The Astral Hacker (Cryptopunk Revolution Book 1) Brian Terenna (best novels to read to improve english txt) 📖

We also secured enough food and water for months and weapons, armor, and tactical equipment to arm a group of thirty. Nav even found my Torg nine-millimeter.

We left the guards we shocked in the compound’s prison cells to give us time to escape. We kept the few non-compelled, evil ones in a separate cell.

Nav looks down at my bruised and bloodied skin with a deep frown. “What did they do to you?”

Sunny shakes his head, his eyes dim.

The memory of hopelessness resurges in my mind as I remember the pain of my shattering arms, the mass of guards savaging me, and then them nearly taking over my mind.

I won’t ever be that powerless again. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“Maybe someday.”

She nods reluctantly. “Do you need any medical attention?”

Nav, always taking care of me, despite everything I’ve done to her. “I’m fine.”

“At least let me get you some painkiller,” she says, then locates it in a pack. “It’s the good stuff.”

She injects me, and a numbing wave expands through my body until my pain is a horrible memory.

“There’s one more thing,” says Sunny. “It appears you forgot your clothes today.”

Nav laughs and shakes her head.

I chuckle. “Good one.”

“It’s not a joke. You really don’t have clothes on.”

“I know. I was hot.”

He grins. “No you weren’t. They took them, didn’t they?”

“Yes, you nut.”

“Let’s clean off the blood and find you something to wear,” says Nav.

She brings some water over and gently scrubs me clean, then she rummages around in another pack and hands me shorts and a tank top.

After I dress, Nav and I find a box of plant-based MREs, then sit on a couple of camping chairs.

“I can’t believe we almost lost Alexander,” I say, between mouthfuls of the MRE.

“How are you holding up?” asks Nav. “It must have been especially hard for you to see Alexander get hurt.”

“What do you mean?”

“Fae, I know you like him.”

“No, I don’t.”

She looks at me skeptically. “Sure.”

“I feel terrible about it, though. It was my fault.”

“We did our best,” she says. “Don’t blame yourself.”

“Will he heal okay?” I ask Sunny.

“He has extensive second-degree burns. If he wasn’t treated, he might have died. He should live now, except he’ll likely be blind in his right eye. His left eye also appears damaged but should heal.”

Oh hell. Blind? I can’t believe I froze again. What’s wrong with me?

Nav squeezes my hand, then pulls me into a hug. As always, I feel safe and warm in her strong embrace.

Alexander groans, then props himself up. Ron Paul sits on the cot bobbing his head. It’s a sad reminder of Americus’ death. Alexander manages a smile at seeing me.

I walk over, trying to look positive, but it’s too sad to see him hurt.

“Don’t look at me like that. I feel fine,” he says, his voice raspy.

I squeeze his unburned hand. “You feel fine because of the pain killers. Your burns are extensive, and I’m not sure about your one eye.”

“I’ll be good as new soon.”

After a few moments of silence, I ask, “What happened back at our base?” I’m not sure if I even really want to know, but maybe it will help me get closure.

Nav and Alexander look at each other and then back to me.

“They came on us shortly after you left,” says Nav. “Alexander, Sunny, and I were chatting in one of the rooms. Gunshots and screams alerted us to the problem. The alarm system never went off.”

“It would have been different if we had the machinegun turrets,” says Alexander, clenching his fist. “But we didn’t.”

“Alexander held them off in the hall as we fled through a secret exit,” says Nav.

“I ended several of the attackers, but there were too many,” says Alexander. “I had to drop the steel barrier and escape. Too many good people died. It wasn’t my finest moment.”

“It was terrible, Fae,” says Sunny, his eyes dim, and his mouth turned down.

I hate that he had to experience it. I’m also surprised by how much it seems to be affecting him since he doesn’t have emotions. “So, everyone else died?” I ask, dreading the answer.

“Brandon escaped too. Everyone else died terribly,” says Nav, lowering her head.

Even Alexander, who’s never serious, frowns and looks away.

My heart sinks. I wasn’t close to any of them, but the loss of life sickens me. If only I spoke up.

At least Brandon lived. Nav clearly likes him, so even though I’ll always be wary of him, I’m happy for her. “Where is Brandon?”

“We kept him from the rescue mission to build another resistance if we failed,” says Nav. “I’ll contact him with our location.”

Smart. “When I saw you guys charging in, I just about lost it. I was terrified that you were going to be cut to pieces.”

“Of course, Alexander wanted to rescue you right after we were attacked,” says Nav. “We almost tried, but something told me it would be worse than we thought. I made him delay to secure the bullet shield, and I prepared the Liberator drone hack.”

“Good foresight,” I say.

“Thanks. After our preparations and Alexander’s tactical planning, I was more confident we’d save you.”

“The odds of success were still against us,” says Sunny.

Alexander shrugs. “True heroes have to be sure of themselves.”

I think about all the last second, desperate things we did to survive and how Alexander nearly died anyway. I can’t imagine how horrible that would have been.

“How did you guys shut down the turrets and put up the jamming field?” I ask. “Did you hack it, Nav?”

She looks down and frowns. “I couldn’t. I tried but couldn’t. We captured a guard outside who didn’t