Van Laven Chronicles Read Online Free PDF Page A

with the patients she was caring for.
    “You are the only other passenger that I’ve found alive so far.”
    “Oh.” He considered the grim implication. “And you? Were you injured?”
    There was a hesitation, then, “I am well. We were low enough to the ground when my seat was thrown from the transport with me still strapped to it.”
    “Then I am thankful that you had the foresight to apply your harness.”
    “It wasn’t my…”
    “Yes?” he prodded.
    “My traveling companion insisted upon it, before securing her own.”
    Now he understood the source of her melancholy and reluctance to converse. “I am deeply sorry for your loss.”
    There was a heavy sigh and then silence.
    If she needed to grieve, he would leave her to it. He turned his attention to the business of securing a rescue. He wondered if Crausin had received enough of his message to determine location of the crash site.  Regardless, Comron was certain his father wouldn’t rest until he found him.  He attempted to sit up and groaned.
    “Careful, you’ll rupture the seal.”
    Heeding her advice, he lay back. He’d try again after an hour or two. Gazing up at the ceiling, more of the images began to take form. The overhead bins were open and most of the contents had spilled out. The individual breathing apparatus hung down like withered fruit. This was no simple mid-flight accident, it was a direct assault.
    At length he finally said, “I believe that there was a bomb aboard the transport and that the Fetawa Consortia was behind the attack.” Perhaps it would do her some good to take her mind off her friend.
    This time she didn’t hesitate to reply. “The Fetawa may be Mobias’ business rival, but I seriously doubt that they would resort to such acts of barbarism. If they were discovered it would put them out of business for good.”
    He decided that he liked the sound of her voice even as he attempted to place the peculiar accent. “They might if Mobias had stolen their new surveillance technology that would have revolutionized the industry and put them out of business in the process.”
    “You knew the technology was stolen and yet you were willing to purchase it from them?”
    Comron suppressed a grin at her judgmental tone, imagining her sneer. “Mobias was charging a much lower entry fee and we needed the sophisticated surveillance system.”  Crausin himself had sent him for the very purpose of secretly acquiring the software so even the members of the Intelligence Collective would be unaware that they were being watched.  The mole who revealed the navigation codes had to be ferreted out.
    “So the lower entry fee made endorsing their theft palatable?” she said.
    Comron yearned to see the look of disdain that he heard in her lovely voice. The blurred images began to sharpen. “Regardless of whether the buyer knew the technology was stolen, they would have been just as culpable in the eyes of the law.”
    “On what grounds?”
    He enjoyed teasing such a haughty thing. “For failure to conduct the proper diligence before embarking on a questionable business deal.” He wondered if she caught the mild rebuke. Why hadn’t she been smarter and performed the research?
    She must have caught it because she changed the subject. “How long do you think it will take for them to discover we are missing?”
    He hid his amusement and let his gaze fall upon this feisty woman. She was seated in one of the remaining chairs about two meters away. He judged her to be of medium height, slender build and dark haired. Still, her accent eluded him; it almost felt stilted or perhaps even faked. The thought unsettled him.
    “That all depends,” he replied, more intent than ever to learn her identity. “Patheis has an unusual atmospheric disturbance. The sun’s radiation plays havoc with their communication systems, particularly near their equator.” The details of her face now became clear: the flawless sun-kissed skin, the dazzling hazel