Read Dana Cartwright Mission 3: Kal-King for Free Online

Kieran said, “I am truly honored by your devotion. I need you here. It won’t take long at Tonner III. I may even bring Captain Cartwright back with me.”
    “A logical choice…”
    “Look for me at the rendezvous point as originally scheduled,” Kieran offered.
    “Then the fur flies,” Xalier purred, though it wasn’t his customary, confident melody.
    “Indeed, a thousand delegates and their staffs will converge on The Crossroads Station. A security nightmare… You’d think, after all these years, they’d just convene a teleconference and save all the headaches.”
    “Ambassadors rarely turn down an opportunity for a meeting,” the Felidae answered.
    “How true…” The Commodore sighed.
    “There is that other matter, sir.”
    “The Tresgan?”
    “Yes,” Xalier snarled, baring teeth. “I have no love for Hawk or Heskar. If you need me…”
    Kieran understood. “I’ll be fine. I’ll give the Commissioner a few days to boot Kal-King . If he stalls, I’ll put on some pressure. Last thing we need, with all those ambassadors due in for the conference, is a rogue Tresgan privateer.”
    “It might be good to put a tracking device aboard and see where it leads.”
    “Excellent idea, pass that on to our local assets.”
    Kieran held up his right hand, fingers close together, palm towards the Felidae Colonel.
    Xalier held up his right paw, answering the salute before going aft to exit the craft.
    Kieran settled in at the pilot’s chair to do his own preflight, distracted by an ache in his left leg that hadn’t been there before.
    As he waited for the deck officers to clear the bay, he rubbed the kneecap. It’d been years since that leg pained him. Why had it suddenly flared up again? Why now?
    He shrugged it off, focusing on the piloting controls.

    Although his eyes were adjusting to the darkness, Janz Macao leaned his back hard against the rock wall, as far from the ledge as he could. Terrified of heights and shivering from the cold, he wept and softly muttered again, “No,” shutting tightly his eyes, willing his mind to reach out to Dec, but to no avail.
    Instead, he heard a voice…a gentle whisper. “Come down?” it tempted.
    Macao did not answer.  
    Shalee, help me? He mentally called to his life-mate. Shalee, I’m afraid of heights. I’ve always been acrophobic. Kieran used to tease me. I’d still be on that cliff at Forever Pointe if he hadn’t pushed me. I’m afraid, my dear one. Shalee?
    Jump, my darling. I am with you. Jump.
    No…
    Jump…
    He made two attempts, but couldn’t do it.
    “Come down,” the gentle voice whispered, and tempted again.
    Shalee repeated in his mind, Jump, my beloved.
    Macao exhaled, took three long strides, and went over the edge.
    Janz fell, feet first, about three stories, arms flailing, and plunged deep into a bubbling pool, making a massive splash. He struggled back to the surface, gasping for air, thrashing about until he regained composure and could tread water.
    The gentle voice whispered, “Well, that’s certainly one way to come down.”
    Macao opened his eyes and saw four silhouettes reaching out hands to him.
    “It’s warm,” he mumbled.
    “Natural hot springs,” one answered.
    “And tastes funny.”
    “Has lithium in it. Very therapeutic if you have aches and pains.”
    “Oh, I’ve got those,” Macao answered. He swam to the edge and accepted the helping hands.
    They guided him to a fire pit and he got his first look at the sokem — the imprisoned ones.
    One skeletal man, with deep-set eyes and gray, tangled hair down to his pitifully thin shoulders, gave him a blanket and urged, in that same soft, tempting voice, “Take off your wet clothes and wrap yourself in this.”
    He disrobed quickly, tying the blanket like a kilt, which drew their stares.
    “Lieutenant Schaffer?” Janz mouthed in recognition. “You were an exchange officer aboard Navitor , right?”
    The man with the soft voice, tallest of the four Enturians, nodded