A Stellar Affair by Laurel Richards

Author:Laurel Richards [Richards, Laurel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction;Romance;Space Opera;Psychic;Paranormal;Wartime;interplanetary war
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2015-07-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“What exactly is the holdup?” Walter asked a few days later. “You’ve had more time with this girl than with any of the others, and you’ve still given me nothing. And yesterday…yesterday I saw you two taking a walk. What the hell was that?”

“We needed a break,” Jack answered. “She promised she wouldn’t run away, and I was right there if she tried anything.”

Walter guffawed. “She promised? Did you just say she promised? And what’s this we stuff?”

His superintendent’s tone was accusatory, and Jack was starting to lose his temper.

“I already told you,” he grumbled. “It isn’t like that.”

“No? Then why aren’t you getting answers from her? We need that intel, and we need it now. The Oberon is going to reach Algoron soon, and the Tetch are going to notice something is missing the second they open the doors. How long after that before they get their hands on those coordinates through another carrier and accelerate their attack plans? How much longer until they move against us?”

Jack gritted his teeth. “I understand that, but pushing is not the fastest way to get what we want. I have to gain her trust.”

Walter was clearly unconvinced. “So that’s what you’re doing? Being nice to her until she lowers her guard? To get the information?”

Jack clenched his fists. He knew that was what Ardra worried about—the kind of manipulation she suspected but didn’t want to believe. Honestly, he didn’t have such outright deception in mind, but he knew it would appease his superintendent to say so. He decided to play it smart.

“Yes,” he answered.

Walter still looked suspicious. “But why all the trouble? I thought you said you were stronger, that you could force her if you had to.”

His surprise washed away his indignation. At times, Walter could be insightful, and he had obviously gleaned something from Jack’s demeanor. Although it pained him to acknowledge his mistake, he came clean.

“I was wrong,” he admitted.

“What?”

“I was wrong,” he repeated. “Ardra is not only a low or mid-level precept. She’s learning too quickly and is already becoming a match for me. If she ever gains consistent control over her abilities, she could be very powerful.”

“How could you have overlooked this, Jack?”

He shook his head. “She thinks so differently from me. I don’t know how she’s doing it on her own. Strictly speaking, people are born with various talents in special perception, but it takes years to hone those skills. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

Jack cringed. He hadn’t chosen those last words very carefully.

“Listen to me,” Walter said. “I don’t care who she is or what she is. I need to know what she’s carrying. Can you still get that for me?”

“Yes.” Jack returned eye contact even as he rubbed his right hand. “Yes, I can get the information.”

“Dammit, you stupid piece of junk!” Ardra cursed under her breath and shook her hand.

The chair foot—her only escape tool—had cracked, and she’d snapped two of her fingernails backward against the window frame. A red line ran through each of them, and the pain was remarkable for such a small injury.

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