Read Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest for Free Online Page A

then, as if she realized what she was doing, she clenched her hands. “What do you suggest?”
    He respected that she was willing to listen. During his vast travels he’d found those with that ability rare. “What if we continue on to Dakmar as you’d originally planned?”
    She eyed him but spoke to Petroy. “Status?”
    “Exiting hyperspace.” The engines slowed. The webbing raised. The stars that had been appearing in space as streaking ribbons changed to stationary pinpoints. They’d popped out of hyperspace in a completely different quadrant—one that appeared empty of other spacecraft. “We’ve lost them, for now. But they may again appear right on our tail when we exit the clouds.”
    “Keep me informed.” She eyed Kirek, her eyes glinting with speculation. While he couldn’t read her well, he didn’t believe her interest was hostile as much as curious. He could work with curious—especially when encased in a package as attractive as Angel’s. She gestured for him to follow her. “We will be in my work room, having a private chat.”
    “Understood.” Petroy didn’t look up or change facial expression, but Kirek noted a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before. Petroy’d had plenty of time to research Kirek’s background. While many of his activities and abilities had been kept secret, enough had made it into the public databases to make Petroy uncomfortable.
    Beings who didn’t understand Kirek often feared him. Long ago he’d decided he could do nothing to change the short-sighted perceptions of others. As a child, and then later—before the wormhole blast had weakened his psi—he’d often wondered if being normal and accepted would be worth giving up his rare gifts. But now that he could no longer astral extend, he realized just how valuable his differences had been.
    The freedom of leaving behind his body to soar with his mind through the universe at the speed of thought had been exhilarating. Yet for much of the time that he’d been separated from his body, he’d feared he wouldn’t make it back. Or if he did return, that his body would have died and he’d have been left alone to roam forever—as a spirit.
    But after he’d reintegrated his mind with his body, he missed the freedom of astral extension. How human that was—always wanting to be in a state that he couldn’t have.
    Angel’s workroom was tiny, organized with a vidscreen along one entire wall and bulkheads of dull gray bendar everywhere else. He saw no holopics of family, but personal items were shoved into cubbyholes and attached to shelves along the walls. A case of expensive frelle perched in a corner. Assorted bottles of Terran and Dellarin wine hung on a rack beside a painting from Scartar of an exotic green-skinned woman. Iridescent aqua seashells of a shape he’d never seen shared shelf space with rare books in a language he couldn’t read.
    When a scruffy orange-and-white-striped animal tipped over a casket of glittering beads and lunged straight at Angel, Kirek used his psi to activate his suit. Moving at the speed of thought, placing his body between her and the menacing creature, he shielded her, his protective instincts and Rystani reflexes on automatic.
    The creature slammed into his chest, all claws and hissing, the fur on its back rising. If not for the protection of the shield in his suit, the animal might have shredded his flesh.
    Unhurt, Kirek grabbed the animal by the scruff of its furry neck. The creature screeched and hissed in protest.
    “Don’t hurt Lion.” Angel barreled around him and reached for the feline.
    Kirek frowned at her in confusion. “You keep a lion aboard your ship?”
    He’d heard of the Earth animals that could be man-killers, with a nickname King of the Beasts, but he’d thought lions were larger. However, not even zoologists could be familiar with every life form on every world, and its small size didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. Many animals with