Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

morning, Catherine.”
    Gradually, the young brunette awoke under the covers. She fought to free herself from the euphoric call of sleep but failed, dropping her head back into the pillow.
    “Good morning, Catherine.”
    Groggily, she called out through her pillow, muffling her speech. “Jason, tell it to shut up!”
    “Good morning, Catherine.”
    She listened for her boyfriend to respond but heard only the computer’s incessant wake-up call over and over again. Pushing herself up and arching her back, she looked around the bedroom. “Jason?”
    Slipping out of the covers, she fumbled around in the dark for a few seconds. “Window, seventy-five percent opacity.”
    The light filtering through illuminated the room enough to keep her from tripping as she moved through to the front part of their house, where the windows were fully clear. Blinking a few times at the sudden harshness of the bright sunlight from outside, she paused long enough to let her eyes adjust before continuing her search. Jason was nowhere in the house. She was tempted to look outside, but refrained as she was naked.
    She scratched her head as she furrowed her brow. “Where is he?”
    * * * * *
    Several kilometers to the east, Jason flew over the lake at high speed on his skycycle, barely skimming the surface of the water and spraying a vast wake behind him. He had ignored the requirement of wearing a helmet and laughed with glee from the rush of the wind across his face and through his hair. Seeing the approaching shore, he slowed down enough to glide over the rapids at the edge of the lake and head downstream.
    A few minutes later, he landed the vehicle on the same bank as the day before, dismounted, and ran into the woods toward the pyramid. He had gone only about a couple of dozen meters, when a voice stopped him in his tracks. “Halt!”
    Jason peered through the trees in front of him, attempting to locate the source of the command. Two soldiers wearing camouflage uniforms and black flak vests stepped into view holding their rifles firmly in their hands. They looked stern, but curiosity in their eyes made them more approachable.
    One of the troopers rolled his eyes. “Jason, why are you here again?”
    The other guard chimed in with the same attitude. “Didn’t Ms. Armstrong tell you to stay away?”
    A look of confusion formed on Jason’s face, as he wondered how they would know that piece of information. “How do you know that?”
    Shocked, the first marine answered, “Dude! The colonel was in there with you during your debriefing! You think he wouldn’t tell us?”
    Jason, now feeling a bit stupid, nodded. “Yeah, you got a point.”
    “Why don’t you do something like … oh, I don’t know, like do your job!”
    Noting the sarcasm, Jason pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Okay, I’m just…going…to look…for more food.”
    While the first sentry nodded, the second added with a thumbs-up and the same amount of attitude as before, “Good idea, Jason. Why don’t you do that?”
    “Okay. I’m going now.”
    The first one waved like he would to a child. “Goodbye!”
    Without another word, the young colonist turned and walked slowly back toward the river. He could have sworn he heard one of the guards remark about his lack of intelligence before they returned to their post, but he could not be sure.
    Upon reaching the skycycle, Jason decided to spend the morning exploring the river valley on foot, figuring it would save fuel and allow him to forage more thoroughly. Securing his backpack over his shoulders, he had not walked more than fifty meters before his communicator paged him to answer an incoming call.
    “This is Jason,” he said after pressing the button to open the channel.
    Catherine’s voice yelled, “Where the hell are you?”
    “Uh,” Jason stammered from embarrassment. “This is an open channel.”
    “I don’t care! Just answer the damn question!”
    Groaning, he reluctantly answered, “I’m out