Hero by Cheryl Brooks Read Free Book Online

surely you don't think..."
    "Listen, if you're what I think you are, that possibility definitely exists, and I'd rather no one else knew about it until we're sure."
    Micayla's hands turned to ice. "So I really am some sort of evil cat?"
    "Probably not, but apparently someone thinks you are. We need to get Layha to run a scan on you to see if you match up."
    Micayla's disappointment was profound. "You mean we're not going looking for the man in the park? And who is Layha anyway?"
    Windura grinned. "She's a hooker--a Delfian hooker."
    Micayla blinked hard. She'd heard enough about Delfians to know she didn't want
    to meet one--particularly a hooker who probably didn't wear very much.
    "If I'm right--and I'm pretty sure I am," Windura continued, "we'll have the answer to all of your questions pretty soon. Ever hear of a rock band called Princes & Slaves?"
    "Should I have?"
    "Maybe not," Windura admitted. "They're very popular in the Andromeda quadrant. Some in the Terran quadrant have heard of them, and since we're on the border between the two, I've heard their music and know a bit about them, but I'd never looked up a picture until now."
    "And this is important because...?"
    "The lead singer of Princes & Slaves is a guy named Tycharian Vladatonsk,"
    Windura replied. "Women all over the quadrant are hot after his ass. But so is someone else. Seems their species was nearly exterminated--about the same time you lost your family--and there are only a handful of them left. Some Nedwuts tried to kill him during a performance a few weeks ago, but his fans mobbed them and tore them to pieces."
    "Dedicated fans," Micayla remarked. "But I still don't understand--"
    "The connection?" Windura said. "The connection is that he's got the same pointed ears, fangs, and feline eyes that you have--and the curly hair. Granted, his coloring is different, but I think you're the same species."
    Micayla felt her heart try to leap out of her chest, but she somehow managed to
    keep walking.
    "There was another one too, but he was only in the hooker's database," Windura went on, directing a triumphant glance at Micayla. "Long black hair and wears a cloak.
    Sound like someone you might have seen?"
    The implication struck Micayla dumb for a moment. "Did he--does he have an
    orange streak in his hair?" she asked, surprised at how faint her own voice sounded.
    Windura nodded. "Yes, he does, and, like I said, I knew there was something
    familiar about you, I just couldn't place it. I must have seen him before when I'd run a check of the network."
    "So what do we have to do?"
    "Layha will run a scan on you to see if there's a biometric match in her system.
    I'm willing to bet there is--and if he's still here on the station she just might know where to find him."
    ***
Grekkor was beyond furious. He was livid. "But do you mean to tell me, Tilat,
    that even after I warned you to keep a low profile, you went and spouted off to the section chief that you were selling Friotian cocaine?"
    The sniveling Kitnock spread his thin, bony arms in protest. "He asked to buy some! We've never been the subject of any stings on this station. How was I to know?"
    "If you had listened to me, you would have," Grekkor seethed. "Now I'll have to go see that cursed commander again and explain that you are a stupid fool and thought that the man was joking with you."
    "But--"
    "And then you will leave this station and never return. Do you understand?"
    Tilat was taller than Grekkor by about ten centimeters, but Grekkor was
    powerfully built and probably outweighed him by half, and his thug was even bigger.
    Dolurp was a big, hairy, ape-like humanoid from Herpatron who, rumor had it, enjoyed breaking fingers--especially those of Kitnocks; he liked the sound they made when they snapped.
    Whirling away as though he could no longer stand the sight of the Kitnock,
    Grekkor stormed off down the narrow corridor, his cape billowing out behind him and Dolurp at his heels.
    He hadn't gone far