Flame Read Online Free PDF

Feel like going for a walk? Someone wants to meet you.”
    “Who?”
    “A friend,” he said.
    “Someone from the Empyrean?” she asked, hopeful.
    “No, but I can give you news of them if you like.”
    Waverly glanced back at her mother, who was absorbed in putting away the food.
    “Your mother will be quite safe here,” the man said with a sweet smile.
    Waverly studied him. His friendly composure didn’t seem completely trustworthy. If Mather wants to kill me, she could do it anytime, Waverly thought. I might as well see if I can find anything out. She called to her mother, “Mom. I’m going out!”
    “All right,” Regina called, not a speck of concern in her voice. The old Regina Marshall would never have let Waverly out of her sight in a place like this.
    Waverly walked past Mather’s guard, who stood at attention now, his mocking grin wiped from his fleshy face. The handsome man—what had he called himself? Jared Carver?—led Waverly down empty, quiet corridors. She looked around, listening for signs of life, but there was no one around. On the Empyrean, people were always complaining about noise. She remembered the near constant classical music her neighbors, the Moreaus, used to play, blaring Brahms or Mahler so that the entire hallway buzzed with it. They’d been childless, and with a pang she realized they must be dead with no one to mourn them. She ducked her head, overcome with sadness, but quickly straightened up when she noticed the man looking at her.
    “You okay?” he asked gently.
    “It’s so quiet here,” she said. “Like no one lives here.”
    “Pastor Mather is keeping you and your mother isolated for the time being,” the man said. “You’re restricted to uninhabited areas of the ship.”
    “What did she do with the people who lived here?”
    “This wing has always been empty. Due to our infertility we have a much smaller population than the ship designers anticipated.”
    She nodded, looking at her shoes and their slow, plodding steps. Of course. Even the Empyrean had many empty apartments.
    “Where are the other kids?” she asked.
    “They’re safe, I assure you,” he said. They turned a corner, passing a maintenance closet with the door hanging open. A cloud of ammonia hovered around the doorway, and Waverly rubbed at her stinging nose. “The Pastor wants to move forward to a peaceful future for all,” Jared was saying. “Right now she’s concentrating on healing wounds. At least,” he added with a smirk, “that’s the story.”
    “When can I see my friends?” she asked, choosing to ignore his odd slip.
    “Not right away. After what happened the last time, I’m sure the Pastor is going to be cautious. Especially with a fugitive on board.”
    “Fugitive?” Waverly asked, her heart leaping. Seth! He’d made it!
    The man hesitated. “A young man came aboard in a OneMan. Any idea who?”
    She shrugged. “No.”
    The man gave a half turn but said nothing as he pressed the call button for the elevator.
    In silence, they rode to the administrative level of the ship, and when the doors opened, Waverly was surrounded by people. Men and women in the uniforms of deck officers, guards, engineers, horticulturalists—all the different types of workers needed to keep the New Horizon running. Most of them brushed right by Waverly and Jared without a glance, but a few looked at her with surprise, and one woman glared at her. Jared passed what would be the Central Council chamber. The door hung open and she could see the domed glass ceiling of the chamber, just like on the Empyrean, and the same oval table, the same cushioned chairs around it. Until several days ago, she’d been a member of the Central Council on the Empyrean, steering straight for disaster without even knowing it. Jared walked two doors past the chamber, knocked on an office door, and waited until a rattling voice called, “Enter.”
    Jared opened the door to a cavelike room, long and narrow, swathed in