Derelict: Halcyone Space, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

the smiling face of Micah Rotherwood, botanist, charmer, and aspiring drug distributor. He didn't seem the least bit flustered, nor did he look like she did after a late night of running code. His smooth face tanned from the time he spent under full spectrum plant lights, he reminded her of a younger, blonder, and less seedy version of his father. Even Ro knew enough of Senator Rotherwood's story to steer clear of him. She frowned, wondering if Micah had inherited more than just his good looks. "The coffee's free, and now that I officially work for Daedalus, so are my meals."
    "Trust me, that's less of a bargain than you might think." The woman in line ahead of her turned and smiled. Elegant and slim, she had straight black hair that ended in a razor edge at her chin and warm brown eyes with more than a hint of some Asian ancestry.
    "You're new," Ro said, trying not to think of the number of station personnel she had seen come and go in just the three years she'd been stuck on Daedalus.
    "Konomi Nakamura. Call me Nomi. I'm communications. Night shift." She swallowed a yawn. "Sorry!"
    The woman hardly looked like she'd been working all night, either. Ro glanced down at her usual rumpled clothes. That had to change.
    "I'm heading for dinner. Can I join you?"
    Instead of the polite excuse Ro expected, Micah smiled at Nomi, faint lines crinkling at the sides of his light blue eyes. "Oh, please do," he said. "Micah Rotherwood. Pleasure to meet you."
    Ro had a sudden urge to warn Nomi about him, but didn't know what she would be warning her about. Neither of them were her business, but she stuck out her hand, getting between the two of them anyway. "Ro. Ro Maldonado."
    Nomi turned, her expression thoughtful. "As in Chief Engineer Maldonado?"
    Ro stared her down. "Yes, he's my father, and I got this job because I'm really good at what I do. If you have any questions, ask Mendez." This would get old quickly if she had to justify herself to every station employee.
    "Hey, damp down the signal, Ro," Nomi said, shaking her head. "I wasn't implying anything. Do you think you could get him to look at the sound balance in comms? We're getting an intermittent cut-out at the high frequencies."
    "I'll see what I can do," Ro said, adding it to her own personal list, partly out of guilt, but partly because Nomi's straightforward style was refreshing compared to Micah's manipulative charm.
    "All channels clear, then? Excellent." Nomi's eyes lit up in unfeigned delight as she took Ro's arm. "Come on, I'm starving!"
    She stiffened at the unexpected touch.
    "It's nice to finally find some people to talk to," Nomi said. "It's hell being on nights. I hardly know anyone."
    Ro knew everyone on the station, and it didn't make her any less lonely. "I've been stuck here nearly three years." Three years down, two more to go for her father's contract if she couldn't make good on Mendez's offer. At least this would be the last move she'd ever have to make for him.
    "So why are you here?" Micah asked, slipping between them. "I figure you must know my family's history."
    There weren't too many people in the Hub or beyond who didn't know the scandal involving the former Senator Rotherwood. He'd been indicted for money laundering, embezzlement, fraud, and bribery. While they never proved any of it, Rotherwood was probably responsible for propping up the biggest pyramid scheme in a century. Rumor said the cartel was still pulling his strings. The only reason the senator didn't see the inside of a dark cell was because he used his glib tongue to implicate a bunch of even more important men.
    "You're surprisingly cheerful for the son of a man with death threats chasing him." Ro wondered why he stayed. Surely he could have sued for full citizenship and let his father fend for himself. She would have done so if she could. Better that than find yourself at the wrong end of an assassination attempt.
    Micah shrugged. "It makes life interesting."
    He was impossible to