Cobra Slave-eARC Read Online Free Page A

will,” Lij Tulu promised, his fingers twitching as he made notes into the Algonquin’s data stream. “He certainly has no reason not to. He’s not scheduled to head back to DeVegas until tomorrow.”
    “Good,” Santores said. “Once he’s settled back into his quarters, have the colonel inform him that we’ll want him at a closed session tomorrow at oh-six-hundred.”
    “Yes, sir,” Lij Tulu said, making a final note. “I’ll arrange for an escort to meet him then and walk him over.”
    “Good.” Santores looked at Barrington. “Hopefully, by this time tomorrow we’ll have Qasama’s location.”
    “Or else Lorne Broom will be dead,” Barrington said stiffly.
    Santores’s lip twitched. “Yes,” he said. “Or else he’ll be dead.”

CHAPTER TWO
    “But the weirdest part,” Lorne said around a mouthful of roast sudeer, “was the out-of-the-sky question about the command area on Warrior’s ship.”
    “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Jin’s Aunt Thena admonished him mildly.
    “Especially when you’re working on your aunt’s cuisine,” Uncle Corwin seconded from the head of the table. “Such works of art deserve your full attention.”
    “Right,” Lorne said. “Sorry.” He finished chewing the bite and swallowed. “It really is delicious, Aunt Thena.”
    A chorus of agreeing murmurs ran around the table. “Thank you,” Thena said, inclining her head.
    Jin blinked back sudden tears. Yes, the roast was good. But it wasn’t like the roasts her eldest son Merrick used to make.
    The son she’d left behind on Qasama.
    War meant casualties. It meant people dying. She’d known that from the start, from the minute she and Merrick had first seen the shock front of Troft warships skimming across the early-morning Qasaman sky.
    Some of those deaths had been quick. Others had been slower, more lingering, more painful. Many more Qasamans had been injured or maimed, some beyond even the ability of the Qasaman doctors to heal. Those victims would carry pain or disability to their graves. For some, their injuries meant those graves would arrive far sooner than they should.
    Jin had been prepared for those possibilities, at least as well as anyone ever could be. She’d also been prepared, though not nearly as well, for such a fate to befall herself or Merrick.
    What she hadn’t been prepared for was for her son to be taken prisoner by the Trofts, and then to simply disappear.
    And the true hell of it was that she had no idea of where he’d been taken. Or, indeed, why.
    Her husband Paul was speaking. With an effort, Jin forced her mind back to the conversation. “Yes, Santores threw me a similar question during my testimony,” he said. “In my case, he wanted to know what I knew about navigational systems on Cobra Worlds ships.”
    “What did you tell him?” Jody asked from across the table.
    Jin focused on her daughter. The question had been an innocent one, delivered in a mostly innocent way.
    But there had been something in Jody’s tone. And now, studying her face, Jin could see that there was something going on behind the young woman’s eyes, as well.
    “Everything I know, which isn’t much,” Paul said. “Typically, our nav displays show current location, previous location, and the route taken. I know the ship’s computer also stores the locations of all of the Cobra Worlds, plus the main Tlossie, Chriie, and Hoibie trading points. There’s also supposed to be a limited history of recent trips, but I told them I’d never seen one.”
    “Did they ask about that last part, or did you just volunteer it?” Jin asked, most of her attention still on Jody. “Seems an odd question.”
    “Yes, it was; and yes, they did,” Paul confirmed. “History files were specifically mentioned. My first thought was that they were trying to find where our trading partners’ demesnes were located. But that’s ridiculous. Half the merchants on Aventine know where to find them.”
    Corwin