Astra: Synchronicity by Lisa Eskra Read Free Book Online Page A

wretched
planet in the first place.
    The two of them glanced at their shipmates,
who sat on the ground telling dirty stories to pass the time. Kevin
Washington, the Kearsarge's weapons officer, stood before
them and thrust his hips around in a lewd display. His dark skin
absorbed the dim light, making his eyes and teeth look fluorescent.
Carmen started laughing so hard she doubled over. The feisty Latina
slapped her hands against her thighs in giddy delight. Dr. Lucas
Jones grinned widely, reminding him again why the man's handsome
façade made all the ladies weak-kneed.
    The young man picked up three rocks and
juggled to entertain himself. Rashad never had good hand-eye
coordination, a trait that dashed his childhood dreams. "Believe it
or not, I wanted to be a pilot when I joined up," he said to Sibo.
"The program wasn't as cutthroat then as it is now, but I never had
the knack for it. I don't know how you do it."
    "Well, I had an advantage over most people.
Both my parents are racing pilots. They joke that my first word was
'go.' Some of my first memories are of sitting on my dad's lap
while he explained the controls to me. They didn't let me fly on my
own until I was sixteen. They wanted me to join a racing team, but
I thought I should do more with my life. So here I am."
    Sibo won several awards and commendations for
his skills as a teenager. Joining the Allied Fleet was a natural
progression of everything he'd trained for. His hard work and
enthusiasm earned him a spot at the Academy, but he floundered
there. He'd never been book smart and it showed in his marks. After
almost failing out of several senior classes, he made it back to
the fleet as an ensign but not without shame. Unfavorable reviews
when he was up for promotion nearly got him thrown out, and he was
assigned to the Kearsarge in disgrace the same as the rest
of them.
    The sound of footsteps reverberated through
the walls surrounding them. His officers quieted and stood on
guard. Rashad rested his hand on his sidearm, a 380 Prime
disruptor. He thought their prolonged presence would've attracted
the attention of the street gangs sooner. Here, the man with the
biggest gang and the most guns ruled. All the hard-working
legitimate colonists fled decades ago, and ongoing strife between
the PAU and UE tore apart what was left.
    Through the shadows, a woman ran across the
street in a long coat. Her eyes searched the gloom with anxious
haste as she dashed toward them. When she noticed the group
watching her, she stopped in her tracks. Obscured by the darkness,
she clutched the white coat around her, seeming to weigh her
options.
    Rashad put up his hands to ease her. "We're
not with the gangs or one of the armies. Are you all right? Do you
need help?"
    She let out an uneasy breath and glanced up
at the neon sign. The warm glow intensified her airy blond hair. "I
don't know."
    He approached her with a slow, open gait.
Thanks to gang rule, rape and murder were as common as petty theft.
When he drew closer, he noticed no obvious signs of assault. "What
are you running from?"
    "I woke in a building outside the city to
explosions so I escaped to Kivara. Two men attacked me. I've been
running ever since."
    She looked calm in the wake of recent events.
"What's your name?"
    A blank stare met his question. "I don't
know."
    In a place where people would sooner die than
tell the truth, lying came as naturally as breathing. The mandatory
identification implant act of 2197 had been the first law handed
down by the newly formed Allied Council. Since then, the wrist
implant had evolved to include a host of other functions, but
foremost it remained a non-forgeable form of ID.
    Rashad cast a glance back toward Dr. Jones
and signaled for him to come forward. He could scan the iridescent
implant embedded above her left wrist. She had no reason to be
dishonest to them, and yet a nagging worry ate at the back of his
mind.
    "Exactly how common is amnesia, Doc?"
    "Not nearly as common as