Slave Empire - Prophecy Read Online Free Page B

for the scarlet saucer, but the sky was
innocent of alien ships. Nevertheless, she staggered to her feet
and moved into the shadow of the neighbouring house, just in
case.
    Flopping down
next to the wall, she watched the house burn. Deep craters
surrounded it, and the structure had been reduced to rubble and
charred beams. Whoever had attacked her had tried to ensure that
she would not survive.
    Rayne
recuperated in the shade, strength seeping back into her limbs.
After about half an hour she rose, wincing. Dried blood caked the
back of her jeans, but she hobbled along the street towards the
meeting place, keeping a wary eye on the sky as well as the houses.
She had given up wondering why an alien ship would want to kill
her; it made no sense. No other houses were damaged, and vagrants
emerged to gape and point at the smouldering ruin. She hoped the
aliens thought she was dead, so they would not try again.
    By the time
she reached the grove of dead trees that was the meeting place, she
tottered from exhaustion and hunger. She stumbled into the grove,
fell to her knees and flopped down. Her brother's absence brought a
fresh wave of despair and loneliness. She longed for his comforting
presence and needed his help to bind her wounds. The trees hid her
from prying eyes, but hunger gnawed at her, not allowing her the
luxury of rest. Crawling across the soft leaves to the rock where
Rawn always stashed extra food, she groped under it. Finding the
sleek rustle of plastic, and she tore at the chewy,
orange-flavoured concentrate, desperate to relieve her gut's
emptiness.
    While she ate,
she pondered her situation. Staying in one place was dangerous,
even in the grove's secrecy. Some raiders had noses as keen as
dogs. Rawn must have gone in search of her, but she did not have
the strength to travel back into the city to look for him. She
could only hope he would return soon, and no one else found her
before he did. Tiredness turned her limbs to lead, and she curled
up in the leaves, drifting into a deep, exhausted sleep.
    When Rayne
woke, the sun's rays slanted through the dead trees. After eating
more food, she examined her raw, sooty palms, picking out a few
splinters. Although the wounds were not serious, the risk of
infection in this polluted environment was high, so she went to the
stream that chuckled through the rocks nearby. Stripping, she
washed in the cold water, scrubbing her jeans. She emerged
shivering, to wrap herself in the blankets she dug from under the
rock where the food was stored, then lighted a fire.
    The wounds in
the back of her calves were easy enough to tend, and she removed
several more splinters, but she could only examine the ones in the
back of her thighs by touch. When she finished, twilight filled the
grove with shadow, and she curled up next to the fire for another
lonely night. At least she was safer in the country.
     
    The swollen,
sickly sun's first rays woke her, stealing into the grove with
their slight warmth like fingers of light. She sat up with a start
as the events of the previous day flooded back, making her glance
up at the sky. It contained only dirty grey clouds, and, after
studying it for several minutes, she relaxed. A hoar frost whitened
the ground, liming the trees and bracken with a coating of ice.
    The chilly air
nipped at her nose and numbed her fingers and feet. Her legs had
stiffened, and the pain made her gasp as she dragged more wood from
the dwindling pile and lighted a new fire. As soon as a tiny blaze
took hold, she huddled close to it and almost thrust her hands into
the flames to warm them. Her breath steamed, and she clenched her
jaws to prevent her teeth from chattering as she waited for the sun
to warm the air.
    By
mid-morning, her jeans were dry, and she ate a little food, then
dressed and sat beside the fire. She pondered the flying saucer's
attack again, trying to fathom the reason for the senseless assault
on an unimportant girl. The more she thought about it, the