Living in Freefall (Living on the Run Book 1)

by Ben Patterson

  “Oh, yes, I forgot,” Ericca agreed. “I forgot about those.”

  Penny put her hands on her hips defiantly. “Well, I’ll pass any test you give me.” With that, she spun around and left the room.

  Riley and Ericca chuckled together. “I like her,” Riley said.

  “I do too,” Ericca agreed, then burst into unrestrained sobbing all over again. Though she desperately wanted to, she just couldn’t keep herself from openly crying.

  Archer sat down next to her and cradled her in his arms.

  She turned to sob the more into his shirt, and heard him swallow loudly, himself fighting back tears. “This is embarrassing. I feel so awkward.”

  “And I imagine, vulnerable as well,” Riley added.

  When she had finally cried herself out she looked up at the man who had never given up on her. As sudden as a balloon popping, everything changed. The sadness and despair plaguing her vanished. Stupid! Like a puzzle with its last few pieces put into place, a picture had suddenly come into sharp focus and some things now made perfect sense. Like looking into a mirror and finally seeing oneself, she knew who she was in the big scheme of things. And she liked what she saw. Other things though became more confusing than ever. Only recently did she learn who Jordon was, that they had met as children. Why didn’t he say? Why did he keep that from her? And she realized, now that it was too late, that she missed Jordon as much as she missed anyone. Despite his awkwardness, his incompetence as a ship’s captain, his timidness, he had a good heart and he was kind to Ericca and Archer.

  “This is Darsea,” Archer said, snapping her from her thoughts.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Ericca said, offering a meager smile. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances, Darsea.”

  “No issues here,” Darsea said as she messaged Ericca’s shoulder to comfort her.

  “Where are we?” Ericca asked.

  “We’re in Rhone,” Archer answered. He looked around the room. “This is a fairly decent hospital actually. Who woulda thunk?”

  “In order to save you, Ericca, time was of the essence,” Darsea said. “It made no sense to take you anywhere else.”

  “Speaking of which,” –Ericca glared at Archer– “where were you? Why did you take so long?”

  He took a breath. “Viper died.”

  “What?”

  “Just before I cleared the asteroids, Viper up and quit. Power died just like that. Engines, shields, radio . . . all dead.”

  “Captain French had to rescue him before they could rescue you,” Darsea said.

  Ericca sighed. “Well, it all worked out I guess. My poor baby though. Can we save her?”

  Archer shook his head. “Sorry, sis. Rachel says it’s gone for good.”

  “Where’s my ship?” she asked, raising her head to see them, now aware of her situation. “Where’s Ericca?”

  “We gave it back to Tyson,” Archer said flatly.

  “You didn’t want it, did you?” Darsea asked.

  Ericca sighed disappointedly. “Not really. Not after what he had done. How are the Koris holding up?”

  Archer looked at his girlfriend. “Only as well as one would expect, sis.” Dropping his eyes to Ericca, he soberly added, “Viper was placed next to Jordon’s body, and Freefall and everything in it was sent into the Saigus sun. Hammond was furious, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. I doubt we’ll ever see him again.”

  “Good riddance,” Ericca said under her breath. She dropped her head to the pillow. “I meant about Hammond. Not Jordon Kori. He, I will miss dearly.”

  Archer pulled the girl around in front of him. “On a brighter note, Sis, Darsea and I, well . . .”

  “Well, good for you, brother.” Ericca reached out, and took hold of Darsea’s hand. Gripping it firmly Ericca didn’t release her. “Darsea, what are your intentions toward my little brother?”

  “My intentions? I, uh, I . . .” Darsea’s confusion morphed into certainty. She straightened and tightened her grip on Ericca’s hand. “I assure you that my intentions toward your brother are strictly honorable. I promise to have him in before curfew, and in every way treat him with the respect due a fine young gentleman.”

  Archer laughed and shook his head.

  Ericca looked at the girl sternly. “See that you do, young lady. Know this. I own a gun.”

  “Wow. Riley was right. You are tough.”

  “So you read me? We have an understanding then?”

  Darsea smiled. “I promise I’ll do nothing to warrant being shot.”

  Ericca released the girl’s hand and winked at Archer. “I like her. She’s a keeper.”

  “I’m sorry about your arm and leg, Miss Ericca.”

  Ericca smiled. “Don’t be. I’m not. Not anymore.”

  Darsea half smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  Archer stepped up, leaned over the bed, and kissed his sister’s cheek. “You need your rest. If it’s okay, we’ll stop by later.”

  “Sure, Archer . . . umm, Riley.”

  Archer’s brows leveled. “Excuse me?”

  “Bout time I got your name right.”

  He grinned. “We’ve already given that a shot, you and I. Your calling me Archer seems right . . . better even. Let’s stick with that.”

  Ericca gave Archer a long look. He seemed somehow more mature. “So, where are you taking Darsea, Archer?”

  His grin grew. “See? Doesn’t your calling me Archer sound so much better?”

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  He exchanged a look with Darsea. “Rhone has a waterpark, and, well, I’ll be back later.”

  She turned to Darsea. “Thank you, Darsea, but you two go have a good time. I’ll be okay.”

  Slipping from Darsea’s hand, Archer went to his sister’s bedside, and bent to kiss her cheek. “You have my number. Call me if you need anything, anything at all.”

  “I will.” She kissed him back. Riley gave her one last concerned look, then left with Darsea.

  “Waterpark my foot!” Ericca muttered in amusement. “Men! Wet bikinis on trim figures more like.”

  Chapter Sixty

  Later that day Ericca’s attending nurse brought in a phone. “Call for you, Miss Archer. Someone saying he’s King Blackhart.” She held out a projecta-phone to Ericca.

  “Secure channel?”

  “Per Captain French’s orders,” the attendant said. “We have routers throughout the asteroids to confuse the signal. No one can trace the call to here, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “I’ll take it, thank you.” Ericca set the small ball-shaped device on her thigh and turned it on.

  Tyson appeared holographically above it. “Hi there. Feeling better?”

  “I am. Glad you called.”

  “Really? I was afraid you might—”

  “Do this?” Ericca abruptly switched the device off, effectively hanging up on him. “Jerk.”

  Ericca forced a smile. “And to think I wanted to marry the man,” she said to herself. “Wow. Dodged that bullet.”

  Two men wearing white smocks entered. “Ah, you’re awake, I see,” said one. “Good, good.”

  “And you are?”

  “Of course, of course. So I’m Dr. Penko,” said the shorter, rounder of the two, “and this is Dr. Emory. You won’t mind if we check your . . .” Penko came around the bed, and pulled back the sheet to uncover her arm. He gently lifted the severed limb to examine the stump.

  Emory, a tallish, medium built man with a beard, stayed a comfortable distance back and tried to find something to do with his hands. Ericca eyed him closely and the more she studied him the more nervous he became.

  “I know you,” Ericca said to Emory.

  Looking like a boy with his hand in the cookie jar, Emory’s eyes widened. “You do?”

  “You were at Jordon Kori’s funeral. You stood behind Hammond. I thought you were with him.”

  “No. I don’t know the man.”

 
“So you knew Jordon though?”

  Emory shrugged. “All my life. Went to the same schools, and university. Had the same course study. Everything really.”

  “Nice, nice,” Dr. Penko said, ignoring the two. “You’re healing quite nicely. Pretty soon we’ll attach the bionics. They should mend together quite nicely.”

  Emory peered over Penko’s shoulder at her severed arm. “What would you say, Doctor, another four weeks or so?”

  “About that, Dr. Emory. Yes, yes, I’ve never seen tissue integrate with metal before, but I’ll trust your expertise.”

  “It’s not really a metal, Doctor,” Emory corrected. “It’s a porous ceramic-polymer alloy. It fools the body into thinking it’s bone.”

  “Both of you are MDs?” Ericca asked.

  “No, no,” Penko said without looking up from Ericca’s severed limb. “I’m a neurosurgeon, and Dr. Emory is a biomechanical engineer. Lucky for you, Dr. Emory was visiting this facility when you got hurt.”

  “Bio . . . what?” Ericca asked.

  “I have several degrees in Biomechanics,” Emory said. “I’ve developed synthetic materials that flesh attaches to readily. I can reconstruct your arm and leg. In fact I can do it seamlessly. No one will ever know they’re prosthetics.”

  “Hmm, I guess I’m lucky you’re here.”

  Emory raised a questioning smile. “There are issues of which you should be made aware of though. Might we speak?”

  “Sure.”

  Penko’s attention bounced back and forth between them. “Would you like me to leave?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “Yes. Quite.” Awkwardly, the doctor moved to the other side of the bed to examine Ericca’s severed thigh.

  Emory took a seat in the only available chair, and crossed his legs at the knee. “I’ll reconstruct your shoulder and you thigh with biomechanics, and those will be permanent. The attachments just below the shoulder and up near your thigh will be removable.”

  “In case either is damaged?”

  “Goodness no. I doubt you can damage tyrillium.”

  Ericca’s eyes widened, and Emory suddenly diverted his eye in discomfort. Ericca wanted to smile, but she didn’t want to give herself away, so she turned innocent eyes to the scientist. “Tyrillium? Is that something new?”

  “Um, yes, new. Of course. An alloy Jordon developed that has unique properties well suited to my prosthetics. I’ll use that to construct the underlying structural framework for your limbs.”

  “Jordon developed?”

  “We shared our research. I’m certain you’ll like what I give you.

  “I’m sure I will. But you said something about issues, and that they’ll be detachable.”

  “Yes. Um, detachable, yes. So I can modify and improve one limb in the shop while you are using another. Once the work on the ‘new-and-improved’ is complete, swapping the one for the other will be a simple matter. You understand. That’s a lot to take in, I know, but Dr. Penko and I’ll work closely with you to make the transition quick and painless.”

  “Quick? As in?”

  “Three, maybe four months. And then after, as I improve the technology, I’ll need you to back now and again to replace the old with the new. I’m afraid we may be spending quite some time together.”

  Ericca rubbed her eyes.

  “I see you’re tired,” Emory said, rising, he patted Penko’s shoulder as he headed toward the door.

  “Yes. Quite.” Penko said. “We’d best let you rest, child. Don’t worry. Things are well in hand. Yes, yes, well in hand, indeed.”

  “Dr. Emory? I have a question.”

  Saying his good byes, Penko left the room.

  Emory turned to her.

  “There’s a certain someone I’ve grown fond of. I don’t think he’ll want me knowing I’m damaged goods.”

  Emory took a moment before answering. “Does he love you?”

  “Would you want a woman in my condition?”

  “My dear Miss Archer, the question is, would a woman as remarkable as you, want him? He had better be something special if you were to even consider him worthy.”

  Ericca shrugged. “Now, it may be too late.”

  He stepped closer. “You’re a special woman, Miss Archer. If he’s worth his salt, he’ll let you know how much he cares. If he doesn’t, then he wasn’t worth keeping.”

  “I’m damaged goods. Would you want someone in my condition?”

  He raised a kind smile. “I already do.”

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Mara and Rachel came into the room, passing Emory on his way out. They exchanged a look, and Emory turned back only to offer Ericca a smile and a wink before leaving.

  Rachel closed the door behind her.

  “What’s going on?” Ericca said.

  “We’re sorry this happened, Ericca,” Race said. She patted a place at the bed’s foot, and Ericca nodded. Rachel took a seat there as Mara settled into the chair.

  “It was all for the best,” Ericca said.

  “Sure . . .” Rachel said solemnly. “It’ll all be okay. We kicked butt out there, and Jordon is free. You’ll get a new arm and leg and everything will turn to rights. You’ll see.”

  “Jordon is free,” Ericca said with a smile. “I couldn’t afford him if he weren’t.”

  Rachel froze.

  Mara rose and went to the window and peered out. “He’s free of having to deal with Hammond’s kind. Thank God my husband had the good sense to get us free of their kind; military mongrels before he died.”

  “So, what brings you here?” Ericca said with an honest smile.

  “I was wrong about you.”

  “What?” Rachel said, looking back at her.

  “I said,” Mara turned around to face her, “I was wrong about you, Ericca.”

  Ericca’s eyes flicked from person to person. “I don’t understand.”

  “You had your gold,” Mara said. “You didn’t need to come back.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Yes, you did,” Rachel said. “Running away isn’t who you are.”

  Ericca felt confused. “What’s going on?”

  “Tell her, Mom,” Rachel said flatly.

  Mara dropped her eyes to her feet and muttered something.

  “What?”

  Shamefaced, she turned toward Ericca and sighed. “I said, it was me. I talked Jordon into paying you off. I thought you’d take the money and run. And then we’d be rid of you.”

  Ericca’s nostrils flared. “What? You what?!”

  “I’m sorry, Ericca. I was trying to get him to see.”

  “See what, mother? Go on. Spit it out.”

  “Never mind,” Ericca cut in. “All of that is behind us now.”

  “Is it?”

  “It can be,” Ericca said softly, “if we put it behind us.”

  “Jordon is—”

  “You need not say it,” Ericca cut her off.

  Mara and Rachel exchanging a silent question between them.

  “Jordon is the boy you met before Los Dabaron, Ericca. That’s all I was going to say.”

  “He recognized Riley and me when he first brought us aboard Freefall, didn’t he?”

  “He had been looking for you,” Mara said. “When he heard Stan and Lilia were killed, he committed his every resource toward finding you.” She looked at Ericca and Rachel, then turned away to the window, saying no more.

  “He made his fortune on his inventions, Ericca,” Rachel said. “He was rich like you don’t know. We had no need to work, or haul freight, or any of that. He took Dad’s old science vessel, and added his own modifications to it.”

  “What happened to your dad?” Ericca said softly. “You needn’t answer if . . .”

  “Our ship had been broken into. Dad came back to the ship, found the men plundering her, and they killed him.” Her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed back tears. “Jordon said we needed a security team, and—”

 
; “We found you adrift, Ericca,” Mara interrupted.

  “So Jordon decided to hire us?”

  “No, that was Mom’s idea,” Rachel said. “She said finding you two was providence.”

  “But you hate me, Mrs. Kori. Why would you ask Jordon to take me on as a crewmember?”

  “I don’t hate you, Ericca. Lilia and I were best friends. Your dad and Jordon Sr. were just as tight. What I didn’t like was your biting sarcasm, your mouth, your constant criticism of my boy; a man who loved you more than anything.”

  “Wait! What? Are you saying—”

  “Jordon didn’t just love you,” Rachel cut in. “He was in love with you. From the first day you met.”

  She half chuckled her disbelief. “What? Two years ago he fell in love with me? Uh huh. Sure he did.”

  “Eleven years ago, actually.”

  Ericca puzzled over that a moment. “I was nine. That was . . . oh, I see. He was that kid?” At every port reliant landed, Stan and Mara made friends. Kids were coming and going all the time. Ericca remembered Jordon, a red-headed nervous kid, who bored her with his incessant talk of gadgets. Ericca had tried to be nice, but the boy was clingy and completely clueless. As an adult, Jordon had overcome many of his bad habits. He was still somewhat clueless, and nervous, but he wasn’t all bad. In fact, near the end, Ericca began to see he was actually kind of cute in a puppy dog way. She so wanted him to relax, but then, she had little patience with all that plagued her own mind.

  “Yes, Ericca. He was that kid. Jordon told me privately that he’d never been able to get you out of his mind.”

  Ericca looked at Mara, then dropped her eyes to her hand. “I was awful to him, wasn’t I. Blast! I’m such an idiot.”

  Mara pushed the chair closer then took a seat before taking Ericca’s hand in hers. “No, child, you’re not an idiot. You’ve done the best you could with what you had despite all your troubles. But I . . . I fell short. Where my son was concerned, I was just a momma bear trying to protect her cub.”

  Ericca hesitated only for a moment, and then pulled Mara to her to hug.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Six weeks later:

  Ericca peeked under the sheet. Emory’s mechanical attachments were melding perfectly with the skin there. When she lowered the sheets and brought her head up, she still had to wipe moisture from her cheeks. Pain and pills had ceased weeks ago. She knew severing her emotional attachment to the missing limbs would be a difficult and slow process, but she was determined. Severing her emotional attachment to Jordon Kori was a different matter.