Factor Read Free Page B

clench.
    Jianne pulled her hand slightly, and he relinquished his grip reluctantly.
    She folded her fingers together against her belly. “So, anyone up for tea?”
    Gelor nodded and followed her into the kitchen to help her get the tray ready. “Where do you get your supplies?”
    She chuckled. “They get dead dropped into the canyon, and I go down to fetch them. Why?”
    “You just have more tea than my mother does, and my mother has a lot of tea.” He chuckled.
    “I never know what my mood will demand, so I keep them all here.” She shrugged and pulled out the standard tea that was offered in most restaurants across Cadar.
    Her kettle whistled, and she lifted it off the heating element, pouring her largest teapot full of hot water before filling it again and setting it to boil.
    Gelor chuckled. “Yup, my mother would like you.”
    Making tea was a matter of pride for many people on Cadar, and Jianne had made it an object of study when she was recovering from losing her eye. It seemed a good way to practice her depth perception.
    When the second round of water was ready, she dumped out the water that warmed the pot, dumped in the leaves with their filter and put the empty hot pot on the tray before adding more water. Gelor carried the tray out to her living room where the other three were waiting on her couch and chair. The furniture was fine for her, but under the Guardians, it looked teeny.
    “So, what drove you to come and break into my home?”
    Sarnvil’s deep, soft voice said, “Your scent. You left a clear line from my quarters to your tunnel. Why were you at the base?”
    She twisted her lips as she poured the tea. “I was retrieving something that Cyber left for me.”
    She could almost feel him frowning. “A gift?”
    Jianne shook her head and reached for her teacup. “No, a program to detect someone trying to hack my signal. The last assignment they had showed traces of someone trying to tamper with the feed.”
    She had their attention now. Sarnvil asked, “They have infiltrated the Guardian signal?”
    Jianne sipped at her tea. “Not that signal, my signal.” She raised her finger and tapped her right eyebrow. “They were watching me.”
    Herkikel scowled. “I don’t understand.”
    Gelor chuckled. “She has a cybernetic eye. That is how she can be such an efficient dispatcher. You saw her stats before we arrived. She had increased the efficiency rate and decreased the injuries by over fifty percent. She can only manage that if she has eyes on each situation.”
    Vhorlon looked away shyly. “Thanks for the advice on the last assignment. I almost went the wrong way.”
    She smiled brightly at him and said, “Thanks, it was nice that you listened. Few Guardians would take my advice before they had any experience with me. It was gratifying that you followed my suggestion on the first meeting.”
    They both grinned, because her suggestion had been issued at the top of her lungs, and he had offered her a few options for what she could do with her advice. He had listened though, and as a result, the swell had not swept him or any of the others over the side of the ship while they were engaging in the rescue.
    Sarnvil sat back with the small teacup cradled in his hands. “How did you find your way onto Cadar?”
    She blinked. “That is a long story.”
    Herkikel chuckled. “We are not going anywhere unless our dispatcher sends us, and I am assuming that you are monitoring current events, so go ahead.”
    Vhorlon smiled sweetly. “We are tired of our own origin stories. It will do us good to listen to someone else.”
    Jianne looked them all in the eye, except Cowl. “Well, Cadar is quiet right now, so here goes. It all started…”
     
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
    “Back on Terra, the request for Volunteers had just gone out, and I was in the hospital with a broken leg. To my shock, my sister dragged the Volunteer Coordinator into the hospital and introduced us.” Jianne smiled