The Ghost in the Doll (Fox Meridian Book 6) Read Free Page A

before he started his new job,’ Fox said. Her mother was seeing her to bed before joining Jonathan. Andrea was being a little more solicitous than usual, likely still worrying over Fox’s recovery. ‘Then I went and got myself kidnapped…’
    ‘I’m sure you’ll see him again, Tara,’ Andrea said. ‘I’m sure that bed will see some use at some point.’
    ‘Well, it’s going to see some now.’ Fox looked at the black box sitting beside the bed, already hooked up to the mains. There were indicator lights on it, showing that it was functional. A small camera mounted on the top was unmoving and there were a couple of cables coiled beside it. ‘I only need four hours’ sleep now, and this thing will be charged before I wake up, but I might still be in there if you come in in the morning.’
    ‘I’ll let you come down on your own. Take your time. You are supposed to be resting.’
    ‘Yeah. Look, do you mind if I do this on my own? It’s still a little…’
    ‘I’ll leave you to it. I’d imagine you can contact our implants if you need anything anyway.’
    Fox waited for her mother to leave before undressing. Nudity was technically unnecessary, but she had slept naked for a long time and it made things a little easier. She pulled the comforter back on the bed and then picked up the thickest of the two cables. It ended in something that looked like one of those nerve-induction exercise devices people had thought were the answer to exercise without effort decades ago: a cloth belt with a pair of plastic pads attached to it. Strapping the belt around her hips, she made sure the two pads were roughly over her hip joints and closed the fastening.
    Next came the second cable, much thinner with a small plug at the end. Reaching behind her neck, she felt under her hair for the small socket hidden away there and pushed the plug in. Almost immediately, a connection notification came through, followed by an authentication exchange panel.
    ‘All set up for us,’ Kit commented. ‘Jackson is really going out of his way to make sure this works for you.’
    ‘Yeah, well… He would. He always does.’ Fox started her transfer to the server and climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her. ‘I assume you’re coming over with me.’
    ‘Of course. I’ve some work to do, and you’ll want someone to talk to when you wake up hours before your parents.’
    ‘You know, not being able to sleep in is a major fault in this design. Turn off, “sleep” for want of a better word, and four hours later I wake up. Ding! Awake.’ Fox closed her eyes and watched the progress bar on her ba transfer. ‘And they need to give me a faster cable interface. I mean, Terri was talking about using wireless transfers sometimes, but that would take ages .’
    ‘I know. That’s how I usually travel.’
    ‘You’re used to it. This is all new to me. It’s so slow…’
    ‘You could be in Japan in five minutes, ten at the most. You could be on Mars in a day or so instead of weeks.’
    ‘I suppose that has some utility. If I’ve got a frame to load into once I get there anyway. Does Palladium have contracts on Mars?’
    ‘There are MarTech facilities on Mars and Venus, as well as the lunar sites, of course. Setting up a body for you on the Moon would be very easy. You need never ride in a rocket ever again.’
    ‘Huh. Now I see why Jackson wants to do this.’
    ‘Hmm, yes. He does suffer terribly from space sickness.’
    Fox smirked. ‘I don’t think that quite covers the depths of his misery. He is a little better when he can have some gravity, but then the Coriolis effect tends to kick in with spin gravity… Yeah, he’d love just being able to radio himself over to Jenner. Transfer’s almost complete. I’ve programmed it to shunt me straight into sleep mode on the other side so… Night, Kit.’
    ‘Goodnight, Fox. Sleep well.’
    ‘Oh, like I have a choice…’
    28 th March.
    Possibly one of the most important advances in