Legacy Code Read online

  He didn’t slow down until he reached stairwell C.

  Tadeo bounded up the stairs, the only sound his own boots echoing through the shaft. No one should be moving through here at this hour, not during night shift—since the president had instituted a mandatory curfew.

  As he rounded each landing, his gaze hit the numbers engraved in the metal doors. When he reached level seven, command level, his legs ached from his rapid ascent. He rested his hands on his knees and took deep breaths. There would normally be guards standing here, but not tonight. Chief had made sure of that. He almost smiled at his success.

  I just airlocked a girl.

  A sick feeling raced through him, killing his buzz. He wiped his brow and unzipped his pocket to draw out his shift card.

  When he passed it over the scanner, a red light came on. The scanner beeped a warning.

  Bloody piece of kak. He ran the card again. Another beep, and the red light blinked, insistent he didn’t have the clearance to access this level.

  Tadeo stiffened and slowly looked down at the card in his hand. It was scuffed, dirt and grease embedded in the scratched surface. It was far too filthy for the brief moment it had been on the sublevel floor. Tadeo turned it over, and his heart rate sped up again as he saw the name stamped on the card.

  DRITAN CORINTH.

  Era’s husband’s shift card. He fought the urge to drop the thing. Dritan had died on mining duty on Soren, but before that, he’d worked in the sublevels. They’d used his card to access the airlock, so it would look like Era had taken advantage of her husband’s access to kill herself.

  Now it would be logged into the system after Era had supposedly used it to commit suicide out a maintenance airlock. He’d fucked up. Majorly.

  Tadeo shoved the card back in his pocket and clutched Era’s boots and suit closer, hands trembling as he patted his other pockets for his own card. He briefly considered going back down a level and taking a different route.

  If anyone checked the records…

  But they wouldn’t. No one would check. They had no reason to. Chief gave the orders, and he knew what really happened. There’d be no real investigation. And if there was, Chief would take care of it. Everyone would believe Era went out the airlock with that card.

  He found his own and took a deep breath as he passed it over the scanner. This time the light turned green.

  ∞ ∞

  Buy Paragon: Book Two of Legacy Code on Amazon now.

  Prequel to the Bestselling Legacy Code Series

  Selene Hayes is a genetic experiment gone wrong.

  Damaged.

  Broken.

  Defective.

  World hunger has been vanquished, but drug-resistant diseases kill millions. The corporation that gave Selene superimmunity called her Protected… until they discovered the truth. Now they hunt her and those like her, and Selene’s been hiding off-grid for eight years to avoid capture.

  But she can’t hide forever. Rumors of a new threat—and a mysterious quarantine—have reached her sanctuary. And if Selene has to fight, she’ll fight until she dies. The Corporate Coalition will never take her alive.

  Read Defect on Amazon now.

  A straight line from first breath to last.

  This recycled air remembers all the lies told in its past.

  Sins of the father, that’s what they say.

  That’s how life goes, what we’re living today.

  There’s more than this; I feel it.

  Drifting through this useless existence,

  Held down

  Held down

  Held down

  By artificial gravity.

  Blinded by tradition, I slept, like those before.

  But now I see the truth, I’m awake, and I want more.

  There’s more than this; I feel it.

  Drifting through this useless existence,

  Held down

  Held down

  Held down

  By artificial gravity.

  Hope’s a dying star.

  We need a supernova.

  To wipe space clean,

  And just start over.

  There’s more than this; I feel it.

  Drifting through this useless existence,

  Held down

  Held down

  Held down

  By artificial gravity.

  So many people helped make this story what it is. I’d like to thank all my friends and family who jumped in and brainstormed with me or offered opinions about this book when I asked. Your support means a lot to me, and this book is better because of you.

  Thanks to my beta readers, who gave me amazing feedback every step of the way: Jennifer Nelson, Marcos Romero, David Heringer, Kristen Ervin, MJ Colucci, and Scott Pritchard.

  Erynn Newman, thank you for being an awesome editor and a joy to work with.

  To Freya Wolfe, thank you for all those hours spent analyzing my plot, managing “the talent”, and for believing in my vision and seeing it too.

  A special thanks to Sita Payne Romero, Jamie Blair, and my husband, Juan, for the many hours you spent in my world with me. You’re my brainstorming team, my alphas and betas, and you help me shape my stories in ways I could never do on my own.

  And to my dad, Gregory Nelson, thank you for always believing in me and supporting me, no matter what.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Paragon Excerpt

  Defect

  Artificial Gravity

  Acknowledgments