Read Sweet Starfire for Free Online

traced the legend since childhood, and now, at last, I'm actually going after it."
    He looked at her blankly. "Going after what? What legend?"
    Cidra bit her lip and sank back into her corner of the seat. "It's out there, Severance. The tool with which I can become a Harmonic. The instrument that can fit my mind into the natural patterns and rhythms of everything I see or touch, Maybe it won't quite duplicate the way a Harmonic's mind vibrates in tune with whatever it chooses to focus on, but I think it can imitate the telepathic element. I think it can help me bridge the gap that my lack of natural ability has always put between me and the world I was meant to join." Her hands tightened in her lap. "I have almost all of it, Severance. I have me training, the rituals, the education. I have studied the Kli-nian Laws and the Rules of Serenity as the most devout of students. All I lack is the ability to achieve communion with the others and that intuitive element that makes the Harmonic mind so unique. But I'll get it. Or something almost as good. I swear I will."
    The silence in the runner seemed frozen as Severance regarded her taut features. Finally he said,

    "That's why you want to ship out with me? You're searching for a legend?"
    She nodded once, sharply, wishing she had kept her mouth shut. "A Ghost legend."
    "Ah, Cidra. There are a million Ghost legends. All of them created by humans after they reached Stanza Nine and found all that junk lying around on Lovelady and Renaissance."
    "It's not junk! We're talking about the artifacts of a vanished civilization. And this legend is based on one of those artifacts. I found too many hints of it in the Archives. The tool is out there somewhere, and I'm going to find it." She shook her head wonderingly. "How can you call the artifacts junk?"
    Severance's mouth curved wryly. "I'm sure that when they originally encountered the Ghost ruins, the First Families were suitably startled. But that was a couple hundred years ago, and when everyone realized how common the leftover Ghost garbage was, the novelty wore off. Even the Harmonics who are archaeologists are interested in only the most unusual finds. They don't want to be bothered anymore with every little shard or carving that turns up. If Stanza Nine ever attracts any tourists, we'll all make a fortune selling Ghost junk, but until then, it's practically worthless. The legends are even more worthless.
    We invented them. Every company explorer who ever had a bad dream while camped out on Renaissance has a new so-called legend. And the miners on QED are just as bad. Hell, for that matter there is still enough unexplored territory right here on Lovelady to breed tales. If you're chasing a legend, Cidra, you're chasing moonlight."
    "Moonlight," she said, thinking of the dance patterns that had recently subdued Scates, "is something I have been taught how to chase."
    Severance groaned. "I should have had the ship off the ground the minute I had the mail on board. I knew this was going to be a mistake."
    "Then why did you change your mind and come after me?" "When I think of a sufficiently sound answer, you'll be the first to know." And with that, the runner that had been slowing as it neared the port terminal slid to a stop.
    A few minutes later, her pack of clothing in hand, Cidra followed Severance toward the small, streamlined mail ship. She watched as he punched codes into both a computer remote and the gadget he'd used on Scates. Then he led her aboard. The interior lights came on as they stepped over the thresh old. Cidra stood looking around at the compact, painfully limited cabin space and wondered for the first time if she had really given due consideration to the problems of living in such confined quarters with another human being, and a Wolf at that. She was still worrying the question when the scruffy rug beneath her feet moved abruptly. Startled, Cidra glanced down in time to see the motley piece of rug silently display