Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1) by Stormy McKnight Page B

was necessary to keep reminding her of her precarious
situation? Was it so wrong to fight against losing her freedom? The answer came
to her suddenly that yes, it wasn’t fair to continually put so many people in
jeopardy. She was being selfish and she didn’t like the way the realization
made her feel.
    “The night I escaped from my mother, I had a rude awakening. I knew she
was ruthless; I just didn’t think she was heartless as well.” Cali laughed a
cold, humorless sound. “Fleeing from Cestori was the only thing I could think
of at the time. Deep down I know I’ve got to go back. Vathral is going to be
replaced and punished for his lack of success eventually. Conndra, if caught talking
with us, could face severe punishment as well. My father,” Cali shuddered at
the thought of her father facing off against her mother. “Not to mention what
will happen to everyone on this ship. Maybe I needed to be out here to grow up
a little more, to have an adventure, or just to prove I could get away, a last act of defiance so to speak.”
    “What will you do next?” Nellia asked worriedly.
    Cali stiffened her resolve, “After we return our mystery male to his
people, we’ll return to Cestori. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep everyone I
care about from being punished, and face whatever the future holds for me.”
    Trying to lighten the mood she took Nellia by the shoulders, “That’s all
for another day. Right now we have the mystery that is Drake to solve.”
    Silently she added that she was just the woman for the job.

Chapter Eleven
    Drake sat on a couch in the small living room space of the guest quarters
he’d ben assigned. As he watched holographic stars floating past on a make
believe viewport. Not that he really saw anything, his mind was busy with
trying to figure out everything that had happened.
    The guards had pointed out the amenities of his assigned quarters, told
him how to use the console by the door, and then left. If he had an emergency,
there would be guards stationed outside his room that could assist him. If he
couldn’t make it to the doors, he could declare a medical emergency out loud
and the computer would notify the appropriate crew members. He was assured that
the computer didn’t normally monitor all speech within a room. He was an
exception because he was a “guest” and one that may need medical attention if
he had unknown injuries. An in-depth medical scan would show if that was the case, but he’d declined to have one
performed.
    There were two separate spaces to his quarters. A nice sized sitting room
and bedroom. The sitting room did have a couch and tables. His bedroom had a nice
sized bed, a separate bathroom, and solar
shower. All of it, he was finding out was pretty standard for a spacecraft.
    Looking back at the viewport, he felt guilt eat at him for a moment, then
he pushed it away. He wasn’t used to life handing him so many surprises, and
was struggling with what to do next. Mainly in regards to his attraction to a
certain spaceship captain.
    Calinae Edal. She was a platinum-haired, amber eyed goddess sent to tempt
him, and by all accounts crazy as a loon. Her questions echoed in his mind. “ Do you remember your purpose for being in
space? What is the name of the ship you were on? Don’t you want to return to
your people?”
    With a frustrated groan, he muttered to himself, “Of course I want to go
home. How to get there is the problem.”
    “When exploring space there are two
things to avoid. Pirates and any spacecraft from Cestori.   We have limited information on that world, but
our spies have told us that it is ruled by a Council of Three women. The leader
of which is a woman named Aicen Edal. She is power-mad and easily offended and is training her equally crazed
daughter, Calinae to take over for her one day. The people of Cestori would
stop at nothing to destroy you. If you come across them, evasion is the best
plan. If you are captured, don’t let them