Vengeance (The Kurgan War Book 4) by Richard Turner Read Free Book Online Page B

Her voice was tired and groggy.
    “I can’t sleep anymore. I thought I’d go for a walk and stretch out my muscles. All this sitting around is starting to drive me crazy.”
    “Can I join you?” asked Angela, the third person in their tight-knit group. Unlike the two other women, she was a Chosen citizen who had hidden among the human prisoners. Desperate to get home to her children, Angela had latched onto Tarina and Wendy as her only hope of ever seeing them again. She was in a precarious situation and knew it.
    Tarina glanced over at Wendy. “Feel like joining us?”
    Her friend shook her head, pulled her blanket up over her shoulders, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
    Tarina and Angela tiptoed out of the room. The lights outside were dim. To make room for all of the freed prisoners of war, dozens of crewmembers had voluntarily given up their quarters and now slept on cots in the hangar bay. The sound of people snoring filled the air. The two women walked side by side in silence. They waved as they passed a couple of other people who also had been unable to sleep.
    After a couple of minutes, Tarina sat down to rest her sore feet.
    “Tarina, I’m scared,” whispered Angela as she sat down beside her friend. “I don’t know how long I can keep up this charade. When we get to Earth, your people are going to run medical and psychological tests on me and find out that I’m not who I say I am. You and Wendy are going to get in a lot of trouble for helping me conceal my true identity.”  
    Tarina patted one of Angela’s hands. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Before we left Illum Prime, I told my boyfriend, Michael, all about you. He’ll speak with his father and the admiral will undoubtedly take it higher.”
    Fear filled Angela’s eyes.
    “Angela, there is no reason to be scared. These are good men who will do the right thing. Of that, I have no doubt. We’re going to be docking at Tranquility Station later today and transferring to a shuttlecraft to take us down to Earth. I expect we’ll know what is going on with you before day’s end.”
    “What if they decide to interrogate and hold me until the war ends? What then? Who will look after my children? Tarina, I have to get home.”
    Tarina’s heart ached for her, but she couldn’t answer a single one of her questions. They would all have to wait until someone made a decision one way or the other concerning Angela’s status. “I wish I could say something to ease your pain, but I can’t. At least not now. I trust Admiral Sheridan and so should you.”
    “You have never lied to me. If my fate is in the hands of this admiral, then so be it. I’d pray to the Lord for guidance and support, but that might arouse more suspicion.”
    “Please don’t! I’m not telling you what you can or can’t believe, just for now, please continue to keep it to yourself until you’re home safe and sound with your children. Remember your name is First Lieutenant Angela Dorset. You’re a logistics officer in the Marine Corps who originally comes from Des Moines, Iowa. If you’re asked for your service number, tell them you can’t recall it and hope for the best.”
    Angela nodded and stood up. “How are your feet?”
    “They’re still a little tender, but a hell of a lot better than they used to be. Come on, let’s do another lap of the hangar and then go wake up old sleepy head for some breakfast.”

Chapter 7

    As far as Michael Sheridan was concerned, the only drawback to riding the train was, for the most part, that the journey was underground. He and Cole had reserved a private room to themselves for the eight-hour trip to Moscow. Security at the terminal at Irkutsk had been lax. He was surprised when their bags were neither searched nor scanned by the security personnel. He knew that things would be tighter in the Russian capital.
    “How do you turn that bloody thing off?” Cole asked, pointing to a small screen on the wall that was