03 Solar Flare - Spark Series Read Free

at
her darkened bedroom door. She contemplated getting out of bed and
digging through the pharmacy in her medicine cupboard. She was
tired enough that she didn’t want to move that far.
    She thought of the little packet of pills her
host, Vio Srie, had given her at his party. He’d noticed she was
looking pained and fetched them for her. She’d thanked him and
stuffed them in her pocket at the time, promising to take them if
the pain got worse.
    It was worse. Grunting, she leaned down and
snagged her pants from the floor. She tore open the packet in the
dark and dry swallowed the two tiny pills. Closing her eyes, she
lay back and waited for them to kick in. Thankfully, it didn’t take
long. In minutes the pain faded, replaced by a feeling of blissful
well-being. Stretching out on her side, she settled into her nest
of pillows and finally got some sleep.
    Her dreams were odd, sharp on some details,
while others seemed out of focus. They also flickered between brief
glimpses of scenes, as if she were flipping through channels. She
caught a teasing slice of an unknown man with green hair stretched
over a woman, making love with fierce passion. The leg she had
wrapped around his was clad in a tall black boot with glowing blue
glyphs. The boots were the only thing sharp and clear.
    Before she could comprehend any details, it
switched to a scene of combat. She saw Xera’s face, and oddly, that
of her children as they huddled behind her. She saw herself there,
wielding two short clubs. The detail zeroed in, and she saw that
they were weighted fighting sticks, exactly like two she now owned.
She was the one battling an oddly shifting foe.
    The scenes began to shift faster, blurring
together too swiftly to make any sense. She became nauseated. Her
eyes fluttered open, but she couldn’t keep them there. The sleep
sucked her down and down, forcing her to fight her way out. There
was a pressure in her head, like a balloon expanding too quickly
inside her skull. Suddenly it popped.
    Gasping, she sat up and stared around, unable
to orient herself.
    Slowly the details of the room came into
focus. The sun was rising, slanting through the window with unusual
intensity, turning the dust motes in the air to glittering
diamonds. Gradually its brilliance faded, becoming an ordinary kind
of sunlight, the kind that fell on her toes, gently warming them
through the covers. Her heartbeat slowed. It had only been a
dream.
    Shuddering, she flipped back the covers. She
wouldn’t linger in her bed, a prisoner of dreams.
    Getting out of bed was always interesting.
She never knew if the mangled bones of her feet would act up,
whether her first steps of the day would be merely stiff or agony.
Today was a good day. Despite its horrible side effects—for the
weird dreams must have been a byproduct of the medicine—the pain
was tolerable. It wasn’t enticement enough to make her seek out
more, though. She had powerful pain meds that could do just as
well.
    Feeling almost mellow, she headed for the
bathroom, bad dreams forgotten. She had a cop to visit, things to
do. She flipped on the light and glanced in the mirror—and
screamed. A green skinned hag with staring red eyes and exploded
white hair leered at her from the glass.
    The dreams were not over.
     
    Vio Srie sat in his leather office chair and
toyed with an excellent glass of wine. He was sated and content
after a very successful evening. He’d bedded a pretty young dancer,
handed out his share of experimental drugs and finished the night
off by enjoying his wife. Life didn’t get better than this.
    It was a shame to return to business. He
glanced at a letter he’d been handed with a slight frown. His
expenses were up, but the doctor who’d promised him money to
“administer” his drugs to the unwary was attempting to be cheap.
Vio didn’t like cheap. It was bad business, and he wanted his
money. The extra income allowed him to keep his wife in rare style.
He liked to spoil her,