Free The Betwixt Book One by Odette C. Bell Page B

be that
careless. Clouds were a known entity – all incoming cargo was
scanned for them.
    I continued to pick up fragments of various conversations
though – some more ridiculous, some harrowing, some too cryptic to
understand.
    ‘ They're going to send in a contamination unit – scan for
entities,’ a GAM said to his friend.
    ‘ They're not going to find anything. Jenkins works on that deck
– he said he saw that guy before he died, said he heard this noise
that wasn't there—’
    ‘ What the hell does that mean?’
    ‘ I don't know, ask Jenkins.’
    Noise that wasn't there. I knew exactly what that meant, and
it made me want to jump into the center of the sun just to feel
warmth again.
    After a while, things became a little too much and I had to
stand off to the side of the bar, one hand covering my face. This
was my responsibility, I kept thinking to myself, it was up to me
to fix this, and it was my fault that it had gotten this far. A man
had died, a man had died . . . 
    ‘ I would say go to a doctor,’ a voice said from the other side
of the bar, ‘but you don't like those.’
    I pulled my hand away quickly to meet the gaze of Commander
Cole. ‘Oh, it's you.’
    ‘ Yes, it is.’
    It always seemed to get awkward quickly when I talked to the
Commander, and now was no exception.
    He licked his lips, eyes staring off into the middle distance
for a moment. He appeared to be considering something carefully. ‘I
saw you yesterday,’ he eventually offered, ‘you
alright?’
    For some reason those two little words startled me into
smiling lightly, and I could feel my eyes stretch open. It was the
way he'd said it . . . 
    He tilted his head to the side, awaiting my reply.
    ‘ Oh, of course. I had just . . . ‘ I cast around
for an excuse. Because I wasn't about to tell the Commander that I
had indirectly killed a GAM by not destroying a Twixt when I had
had the chance. But I couldn't think of anything to say – not a
single thing.
    ‘ You don't have to tell me,’ he said quickly, looking off to
his side at a passing Hantari.
    There was that awkward note again.
    The thing is, I wanted to tell Jason. I really did. Okay, so I
didn't know the guy . . . but he
seemed . . . well, I'd like to think he would be one
of the few I could trust.
    ‘ So, have you worked on this station long?’
    I bit into my lip with my front teeth. ‘A couple of years –
which is long enough, I guess.’
    He conceded with a polite nod. ‘I guess it has its
perks.’
    Sure, if perks included recycled air and enough credits to
stock your cupboards with second-hand military sustenance rations.
‘We get a lot of different races through,’ I was playing with the
ties of my apron: flicking them around and digging at the hem with
my fingers. ‘Not like being a GAM though. I imagine you
see . . . things.’ I blushed at the sheer stupidity
of my comments. He saw things? Of course, everyone who had vision
saw phenomenon that could be categorized as ‘things’.
    ‘ Oh,’ he laughed, ‘you could say that.’ His eyes met mine, but
then dropped to my blouse, and I noted with a flush of heat, that
they didn't immediately move.
    When his eyes finally flicked away, he
looked . . . 
    I couldn't stop biting my lips now, and I was whipping my
apron ties around so furiously that they were little
blurs.
    I knew I should be capitalizing on the moment and asking the
GAM Commander about the situation aboard his ship, but I couldn't
speak. If I opened my mouth now, it would be to unleash the dam of
babble.
    ‘ Mini—’ he cut off, obviously trying to form an uncomfortable
question from the look on his face. ‘Do you—’
    I hung on his every word.
    ‘ Mini,’ another voice cut in from the side.
    I turned to see the Hantari Tech Industry's salesman from the
lower decks. He was still in his navy blue uniform, his holo badge
blinking out for everyone to see. He was carrying two big metal
cases, which he placed carefully