Page 76 of Shades of Earth (Across the Universe 3)

But we’ll have to. Somehow.

I head first to the shuttle. I need to inspect what medical supplies Kit had in reserve. I’d rather use our own stuff than rely on the Earthborn doctors. My mood grows darker as I follow the path to the shuttle. Thinking about med patches reminds me of the black ones Bartie intends to use as a last resort before the engine on Godspeed completely fails.

I pause when I reach the bridge. The door is cracked open, and through it, I can hear shouting.

I hesitate.

Then I hear Amy’s voice, practically screaming with rage.

I throw the door open and barrel inside. It’s still too early for many people to be working, but the thought gives me no comfort. I race toward the gen lab, where the voices are coming from.

“Do you want to cause a panic?” Colonel Martin bellows.

“They need to know!” Amy yells. I pick up my pace, my footsteps clattering on the metal of the cryo room floor.

The gen lab door is open. Colonel Martin turns at the sound of my approach and rolls his eyes. “Great,” he says, just loud enough for me to hear.

“What’s going on?” I ask, panting.

Colonel Martin moves aside.

And I see Emma Bledsoe’s body. I’m breathless from my panicked run, but I stop short at the sight of her. Emma was kind. She was the one Earthborn I trusted.

Well, besides Amy.

“What happened?” I ask hollowly. Emma looks as if she’s merely sleeping.

“We’re still determining cause of death,” Amy’s mother says, but my eyes shoot to Amy. Without saying anything, I give her a look that I hope sends her my real question: was Phydus involved? She shrugs, glancing at the machine we used last night. I can hear its motor grinding; no results yet.

“Emma was on patrol,” Colonel Martin says gruffly. “She must have run afoul of something that we don’t know about. That is why this world is dangerous, why no one should go anywhere alone. ”

“It’s not like she just accidentally died!” Amy exclaims, frustrated. “Dad, there were purple flower strings on her clothing. Someone knocked her out. ”

“And murdered her?” Colonel Martin’s voice is incredulous.

“She knew not to mess with the purple flowers; she saw what they did to me!”

“You’re hysterical,” Colonel Martin says, waving his hand at Amy as if to dismiss her.

She grabs his wrist, stopping the motion. “You need to listen to us,” she says coldly.

Her eyes question me. I nod. It’s all or nothing now. “Emma knew something,” Amy continues. “She warned me to be careful who to trust. I thought she was talking about you. Maybe she wasn’t. ”

Colonel Martin doesn’t look any more convinced—if anything, the expression he wears now seems to indicate that he thinks either Amy is exaggerating or flat-out lying.

“She gave me a cube made of glass,” Amy continues, and this, finally, makes Colonel Martin pay attention. The room is silent now, tension rising as Amy explains that she knows the cube glows, that she’s linked the glass cube to the exploding bullets that killed Kit.

“There are aliens on this planet, aren’t there?” I finally say, breaking in when Amy stops talking. “Sentient aliens, who have figured out how to make weapons we can’t compete with. ”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Colonel Martin says.

“Damn it, Bob!” Amy’s mother says, rage in her voice. “This is not the time for secrets! What do you know? What have you been keeping from us—from all of us?”

Colonel Martin looks cornered, trapped. When he doesn’t speak, I answer for him. “I saw the compound. The biometric lock on the door to the communication room only opens for humans. That means there’s something that isn’t human out there. ”

“You can’t expect me to stand here and listen to this,” Colonel Martin interjects, but the attempt is halfhearted, and I quickly cut him off.

“I can and I will because these things—whatever they are—are picking us off, one by one. ” I list the names of the people who have died so far, ending with Emma, drawing her name out and watching the guilt that shadows his eyes. “And I think you know the reason why. ”