Cobra Slave-eARC Read Online Free PDF

breath. Unfortunately, there was no way to ease into this. “I know where Qasama is.”
    Corwin’s face went rigid. “How?”
    “The Troft transport that Mom and the Qasamans took to Caelian,” she said. “It was wrecked in the crash, but Rashida Vil and I had to go back there to—well, it’s a long story. The point is that Kemp and Smitty realized there was too much food for the spine leopards they were supposed to be transporting here to Aventine, so I downloaded the course history to try to figure out later where the transport was supposed to go.”
    “And since the transport had just come from Qasama,” Corwin murmured, “its coordinates are in there, too.”
    “Exactly,” Jody said. “So what should I do? Erase the whole thing and keep it quiet? I could. Only—” She broke off, wondering suddenly if she should keep this particular strange thought to herself.
    But Corwin was already ahead of her. “Only wherever the transport was supposed to take those spine leopards,” he said quietly, “might also be the place where they took Merrick.”
    “Yes,” Jody said, feeling thoroughly miserable now. “But if I keep it, and Santores finds it—” She shook her head. “We owe the Qasamans our lives, Uncle Corwin.”
    “I know,” he said. “Can you get into the file and edit out the Qasaman part?”
    “Not anymore,” Jody said. “I multi-laced everything to protect it better, and I can’t edit without transferring it all onto a computer. But if I do that now, with the Dominion here—”
    “They might be able to pull it out of the system,” Corwin said, nodding. “And they’ve surely tapped into the network by now.”
    “That’s what I was afraid of,” Jody said. “I wish I’d done it before they came. But I never expected—” She lifted her hands helplessly. “What do I do?”
    “You get out of here,” Thena’s voice came from the kitchen door.
    Jody turned, her chest suddenly tight. The older woman was standing there, a dish and polishing cloth still clutched in her hands. “What?” Jody asked.
    “You get out of here,” Thena repeated. “I don’t mean here, this house. I mean you get off Aventine, as quickly as possible.”
    “She’s right,” Corwin said. “So far Santores seems to be focusing his attention here. If we can get you off Aventine, you may be able to bury yourself away for awhile.”
    “At the very least, you can bury your recorder,” Thena added. “When the Dominion goes away, we can dig it back up.”
    “If they ever do,” Jody said, her brain racing. Somehow, the thought of leaving Aventine had never occurred to her.
    And, really, why would it? Her family was here, and they were in serious trouble. The last thing she would ever do was run off and desert them.
    Unless there was a critical reason to do so. “You’re right,” she said reluctantly. “Okay. How do I do this?”
    “As quietly as possible,” Corwin said, pulling out his comm and punching keys. “The Southern Cross is currently at Creeksedge,” he said. “Due to leave for Esquiline…tomorrow afternoon at three. Perfect—you can go visit your Aunt Fay. They’re not showing any berths free, but maybe Chintawa can pull some strings and get you aboard.”
    “And maybe keep your name out of it,” Thena added. “We don’t want Santores bumping into your name on a ship passenger list.”
    “Chintawa will know how to do that,” Corwin said.
    “If we can trust him,” Jody warned.
    “I think we can,” Corwin said. “As long as we don’t tell him why you’re leaving, I don’t think he’ll be a problem.” He started to punch in a number on his comm, muttered something, and put the device away. “And of course we don’t want this on the comm system any more than we want it on a computer,” he continued, standing up. “Let’s wander over to the Dome, shall we, and see if he’s still there?”
    “Okay, but I should probably go alone,” Jody said, standing up, too.