Free Born of Sand (Tales of a Dying Star Book 5) by David Kristoph Page B

kept her ears pricked, waiting for the sound of Farrow or Spider to march up, grab her, throw her back in her cell next to the power plant. That possibility terrified her. Up in the desert, wandering from one wind-blown dune to another, she'd been useless. Without her daughters she'd had no purpose, no reason to even continue. She'd accepted it and given up. She'd been ready to die, had spoken the words to the wind.
    No longer. The need to reach her daughters remained a beacon in her mind, along with a new sensation. It felt wonderful being useful, needed. The way she felt taking care of her daughters. Farrow was right that she didn't share the fervency of their cause, but she did despise the Melisao. For the factory where she'd bled and feared for her livelihood every day. For the tiny stacks of credits they doled out every week, and the long food lines just to receive a wormy rock of bread that left her daughters frail and malnourished. Reaching her daughters was still the most important thing, but if she could do that while being a part of something greater, all the better.
    Logically, she knew that if she had to choose between the two, she'd choose her daughters. But she didn't think she'd have to make such a choice. I can help these Freemen repel the Melisao, and then escape to find my daughters.
    If Farrow didn't throw her in a cell.
    She ate dinner by herself at the end of the table, because a scout returned with a broken leg that required Binny's meager medical skill, and although the engineers looked like they wanted to sit with Mira, in the end they decided it was safer to give her a wide berth. Occasionally someone in the room glanced in her direction before quickly returning their gaze to their food. There was no sign of Farrow or Akonai. Spider remained absent.
    When Mira returned to her room she found Kari leaning against the doorframe, idly picking at a fingernail with her knife. She straightened when she saw Mira. "Come with me."
    Farrow must have sent her , was Mira's first thought. She was there to escort her back to a cell. "Akonai said I could continue working," Mira said, stopping a few feet away. "I have skill and experience with the electroids. He doesn't want that wasted."
    Kari strode forward and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her along.
    "Please," Mira begged. "Go ask him yourself, if he's still here. He and Farrow..."
    "Shut up."
    She dragged her down two halls and into an unfamiliar corridor. At first Mira thought it was a shortcut back to the cells, but the hum of the power plant began to fade. "Where are you taking me?"
    Kari said nothing. Her grip on Mira's forearm remained tight, and she refused to look at her prisoner.
    The color of the walls became more faded as they entered what must have been an older, less used part of the base. Red emergency beacons glowed in the floor every ten steps. Kari stopped at a nondescript door and punched a code into a keypad--the first real security Mira had seen in the entire base. For some reason that terrified her most of all.
    They entered the room, Kari shoving Mira ahead of her. She stumbled but kept her footing. Faded machinery crates covered in dust filled half the room, stacked three high in the corners. She whirled to face Kari, who remained by the door, and flicked a switch on the wall to activate a single, yellow lamp in the ceiling. It seemed hardly brighter than a candle, giving the room a twinge of dirty light.
    "What is this?" Mira asked. Was that room to be her new cell?
    Kari faced her, shoulders rounded and hands at her side. The meager light glinted off something there.
    A knife.
    Kari's knife was in her hand.
    A low moan escaped Mira's lips. "No..."
    Face covered in shadow, Kari stepped forward.
    She's an assassin. She's going to kill me.
    Mira backed away and raised her hands. The door was on the other side of the room; she would never get past Kari. Behind her were only crates and the dirty, rusted wall. "I'll obey orders," she said,