Crossways Read Online Free Page A

criminal classes.”
    â€œAscended, I’d say,” Ben said. He was relieved when she grinned back at him.
    The
Solar Wind
could give them a hell of an edge. He intended to keep her, since she wasn’t ever going back to her original owner. They’d left van Blaiden’s ashes scattered on Olyanda, and good riddance. A nastier individual would be hard to find.
    Having a fancy boat like this just might make a difference in the future. Whatever it took to keep the wolves away from the sheep. These days there were more and morewolves, and the sheep were spread out thinly among the stars without a shepherd.
    Ben felt the familiar buzz of Cara’s implant handshaking with his own.
    *Mother Ramona,*
she said.
*Calling from Crossways.*
    *Okay, ready.*
Ben was used to Cara’s touch inside his head. It never seemed intrusive or abrupt. His own Psi-1 rating was in Navigation. He could barely throw a thought from here to the wall by himself, so he needed a strong Telepath like Cara to run comms for him.
    There was a slight internal lurch as the focus shifted and Mother Ramona herself arrived in Ben’s mind, front and center, routed through Cara on
Solar Wind
and Ully on Crossways Station. Mother Ramona, a marble-skinned, genetically engineered exotic whose criminal activities included smuggling, identity manipulation, espionage, counterespionage, and network hacking, had stuck to every deal they’d made. Without her they’d never have extricated the settlers from Olyanda.
    *Benjamin, you took your time,*
Mother Ramona said.
*Your settlers are driving us crazy. If Garrick hadn’t signed a contract to keep them safe I think he’d have spaced them by now.*
    *Sorry about that. Had some business to attend to. Turns out it wasn’t as simple as I’d hoped. There’s a warrant out for our arrest.*
    *I know. Even Crossways has received it, though I have no idea why.*
She laughed. Even mentally her laugh was more like a cackle. It was the one thing that made her seem older than she was, or perhaps it gave away her true age, which otherwise she hid very well.
    *Good thing you have no extradition treaty with any of the megacorporations.*
Ben didn’t try to hide his own amusement at the thought.
    *If we did, half of Crossways’ upstanding citizens would be in the chokey.*
Mother Ramona’s mental voice went from humor to worry.
*They’ve pretty much thrown the book at you, though.*
    *We know. Had a bit of a brush with an old friend.*
He frowned.
*Not exactly a friend, to be honest. Long story.*
    *I look forward to hearing it sometime.*
    *Me too,*
Cara echoed.
    He shot Cara a look and she pulled back out of the conversation.
    Mother Ramona continued,
*While you’ve been tying up loose ends we’ve been trying to accommodate ten thousand pains in the ass who’ve never even seen a space station before. We’ve had to corral them in the stadium. It’s not pretty in there. Your psi-techs have set up camp in the upper bleachers while the settlers are down on the pitch. Victor Lorient is . . . well let’s just call him high maintenance. Even his wife won’t talk to him anymore.*
    There was a reason for that which went beyond the current settler situation, but it wasn’t up to Ben to divulge it. Lorient, the settlers’ ultra psi-phobic leader, had been more than just a pain in the ass throughout their time on Olyanda.
    *I get it,*
Ben said.
*We’d better find the settlers a new planet soon, or else.*
    The audio comm buzzed into life and Crossways Control announced, “
Solar Wind
, you’re cleared for docking. Proceed to Port 22, Green Sector.”
    Ben saw Cara touch her vox. “Thank you, Crossways,” she said. “On final approach.”
    *Be with you, soon,*
Ben told Mother Ramona.
*Your flight controllers have cleared us for docking.*
    *Port 22 is Garrick’s private dock,*
Mother Ramona said.
*I’ve vouched for