Read Discovery (Hybrid Book 1) for Free Online

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    “Now, in order to ‘disguise’ the real reason for your visit, to save the reputations of our Dear Lord and Lady Harmon, you will pose as a wealthy young lady on a grand colony tour.
    “As our culture favours the titles used in various societies on old Terra would you mind if we refer to you as 'Lady Chesara' rather than 'Madam Envoy' from now on?”
    Chesara was starting to find the fawning a little irritating, but the sooner she agreed the sooner they could get on with the job. She smiled in acknowledgement, and wondering how long she’d be able to keep the expression before her facial muscles started to ache.
    She was already tired from the extended healing she’d done earlier, although the snooze in the shuttle had helped. She hadn’t managed to grab anything to eat today, well apart from that heavenly cookie.
    Connor saved her from further polite repetitions of information she already knew by asking about the agenda for their visit. Hopefully, it would last only a day or two, and then she was looking forward to having one of her extended sleeps Connor referred to as ‘hibernation’. She could sleep for over sixteen hours if she was tired, big deal.
    Connor and Ambassador Tamas discussed attending a function at the main Palace that evening to introduce her cover story to the inhabitants. The ‘ever so polite’ discussion about various dignitaries was supremely boring. She knew she was meant to take mental notes on the details but Connor would be there to fill in the gaps. Maybe her earlier plea to higher powers about her insane preoccupation with conscientiousness was paying off. She wandered out of the office they were in and into one of the other reception rooms, leaving the men to their cloak and dagger plotting over cover stories.
    Chesara didn’t miss the slight frown on Connor’s face as she slipped out of the room to the right of the entrance hall where the two men were engrossed in planetary politics. She knew he’d deal with the situation. From the information she’d been given, these people probably though she was nearly as brainless as the horses outside because she was female.
    The rooms had the same smooth plascrete walls as all the other embassies she’d seen. Nevertheless, the furniture and decorations in this one were unique and probably had been made locally. They lent a certain ‘old world charm’ ambiance to the otherwise bland building.
    An ornately carved wooden table set up in the corner of the room across the entrance hallway, was covered with an assortment of food, from fruit to small sweet and savoury pastries. As her stomach rumbled, she looked around to confirm that she was alone before trying one of the pastries that was filled with some sort of red berries.
    “You don’t have to sneak you know,” said an amused voice. Chesara spun, dropping a blob of the filling down her white shirt, resulting in a red, sticky mess that’d ruin the material.
    “It’s not polite to creep up on people,” she growled, covering her discomfort with anger. Even though she wasn’t sure if this man as in on the cover story, she decided she might as well get into her part sooner rather than later.
    “Where I’m from, leaving guests to find their own food and then creeping up on them is frowned upon,” she said haughtily. “I’m Lady Chesara, from Terra Prime.”
    “I’m Tenset, but people tend to tag a Lord on the front of that. My uncle Tamas seems to be a little remiss in his hosting duties,” said the figure, as his lips curled up slightly as he watched her.
    Chesara assessed the man standing in the doorway watching her. He appeared quite at ease with her gaze, as a slight smile tickled the corner of his mouth. ‘Cocky git,’ she decided.
    He was shorter than Connor, although that didn’t mean a lot considering Connor was six foot six. She estimated that the top of her head would possibly reach his chin. A cheeky, tanned, boyish face contained a pair of startling blue