Hunting a Soul by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online

news.”
    She perked up and he expanded the display to take up all space in front of them. She read about elections, the regulations for division of represented bodies, including talents, the untalented and the psychics who had to stand for ethics exams any time they spoke in public. An identifier was always there to keep them from taking control of the crowd.
    Steps were being made to turn Resicor into a fair world and aliens were now being welcomed via the gates that had been created by Resicor herself.
    “So much has changed.” Lee whispered it.
    “But for the better.”
    “Yes, but I know when I go back, I won’t be able to recognize anything.”
    “So they are moving on without you.”
    “Yup.”
    “How do you feel about that?”
    “It proves I am still alive. I am moving on without them. We are not a symbiotic creature; I can live my life without them and they without me.”
    “Where would you like to make your home?”
    She laughed. “I like Balen, but it is the only other world I have ever been to. I look forward to seeing more of the universe.”
    “Would you consider a tour on Repsak? We have had two chaos shadows fairly recently and more about a decade ago.”
    “Why is that so unusual?”
    “Like Resicor, there is nowhere for them to travel. We didn’t have any visitors from other worlds. We did all of our business on a space station. They had to have taken a body there and ridden one of our own to the surface. Worse, they did it twice.”
    “Did your people have enough power to destroy them?”
    “No, all we could do was have them placed in a coma patient and launched into space.”
    She winced. “Were the patients aware?”
    “No, they were both dying. Their bodies would not have lasted another two weeks.”
    Lee sighed. “I hope I can offer a better alternative. I really hope my training pays off.”
    He laughed. “It will.”
    “Thank you for your faith in me. This is all new to me, including meeting an archivist on an alien world.”
    “It is more of a set of space stations linked together. The archivist we are seeing is in a gaseous area, so you will need full containment. The suit with the silver striping.”
    “When will we be there?”
    “Well, it is on the far side of this nebula, so just look around and enjoy the sights.”
    She stared out and watched the stellar gas clouds in pink, yellow and vibrant blue mingle and twist into every colour imaginable. “It’s beautiful.”
    “Yes, it is. I thought you were going to sleep through it.”
    She ignored him and stared out at the first true look at the stars she had ever had. The trip from home to Balen had been rough, and she had spent it in back with Fixit. This was her first honest look at her new job site. She was going to take it in.
    Krix came over and sat in her lap, climbing up her using beak and claw. He settled against her and wiggled his toes, chirping happily at the view from the navigator station.
    She didn’t blame him; it was a great view.
     
    Her exo suit was more rigid than her normal clothing, but she looked at the gas-filled archive with wide eyes that ignored the small field that parted her from the smothering atmosphere. Krix didn’t like staying with the ship, but there was no comfortable place for him in the archive, and, hopefully, the archivist would be able to help with the location.
    “From here on, you must go alone. The archivist needs a clean reading, and since you were the only one of us there, you are the one who must communicate with it, to pass along the details.”
    She swallowed nervously. “Alone?”
    “Alone. I will wait out here and Krix will no doubt fling himself at you the moment you return.” N’ran smiled at her and nodded to the door. “Go on through.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “I am. If you want to seek out the chaos shadow, this is your best opportunity. If you want to leave and seek another assignment, we can do that too.” He put his hand on her shoulder.
    She put her