Free Life Light by R.J. Ross Page A

fit well at all. It looks like it's going to split at the seams any moment. Her hair—although she's tried brushing it several times, is still a tangled mess falling almost to the floor. She's threatened to cut it off at least three times, but so far Skye's kept her from it—mostly by hiding the scissors in the walls. Skye seems overly fond of her hair, she thinks darkly.
    "Oh," Skye says, frowning. "But I'm going on vacation!"
    "There's. No. Food," Doris repeats, stepping up to the other female. "I'm STARVING! Maybe you're trying to kill me, is that it?" She grabs Skye by the collar, lifting her slightly off of her feet to try and force the other female into doing what she wants. Skye doesn't even seem to blink at the closeness, she merely cocks her head slightly with a hint of a smile.
    "Oh, if I wanted you dead I would have done it a LONG time ago," Skye says waving a hand airily. "You're my new roommate! It's like a sister, right? We can share clothes and go shopping together and play with our hair! But we can't do it yet because I need to meet my new family—"
    "Food first," Doris says, a tiny fissure of fear trickling down her spine that she quickly covers. That was just bluff, right? Skye couldn't kill her, could she?
    "When I get back we'll get you one of Century's credit cards and you can do your own shopping," Skye says, phasing out of her hold and heading for the ceiling again. "No more destroying things! I spent Century's hard earned money on that microwave!" She points at the box that is now crushed in pieces and looking rather pathetic.
    "It's an abomination to cook with that thing," Doris grumbles, not about to admit that she just hadn't been able to figure it out. She'd gotten so irritated with all the buttons and settings and blinking "Error" messages that she'd hit it—and, well, it didn't work. That's happened with a lot of things, actually.
    "I'll be right back," Skye says, heading through the ceiling. It leaves Doris alone again, still buried underground, waiting.
    She's starting to wonder if she even wants to see the sun again, she thinks as she heads to the large television screen. She's positive the sun will be too bright for her to handle. This television thing is close—but she's almost figured out how to use it, it's somewhat like the one she had back before she was trapped. The only problem is that she's pretty sure there should be more than just the one channel thing…
    Maybe she should have asked Skye about it before she left.

CHAPTER FOUR
    It’s morning. I can tell because I hear Emily wandering around her room. Now here’s the real question--if Grandpa Superior can make electricity, can he also make the water hot enough for showers? It’d been nice enough last night when I washed my face, so I have high hopes.
    I take my shower (nice and hot, yay!) and get dressed before grabbing my phone. I need to call Trent and find out how it went--or if he’s done anything yet. I guess it is kind of silly to just assume he did it the moment I called, right?
    “Grandpa’s going to help me train! Like my snow suit? There's even a com link put in the arm!” Emily says as soon as I step out of my bedroom. My foster sister is wearing what looks like a snow suit--one that's obviously tailor made. How else could she have gotten the symbol she’d forced Ace to draw for her on the back? It’s a large blue star with white and red ribbons swirling over it, like a flapping flag. The suit itself is splashed with reds, whites and blues, like it was hit by paint guns. Her boots, gloves, and hood are all dark blue, the same color as Trent’s uniform.
    “I got you one, too, Aubrey!” Liz calls down to us.
    “One what?”
    “Special snowsuit!” she says, coming down the stairs in her own version of Emily’s suit. “I had the idea last night and flew down to Central to get them made," she adds, holding out a white and silver suit to me. Hers is white with light blue marks. “They’re light enough to