Cobra Gamble Read Online Free Page A

find them.
    The Qasamans had to know that, too. Perhaps the darkness and silence were a matter of token defiance, something to help the villagers keep their focus, to keep their animosity toward the invaders fresh in their minds.
    The team began to split up as they trudged through the village, each of the men and teens heading to their individual homes where anxious family members awaited them. Kinstra was the last to leave, murmuring a final farewell as he walked up the steps to his home.
    And Merrick was alone.
    He'd never had trouble with solitude before. Solitude was time to observe the world around him, and to think in the quietness.
    But the world now wrapped around him was hardly conducive toward peaceful contemplation. And all of his thoughts were edged with fear and darkness.
    What was happening in the cities? More importantly, what was happening to the people he'd left behind there? Daulo Sammon, badly injured, whose fate he still didn't know. The Djinni warrior Carsh Zoshak, who in a few short days of combat had grown from a suspicious and reluctant fellow soldier to a trusted comrade and true friend.
    But worst of all were the haunting questions of what was happening to Merrick's family.
    He looked up at the clouds drifting by overhead. Had his mother made it safely back to Aventine? Or had she been intercepted by the Trofts and captured or killed?
    Merrick's younger brother Lorne was also on Aventine, most likely smack in the middle of whatever the Trofts were doing there. Merrick's father and sister were probably in even worse shape, stuck on the hell-world Caelian.
    Were any of them looking up at their own stars right now? Were they thinking about Merrick, and wondering if he was dead?
    "So you return."
    Merrick lowered his eyes from the sky and his contemplation. Davi Krites, the doctor who Senior Advisor Moffren Omnathi had sent from Sollas to monitor Merrick's recovery, was standing at the entrance to the courtyard of the Sammon family home. His arms were folded across his chest, and Merrick didn't need his Cobra opticals to see the annoyance in the other's face and stance. "Did you think I wouldn't?" he asked as he walked up to the doctor.
    "We could hear the sound of the missile attack from here, you know," Krites said grimly. "I fully expected the others to bring you back in pieces."
    "It wasn't that bad," Merrick assured him. "Probably sounded worse than it was."
    "I'm sure you know best," Krites said, running a critical eye over Merrick's body. "At least you're not bleeding. Not externally, at any rate."
    "I really am fine," Merrick said. "If you're concerned, you can haul me in for an exam right now. I promise I won't argue."
    "Tempting," Krites said. "But you'd just fall asleep on my table. Morning will be soon enough. Besides, Master Sammon wants to see you."
    Merrick felt his stomach tighten. Fadil Sammon, Daulo's son, had been wide awake earlier this afternoon, and for longer than usual. Merrick had hoped the young Qasaman would be asleep by now. "I'll go at once," he said.
    He started past Krites, stopped as the doctor caught his arm. "He'll want to know about his father," the other warned.
    "I know," Merrick said. "I'll just have to tell him again that there's no news."
    "I don't like to see him agitated," Krites said, still gripping Merrick's arm. "Can't you give him some hope?"
    "You mean lie to him?"
    "You're not Qasaman," Krites reminded him. "You grew up in a different culture. Your reactions and facial nuances are different from ours. You might be able to get away with it."
    "I'll take it under advisement." Merrick gestured to Krites's hand on his arm. "May I?"
    Reluctantly, Krites let go. Nodding a farewell, Merrick crossed the courtyard and went into the house.
    Fadil's suite was at one end of the north wing, with the size and lavish decoration that befit the son of an important village leader. The furniture in the gathering area was made of carved wood and tanned krissjaw hide, dyed with