Mission Read Free

quarters.”
    “Yes, and she is still in the cells until you devise an actual job description or rank for her. Think it over.”
    Y’tan, the security supervisor, looked down at the close-up of Jewel Springs’ face as she stared at Stormyo. If you knew where to look, the attraction ran both ways. It was just harder to tell with the Terran.
    He hoped that the Imperium got their act together sooner rather than later. He was only going to be able to keep the Terran in a neutral position for so long before the winners began demanding her. Rumours were already circling about the woman who should have been in the fighter quarters and battling on a daily basis.
    The guards who had seen the capture vid liked to talk.
     
    * * * *
     
    Jewel did push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups in her cell. The rest of the time, she was bored and playing with her calm. She had managed to work it into strands, and she played with using it to stop arguments or let them fire up again.
    It felt unfair to play with them like that, but without a data pad to entertain her, she was going to have to do it the old-fashioned way.
    It took two days before she was summoned to medical again. She wanted a bath and a change of clothing, but the guards mentioned that it was urgent.
    Bathing in a tiny sink just wasn’t doing it for her.
    Jewel walked into medical and blanketed the entire space with calm. Her guards had to lead her to a private alcove where the horned man was getting work done on his inner thigh.
    “Hello, mistress. Would you hold my hand?”
    She blinked and walked to his side. He looked pale. He must have lost a lot of blood. She took his hand and he closed his eyes.
    “Thank you.”
    Jewel shivered as he stroked her palm with his thumb.
    “Are you cold, mistress?”
    She looked down and stared blankly into his eyes. “No.”
    She cocked her head. “Did you win or lose?”
    He smiled. “I won, of course. Do you not know who I am?”
    “How would I?”
    His lovely eyes narrowed as he thought about it. “I suppose you could have been a fan before you were hired here.”
    “I am not hired. I was taken from my mission as peacekeeper.”
    A calculating gleam came to his eyes. “So you are in the pens?”
    “The separated cells where the other women and men are?”
    “Yes.”
    “Yes.”
    The doctor working on his inner thigh cleared his throat. “That is enough, Springs. We are trying to work here.”
    She went quiet but the patient squeezed her hand lightly.
    “I have been looking to invest in a companion, mistress. It has been quite a while since a woman has not fawned over me for who and what I was. Would you mind meeting with me outside of medical?”
    She shrugged.
    The doctors and assistants watched her as she remained quiet.
    The patient stroked his hand up her arm, and she blinked at the heat that followed the light caress.
    When her body flickered to life under the touch, confusion rolled through her. She jerked back with a frown.
    She kept him calm but moved out of his reach. No one had touched her with any kind of interest since she was a teenager. When her talent flared, she had the unintended effect of numbing her partner to the point where sex was no longer an option.
    Confusion rioted in her body as he continued his sly smile while the doctors completed his repair. She guessed that he knew something she didn’t know and that was as dizzying as anything else.
    Jewel remained close to him but out of reach until she was dismissed.
    She headed back to her cell with the guards and sighed at the punishment she was about to endure. Her food unit was gone and the cell walls were now transparent again. Her minimal privacy was gone.
    Her interaction with the patient was obviously not a desirable event. Sighing, she took a quick sponge bath and headed for bed. If she couldn’t do anything else, she would just sleep until she was summoned again. Exercise would burn calories she didn’t have the ability to replace.
    Jewel waited two