Varken Rise by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online

Kemp said. “They did everything they could to help her. It wasn’t enough.”
    Catherine shook her head slowly. “That doesn’t make sense. The Varkan are incapable of lying when they first wake. Everything she told us was logical and coherent.”
    “And how long had she been awake? Do you know? It’s the Cartel we’re talking about. If they had unshackled a computer and she woke, do you think they would tell anyone? For all you know, Jovanka could be older than Bedivere.”
    “Then we would’ve heard about her before now, even if she was on Soward. Something like that couldn’t be held secret for a very long.” Catherine spoke with conviction, because she had seen too many deeply held secrets explode and destroy lives.
    “Not if Jovanka cooperated in maintaining the secret. She would have been as scared as Bedivere about revealing herself before the Federation fell. Now the College is toothless and Bedivere’s true nature is common knowledge. Hell, he’s famous. Here’s the thing, though. Let’s say she is as old as Bedivere. Perhaps this disintegration is how the Varkan age. Perhaps dementia is in every Varkan’s future.”
    Catherine shook her head. She wanted to argue against it forcibly, except there was a tiny seed of doubt in her. She hated that doubt. She wanted to squeeze it out of existence and pretend it had never been there. Yet it was growing even as she tried to deny it.
    “ Think about it,” Kemp said. “The two computers, the earlier ones. The Birgir Stoyan and the one before it—the ones that really went rogue. Do you know how old they were?”
    Catherine felt cold. If Jovanka had really been that old, it would explain why she had been able to find Interspace by herself. She just didn’t want to believe it. “The Birgir Stoyan was well before my time,” she said weakly. “The Ammonites destroyed all the records. No one knows for sure what happened back then. It was before the Interregnum, anyway.”
    She was talking too fast. Saying too much. She made herself shut up and just looked at Kemp. “Is that why you’re here? To warn me?”
    “I really am stranded,” he said. “Everyone knows where Bedivere can be found. It’s the most well-known fact in the core worlds. With the Cartel trying to mop up the mess on Soward, I can move freely.”
    “So you thought you would drop this in my lap to pass the time?”
    Kemp moved a little bit closer toward her. “I’m not trying to frighten you. Glave knows I’m not trying to make you angry, either. You don’t have to tell me all your secrets, although I know you know more about Jovanka than anyone else does. That makes me think that Jovanka and Bedivere knew each other.” His voice dropped to a low note. “I like Bedivere. I always have. So perhaps I am trying to warn you, in a way.”
    “Catherine,” Bedivere said.
    He was standing at the door, his fingers gripping the frame. How long had he been there?
    “Do you remember where your room is?” Catherine asked Kemp.
    He nodded.
    “Good night, then.” She brushed past him, only now realizing how close to her he had been standing.
    As she moved past Bedivere, she shivered. She couldn’t help it and she hated herself for it.
    * * * * *
    “How much did you hear?” Catherine asked Bedivere as soon as they reached the security of their bedroom.
    “Enough,” he said. “You don’t have to explain anything, Cat. Not to me.”
    Surprised, she studied him. “I don’t think you heard anything at all,” she said slowly. “I think you saw me standing close to Kemp. That is why you’re looking at me that way.”
    Bedivere gave a dry laugh. “Are you saying I’m jealous?”
    “Jealousy is a waste of gastric juices,” she said tiredly. “That doesn’t mean that if the right circumstances arise, you won’t feel it.” Bitterly, she added, “Doubt can hit you from the most unexpected angles.”
    “Then what were you talking about?” Bedivere raised a brow. “Me? Or