Zero's Return by Sara King Read Free Book Online Page A

Aliphei continued, “secure Representative Mullich in his room until we are
ready for him.”
    Before he knew
what had happened, Fred had been teleported back to his room. 
    “Watcher,” Fred
said, in desperation, “I need to confer with my colleagues.”  He went to the
door, but found it locked.
    The Watcher
remained silent to his pleas.  When Fred went to the wall in desperation, he
found that his incoming feeds were blank.
    As the
Representative of Earth, he was, until he could prove otherwise, guilty.
     
     
    CHAPTER
3 – The Legend of Zero
     
    Joe cracked his
eyes open to the stale taste of vomit and the sour stench of partially-digested
whiskey.  He stared up at the dirty ceiling through a pounding headache and
listened to himself breathe.  The ache in his temples reminded him of Jane. 
He’d bought her illicit body seven turns ago on the Jahul blackmarket prior to
landing on Der’ru, and not even Daviin knew of her existence.  Joe had
purchased her dangerous curves and cold, sexy beauty for one purpose, and only one purpose, and Joe could almost feel her impatience with each day he
put her off.  Even then, she called to him from the other side of the bed,
begging him to slide his hand over her ebony lines, wrap his fingers around
her, tug her out into the light…
    Not this
morning , he thought.  This morning, you’ve gotta give a pep-talk to a
bunch of jenfurgling kids.
    Which was true
enough.  He couldn’t easily kill himself on a new batch of recruits’ first day
in PlanOps and die with a clear conscience.  Talk about an excellent way to
traumatize the starry-eyed furgs.  Yeah, Jane could wait.
    Then that jaded,
smartass side of him kicked into gear and gave a bitter laugh.  You’re just
putting off the inevitable.  Who cares if you blow your brains out on their
first day or their tenth day?  You’re just being an ashing slavesoul again. 
Get it over with, Joe.  You’ve served your time.  You shouldn’t have to deal
with this soot anymore.  Stop being a Takki skulker and get it over with.
    And he was,
too.  It was the two thousand and eleventh standard day that he’d left Jane
under her pillow instead of letting her serve her purpose.  Two thousand and
eleven days.  Just over six turns.
    Joe continued to
stare at the ceiling.  He didn’t need to look at the clock to know it said
05:31.  He always woke six tics before his alarm went off, to the second.  It
was a habit leftover from his training in Planetary Ops, one that he’d done his
damndest to shake, but to no avail.
    The bed beside
him was cold, the soulmate that the lying vaghi of a fortuneteller had promised
him still not making herself known.  He squeezed his eyes shut as he heard the
conversation in that tent once more.
    “You will
have a soulmate.”
    “Really? 
What’s her name?”
    “She doesn’t
have a name.”
    “O-kaaay. 
Uh.  Where’s she live?”
    “She hasn’t
been born yet.”
    Remembering
that, Joe felt his left hand shaking under the covers.  After seventy-four
turns of fighting and bleeding for Congress, she still hadn’t shown up.  He
still spent his nights alone, his days trailed by a dozen soulless furgs with
cameras, with Overseers and Directors by the hundreds smiling to his face while
they secretly wondered how they could best position themselves to get a good
picture with the universe’s beloved Zero.  Drinking buddy—and former ward—of a
Jreet Representative.  Personal friend to the Peacemaster himself.  Survivor of
two unsurvivable battles.  The monkey who shat gold and killed Dhasha.
    Joe clenched his
shaking hand into a fist, aching inside.  He’d never felt so isolated in his
life.  Even with every new Human recruit taught to memorize his every battle,
his every inane comment, his every stupid thing he’d ever done, Joe had never
felt more alone than he did right then.  It was like a pall that was settling
over his soul, darkening it.
    She lied ,
he thought, in