Page 6 of A Monster's Light
“Yeah, you know, for his future mate.”
I didn’t know because I hadn’t actually read her books. I really had to get on that when I had the chance. Some Kadrixan smut sounded interesting now that I’d met Gnnar.
“What about my friend Julie?
“Do you mean a Julie that arrived during the last exchange two years ago. Big brown doe eyes and blonde hair?”
“Yes! She was sick before she disappeared.”
There was a pause, and then an image of Julie in a bikini hanging out by an outdoor swimming pond, the kind the rich colonists got installed in their yards, showed up on the screen. But instead of a fancy, inner colony estate and a pool boy, therewere several other women and a whole slew of hunky, red-skinned, be-horned Kadrixan warriors in the background.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I heaved a sigh of relief. I’d found her! She was safe. And happy, judging by her smile.
“I’ve been looking for her nonstop for two years. Tell her I’m on my way.”
“So you’re going to join us?” Penny let out a squeal loud enough to make me wince and hold my phone away from my ear. “Yes! My first convert. I knew those books were worth writing!”
Oops. I didn’t want to admit that I hadn’t actually read her books.
Suddenly my phone beeped loudly, and a message appeared on my screen stating that my ID number and credit account had been temporarily disabled and that I should immediately head to the closest enforcement station.
“Oh shit! Penny? You still there?”
To my relief, her voice came from the speaker. “I’m still here. What happened?”
“They either just found out about this call, or they figured out that there is about a five-minute chunk missing from today’s recording in Gnnar’s cell. According to the message, my device and account have been disabled.”
“Shit. Okay. Well, surprise! We’re not on Nova Vita’s network.”
There was a masculine clearing of a throat, and a low, rumbly voice said something. It took me a moment to realize it was a Kadrixan voice.
“What did he say? I returned my translator to the office.”
“That’s Vostak, my mate. He says they’re already planning a rescue mission.”
“Wow! That’s fast.”
“If you can stay out of a cell, they can pick you up when they go grab Gnnar. They can track your device location.”
“Really? Great. Staying out of a cell was my plan anyway. But the moment I hang up, this device is going inside a Faraday pouch, and you won’t be able to reach me.”
“A what now?”
“It’s something that blocks the signal. It’s old technology. I made it myself. I tested it, and it works. There’s a route out of the colony going through all the surveillance blind spots. It goes through parks in the wealthy areas and alleyways in the outskirts. I’ll be exiting the colony at the southeastern side, near the industrial zones.”
I was totally blabbering now from how nervous I was. It was one thing to plan, but now that my plan had been set into action, everything felt out of control.
“We’ll contact Ellaston. They’ll know of it. We’ll look for you along this route.”
Ellaston was the new human settlement that had popped up by the Kadrixan stronghold. It was supposedly full of rebels who’d left the colony—the very ones who’d revealed the truth about the Utopia Project. I was excited to meet them. Nowthatwas real journalism!
“Tell them I’m using the Snakes and Ladders Path; they’ll know what I mean.”
“Gotcha. But you don’t have to put your phone in that pouch. Let me send you a program that will disable your phone’sconnection to Nova Vita’s network. They won’t be able to track you through it. But they’ll still be able to track you through your chip. I’m sorry I can’t help you with that.”
“You’ve already helped plenty. I have a signal jammer that’s supposed to block the chip on my arm, but it only works until the battery runs out. Which means I plan to haul ass the second I turn it on.”
To be honest, I was surprised I’d met so little resistance from her, and a part of me worried that this was too good to be true. Was it risky? Hell yes. But the chance to get out of this colony and see Julie again in one fell swoop was worth it.
