Tracking (Return of the Nine) Read Free Page B

her dress over her arm.
    S’rin coughed and Vida elbowed him. “We are not identical twins, stop staring.”
    Vida held out a robe. “Here, this might stop the gawking while you are on the mother ship.”
    Grinning, she tossed the dress to S’rin and turned her back to Vida so she could slip it in place. Once the sleeveless robe was on her shoulders, her more noticeable assets were camouflaged. She twirled. “Better?”
    S’rin had her dress over his arm. “No, but it will be better for morale. You have a striking figure.”
    Vida wrinkled her nose. “She really does. I have always envied it.”
    Ianka grinned. “And I have always envied you your perky nose.”
    S’rin chuckled. “And I will be the envy of every man on the ship but only if we can get out of here so that I can show you off.”
    The amusement seemed out of his character, but Vida moved close to him, and it was obvious that the joy was coming from her and out of him.
    Their little trio left the shop and headed for the medical centre.
    They had to wait for half an hour but Dr. Meevin beckoned them into her office to wait. Ianka’s presence was causing a bit of a stir. Members of the Nine were popping by medical just to get a look at her.
    “Why am I such a draw?” Ianka was looking at her sister with suspicion.
    Vida chuckled. “Every Gaian woman that they have seen has found a mate in the population of the ship. They are just trying to increase their chances.”
    Ianka snorted. “They would run the other way if they had seen me enter the embassy. I was a little on the wild side.”
    “The Wilders might have taken a shot.” Vida laughed and took a chair.
    “Not if I was upwind, I had been walking for five days.” She wrinkled her nose.
    S’rin blinked. “Where had you been living?”
    “In the wild. No Gaians, no politics, no having to face the wreckage of where our parents disappeared. It was cowardly but I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
    Vida sighed. “It wasn’t cowardice, it was survival. I was constantly looking for the path that only I could see and you were stuck trying to track something that wasn’t there. You needed to be active and I forgot about that. We both went mad in our separate ways.”
    It was said. They had both gone mad. Ianka walked over and took her sister’s hand. Vida had already found her balance. Ianka was going to have to work for hers.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    The medical exam was a surprise to S’rin and Dr. Meevin. Most of Ianka’s strange talent resided in her body itself. She had more receptors in her nerve endings and sensory apparatus than any Gaian examined so far.
    Vida chuckled. “And for me, my mind is lit up like a holiday in the square. Sections spark all at once. S’rin loves me for my mind.”
    He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “And your body, dearest, don’t forget that.”
    Dr. Meevin rolled her eyes. “Right. That is enough of that. You are the fittest woman I have ever had the pleasure of examining, Ianka Senior. While I am curious to have your speed and strength tested, it is unnecessary to my declaring you fit for spaceflight and hand-to-hand combat if it comes down to it.”
    The doctor had taken the dress, wrapped it up and forwarded it through a tube system. It would be at Vida’s quarters when they returned there.
    “I don’t have any experience in fighting other bi-pedals. I stick to hunting and killing what I need to eat.”
    Dr. Meevin blinked. “Right. Well, that would explain a few things.”
    Ianka laughed. “It would?”
    “Your body is more carnivorous than omnivorous. You need more protein than vegetation. It isn’t a common adaptation and must be difficult to deal with.”
    Ianka shrugged. “I will need to get serious about it in a day or two.”
    Meevin nodded. “Right. I will make a note for your rations so that you are in fighting form when you arrive.”
    “Thank you. It will be a relief because I get a little upset