it to an escape pod.
    I shouldn’t say anything to him. I should make sure there’s nothing for either of us to tell when we return. I should make sure he continues thinking I’m the worst person he’s ever met. But for some reason, when I’ve got a section of the green and white wires stripped, I find conversation fighting its way out of me. I mean to be conciliatory, but despite my best intentions, it comes out as acidic as ever.
    “On the frontier, isn’t this how they hot-wire a hover—”
    I brush the two wires together, and instantly the rockets ignite, catapulting the pod away from the ship. I have only the briefest glimpse of the wall in front of me careening at my face before the universe goes  utterly black.

“What did you think was happening at that point?”

    “I didn’t know. There was no communication equipment in  the pod.”

    “You didn’t try and guess?”

    “We’re trained to work with solid information.”

    “But you had none?”

    “No.”

    “What was your plan?”

    “Sit tight and hope. There was nothing to do except wait.”

    “And see what happened next?”

    “And see what happened next.”

FIVE
TARVER
    The pod’s still wobbling and stabilizing as it shoots away from the ship, but we’re not spinning, so I risk unclipping my harness. The gravity’s fading out to half strength already and I know it will go completely soon, so I hook a foot under one of the grab straps on the floor as I kneel beside Miss LaRoux. She’s on the ground, stirring and groaning, already complaining before she’s fully conscious. Somehow, not surprising.
    There’s a tempting view down the front of her dress, but I can practically hear her snapping at me like she did before. So I jam a hand under each of her arms and rise to my feet, lifting her and setting her down in one of the five molded chairs. She lolls against me, murmuring something indecipherable as I shove her arms through the straps, yanking them tight around her.
    Resisting the urge to yank them tighter still should earn me another damn medal. I check the chest strap, then lean down to grab her ankles, pushing them into the padded plastene clip waiting for them. Closer than I should be to Miss Lilac LaRoux’s legs. And how the hell does she even walk with those things on her feet?
    The pod lurches again, and I swallow hard as I stretch over to dump my grab bag in one of the storage alcoves, slamming the lid shut on top of it. Then I thump down into my own seat opposite her, pulling on the harness and strapping in, pushing my ankles back into the clips. In my hurry, I bang my legs into place too hard—the left clip breaks with a  snap, the right one holds. The last of the gravity fades out, and I have to strain the leg that’s not secured to stop it lifting up.
    I study her bowed head. Where did you learn how to do that? I’ve never met a rich kid in my life who even knew how wiring worked—much less how to hot-wire a state-of-the-art escape pod. She must keep this side of her