Close Contact by Katherine Allred Read Free Book Online Page A

someone can kill you is a direct shot to the head or heart. Anyplace else and you’d heal right up in seconds. All you have to do is pay attention to what I tell you and stay out of trouble.”
    “Fine, Oh Great One. Speak.”
    She let my sarcasm slide and concentrated on the details. “As you know, Madrea was one of the earliest planets colonized by Earthlings, but their ship’s tracking devices went awry and no one knew where they went until six cycles ago. So any animals you encounter will be of Earth origin. Do you have your knife?”
    I lifted my skirt enough so she could see the sheath clinging just below my knee. It held a knife with a wickedly sharp twelve-inch blade. Then I gasped as what she’d said sank in. “You don’t expect me to actually fight an animal with nothing but a knife, do you?”
    “You probably won’t have to. I’ll let you know if there’s anything dangerous in the area. However, even with infrared scanners I can’t see inside caves, holes in the ground, etc. If the unexpected occurs, wouldn’t you rather have a weapon?”
    Indignantly, I let my skirt fall. “I’d rather have a cannon. Or at the least, my blaster.”
    “It’s too dangerous. One glimpse of a blaster and everyone would know you’re Federation. Now, I’m going to drop you in a valley about forty-five minutes before sunrise. Wait there until it’s light enough to see where you’re going, and then walk toward the rising sun. When you reach the top of the hill, you’ll be able to see the spires of the castle. Head straight for them and you’ll avoid the outlying farms. You should reach the city late in the evening.”
    “What? I thought you said it wasn’t that far a walk!”
    “It’s not. Remember, even though their weeks are eight days long, the Madrean days are two hours shorter than Centaurius’s. And if you jog part of the time, you’ll get there faster.”
    I glanced down at the sandals strapped to my lower appendages. “I’m pretty sure jogging is not an option in these things. They wouldn’t last a kilometer, and there’s no way I’m getting nature on my bare feet.”
    A clanking noise caught my attention and I looked around in time to see Peri stagger out of my quarters dragging that stupid necklace with her. She must have realized we were getting off the ship and gone back for it, and it was too heavy for her to carry when she was flying.
    “Oh, no you don’t,” I told her. “You’re going to be hard enough to explain even without you hauling that thing along behind you. You’ll have to leave it here.”
    For the last two days I’d picked up her emotions, faintly at first, then stronger. Now she glared at me and rebellion rolled off her in waves.
    “Okay, look, will you leave it here if I promise to let you play with my bracelets when I’m not wearing them? Lillith will take good care of the necklace for you, and it’ll be here when you get back.”
    She studied my bracelets for a second, then gave a happy cheep and took the necklace back to my quarters.
    “If anyone asks about her, tell them she came from the Dark Continent. None of the Madreans have ever been there and lived to tell about it, and occasionally, odd creatures from there wash up onshore. No one will know the difference.”
    “Why haven’t they been there?” I moved to one of the windows and looked down at the planet as the ship began a rapid descent. Peri came back, flying this time, and landed on my shoulder.
    “Superstition, probably. There’s a mean current off the continent, and lots of submerged rocks. The Madrean ships aren’t sturdy enough to handle being repeatedly bashed into stone. The ones that tried were likely wrecked and never heard from again.”
    Before we reached the atmosphere, all the ship’s lights went off and our speed picked up. “Hang on,” Lillith told me. “This landing area is going to be a tight fit.”
    I gripped the console in front of me as darkened treetops rushed toward us, my