Free Sanctuary (Jezebel's Ladder Book 3) by Scott Rhine

we’re all dead. You can honestly say, ‘When I left, they’d passed out
from blood loss, trapped under tons of alien junk.’”
    “Okay. I’ll buy you some time. It’ll
take an hour to gather enough garbage to look convincing. Can you tell me where
the tools are?”
    Sonrisa walked him through the
maintenance procedures that she’d practiced hundreds of times in dozens of
adverse scenarios.
    When they had an ETA on Crandall’s
departure, Oleander projected over to the Seraph to inform them of the
plan. Her appearance still matched her nineteen-year-old self-image, proud and
protective. We’re all climbing into decontamination now on the off chance we
can help end this insanity sooner. Crandall is leaving at T plus 2.5 hours,
with everything we can give you. We’re selling the catastrophe scenario. Swoop
in as close as you can with your bay doors open. The thrusters on his pack can’t
outrun a missile.
    Johann nodded. “We’ll be back to
check on you as soon as moon base is in the clear.”
    Her projection shook its head. No . Mu shielding will prevent further contact. Whatever lies beyond, we come out
victorious or not at all.
    He bowed his head. “You went to
jail for me, and now you’re doing this. How am I supposed to repay you if you’re
not around?”
    Live well , she thought at
him before she disappeared.
    ****
    Toby hadn’t been so busy since his
residency. The others used the hour to step into the series of pods one at a
time. Herk waited for his wife to immerse first, and then signaled Sojiro. The
fluids would provide cushioning and possible healing in the event that weapons
fire made it into the bay.
    Sojiro opened the lens just wide
enough for Crandall to detonate a shaped charge that sent debris upward out of
the microgravity of the landing bay. Lights went off in the decontamination
room. If the alien had any questions about the odd behavior, Red wasn’t awake
to relay them. Smoke and particles were sucked out by the escaping air. Once
the marine launched himself after the fragments, carrying the recorder, Sojiro
closed the aperture.
    When Sojiro climbed into his pod,
he remarked, “It’s almost freezing in here.”
    Herk climbed out of his armor,
placing every piece carefully in the room Red called ‘baggage check.’ “Maybe
heat leaked with exposure to the vacuum, or Sensei is just getting ready to
mothball the area.”
    Toby checked the monitors one last
time. “The pod people are still snug as a bug.” The nanobiologist was the last
to leave the decontamination room. He stood for a moment beside the sleeping
Yvette, staring at her through the glass. She was stripped down to her
underwear, a Nike custom sportswear set. These were the same bikini briefs she’d
worn on that Tongan beach a couple years ago—before she’d laughed at him and
rescinded her offer of recreational intercourse. He’d been unable to perform
because the seagulls were watching and cyclists could happen by at any time. By
contrast, Yvette was the team’s free-spirit. She’d no doubt tried out several
potential team members since, but she poisoned the well against Toby with every
woman who joined. Her continued laughter blocked any chance he had of being
happy on this mission.
    It was just like that old joke.
What’s the difference between a bitch and whore? A whore slept with everyone. A
bitch slept with everyone but you.
    He inched around the fish bowl,
examining the French woman from every angle and recording the journey. He still
wanted her, after all this time. I could do it now, and no one would ever
know. I could break the seal, and she wouldn’t wake up in time to stop me. When
I was done, I could close her pod again, and scrub away all the evidence. It
wouldn’t hurt her. As the expert, I could shrug and say it was a timing
malfunction. Who knew what made alien machinery work the way it did?
    Toby considered the plan for
minutes, flush with excitement, but if she remembered anything, the group