Star Rider and the Golden Threads Heidi Skarie (top 10 books to read .TXT) đ
- Author: Heidi Skarie
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âAll right, and you?â
It registered to her that hehadnât revealed anything. There was a time when he would haveconfided in her. âIâm doing well,â she answered, not opening upeither. She moved to safer grounds. âErling appreciated youchecking up on his family.â
âI was glad to do it; theyâregood people.â
âWhoâs in charge here?â
âCommander Quintary.â
âWould you take me to see him?â
He cocked an eyebrow. âHeâs abusy man these days and doesnât see just anyone.â
âHeâll see me.â
âMust be an important mission,âJake said, draping his arm around her.
âIt is,â she replied, pushinghis arm off. âIâm married now, Jake.â
âSo I heard, but not from you.You didnât even bother to tell me.â
âWe were broken up. There wasno reason to tell you.â
His eyes held hers. âWequarreled. I thought we could work it out.â
âI told you it was over. Somethings canât be forgiven.â
âSo I discovered.â Theywalked the rest of the way to the tube car in silence and boarded.âHowâs Erling?â Jake asked.
âHe was wounded by a poisonedblade in a sword fight. He nearly died, but was given an antidote intime and is now recovering.â
âA fight, huh; over a woman?â
âAs a matter of fact, it was.Youâre going to have to cruise the bars alone âcause Erlingâsroving days will soon be over.â
âAnother good man crashes andburns. Whoâs the lucky girl?â The tube car stopped. They both gotoff and headed down the hall.
âQueen Koriann Marsindi, rulerof Jaipar on planet Borko.â
Jake whistled. âImpressive.Iâll bet sheâs rich.â
âBeautiful too, but thatâsnot the reason heâs marrying her. This may come as a surprise, butheâs marrying for love. In fact, I donât think heâs lookingforward to the responsibility of being a sovereign.â
âNow, Toemeka, Iâm not ashardhearted as you think. I know Erling wouldnât marry for anythingother than love and Iâm sure heâd rather be out having a goodtime than ruling a country. Well, here we areâCommander Quintaryâsoffice. How about having supper with me later?â
âI hope to leave for home bythen, but I suppose thatâs wishful thinking. I should probably geta good nightâs sleep first.â
âSo, is that a yes?â
She knew she should say no.Instead she said, âI guess so.â
They entered Commander Quintaryâsouter office. An attractive woman with short dark hair sat at thedesk.
âIâm Toemeka Ganti Kimes. Iâd like an audience with Commander Quintary.â
When the woman looked up Toemekarealized she was a gynoid, a female android. âIâll contact him,âshe said. She pushed a button on his intercom and relayed Toemekaâsmessage. The door opened a moment later.
âToemeka?â Commander Quintarysaid, his voice a question rather than a statement. His eyes sweptfrom her wildly-dyed hair to her purple flight suit before returningto her face.
âItâs her.â Jake chuckled.
âYou sure itâs not FelicityAlenzata?â
âIâm sure.â Jake wore anamused grin.
âYouâd know if anyone would.Thanks for escorting her, Jake. Why donât you join us for thedebriefing?â
Once inside, the commander shutthe door and studied Toemekaâs disguise more closely.
âYou look just like PresidentAlenzataâs daughter. I met her once at her fatherâs mansion. Thestylist who transformed you did a great job. How did you manage toget here safely? The space route between planet Borko and planetAlandra is full of Raptor starships.â
âI flew on a privatespacecraft. Iâm reporting in after Erling and my latest uncovermission. We succeeded in our objective.â
His eyes lit up. âThe missionwas a success?â
âYes.â She was glad to bringhim good news. Heâd aged noticeably since sheâd last seen him,with new lines at the corner of his eyes and more gray hairs at histemples. Losing the war on Alandra had taken its toll.
Commander Quintary said to Jake,âErling and Toemeka were sent to the Raptor base on planet Flo Shahto obtain strategic information.â
Jakeâs square chin hardened andhe glared at the commander. âThey shouldnât have been sent there.It was too dangerous. The last team you sent disappeared.â
âMajor Renheart, my job isordering men and women into battle and on dangerous missions everyday. I canât make exceptions for your friends. Now sit.â
Jake testily sat across from theCommander who sat behind a metal desk. Toemeka took the remainingchair beside Jake.
âToemeka, whereâs theinformation you brought?â Commander Quintary asked.
She removed her barrette andhanded it to him. âHere it is.â
He examined it with a puzzledexpression, then pulled off the top. âOh, itâs a matrix crystal.Iâll send it in for analysis right away.â He spoke into hisintercom then returned his attention to Toemeka.
âA team in Jaipar on planetBorko already began analyzing the information,â Toemeka said. âIcan share the results while you run your own analysis.â
Before Quintary could reply, thedoor opened and the gynoid receptionist came in. Quintary gave herthe matrix crystal and explicit instructions. Toemeka watched thegynoid leave with misgivings. She didnât like entrusting a machinewith information sheâd risked her life for.
They spent the next few hoursdiscussing what Toemeka learned on Flo Shah, the situation on Borko,including Jaipar being at war with Haklute, and what she learned whenshe was pulled aboard the Raptor starship. She also mentioned thatErling would be resigning from the Coalition since he was engaged tomarry Queen Koriann and had become the head of the military on planetBorko.
By the time sheâd finished,Toemekaâs lack of sleep was catching up to her and she put a handin front of her mouth to suppress a yawn.
âToemekaâs exhausted,â Jakesaid. âShe had a long flight and was hauled aboard a Raptor battlestarship. Can we discuss this further after sheâs had a chance toeat and rest?â
âIâm fine,â Toemekasnapped, annoyed that heâd intervened on her behalf as if he werestill personally involved with her.
âJake has a point. Ask mysecretary to assign you a cabin, Toemeka. Jake can show you whereitâs located, then take you to the mess hall.â
âIâll only need a cabin for ashort time. I intend to return to Jaipar as soon as I get some sleep.I want to be there before the Raptor air fleet attacks.â
âItâs too dangerous. Ourstarship is going to planet Borko. You can rejoin your team when wereach the Borko Alliance space station.â
Fuming, Toemeka didnât reply.She didnât intend to be stuck here when the Raptor air fleet wasabout to attack Jaipar.
âThose are direct orders, sodonât even thinkabout breaking them.â
As
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