Mandate Read Free Page A

will.” The bodysuit fit like a second skin, but Wren didn’t expect anything else of a suit made at Morganti and designed to take any kind of weapon blow that could be aimed at fabric and still bounce back.
    With a final hug, she was on her way to the ship, strapped in for a long journey and sedated to keep her mind from trying to anchor itself in the jumps. They knocked her out for her own safety and she would wake on W’lyn. It had better work smoothly or her client was going to be in for a rough ride.
     

Chapter Three
     
     
    Water was essential to waking after the long sleep, but the Guardians were nowhere to be found. She sat up and asked the nearest tech. “I am supposed to be picked up by the Guardians.”
    He looked at her in surprise. “There is a volcano erupting on the far side of the world. I believe that takes precedence to meeting their new caretaker.”
    She sat back and sighed. At least her identity was on record. On W’lyn, you could easily get lost in the paperwork if they weren’t sure who you were.
    A knock at the door brought her around and she saw her client. “Beryl?”
    “You have the advantage of me. I was just told to come and pick someone up and take them back to base.”
    The pink hair complemented the soft silver skin that the woman wore with dignity. Her clothing was softly elegant and swirled around her in graceful lines. Her belly hadn’t begun to show yet, but Wren could make out two distinct energy patterns within the body.
    “I am Wren Silverberg of Terra. I have been assigned as the Guardians’ caretaker and your companion.”
    Wren could feel her emotional state building. She used a trick that Wendalyn had taught her and sent a trill of laughter along the emotional buildup.
    Beryl paused. “Did you do that?”
    “I did. I am here to keep you calm, comfortable and safe.”
    “You don’t look Terran.” Beryl scowled and came closer.
    “Neither do you. I am imagining that the genetic alteration is a little hard on the system.” Wren flipped the covers back and slowly got to her feet. Her suit was still as starkly black and white as it had been at the moon base.
    “My change came when I first mated with my…with Toyo.”
    “I was given an altered serum of W’lyn material so that I would not stand out in any particular fashion.”
    Beryl’s lips quirked. “You smell like Drovin.”
    “What?”
    “He is one of the Guardians. You don’t smell particularly like him, but you carry a scent in your blood along with your own and that scent belongs to him. Where did they get the material ?”
    Beryl was tilting her head as she asked the question, and she came close enough to touch Wren’s arm.
    Wren could understand what she meant by scent. Under the body heat of her client, there was a wrapping of masculine musk that came out through her pores.
    “I don’t know; it was classified and beyond my authorization.”
    Beryl smiled. “That won’t do. Come with me. We are hitting a terminal. I am going to find out what they did to you, and you are going to have an idea what is going to happen when you hang around with the Guardians with that scent. Drovin is the most timid of the bunch but that is not saying much. He just defends more than attacks.”
    The medical team gave Beryl a wide berth as she linked arms with Wren and hauled her to the exit. Wren’s first few steps on a completely alien world were engaged in while the medical staff eyed her companion with fear and Beryl moved with single-minded intensity.
    “I guess I am cleared to leave.” She chuckled.
    Beryl snorted. “I will send one of the guys here to officially transfer your custody, but for now, you are with me and no one is currently messing with me.”
    “What do you do?”
    “Anything I like, which is kinda odd, but I will take it. Throw a Guardian through one wall and suddenly everyone stays out of your way.” Beryl chuckled and led her to a low, flat platform with seats for eight.
    “Who did you