Short Stories from the Star Kingdom by Lindsay Buroker

Author:Lindsay Buroker [Buroker, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub

* * *

• • • • •

* * *

Riding as a passenger in a rented auto-flier was a strange feeling. Rache was used to having his own warship full of mercenaries with numerous shuttlecraft that he could take for errands.

He’d given that all up when he had, completely on impulse, rammed the Fedallah into the astroshaman ship that had been firing upon Casmir. If he’d had more than a second to consider his actions, Rache might have found a better solution—a less destructive solution—but all of his men had been off the Fedallah by then, so he hadn’t been risking lives, beyond his own. Just hardware.

Weeks later, the fact that he’d sacrificed that much to save the clone brother he hadn’t known he had until that year surprised him. He’d been prepared to give up everything, including his own life, to kill King Jager, but he had never expected to give up everything to help a relative who was more a goody-goody pest than an ally.

“We’re almost there.” Kim sat next to him, gazing out the window at the farms and timberlands below while the automated craft flew them toward their destination. Somewhere above the cloud cover, the sun was setting.

“Have you received any updates on—” Rache caught himself before calling the missing sister the furry woman, “—what is her name?”

“Pounce.”

That name didn’t make him less inclined to come up with feline-related nicknames, but he restrained himself. Since genetic engineering was forbidden in the Kingdom, the pointed-eared warrior women were probably being harassed and called freaks by strangers they encountered.

“I know Qin is sleeping with the knight,” Rache said. “What made the others want to stay on Odin?”

“The knight? Asger. You’ve met him.”

“Yes, we’ve tried to kill each other several times. I hope you’ll forgive me if I use labels to distance myself from your dubious allies.”

“Most people would consider a Star Kingdom knight a magnificent ally.”

“Most people haven’t had knights try to kill them. Repeatedly. Even worse is the one who stowed away on my ship and tried to blow it up. He won’t be there, will he?”

“Tristan? I think he’s gone back to Stardust Palace with Princess Nalini.” Kim pointed out the window toward grassy hills with a castle and several outbuildings. “You’ll have more to worry about from that Guard shuttle than any knights.”

“Kingdom Guards aren’t as well trained as knights.”

“I am prepared to protect Tenebris Rache if enemies assail him,” Amit announced from the back of the flier.

Kim peered over the seat at him. “Did Casmir clone you from Zee? You seem to be developing some of his personality.”

“All crushers have the same foundational programming,” Amit said, “but I am my own unique individual. My personality is shaped by my desire to fulfill my programming and also to do good in the universe for humanity and also for crushers.”

“You should have asked for a stolid, quiet one,” Kim told Rache.

“I didn’t expect to get one at all.” Rache suspected Casmir had programmed this one with a do-gooder streak, thus to ensure he wouldn’t use Amit to kill people.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.