Alicia Jones 4: Enigma Read Online Free PDF Page A

conforming
pressure suits.
    Nadia shook her head, “Make it two hours, and pick us up at
JFK.”
    “Alright, see you then.”
     
    It took a surprisingly short time.  The longest was
getting out of New York City to a place we could fly off from, and we went
straight back home.  We both changed.  I chose to wear a pair of dark
jeans and a red shirt over the pressure suit, Kristi also wore clothes this
time over the skin tight suit.  Maybe because we were having guests?
    I considered packing, but I still had a number of clothes to
wear aboard ship, so I decided there was no point. 
    Kristi was ready a few minutes later, and we were on our
way.
    The truth is, I felt a little worried, because I truly
didn’t care.  What I’d seen on the video had been amazing, I should have
been charged up, excited for an opportunity to even try to talk to and study
the Drenil. 
    Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to give a crap.  It was
barely two weeks since Nathan died, still, shouldn’t I have bounced back, at
least a little by now?
    Perversely, I decided to look into it in spite of
myself.  Almost as if I feared if I didn’t, I might as well just roll over
and die.
    “Al, bring up the raw scanning data and particle emissions
for the time the Drenil ship was visible.  On second thought, add in a
second before and after.”
    For two and a tenth second span, there was a hell of a lot
of data to go through.  There were many types of radiation and particles,
and I was sure there were some our scanners couldn’t see yet.  But if I
could figure out what, maybe I could figure out how?
    Kristi looked at me in surprise, and that made me feel a
little guilty.  I wasn’t the best friend in the world to begin with, and
I’d been a completely crappy one lately.  Nathan was gone, but I had a lot
to be thankful for in this life, and she was near the top of the list, if not
the top.
    I started to feel so guilty, that I teared up.  I was a
mess.
    Kristi asked in a concerned voice, “Alicia?”
    This time I was the one that hugged her as I broke down and
bawled.  It was different from last time though, these tears weren’t the
same.  They felt cleansing, as if I were letting go instead of holding on
tight in denial.  She held me while I got it all out, and I hoped that was
it for a while, I really hated crying.
    “Sorry,” I muttered, a little embarrassed now.
    Which as strange as it sounds, was progress. 
Embarrassment meant I cared.  I still missed him but I could feel, and
breath again, all at the same time.
    Kristi shook her head, “I’m still not telling you what I’m
working on…”
    I whacked her on the arm playfully, which made her giggle,
and I asked with false excitement, “So, ready to invade JFK with an armed
shuttle?”
    She nodded, “Sounds fun!”
    The sad truth was I had nothing big enough that wasn’t
armed.  I’d have to fix that.
    I added, “Oh, could you double check the security, we’ll
have nosy scientists on board, and I prefer they don’t figure out the
converters, dark energy reactor, or the wormhole device.”
    Kristi nodded, “I’ll double check, but no one but us should
have access to those rooms, and the database is locked down by the A.I.”
    “Good.”
     
    It turned out nine of us would be going in total, four
ambassador types who wanted to come along just in case, although I imagined
they were curious, and then five scientists.  We needed to stop at Tressia
to pick up a scientist called Nalla, and then on to Leira for a scientist named
Ellis before heading to Drenil space.  I still missed Nathan, but my mind
seemed to be working better again, as if I’d stopped punishing myself.
    For what, I wasn’t sure.
    Kristi asked, “You stopped the taxi build?”
    She must have reviewed the ship’s status.
    I nodded, and looked around the bridge as Al opened up a
wormhole to Tressian space.
    “I’ve been thinking.  They ignored our probe right?”
    Nadia nodded at me slowly, like I’d