Read Liberty for Free Online Page B

have a reasonable definition of what being in danger means.”
    I gave him my best scowl, and then looked down at the pack in my hands. “You want one?” I asked.
    “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though. See, that’s what polite people say when someone does something nice for them. They say, ‘Why, Berrett, I didn’t know you cared. Thank you.’”
    “You’re welcome,” I said. “The looters can have the rest. I doubt there’s much else here that would be of—”
    I stopped short as I caught a glimpse of something sparkling in the fire’s glow. Burning ship doesn’t sparkle. A large diamond, on the other hand ....
    I ran to the glittering spot in the charred grass and dropped to my knees.
    “Can’t be ... no chance in ... flarking skud, I can’t believe it!” I cried.
    “Can’t believe what, you foul-mouthed little ingrate?” asked Berrett.
    “My mother’s ring.” I laughed.
    Perhaps there was a merciful force in the universe. I gingerly picked it out of the shards of the cleaning solution container. It was hot to the touch, but miraculously intact. I dropped it in one of my many pockets and instantly felt its heat through the fabric. I hoped it wouldn’t burn a hole through my pants. I could put it on the chain later when I was alone. One of my many rules of survival was never, ever, ever show anyone what’s on the end of the chain.
    Especially random, albeit really hot, strangers.
    “Your mom gave that to you?” he asked.
    No details.
    Embed grains of truth in lies.
    I shook my head. “I didn’t say it was my mom’s ring.”
    “You definitely said mother.”
    “Well I meant mother like ... Mother Superior.”
    “A nun gave you—”
    Flark. Should’ve stuck to no details.
    “Yes, okay? A nun. I always wear it, but just before the attack, I put it in my cabin. I thought ... anyway. No time. We gotta get outta here before someone notices the smoke.”
    “Too late,” said Berrett. He pointed up to what looked like a small black cloud moving quickly toward us. “Military carriers.”
    “Skud.”
    Berrett looked at me for a second, and then grabbed my hand. “Into the grass!” he said.
    “What?”
    “Crawl!”
    “They’ll be over us , they can see, idiot! What do you think you—”
    “Shut up and crawl! And turn off your Cuff while you’re at it.”
    “I already did. How stupid do you think I am?” I hissed.
    “You really want an answer to that right now?”
    I rolled my eyes and sighed as I army-crawled behind Berrett.
    We crawled through the grass as the sound of the carriers drew nearer. I admit I had to repress the urge to pee my pants.
    Berrett led us close to a smoldering bit of the Misfit ’s hull. He crawled under it, pulling me in with him. “Roll under me and hold on. Tight.”
    “What?”
    “Not that, sicko. I’m going to launch us, and if you’re not hanging on you’ll be left here for the SUN to find. If we do this right, we’ll both disappear. Now roll under me and hang on.”
    I rolled under Berrett’s chest and nestled beneath him, locking my arms around the back of his neck.
    You know, because that’s not all kinds of awkward.
    Still, you do what you have to in order to survive. I’m not sure why the universe kept trying to teach me that lesson, but it sure felt like we had entered dead-horse-kicking territory.
    “What are you waiting for?” I whispered.
    “You think the remains of your ship are stable?” he asked.
    “Nope,” I replied.
    I hadn’t thought about that as I was rifling around looking for stuff.
    Oops.
    “Neither do they,” said Berrett. “So when part of it explodes and a small piece of debris flies away, they’ll think nothing of it. We just need them to be close enough to landing that we can shoot above them without them seeing us.”
    “Berrett?”
    “What?”
    “I love you.”
    “You’re weird. Now be quiet.”
    “Wait, how are you going to make the ship ex—”
    Before I could finish my sentence, Berrett tossed