Read The Pearl (Galactic Jewels Book 1) for Free Online Page B

legs, forcing the trapped energy of my deep morning musing to dissipate.
    “What time do we dock?” she yelled from behind the wall.
    “Three hours.” I grabbed my new cup of coffee.
    “Really?” Her voice cracked. She hopped forward, yanking off her skirt. “Rift! Sorry. I thought we’d have more time.”
    “It’s fine,” I said, ordering a mug for her. “We’ll work together.”
    She hurriedly pulled on a kimono and took a huge gulp of the searing hot coffee that would have decimated my mouth. “Hair first, or makeup?”
    “You decide.”
    Beside the closet, the room opened into a vast prep area dotted with mirrors, plush couches, and a single chair in the center and ringed with mirrors. Soft light echoed off the surfaces, bathing the room in sparkling moonlight. One light followed me, alerted to our readying by our movements and tracked me with the perfect hues Fransín needed to prep me. I disrobed and settled into her chair, the plush cushions enveloping my nakedness.
    She drank three cups of coffee and worked in silence, focused on her real job as my consort. Communicator was a skill M had taught her between dates. Fransín’s true tasks included this preparation and helping me research the candidates and review thousands of data hours.
    She brushed my hair, her fingers nimbly dividing sections, trembling a bit at the acknowledgement at this final preparation for the last time.
    “I think we need to talk about it,” I said like I had the last half-dozen mornings.
    She chewed her lower lip, her skin turning the pale green-yellow of a Tipper willow leaf before it fell to the ground. “I don’t.”
    Sectioning off another big hunk, she wound it around the heated drum, setting the curl. I stayed quiet, watching her plait my hair and weave it into an intricate crown. “What am I going to do without you?”
    She sniffed and smiled. Her voice warbled and lost its song. “You’ll be too busy with the Hemperklu, taking on universal challenges, tackling epic problems and solutions. Plus all your upcoming days in the tantric hut. I’ll be the last thing on your mind.”
    Her hand settled a curl at my temple; and I reached up and captured her fingers. “Fransín, you’ve been my everything since we were babies. How can you say that? You know its not true.”
    She blinked rapidly, fighting tears. “It’s what I tell myself so I know you’ll be happy and that this is for the ultimate reason. What you’re doing is bigger than our silly friendship.”
    I ached for her. She would endure this time and time again as they gave her new assignments to a ruby or a retired pearl. I would never have another. She’d chosen this, eyes wide open that her others might be a boring Pia or an overly dramatic Foley. If luck was with her, she’d be assigned a Lyrica. A pang of jealousy gripped my insides at how much she’d enjoy that. I hoped such a blessing came true. She deserved to be rewarded after we’d underestimated how painful our parting would be. “Will you please talk to me?”
    She pressed her lips together, turning even paler. “I told you everything I had to say last night.”
    I opened my mouth to rebut—she hadn’t said— Oh… The dancing… that was her language and she had said everything. I’d missed it… the weight of what she’d done for me, the reason she’d devoted so much time to my birthday celebration—the music, the humans, the playlist. She hadn’t spent a day or two on that sim. She had spent months and as a being who craved the Lyrica way, she’d given me all her love and devotion in the gift of song. I tugged her hand away from my temple and drew her around to stand in front of my chair, settling my hands at her waist. “How long did you work on that?”
    She shook her head, flushing jade. “The time doesn’t matter. I enjoyed it.”
    “Months, then.”
    She sniffed. “A couple.”
    “When did you start?” My fingers tightened on her waist, her skin flushing evergreen