Ambush by Sigmund Brouwer Page B

tone. He put his hands together as if he were begging. Then he pretended to keyboard again.
    â€œI also hope you will feel free to say anything you want to me.” Except his actions showed the opposite. Steven violently shook his head, mouthing the word no . He pointed to the walls around him and pointed to his ears.
    Despite my intense dislike for him, I was curious. Did he mean that I shouldn’t speak freely because the walls were listening?
    He made the same begging motion as before and pointed at my computer again.
    As crazy as this was, I made a decision to find out what he wanted. To play his game, if only for a minute. After all, I knew I could always yell for help and Dad would be there in a flash. “I’m not sure I want to talk to you,” I said. But I unfolded the keyboard, popped the screen up, and powered the comp-board. The screen brightened. I opened a new file in a word processing program. “What is there to talk about?”
    Making sure I didn’t get near Steven, I pushed the comp-board ahead. It floated toward him. He smiled with gratitude.
    â€œI want to ask you about your faith.” Steven brought his knees up to give him a support for the comp-board. “Spending all this time alone in prison has given me a lot of time to think.”
    â€œFaith?” I asked, shocked.
    â€œI’ve been thinking about my life. What I’ve done with it. And what might happen if I die.”
    This was the last thing I’d expected to talk about with Blaine Steven, the man who didn’t seem to have a conscience. Who’d been willing to kill a couple hundred people under the dome to save some key scientists and their illegal experiment.
    â€œI can see the surprise on your face. Take some time to think about your answer.” He put his head down and began to type frantically, humming loudly to cover the sound of his fingers on the keyboard.
    When he finished, he pushed the comp-board in my direction. It slowly drifted through the bunk, and I reached for it before it floated past me.
    Steven put his finger in front of his mouth again. But it was a warning I didn’t need. Not after reading the first words he had typed onto the screen.
    Don’t say anything. I am sure there are listening devices in this bunk.
    I lifted my head and nodded at Steven. I read more.
    I have vital information about the rebels who are trying to destroy the dome and take over the World United Federation. But I will not give out this information unless I know I will be protected. Which includes your silence. Do you agree?
    I typed:
    I will remain silent in here .
    I wasn’t going to make much more of a promise until I knew more. Especially with a man I’d never liked, a man who couldn’t be trusted. I pushed the comp-board toward him.
    â€œFaith is important to you, isn’t it?” he said in the same pleasant tone. I knew he was speaking for the benefit of the listening device. If there really was one.
    â€œI can’t tell you I have all the answers,” I said. “But, yes, it is important.”
    As I spoke, he quickly read my answer and typed one of his own, humming the entire time. He pushed the comp-board back to me.
    â€œI am beginning to see that faith is the most important thing a person can have,” Blaine Steven said. “And I would like it if you visited me more often so that we could talk about it.”
    I hardly heard him as I scanned the screen.
    You know that Dr. Jordan and I are part of the Terratakers rebel group and worked together in the dome to overthrow the World United’s control of Mars. But there is someone else of greater power we report to. And far more hidden. Even from me. I now believe this mastermind is on this ship. I can hear strange things happening through the wall. I think Dr. Jordan is working with the mastermind. They want to make sure that I do not survive the trip to Earth.
    Through the wall. Dr. Jordan’s