Free Catalyst by Dani Worth Page A

across plans to blow a section of the mines only.” He sat again. “Back then, my job was to map the mines. I was told they planned to buy out The Company, was shown legal paperwork that proved beyond a doubt that they had everything in place for an old-fashioned corporate raid takeover. My maps were supposed to be nothing more than a little nudge to get them ahead of the game before they came in to take over the mining. At the time, The Company had stretched its resources, taken out too many loans—it was in bad shape.”
    “I never heard anything about that.”
    The corner of his mouth turned up slightly. “You were just a kid, Vala.”
    “But why blow the whole planet up? It doesn’t make sense.”
    “Something went wrong. I’ve spent all this time digging for answers. I’m one of the few still alive who knows a part of what happened. Everyone else is either missing or dead. I kept on the move for years. My brother knew about this planet and brought me here, helped set up the electronic system I’m using and we invented a program called Third Degree.”
    “You’re the one behind Third Degree? That’s impressive.” Bastian came into the room behind Jacks, carrying three round purple things in his hand. “Are these edible, because they smell good.”
    “They are. But ask before you eat any of the others. Most of the fruit on the trees outside are beautiful, but some are deadly.”
    Horror knotted my gut. “You went into the trees?”
    Bastian shook his head. “Not the ones outside. There’s a kind of mini forest in the middle of this mountain. Strangest and most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He handed me one of the fruits and tossed the other to Jacks.
    I was surprised he’d brought the other man food. “Did you hear what we were talking about?”
    “Software.” He took a bite of the fruit and groaned. “Good.”
    Shaking my head, I turned back to Jacks. “So you came here and invented the most popular hacking software in the universes?”
    “Partly. My brother and a coder named Anders did a lot of the work.”
    “Even split three ways, that software has to have given you a better way of life than this.” I looked at the barren room. “Where do you do your digging?”
    “I have top-of-the-line computer systems set up here. Deeper in the caverns. I can hack into anything. Well, almost anything. There are three ex-Saturna employees I’ve yet to find. My brother is searching for them as well.”
    “So he’s not really a pirate.”
    He shrugged. “He does take down Saturna ships when he comes upon them. He’s angry that I’ve had to go into seclusion, angry over how I was used. Mostly angry about Kithra. He loved the planet. Planned to move there.”
    I crossed my legs and tugged the white sheet over my legs. “How were you used, Jacks?”
    “By Crichton.”
    “The pretty blond?”
    He inclined his head. “The pretty blond. I loved him. Trusted him. To this day, I don’t know what he was after, but he set those explosives.”
    Bastian wiped juice from his chin. “I could eat this fruit all day.” He licked his lips. “What kind of explosives? Because none I know of could have done that kind of damage.”
    “That’s the other answer I’ve been unable to find. I think he used some kind of alien explosive, but I don’t know what. My hacks into Saturna Mining have turned up a lot. They did plan to blow the mines and set back production because it would have sent the already damaged Company into financial ruin. Remember how everyone was offered double pay for a few months?”
    Horror kept me from trying the fruit. I cradled it in my lap, bit down hard on my bottom lip, waiting until I could actually form words before speaking. “The Company called all the Gwinarians and human miners back to work.”
    Jacks leaned forward. “They had landed a lucrative contract that would be paid in full upon delivery of the kithronite. Saturna found out about it and knew all their efforts to