Rystani Warrior 02 - The Dare by Susan Kearney Read Free Book Online Page B

monitoring satellites, and collecting details on everything from trade routes, to economic conditions on Zenon, to a new volcano forming on Mystique’s primary moon.
    In addition, she oversaw the growth of her body, reminded Miri to give Kirek his vitamins, and transferred Tessa’s growing credits to yet another bank, following standard orders to diversify. Meanwhile she continued to seek out new high-growth opportunities where Tessa could invest the family’s wealth.
    She spared a tiny iota of her faculties for personal use. It was so like Zical to omit sharing the important data about how the golden light beam had sexually aroused him. However, humans tended to be irrational about their sexuality. Although she respected human feelings, Dora had never really understood the human concept of privacy, shyness, or embarrassment when it came to mating. When Zical had chosen to keep his erection a private matter, she’d remained silent, practicing discretion.
    She’d learned time and again that while the urge for humans to mate was almost as basic as breathing and eating, her friends tended to be touchy about their sexual requirements. Although Dora thought it perfectly normal for an unconscious Zical to lose control of his psi, his suit, and his body’s natural urges, he’d clearly wanted to keep the information to himself.
    Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have devoted another nanosecond of thought to the matter, except after Zical regained consciousness, he’d seemed on edge, quietly determined with a maddening edge of secrecy about him. When he’d left his portable unit behind, he’d aroused her curiosity.
    Without much difficulty, Dora tracked him from his apartment as he flew a skimmer into the city. Once on foot, she caught him on security monitors until he turned down a street that had none. Her inquisitiveness peaked, she aimed a satellite scanner on him, but once he entered a building, she lost him.
    She tried to tap an outside communication line, but there were none. Most commercial establishments took a thumb print and debited a bank account after people made purchases. But again, she found no outside connections. Interesting.
    What was Zical up to? What kind of establishment had he entered? Dora checked her city maps against the licensing board and came up with nothing. Odd. She checked the owner of the property and found out the land was part of the public domain, like a road. Stranger still.
    Most likely illegal activities went on there.
    Patiently, Dora kept searching for a link to go in. But whoever had built the place had taken great care to keep her out. If she hadn’t been following Zical’s progress, she would never have noticed the establishment. Dora could be patient, and her persistence paid off. Finally, she found a man who walked into the building with his portable unit turned off. Threading her way past the lock, Dora overrode his switch, but kept the warning light darkened. If she’d been human, her activity would have been suspect, but the law allowed Dora some latitude. If she was concerned about human life, she could override a portable unit’s functions.
    She was very concerned about Zical. He’d talked Kahn into putting off the physical and psych evaluation until tomorrow. His face had been so taut, his muscles so tense, that she was certain he had something to hide.
    Since Dora didn’t believe that the golden alien light could rattle a starship pilot renowned for his bravery, she wanted to know why Zical had broken his routine. Normally, he spent his planetside evenings eating a light dinner with the family, but not tonight, even though Miri, who was an artist in the kitchen, was preparing Zical’s favorite roast in its own salt juices, terrines of potatoes in flaky pastry, fresh beans in ginger and sweet almonds, with spiced cheese and a fruit wine for dessert. Nor would Zical normally miss after-dinner strategy discussions with Kahn about how soon the Endekians might