Read The Army Of Light (Kestrel Saga) for Free Online Page B

from his chair and donned his well-worn leather flight jacket,
emblazoned with the colorful insignias of his past squadrons.  Might as well look the part, even if I’m not taking off today.
         “Yes, ma’am. What can I do—” he started as he opened
his office door, but was greeted by a curiously empty room. Seeing the bells
still swaying near the front door, Shawn strolled out of the office and noticed
a bright pink taxi cab hovering in one of the many available parking spots.
Half way to the vehicle the drive extended an index finger and pointed Shawn in
the direction of the hangar.
        
Not thinking anything of it, Shawn strode confidently into his hangar as he’d
done a thousand times, but stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes fastened
onto a pair of nicely toned legs sprouting from beneath a knee length skirt.
Based solely on her build and posture, this was obviously no native. And, if she
had chickens or magnostaplers to transport, she clearly had no room left in
those clothes to hide them. She was in heels, standing on her tiptoes and
peering into the portside windows of  Sylvia’s Delight ’s cargo hold.
Apparently she hadn’t heard Shawn enter the hangar. Deciding to respect her
personal space, he stepped to within a few feet of her, and craned his head
over her shoulder, wondering what on Third Earth she was hoping to see inside
the ship.
        
“Can I help you?” he asked politely, despite the fact she was a borderline
trespasser.
        
She jumped in surprise, then quickly spun on her heel
to face the captain. Shawn’s first impression was that she was stunning, in a
girl-next-door kind of way. Her dark auburn hair was pulled back into a
ponytail that was flopped over her left shoulder, and the front of her black
and white polka dotted dress seemed to be even more form fitting than the back.
Her ivory skin seemed to glow despite the dim light in the hangar. 
        
“You startled me,” she said as she flattened herself against the side of the
ship. “That’s no way for a man to greet a lady, you know?”
        
Judging by the cut of her expensive looking outfit—and the designer label on
her handbag—Shawn surmised she wanted nothing to do with the Old Flamingo’s services and was probably just a lost tourist.
        
“See anything you like?” Shawn asked as he inclined his head toward  Sylvia’s
Delight .
        
The woman pushed away from the side of the ship, and the captain watched as her
eyes quickly scanned him from head to toe. “I beg your pardon?”
        
He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets, then flashed his most brilliant smile, thankful that he’d brushed his teeth after
finishing his lunch. “I asked if you’ve seen anything you like? You were
gawking into my rear hold.”
        
She didn’t return the smile, instead straightening her posture, awash in
complete seriousness. “I, sir, do not gawk. And I didn’t see anything I like,
as you put it. Tell me, this… ship,” she asked waving her hand dismissively at
the Mark-IV, “did you build it yourself?”
        
Before Shawn could reply she kicked absently at a scrap piece of metal on the
floor. “And this has got to be one of the dingiest and most rundown hangars
I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
        
Shawn’s friendly smile quickly faded. “Is that a fact? Well, I didn’t know that
I was due for an inspection today. Besides, you don’t strike me as the kind of
woman who’d lay anything in a hangar.”
        
She stepped closer to him, her deep red hair blowing slightly in the breeze
provided by the open hangar doors. “You know,” she began, stepping around him
in a slow orbit, “I could probably spend all day nit picking at the
inadequacies of this building you call a hangar, as well as your rear
hold, but I have more important things to do then deal with you.”
        
“Is that a fact? Well, it just so happens that I do, too. So I’ll ask you