The Lost Destroyer (Lost Starship Series Book 3) Read Online Free Page B

Her right hand held the top closed, which hid her blood-speckled throat. She looked up at him, with moisture in her green eyes.
    “Can you tell me what happened?” he asked.
    “You don’t want to comfort me first, hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay?”
    Maddox sat down on the bed and put an arm around her. “It will be all right. Now, I need to know what happened. Time is of the essence.”
    “We’re already out of time,” she said.
    Maddox took his arm away and stood up, regarding her.
    The hand holding the robe tightened. Slowly, Meta shook her head. “I don’t trust the jumps. You know that, right?”
    Maddox had heard her say that before.
    Meta waved her free hand. “The jumps negatively affect us and the equipment. I’ve been waiting for Per Lomax’s holding cell to short-circuit one of these times. The shield goes down every jump. The computers quit. Why would a holding cell’s force screen be any different?”
    “A reasonable question,” Maddox said.
    “I usually check on him after every jump.”
    “I didn’t know that.”
    “I want to make certain he’s locked tight. What he did to me on the star cruiser…”
    “Do you remember?” Maddox asked.
    “No! But I feel it here.” Meta tapped above her right breast. “The New Men are monsters. Their plans are vile.”
    Maddox had questioned Per Lomax once. The prisoner had told him the New Men planned to “cull” eighty percent of humanity, the so-called useless portion. Under the Throne World’s guidance, the remaining twenty percent would breed in genetically regimented ways, improving the human race.
    “I’ve always felt we should have killed Per Lomax when we had the chance,” Meta said. “Now, it’s too late.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “He escaped into the jumpfighter, didn’t he?”
    “How would you know that?” Maddox asked.
    Meta smirked. “Per Lomax wanted me to join him, you know?” Her features screwed up and she shook her head. “I wanted to go. It would have been the adventure of a lifetime. That’s what’s eating me up inside. I yearned to join Per Lomax. Yet, I love you . So why did I want to go with him ?”
    Maddox said nothing, the objective, Intelligence officer side of him overpowering his lover side.
    “It’s because of what the teacher did to me on the damned star cruiser!” Meta shouted. “The teacher invaded my mind. He twisted it. I’m damaged goods. I’m untrustworthy! I’m—”
    Maddox pulled Meta to her feet, hugging her. She clung to him, resting her forehead in the hollow of his throat.
    Finally, she looked up. There were tears in her eyes. He touched her cheek. With a thumb, he wiped away a tear. A moment later, he pressed his lips against hers. They kissed…
    When they finally parted, he held her hands as she sat on the bed. Her robe slipped open. He looked at her charms. Shyly, she pulled a hand free and closed the robe, her fingers tightening around the silk.
    “I killed Sten Gorgon,” Meta said, as she stared into nowhere. “I’m…sorry I did. I knew him a little. He was always telling jokes. The professor liked him.”
    “Why did you kill him?” Maddox asked quietly.
    “You’re smart. You should already know the reason.”
    “Maybe I do,” Maddox said.
    “So tell me.”
    “I’d rather hear it from you. As smart as I am, I’m wrong sometimes.”
    Meta turned her head, and her words became monotone. “Right after the jump, after my heart stopped thumping and I could see normally again, I exited my room and hurried for the holding cell. The corridor lights began flickering. I heard the warning about a magnetic storm—and then the intercom system went down. I tried my comm-unit, but only got static. I knew something bad had happened so I increased my pace. That’s when I heard them.”
    “Heard who?” Maddox asked.
    “Sten Gorgon was telling Per Lomax things.”
    Maddox’s eyes shined with interest. “Like what?” he asked.
    Meta slid her gaze to