Vin's Rules (Outer Settlement Agency) Read Free

directive of keeping the men and women under his watch safe. Apparently, that now included her.
    “I’m taking you back to the shuttle.”
    “You don’t think I’m scared, do you? Whatever you’ve read about the Ert’zod family, about what percentage of it involves running from danger?”
    “Zilch, but if you ever feel uneasy...”
    “Drive.”
    “Yes, ma’am and thanks.”
    “For what?”
    “For making me officially reconsider my earlier assessment. You may have some Ert’zod in you yet.”
    “Just go.”
    Soon abandoned homes replaced the fields and even later, a town completely devoid of any signs of life. She expected, heck, wanted, Vin to say something casual and amusing, but a heavy sense of dread cloaked the air.
    Her skin prickled, and she licked her lips, now dry and parched. The emptiness here was oppressive. She’d been born on a small space station but spent her youth traveling from place to place with her father. Then she’d gone off to school in a huge city in a mega quadrant, before being sent off to make her life in similar environs.
    This place?
    Silent.
    Empty.
    A heavy type of quiet.
    She craved the thudding noises and howls of urban life. Everything was suddenly too small. She needed air. Fresh air. Not the filtered and recycled stuff they’d been breathing on the cyclerover. “I don’t like this place.”
    “No kidding. So think. Think fast. What do we know? What can we put together from everything we’ve seen so far?
    “No food source. No town. No people.”
    “We don’t know that.”
    She licked her lips for the dozenth time. “Whatever, just open the enviroshield. I need out.”
    “Umm, no.”
    “Shield. Down. Now. What happened to living on the edge, Dhoma?”
    He shrugged at her rolled eyes. “I don’t know? Overwhelming evidence of mass extinction? That’s enough for most people. What happened to your freaking regulations?”
    Tossed to rot at the throat-closing sensation of the last few minutes. She’d rather die than tell him that though. “It’s like you said. We need to think. Investigate. You’re armed. I’m armed. What’s the worst that could happen?”
    “You seriously did not just ask that.” Vin pointed to an empty terrarover. Then an empty house. Next, the empty street and the entire row of empty stores. “That. Whatever that is. That can happen. Has happened. Might happen again.”
    And yet, her hair was caught in a whoosh of air as the shield around them went down. Before she could thank him for trusting her, he swore and got off the vehicle. “Fine, but only because I care about my people. I’m not calling my team into a fire pit without giving them a heads up first. We’ll do some quick recon and then get out of here. Maybe we can find out what the hell that scent is.”
    She didn’t bother with the non-intentioned... and not totally existent slight. “What scent?”
    “The same one from the forest. Still not smelling it?” He shrugged at her shaking head and stomped over to the nearest building. Broken glass crunched beneath his boots, and he waved her over. “I need some light over here. Hold up your omnitablet.”
    Despite the bright day and the blinding reflections from the empty glass buildings, inside this smaller one, darkness won out. She leaned into the building, but a hairy, muscled arm jerked her back. “Don’t cut yourself.”
    The advice was so unnecessary. Blood wasn’t her thing. Her stomach rolled at the thought of it. Rather than bracing herself against the windowpane, she used him for balance.
    For all her nervousness, he didn’t shrug her off or laugh. In fact, Vin gave no outward appearance that he’d noticed her body on his at all. “Sweep the light around... yeah, like that.”
    Nothing unusual. Most things were in place. Some tables were turned over, but the chairs were still stacked on the side. Although that in and of itself was more concerning. “Dhoma—”
    “I’m begging you for first names now. Shit