King's County Read Online Free PDF Page A

very
simple in execution and purpose. Anything you could attach, it
would carry up 800 to 1000 km away from the Earth. The lifter
worked off of rapid magnetic inversion, which I can't explain but
it was a huge improvement over the enormous, loud chemical rockets
it replaced.
    Ed and I sat waiting for the liftoff
with nothing to talk about. He reached into a vertical zipper
pocket and withdrew a purple pill. They were another new
technology. We both had dozens of them for the long
voyage.
    "Too soon?" He said.
    "Don’t you want to see the
liftoff?"
    "I'll see it, just... Ah, you're
right." He put the pill back in his pocket. "Hey, let’s get this
show on the road!"
    Control beeped on and spoke into our
ears:
    "Artemis 1. Prepare for launch in
approximately one minute."
    "We’re prepared, baby! Just chillin’
out in here." Ed said and drummed his palms on the pliant
armrest.
    "Artemis 1. Prepare for
launch."
    A minute passed.
    "Artemis 1, prepare to launch in ten,
nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one - launching,
launching, launching."
    We shot upward, slowed and dropped. For
a couple seconds it felt like we were floating. Then the heaviness
returned. The indicator passed 400kph, 500, 600, 700 and it stopped
there. Through the huge front window all we saw was blue. After
what felt like a few minutes, the sky began to darken. At the
bottom of the window, I saw the curve of the Earth. I looked over
at Ed. He winked – very slowly - and I knew he had taken the
pill.
    *
    Ruth 2092
    "Lt. Waller! How nice to see
you!"
    I found his room easily enough. As I
searched the halls, one of the Colombian women Geake had left the
bar with poked her head out of a doorway and looked at me kind of
funnily before popping back inside. I got there quickly and stuck
my boot in the threshold. She pushed back against the door pinching
my foot. I roared, braced my hands on the sides and kicked it open,
knocking her down on the thick white carpet.
    Geake was in bed lying on his back. The
whole room, the walls and furniture were a pristine, pearly white.
The ceiling was a hologram of fluffy white clouds.
    The bartender chick from earlier
cradled Geake's head in her lap. Her legs wrapped around his chest
and the snakes in her reddish brown braids curled around his and
her neck flicking their little tongues. She stared venom at me and
stroked Geake’s buzz cut hair.
    "Hey, Lieutenant, sir. Are you mad?"
Geake said. But he wasn't getting up.
    "I'm not...mad? What are you five? I'm
trying to keep you out of trouble." The Colombian chick on the
floor dog-crawled across the carpet, brushing past my legs on her
way out.
    "What did I do, sir? I'm sorry. This is
all new to me." Snake lady stifled a laugh.
    "Fucking around with these people,
you're gonna get us both in serious trouble, especially
you!"
    "You already in trouble, boy!" It was
Alberto and his friend. They barged in the room and surrounded me.
In the light, I saw their thick arms and wrists. It occurred to me
that I might need some help.
    "Sergeant, how about some
reinforcements here." I said while backing against the wall behind
me.
    "Sorry. I'm so sorry..." Geake said and
started crying.
    "You fucked up, man. You picked the
wrong room." Alberto’s companion spoke finally. He reached into his
jacket pocket searching around for something.
    "Geake get up and help me
now!"
    He cried louder and shook his
head.
    Only one idea came to me. I rushed,
trying to escape in the space between them. Their arms were on me
but couldn't get a grip. I was free, almost at the door, and my
legs froze and went out from beneath me.
    Alberto's friend held a plastic
gun-type thing. He quickly put it back in his pocket. Neither of
them were smiling.
    *
    Anderson Base
    "I want to hear it in your words,
Lieutenant Waller. Please try to remember. It’s
important."
    Colonel Jackson sat at his desk in
camouflage pajamas. He was fit and alert with closely cropped salt
and pepper hair. He leaned in at the