The Key Read Online Free Page A

transmission, though.”
    There was a small silence. He should say something.
    “So, do you have a name or should I just call you Chewie?” Her lips curved, as if inviting him to share a joke.
    “Chewie?”
    “Sorry, Earth joke.”
    Earth?
    “I’m Fyn. Kiernan Fyn.”
    “So, do you like to be called Kiernan, Kier, or Fyn? I could call you, sir, if you’d rather? Or Mr. Fyn-”
    “Fyn. That’s what most…people call me.” Probably. Been awhile since anyone called him anything. Though no one had found so many different things to call him in such a short time.
    “Everyone on the Doolittle calls me Donovan, but I answer to Sara, too. At least I think I do. It’s been a while.”
    Her eyes were big and serious in her blackened face. She grinned suddenly, her teeth white against her darkened skin.
    “A long while.” She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Fyn.”
    He took her hand. She seemed to expect it. It felt narrow and soft inside his, but her grip was surprisingly strong. She lifted their hands up and down, then took her hand back.
    “That’s called ‘shaking on it’ where I come from. It’s a friendly greeting.” Her tone was educational, but her eyes still smiled.
    “Okay.” He realized he sounded rude. “Nice to meet you.”
    Her brows arched. He smiled.
    “Donovan.” Using her last name seemed…safer, though he couldn’t have said how. In his head, he was already calling her Sara. “Earth?”
    “That’s my home planet. Third rock from the sun.”
    He frowned. “Never heard of it.”
    Her eyes got slightly wary. “So, you know this galaxy pretty well?”
    He nodded. This galaxy?
    “You’re from another galaxy.”
    It wasn’t a question and she didn’t answer it. She didn’t have to. Her eyes gave her away, too. Maybe she realized that, because she looked away, toward the cave’s entrance.
    “So what’s out there at night?”
    “Nothing you want to see.”
    She was from another galaxy. No one he knew had been able to travel between galaxies. That explained why she was so different.
    “What keeps them from coming in here?”
    “This.” He pulled his weapon, spun it, at the same time activating it. He fired it out the opening and one of the little biters squealed. There was a sort of patter of retreat. He noticed she took a step closer to him and wondered if she realized it. “And the biters don’t like light.”
    “Oh.” She was quiet a moment. “Biters…because…they…”
    “Bite.”
    “Bummer.”
    He turned his weapon off and started to shove it back in its holster. Her hand on his arm stopped him.
    “Can I look?”
    He held it out. She didn’t take it, just studied it carefully.
    “How does it work?”
    “Overloads the system with an energy surge.”
    “Fatal?”
    “If it’s not set to stun.”
    “Sweet. My first ray gun.”
    She released his arm and he stowed it again. He’d never seen a woman so excited over a weapon. He liked it. He…liked her.
    She was quiet for a few moments until she started that tapping fingers thing again. Then she started to hum. The tune seemed odd, but he liked it, too, particularly liked the way she looked doing it.
    She softly sang something about a bad moon, until she realized he was looking at her and stopped.
    “Sorry, it’s a bad habit.”
    “Not so bad.”
    He got a smile for that.
    If her people did come, if they did leave this place, what would they do with him? He looked at Sara and felt something stir inside him…like feeling returning to a cramped leg. He’d lived with death for the turning of many seasons, almost too many to count. It was the only companion he’d desired since Fiona...but now…
    “What do you think?” Sara looked at him a bit anxiously. “I need to get there before my people do.”
    He looked out. “It’s light enough now.”
    “Right.” She grabbed her sack, sliding her arms through straps and then picked up her P-90.
    He looked at her, wanting to say…something, but an odd smile