Close Encounters by Katherine Allred Read Free Book Online Page B

the crew, and one of them is attached to Frisk at the hip. I figure the rest of us women need to stick together.”
    My shields were down and I was picking up overtures of friendliness from her. For the moment, I accepted her at face value. Even if she were somehow masking her true emotions, she’d piqued my interest with that comment about Frisk.
    I gestured toward the hut. “Do you have time for a cup of cafftea?”
    I’d noted she was tiny the day before, but now I saw she was downright petite, with hazel eyes, café au lait skin and a dark cap of short hair curling around her face. When she smiled, her eyes sparkled. “I’ll make time.”
    “Then please, come in.”
    Junior looked vaguely alarmed when she followed me to the hut, but I smiled assurance at him and he settled down.
    “Have you been working with Frisk long?” I asked as I punched the button for two caffteas.
    She straddled one of the bench seats at the table. “Six months now. Dynatec replaced our regular captain and our chief science officer at the last minute. None of the crew were too happy about it. Captain Morgan was a great guy, a real jewel to work with.” She shrugged as I slid a cup in front of her. “Not that we had a choice. You take what you get with Dynatec. Frisk can be a real ass, but I’ve seen worse. At least he stays busy romping with Quilla and leaves us alone to do our job.”
    “Quilla?” I tried to sound casual. That name wasn’t included on the ship roster I’d received, a sure sign Dynatec didn’t want us to know about her. Chances were good I’d just found Frisk’s superior.
    “Yeah, Quilla Dorn.” She sipped from her cup. “She’s the other new crew member, although we’ve yet to figure out exactly what her job is. She came on board at the very last second, and spends all her time entertaining Frisk.”
    Oh, yeah. She was the one, all right. “Max?”
    “Checking,” he responded.
    I nodded. “How’s the mapping going, Lieutenant?”
    “Slowly. It’s a big planet and we have to cover most of it on foot.” She smiled. “And please, call me Claudia.”
    “Claudia. I’m Kiera.” I cradled my cup in my hands and settled my elbows on the table. “Doesn’t Dynatec provide you with mapping drones?”
    A frown flickered across her face. “Not this trip.”
    Apparently I wasn’t the only one puzzled by Dynatec’s refusal to take advantage of modern technology. “It doesn’t look like you’d get much of the planet mapped if you have to walk to a new location each day.”
    “Oh, we don’t walk. We take a sled to the last place we marked and start from there.”
    “Redfield said the Buri always follow you. Don’t they have trouble keeping up with a sled?”
    She laughed. “They don’t try. It only took them one day to figure out how we operate. Now the two assigned to my team just stay at our last location until we come back the next day. Gorgeous, aren’t they, though? Any one of them could make a fortune as a holovid star. Especially wearing nothing but those loincloths and thigh-high boots. Not to mention the gold bracelets. There’s nothing sexier than a well-muscled arm highlighted by hot jewelry.” She fanned her face with one hand. “I hope you find a way to save them.”
    I arched an eyebrow. “Won’t that cut into your profit?”
    “Of course. But I’m not so mercenary that I could still sleep well at night knowing I’d gotten rich off the extinction of an entire race. And I’ll get my usual pay no matter what your decision is. I can live with that.”
    She drank from her cup, her gaze going to the door. “You know, if this place is ever opened up for colonization, I wouldn’t mind settling here permanently.”
    “If the decision goes against the Buri, that could be a long time happening. Colonization won’t be allowed until the last surviving member is gone.”
    “I know.” Her smile turned wistful. “That’s another reason I want you to find a way to help them.”
    I