Free The Other Side Of Gravity (Oxygen, #1) by Shelly Crane Page A

a sigh.
    I stared. He had broken me out. That bad scenario back there would have gone way worse if not for him. Yes, I needed the money to get where I was going, but… “No, we have it. Some of it, for supplies. I’m going to use this to start over on the Providence.”
    His eyes widened a little. “It’s rough over there.”
    “It’s rough over here. It’s the only place I can go where no one will know me, where no one will care who I am. You don’t know it, but it’s kind of a place that slaves talk about going, escaping to. It may be rough, but at least we can be free there.”
    The Providence was a small part of the planet that had ostracized itself from the rest of us a few years ago. It was almost a war, our planet’s first. It was all people who didn’t believe in our government and Militia, so I could imagine the kind of people who lived there, but it was the only place I could live. Even if I went to the farthest reaches of the planet, my face would be plastered for all to see for reward money. I’d never be safe here. It was my only chance. They did have some form of government in the Providence, but they didn’t allow any cameras in, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But I’d find out soon. I was determined to make it there.
    He nodded. “That’s…rad. In the meantime, I have to find another metal detector and we have to try to stay as inconspicuous as possible. If anyone asks why we’re on the docks, just say you’re one of Havard’s new girls , okay? Nobody should question it since you’re with me.”
    I gulped. “What does that mean?”
    His stare was hard. “Don’t ask.” He waited for me to absorb that. Then he tugged my long hair out of the side ponytail I had laying over my shoulder, putting the band over his wrist, and pulled it to both sides, trying desperately to use it as cover for my face. “Let’s go. Stay right by me.”
    We walked down from the ship onto the docks, which were thankfully still covered by night. He led the way and I kept up, sticking right by his side as he kept to the side, close to the shadows. But we were getting close to the merchants and then it would be harder to keep out of sight, especially if Maxton worked on the black market and was Havard’s second. I would imagine everyone knew him—
    “Max!” we heard to our right. Maxton didn’t slow.
    He waved to him and yelled back. “Gotta go, Potsy. Busy, busy!”
    I heard the man’s laughter carrying back to us.
    When someone else yelled his name, as we came into the merchant’s section of the docks, I began to worry how we were going to get away. Through the merchants was the only way in and out of the dock bay. It was the way it was planned for business. I had barely gotten through the first time, only by wrapping myself in a robe I had snatched from one of the first tables. I had taken it off when I got in the storage closet because it was so hot and used it to lie on. And I had left it there.
    Maxton yelled over to that man as well, saying, “Can’t stop! The market never stops, neither can I!”
    That man laughed as well. They liked him here. I saw Maxton’s smile as he shook his head. “You like this,” I said.
    “What?”
    “The banter. You like being known and knowing everyone,” I realized and told him, not unkindly. “You’ll miss this, won’t you?”
    “I hadn’t really thought about it until this moment, but…yeah, I guess I will miss it a little. But the rewards aren’t worth the price.”
    His voice had turned so hard that I didn’t go any farther, just kept in step with him. When a shadow fell over the boards in front of me, I couldn’t stop the gasp that fell from my lips.
    “What have we here?”
     
     
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
    sar·casm - remarks that mean the opposite of what they say, made to criticize someone or something in a way that is usually amusing to others…those who speak fluent sarcasm.
     
     
    Maxton
     
     
     
    M y