The Challenge Read Online Free Page B

lifted her nose into the air and sniffed the polluted yellowish-gray atmosphere, which was clearly not what she expected. “It doesn’t smell bad.”
    “There’s an invisible shield over your head.”
    She touched her face. “There’s a filter between my skin and the air?”
    “When adjusted properly, the wearer doesn’t feel its presence. I could turn off the filtration system for a moment, but,” he gestured to people riding along moving sidewalks, “Terrans wear face masks outdoors, because the poisons are harmful to your lungs.”
    Hover planes buzzed overhead, and she stared at them in amazement. Her hands began to tremble, and she clasped one in the other behind her back. If she’d been thinking of escape, the circumstances must have pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
    “Do you believe me now?” he asked softly.
    “I’m not . . . sure.”
    She looked as unsteady as Kahn’s final opponent in the Federation’s Ultimate Fighting competition when Kahn’s fist had fractured his foe’s jaw. Tessa’s legs wobbled, and for a moment, he wondered if she would collapse. He stood ready to catch her. Then she angled her chin in a way he associated with determination.
    “Take me somewhere else.”
    He kept his tone brisk and didn’t allow her to see his pity. “Where do you want to go?”
    “What do my friends think happened to me?”
    “They believed you died.”
    “Show me where I am supposed to be buried.” She made the suggestion as if it was a trick question.
    He simply escorted her inside the ship and ordered the navigation system to bring the shuttle to her grave at “Arlington National Cemetery.”
    After they exited the shuttle, the sight of row upon row of grave markers as brown as the White House, caused her to straighten her spine. A muscle in her jaw clenched.
    He spoke softly. “It must be shocking to wake up in another time.”
    “That’s the understatement of the century,” she agreed.
    Using a directory and a map to take her where she needed to go, she walked swiftly through the deserted cemetery, her shoulders squared, but she couldn’t quite control her quivering bottom lip. Her face whitening, she stopped at the grave marker that read, “Tessa Camen. She died with honor.”
    “Who’s buried here?” she whispered, her voice low and hoarse.
    “An android.”
    She sank to her knees and ran her fingers through the grass. “No one could have gone to such extraordinary lengths to . . .” She glared at him, eyes like green chips of ice. “It’s all true, isn’t it?”
    “Yes.” Having no idea how she’d react, he’d have preferred to avoid putting her through such a shocking experience. But the truth, no matter how painful, should aid his cause in gaining her cooperation—unless she fell apart on him. Some candidates had proven unable to adapt to sudden changes, failing before they’d even begun the Challenge, but she seemed made of stronger character.
    Tears rained down her cheeks. “My friends are all dead? My detail? The president?”
    “I’m afraid so.” At the moment, Tessa looked fragile enough to break into hysterics as Lael would have done. But she didn’t. Still, he longed to comfort her, but sensed she wouldn’t welcome his touch. “To you it seems like yesterday, but—”
    “They died centuries ago,” she whispered. “And even if you could send me back, it would be to die with that assassin’s bullet in my brain. I really have been pulled forward through time.”
    “Yes.”
    For a woman, she displayed remarkably strong character and reasoning skills. Even though she finally understood that all of her friends and associates had died, she held her head high, ignoring her tears. But the effort cost her. Her hands closed into fists, and she stared unseeing at the headstone, her thoughts her own.
    “I know you need time to recover and regroup.”
    Her voice was flat, stunned. “I’ve dealt with loss before.”
    Best to keep her talking.