Free Legacy Code by Autumn Kalquist Page B

thinking, looking this stuff up? What was the point, when she couldn’t access the cubes anyway?
    Era picked up the container labeled Soren. At least three dozen cubes lay within. If Dritan had the chance to record a message, he would’ve. And she really needed to see his face and hear his voice right now.
    She found his message halfway through the stack. His still holo image made her heart hurt. His features were downcast, and his shoulders slumped. He didn’t look like the man she’d kissed good-bye. And this message would’ve been recorded as soon as he’d landed. How bad was it down there?
    She hadn’t been close to anyone who’d been there, but she’d glimpsed those who’d come back to the London after the first draft. She’d heard their stories, second-hand: cave-ins, malfunctioning air purifiers, tainted water supplies, accidents with machinery. Many workers from the first draft had broken bodies and were nothing more than a burden to the fleet.
    The survivors had stayed on their levels, rarely venturing upward. She’d seen them during her brief visits with Dritan in the sublevels. But all the survivors, visibly broken or not, wore haunted expressions, as if the people they’d lost on Soren still visited them at night, stealing their sleep. When Dritan came back, would he look like that? If Dritan came back…
    Era’s stomach flipped, and she reached for a handheld under the station. She took Dritan’s comm cube from the stationary and sank to the floor behind the desk. No one needed to watch her cry. The tears were already coming, and she hadn’t even started the holovid yet.
    She tapped the file and splayed her fingers wide, palm out, to launch it.
    Dritan’s face appeared, and she involuntarily reached for him. Her hand passed through the holo, causing it to shimmer, and the pressure in her throat intensified.
    Dark circles lined Dritan’s eyes, but he was still as handsome as ever. The scene behind him could’ve been the scene from inside any cubic, but the panels were clean and undented. If only the shiny, new cubic wasn’t deep underground on a toxic planet.
    He cleared his throat. “Name: Dritan Corinth. Message for: Era Corinth. Destination: Paragon .” He smiled, but it looked false. “I only get a minute. I miss you, and I love you. I can’t wait to see you again. I hope things are okay up there.”
    Dritan paused and ran a hand through his tight black curls. He leaned closer to the vidrelay. “By the time you get this, you’ll probably know the test results. Whatever they are, it’ll be okay,” he said forcefully, as if saying the words would make them true. “I wish I could be there for you. Let me know what’s happening.”
    Tears slid down Era’s face, but she didn’t wipe them away.
    Dritan seemed to want to say more, but he shot a glance past the vidrelay, where the witness would have been sitting.
    “I’m staying safe. It’s great down here. Plenty of food. Everything works. I love you.” The holo blanked.
    She pressed her lips together and watched the vid again. She needed to find out her test results and send him an answer. He deserved to know. He didn’t need to be worrying while he was doing his job.
    Era wiped her face, sniffed, and got to her feet. She turned, searching for Mali, and saw her leaving the storage cubic. Era straightened.
    She only had one more day to record a message for Dritan before the next shipment of cubes went out from the Paragon . She couldn’t put it off any longer. She should’ve gone two days ago to schedule her appointment on medlevel.
    Mali walked up to the archivist station. “Did you get a message?”
    Era nodded and rested her hand on her belly. “I need to make an appointment on medlevel. They had to give me an amnio. My results are probably ready. He’ll want to know what they are…”
    Mali rested a hand on Era’s arm. “I’m sure he will. Why don’t you leave a little early today? Take care of what you need