Read Among Bright Stars... for Free Online Page B

licked at her highly attuned
nostrils. The source of the sanguine liquid became clear the minute
Arshira stepped into the lab. Below the blood lay a broken, highly
mangled body. What had occurred became more than obvious to
Arshira. One of the technicians had chosen to play the hero and his
Skatha captors were not about to tolerate that.
    The Skatha’s carnage of the technician
though wasn't what almost caused Arshira to vomit. Across the room,
her emerald eyes fell upon three large glass tubes. Suspended
within a clear fluid were Falcanians, two males and a female. Wires
and tubes were jammed into their barely alive bodies. Muscle and
bone exposed. The skull of the female could be plainly seen, which
created a hideous contrast of flesh and bone with the beautiful
girl’s face.
    Too horrific for Arshira to witness, she
felt her control start to slip, a killing urge built inside
her.
    “They're our brothers and sisters who went
missing during the Iraq campaign, in search of the golden disc.”
Aranskrai stated. He intently watched the rage muster in Arshira,
anger in her emerald eyes became sparks of fury.
    Unleashed terror, Arshira grabbed a lab
technician, dragged her across a table, and shattered sterile glass
tubes and beakers. For what seemed to be an eon of heartbeats,
Arshira glared feral at the woman, a girl not that much older than
herself. She pulled her vajra, lit the blade and placed it close to
the girl’s neck. How easy it would be to kill her.
    Behind Arshira, Kulcarin waited, almost like
he fed off the looming threat of violence. The blood fever bristled
inside him; and he waited for the inevitable killing strike. To
Aranskrai, Arshira did her killing too neatly, to kindly. Only the
fact that they needed lab techs to question had the Skatha
permitted any to live when he and his men entered.
    “What have you been doing here?” Demanded
Arshira.
    The girl stuttered. “We were testing the
weapon,” She admitted to Arshira. “Studied your biology...”
    “Can they be saved?” Asked the Rihav, and
glanced at the three encapsulated Falcanians.
    Unsteadily the lab tech’s head shook, not
able to speak, she understood her response would likely become her
end. What reason would this Falcanian have to let her live?
    Lightening-blade raised for the death
strike, Arshira stopped inches from the girl’s neck. Instead she
tossed the lab assistant aside, who with a solid thud thumped
against a blood soaked wall.
    Kulcarin scowled.
     
     
    [IFV Arshira's Ascension: Near Earth]
    Aria stomped her well-shod foot, let out an
audible, disgusted sigh. The click, click, click of her heels
echoed on the deck plates. All such displays were very normal when
Aria didn’t get her way or thought herself wronged. “I can't help
it if I'm not 'Miss Perfect' .”
    “I didn't mean that,” said Sharr.
    “Of course you did.” Hands on hips, Aria
declared in undisguised sarcasm. “What woman could compare to Nadia
Korelia, brilliant robotess, 'Eve of a new race'. Before her, I am
lacking in your eyes. The fires just not in you to love me.” And
the sick thing, in another life that's just what Aria would have
wanted, Sharr to find a new preoccupation, a woman to care for
rather than her. Yet as it turned out, now that he did exactly
that, Aria craved his exclusive attention. Too bad she lived in the
shadow of more accomplished, magnificent women, like Nadia and
Frederika, who hardly needed to try to get Sharr Khan's love.
    The Shotar shook his head, darkly amused and
thought Nadia probably didn't see matters Aria's way. All he'd done
was make an offhand remark about Nadia's absolute-recall regarding
the routine of the Imperial Court (after all, she was his queen...)
and Aria went into a caustic tirade accusing him of not genuinely
loving her.
    Sharr Khan pondered: Exactly what had he
ever seen in Aria – Not this facsimile, but the real Aria? He'd
discovered true love in Nadia Korelia, who by any measure was an
extraordinary