Read Liberty for Free Online Page A

debris and a premature life exit, all I could think of was grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.
    We zoomed past the largest, fieriest piece of debris and rolled to a halt in a field of tall grass, the majority of which was being torched away by the melting remains of my ship.
    I stood up, dusted myself off, and ran to my baby, surveying the rather epic damage her crash had caused.
    “Flark! Flarking ... aw, flark,” I moaned. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
    I sank to my knees and pressed my lips together. All that I had left in the world was burning around me.
    It didn’t smell real great.
    Also, amazingly, I was alive. I realized if I wanted to stay that way, it was time to go dark. I turned off my Cuff, took it off my wrist, and stuffed it into my pocket.
    I felt a hand on my shoulder and leapt to my feet as I whirled around. I had nearly forgotten about Helmet. Helmet was very tall. And ... built. And ... trying to tell me something, but I still couldn’t hear.
    I pointed to my ears and shrugged. He handed me a skinny, silver package and motioned for me to open it and ... eat? Yes, eat the contents.
    Sure, why not? What could happen? Death? I was already marked for that. I opened the package and found a small green strip of something. I stuck it in my mouth.
    Bottoms up.
    Suddenly, my ears were full of bubbling sounds and before I could say, “Zounds, a flarking miracle,” I could hear.
    “What the flark was that?” I asked.
    “Well you sure use ugly words for such a pretty girl. At least, I’m guessing there’s a pretty girl under all that mess,” said Helmet.
    “Excuse me? I am not a mess,” I said. I rose to my feet and pointed toward the smoldering embers. “That is a mess.”
    “Could have been worse.”
    “How?” I asked.
    “Could have been you in there.”
    “You didn’t answer my question. What did you give me?”
    “Nerve regeneration strip. Comes in handy when you blow your ears out.”
    Ew.
    “You got a name?” I asked.
    “Yup.”
    I eyed Helmet. “You know, I’ve been calling you ‘Helmet’ in my head this whole time, so unless you want me to start calling you that outside my head, I suggest you tell me who the flark you are.”
    He cocked his head. “You first.”
    I wasn’t sure I could trust him. Still, he had saved my life, and so far none of the bad guys had tried that tactic. Besides, I was tired of lying about my name, and my cover was blown anyway. Call me naive, but ... did I mention he was tall?
    “Name’s Dixon, but I go by Dix. Your turn, flyboy, and do me a favor and take that helmet off so I can see who I’m talking to.”
    He took his helmet off and put it under the crook of his left arm. My gaze followed the motion of his arm up to his broad and muscular shoulders. His thick, dark curls fell around his face, and his sepia eyes twinkled mischievously, belying his serious expression.
    Yummy.
    “Berrett,” he said.
    “What?”
    “My name. It’s Berrett. And you’re welcome.”
    “For what? I mean, thanks, but really, I had things under control.”
    “Clearly. Falling to your death equals everything’s under control in your world?”
    “I would have figured a way out,” I snapped. I moved through the ruins of my ship with Berrett trailing behind. “Why are you still here? You’ve done your civic duty, now buzz off.”
    “Wow, you are kind of horrible, aren’t you?”
    I rolled my eyes and continued to pick my way through the rubble. I had to see if there was anything salvageable, and time was not on my side. The odds were terrible, but perhaps something useful had survived. I trotted to a promising heap of twisted metal, crawled under the pile, and pulled out a banged up metal storage case. “Eureka.”
    I pried open the case and found a survival pack. As I lifted the pack up, I thought about my now-charred knapsack. Won’t be needing it anymore, anyway. I looked up at Berrett. “Seriously, why are you still here?”
    “Because unlike you, I