The Starborn by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page A

and pulled her closer.
    Sleeping in his arms was wonderful but waking with a strange woman staring at her was a little disconcerting.
    “Wiali? My name is Kashka. I have been sent to fetch you to Udell base.”
    Wiali sat up, waking Braenar as she spoke, “Okay, but how did you get in here?”
    “Oh, I am not here. I am a distance projector. I am just very powerful. I will be assigned to Lowel when the Citadel is complete.”
    “So, you aren’t actually here?”
    “Nope. But you weren’t answering the com, so this was the solution that Guardian came up with. I promise to leave before your mate stands up all the way. See you at the base.” The woman saluted and disappeared.
    Braenar made a small sound. “I heard that they were recruiting a projector but didn’t realise that she was already there.”
    Wiali got to her feet and groaned. “I think our presence is required at Udell. First, a shower, then I kill Guardian.”
    Braenar chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet as he carried both of them to the shower.
     
    Kashka smiled and greeted them at the pod. “You look refreshed.”
    Wiali inclined her head. “Long, hot shower and a backrub are definitely the right way to start the day. Braenar, this is Kashka.”
    The woman bobbed a curtsy. “Guardian is waiting in the situation room.”
    “Oh, good. I want to talk to him.”
    Braenar wrapped her in his arms. “We are still on duty, so you might want to curb your irritation.”
    She wrinkled her nose but let him walk with his arm around her all the way to the situation room.
    They sat down with Guardian, Pax and Kashka.
    Guardian began, “I am sorry to interrupt mating season. I realise how awkward it is to cease what nature begins.”
    Pax reached out to touch his hand, and he pressed a kiss to the back of her wrist.
    Suddenly, Wiali was sure that he wasn’t deliberately being a jackass where privacy was concerned. She sighed as the irritation bled out of her.
    Braenar kept his hand on hers. “We took the edge off. What do you need?”
    “Nineteen men landed on Jeskulan and died within ten minutes. Unfortunately, they had a bomb that they were planning on lodging in the main temple at the city. That bomb is armed, unstable and capable of blasting a hole two kilometres wide.”
    Wiali groaned. “Damn.”
    Braenar nodded. “When do we leave?”
    “You will be heading out on the Alliance warship Nedron. Kashka will accompany you, and she will be put in stasis and launched to the surface with you. Kashka will be the link between Udell and Jeskulan. If you can get her near the Avatar of Jesku, she will be able to talk with them.”
    Wiali looked at Kashka with a frown. “Have you gone into stasis before?”
    The woman shook her head. “Lives are at stake, and if I can be of any assistance, I will do what I can.”
    They got to their feet and left in an Alliance shuttle. The warship Nedron was huge, and as their small vehicle settled inside it, Wiali had to admire the seriousness of the Alliance response.
    In the medical bay of the Nedron, Kashka stepped into the stasis tube and held her breath as the liquid rose to cover her face.
    Wiali pressed her hand to the plexi, willing the woman to breathe. As she started breathing in the liquid, the leads that extended from her skin began to glow, and slowly, the breathing reduced until Kashka’s chest ceased to move. Her eyes closed and her body relaxed in the supporting fluid.
    “She is stable. I will gel lock her, but you have to release her within four hours or she will begin to suffer damage.” The bird-like physician was solemn and his taloned hands were sure on the controls.
    “Very well. Get her to the drop bay, and we will be on our way.”
    The doctor nodded and had his medical assistants move the stasis chamber down the halls and to the large bay with the electronic shield-sealed entrance.
    Braenar and Wiali stood and waited for the alarms to go off. When the shield dropped,