Read Earthbound (The Reach, Book 1) for Free Online Page B

inside, but it was too dark to see what lay within.
    Taking out his tools, he was able to pry at the edges of the window, and in moments he had disengaged the lock.  He eased it open and then slid through and into the basement.
    Inside it was cool and dank.  The room was lit from above by a timid yellow lightbulb, and there were shelves cluttered with all kinds of trinkets – disassembled respirators, water purifier parts, lengths of copper pipe, scissors and rolls of fabric, among others.  There was a workbench in the middle of the room, on which was st rewn more fabric and some heavy-duty needles and thread.
    There was noise in the house above, and Knile edged behind a basket of discarded cloth, lowering himself close to the floor and tucking up his legs.  As he watched, the door at the top of the stairs opened and a young woman de scended, tucking her dark blond hair behind her ears and taking a pencil from between her teeth as she went.  She glanced at one of the shelves, examining a piece of pipe, before turning her attention to the fabric on the table, her back to Knile.
    Taking the pencil, she began to draw a line across the fabric, making smooth and well-practised strokes.  Knile observed her for several minutes as she went about her business, and then, confident that she was alone, eased the basket aside.
    “Talia,” he said.
    The woman stiffened and dropped the pencil, but she did not cry out or gasp.  She made no attempt to look at him.
    “Knile Oberend,” she said, and he could hear a hint of breathlessness in her voice that she’d tried to suppress.  “You haven’t changed a bit.”
    Knile got to his feet and moved into the light.  “Not surprised to see me?”
    Talia turned to look at him.  “I don’t know if anything about you surprises me anymore.”  She dropped her face back to her work, picking up the pencil again.  “Although, I have to admit that I thought you were dead.  I should have known better.”
    “Disappointed that I’m not?”
    She smirked.  “Don’t flatter yourself.  I have a lot more interesting things to worry about.”
    “Sure.”  Knile drew the respirators from his nostrils and took in a deep breath.  “Air in here isn’t too bad.”
    “Yeah.  I still change the filters on the intake nice and regular.  Keeps the nasties out.”  She indicated to his respirators.  “What’s with those?  Why don’t you have something that covers your mouth?”
    Knile turned them over in his hand.  “These are pretty common out in the lowlands.  They don’t get in the way as much.  You just have to remember not to breathe through your cake hole.”
    “Not easy for the rednecks out there, I bet.”
    Knile smirked and pointed a thumb over his shoulder.  “I see the solar grid I set up for you is still bringing in the juice.”
    “Well, you had to do at least one thing useful in your life.”  She straightened and tapped the pencil thoughtfully on her fingers.  “It’s not working as well as it used to, though.  Smog’s getting worse, I guess.”
    “Have you gone and cleaned them lately?  There’s a film that builds up if you–”
    “Yes, I know that,” she snapped.  “I’m not a complete idiot.”
    “I didn’t say you were.”
    She picked up the scissors and began to cut along the pencil lines with fluid strokes.
    “Yeah, okay.  So what are you doing here, Knile?”
    “I got a call to come back.  Something important.”
    “By who?”
    “Fallon.”
    Her eyes widened.  “Fallon?  You still trust that sack of shit?”
    “His information is always good.  He hasn’t let me down in the past.  I know he’s not exactly ethical in all of his dealings–”
    “Well, that’s a nice way to put it.”
    “–but at least if he tells me something, I know there’s some truth in it.”
    “So where the hell have you been all this time?”
    “The lowlands.”
    She gave him an incredulous look.  “That doesn’t sound like your kind of