StarSet (The Warrior Prince's Claim - BBW Science Fiction Romance) by Calista Skye Page A

energy they were offered, and with the memotic contained, a diplomatic solution offered up on a silver platter, and a possible commendation if she played her part it in all effectively, Shala was beginning to believe that she was just at the edge of the dark tunnel she'd been walking since birth.
Right there at the edge of a less than joyous beginning, waiting to be delivered into a starlit middle, and nebulaic happy ending.
    “Officer Kane, can you deliver the afternoon's data reports to Lex before you sign off?”
    “Yes, Sir,” she told the captain with a cheer that wasn't at all forced.
    " I appreciate that. Glad to hear you in good spirits.”
    “Glad to be in them, Sir.”
    “Well, things do look like they might wind up taking a higher track than they did at first, don't they?”
    “That, they do, Sir.”
    “Alright. Take a load off tonight. We're checking the engine systems tomorrow and installing a temporary security measure until all of the allied ships are retrofitted to account for memotic breeches. We'll need you on your A-game.”
    “I will be, Sir.”
    “I have no doubt.”
    Practically humming along the processing of the day's reports, Shala drank in the good vibes raining down on her from the universe. With any luck, they'd get through most of this transport in peace. And if they were really lucky, the Tavalar enforcer wouldn't seek to rain vengeance on the Telerans until well after they were transported planetside on their shiny, newish orb.
    Well out of easy reach.
     
     
     
    ~
     
     
     
    “Good work, Officer Kane. Maybe you should take the rest of the day and gather, 'aye? Tomorrow's got a pretty tall order waiting for you.”
    The captain gave her a fatherly smile, and Shala couldn't help but warm reactively to it.
    “Thanks. I think that would help me focus all the more.”
    “It will. Swing by the archives and do a little reading on Eiowa, too. I know the emissary told you the essentials, but additional information never hurts.”
    “Good idea, Captain.”
    Well, he was awfully helpful today...
    She'd half-expected him to treat her with suspicion for the invite she'd received, but he was acting like he couldn't be prouder. It struck her as a little odd. Fraternization was explicitly against the rules, and this event was right there on the line of things. An unthinking step in the wrong direction could mess it all up for everyone.
    Surely, he'd considered that?
    Ah, well. She'd take the gift and do some of that reading he'd recommended. It was a smart approach, and she fully intended to wind up on the wiser side of the fence than on the wrong

side of it. Maybe the captain just had faith in her. She'd been a good officer for her stint under his charge thus far; there really wasn't any reason to doubt her, was there?
    Everyone's ass was on line. The captain was probably considering the weight of that enough incentive for her to anchor herself into her Ps and Qs without need for a nudge from him. Pushing forward to her room to change into her common clothes, she lifted her head and resolved herself. She appreciated the notion that he was confident in her and he obviously was. He was considering her for a commendation, after all. Maybe it had only been her sense of manufactured guilt talking. Except, she'd only daydreamed of the prince, never acted on anything she felt.
    Sweeping into the archives, Shala lowered her scanserv's alerts to avoid disrupting the scholarly types roaming the hall of books and slowly made her way down the stretching corridors.
    That gut nudge was still troubling her, but she managed to brush it aside long enough to select a few books on loan to the city ship from the Telerans. It was best she read them now. They'd be taken back for the new Teleran libraries once they were planetside. Feeling eyes on her as she tucked the small pile of books under her arm, Shala paused before turning to take in the aisle around her, creasing a brow when she found only the endless