Starseers: Fallen Empire, Book 3 Read Free

officer.”
    Khazan looked at the slender wooden skewer Beck was threading through the next batch of meat. “He looks very dangerous.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Beck frowned.
    “Nothing.” Alisa put her hand on Khazan’s shoulder and nodded toward the airlock tube. “Yes, we can talk in my cabin. That way.” She pointed, indicating that Khazan should go first as she leaned close to Beck to whisper, “There’s someone in a Starseer robe on the far side of the concourse. Let me know if he does anything suspicious.”
    “Like what?” Beck scanned the crowd until he noticed the figure, then made a hasty circle over his heart, a superstitious gesture that those from the moons of Aldrin made to call the sun gods for protection. The early inhabitants had been certain the giant green spot on the gas planet looming in their sky had been emitting harmful gases as well as general bad mojo.
    “If he comes over to sample your duck and ask questions about me or the doctor, I’d consider that suspicious.”
    “Maybe he’ll just be unable to resist the aroma of my perfectly cooked meat, which is also, I might add, seasoned with the ideal amount of celery seed.”
    “I’m certain. Let me know if he comes for either reason.”
    Alisa jogged to catch up with Khazan in the cargo hold. She had walked around the stacks of crates taking up half the space and paused by the stairs. She was looking to the corner where Yumi Moon stood in a green, ankle-length dress and bright yellow boots while tossing dried corn into the makeshift chicken pen. Netting draped over the top kept the birds from flying out—sometimes.
    “That-a-girl, Isabel,” Yumi crooned. “But let Alcyone have some too.”
    “I can see why you got out of the army, Marchenko,” Khazan said. “The exotic allure of being a civilian freight operator couldn’t be resisted.”
    Yumi looked curiously at Khazan and gave Alisa a tentative wave. The chickens complained at this pause in their feeding. Alisa waved back, trying to combine an ignore-our-guest gesture in the mix before she led the way up the stairs.
    “I’d tell you about how my life has been a lot more exotic than I’d like of late,” Alisa said over her shoulder, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve already heard about that.”
    “I’ve heard some.”
    Khazan waited until they were seated in Alisa’s private cabin to expound. She plopped down at the fold-down desk sticking out from the wall, leaving Alisa to sit on the edge of the bed.
    “I would offer you a drink,” Alisa said, “but all I have is water. My operation just got started and isn’t that flush with tindarks yet.”
    “No? Ferrying chickens around doesn’t pay well?”
    “Actually, the chickens ride for free.”
    “You should have stayed in the army if that’s all the business savvy you have,” Khazan said.
    “I forgot how endearing your tongue is.”
    “I seem to recall we had matching tongues. And that they irritated Tomich to no end when they made him our squadron commander.”
    “This is true,” Alisa said, expecting the mention of Tomich to lead Khazan into sharing her news, since he had been the one to help the Nomad escape from a bunch of posturing Alliance and imperial ships a couple of weeks earlier.
    “I got a message from him a couple of days ago,” Khazan said, tapping a red and yellow earstar cupping the helix of her ear.
    Alisa thought she might command the device to share a holo vid, but she merely lowered her hand to her lap and kept speaking.
    “You might have trouble landing your freighter on Arkadius, at least if you’re going to a legitimate civilian or military space base.”
    Alisa doubted the Starseer temple would count as either, but she saw no reason to inform Khazan of her destination. Even if she had come here as a friend warning a friend, that did not mean she wouldn’t relay what she learned back to Tomich. He had been the commander for both of them, after all.
    “I’m