Landfall (The Reach, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

himself for resting so long, he decided.  It was done, and in truth, he’d needed it.  He still had a lot of work to do, and he wanted to operate with a mind that was clear of fatigue if possible.
    With the klaxon sounding, workers might be filtering through the offices and workshops around him any time soon.  Knile had to get out before he was discovered.
    There was a small grey laminate desk jammed into one corner, and Knile eased himself gingerly into the tattered swivel chair that sat beside it.  He pulled his holophone from his backpack and tried to get his plan clear in his mind.
    He had to find Roman.  He had to get the boy out of the Candidate program before it was too late.  Then he needed to go find Talia and work out how to move forward from there.  Beyond that, things were somewhat vague.  Knile wanted the three of them to leave Earth together.  He was adamant about that.  His revelation on the roof with Ursie had instilled in him a powerful desire to rekindle the relationship the three of them had once shared, and for them to find a future together.  He wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to orchestrate their departure together – organising passkeys for him self and Mianda had been a near-impossible task, let alone gaining three passkeys simultaneously – but between them he was sure that they would find a way.
    As he sat in the chair he thought back to the mad rush of the day before.  He had called Talia and told her of Roman’s predicament, asked her to help.  With any luck she would be on her way to see him right now.  Perhaps, if she was lucky, she might have even found the boy by now.  The first part of Knile’s plan might already be well in motion.
    Knile selected Talia’s number on the holophone and waited patiently as it rang.  There was no answer.  He drummed his fingers on the desk, causing tiny dust motes to drift up into the shaft of light that speared in through the porthole.  He called the number again and waited.
    Three rings.  Four.
    “Come on.  Pick up, Talia.”
    Two more rings.
    Then there was a soft beep as the phone picked up.
    “Hello?” Knile said.
    There was no response, no image on the display, but Knile thought he could hear breathing on the other end.
    “Talia, are you there?”  Still nothing.  “Talia, I’m sorry about yesterday, putting you on the spot like that.  I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, but–”
    There was another beep and the connection went dead.
    Knile put the phone in his pocket and sighed, rubbing his eyebrows in consternation.  He wasn’t quite sure what to make of that exchange.  His first thought was that Talia was angry with him for leaving her with the responsibility of rescuing Roman, and that was entirely fair.  Knile had been selfish, he’d admitted that.  It was only after his discussion with Ursie on the roof, his realisation about what he truly wanted, that he recognised the flaws in his thinking and in the way he had treated others.
    If he’d alienated Talia, that would be just one more bridge he had to rebuild on this long journey that was ahead of him.
    On the other hand, perhaps he was reading too much into it.  Talia might simply have been in an area with bad reception.  She might call back later once it improved to see what he wanted.  Or perhaps she had been busy and couldn’t talk right then.
    There was no point getting wound up about it until he knew all the facts.
    In either case, Knile was in the dark about both Talia and Roman for now.  That was not an ideal place to be, because he didn’t know if Talia had the situation in hand or not.
    Roman might still be headed toward danger for all he knew.
    So what can I do?
    If Roman was headed in with the Grove convoy, he would be down at the entrance in the next hour or so.  There was no way that Knile was going to be able to reach him in time.  There were a couple of hundred levels between them and, without access to the main