StarSet (The Warrior Prince's Claim - BBW Science Fiction Romance) by Calista Skye Page B
Authors: Calista Skye
Tags: alien romance
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rows of books pristinely perched and dusted on the folding shelves.
Her mind was obviously working overtime. After this, she'd do well to get some sleep. Heading down the aisle with the books in tow, she found a seat by the visi-panels, taking a moment to appreciate the simulated view of Teleran mountaintops from an ornately, paneled window.
The craftsmanship the faux window frame it emulated was of the finest quality and really set the Teleran people apart from a good deal of other, allied cultures. If they weren't so brusque to outsiders, and well, seemingly each other, she'd have visited their planet long before they'd been forced to evacuate.
A yawn escaping her, Shala cracked open the first book and relaxed into a pillowed reading seat. It was a tome that covered the reasoning behind various seasonal events, and she was fully sucked into its depths by the time she reached the fifth page.
Her head popping up at the feel of heat on her neck, Shala frowned and turned to glance around her, wanting very much to settle the matter of whether or not she was being watched once and for all. But she was met again with rows of books kept in impeccable condition, their spines staring out at her as pridefully as a book spine could.
Rubbing her eyes, she turned back to the book at hand and continued her reading, fascinating over the wealth of information in its depths. Not much shook her attention from it – she was in information-vacuum mode, hoovering the data with the greed of a newborn learning its world – but as scholarly types swept past, she lifted her head from time to time to watch the blur of them passing by.
It was comforting here. She hadn't been to an archive in some time. Shala was at her best when she was learning something. She'd figured that out about herself early on when university helped her to overcome a number of rudely aggressive alien girls who thought they might have a bit of fun attempting to humiliate her before they were taught what she was made of intellectually, just as rudely.
It was well past star set when Shala finally pried her eyes from the third book, making a mental note to finish it at her earliest opportunity. She felt good about the reads she'd consumed. All that was left were footnotes in a specialized historical tome. They'd be important, but Shala had the actual content to feed on for now. And she was all the more secure for having spent the time she did in the archive.
Her gut still tugged her though, and when thoughts of the memotic's containment crossed her mind, she decided to head back to the main deck and poke her head in, maybe give them a heads up to keep an extra scan trained on the formless girl.
Her gut feelings had never warned of false dangers before, and as much it would be great if they did now, she was better off leaving some sort of word that might help avert potential disaster.
She couldn't be sure what sort of disaster and truly might only be sensing the fallout to come when the enforcer learned that his daughter had been disembodied (which everyone was already imagining, dreading, and bracing themselves for). She'd feel better if she let her crew know something didn't feel right. She did have a bit of seership in her blood, and it did come out sometimes to warn of potential danger.
Returning the books to their shelves she made her way up deck, not bothering to change before she headed there. Everyone knew who she was, and she had no plans to stay for long. When she reached the second level, her gut was squeezing with alarm, and she sped her steps until she was standing before the guard station, frowning to find Temmen taking post there.
“Uh, hey, Temmen.”
The Alaran's golden eyes snapped up then instantly relaxed into a kind of boredom. He averted them and turned his attention back down to his scanserv, flicking through whatever digitized comic he'd recently downloaded, like she was barely even there. Not giving so much as a salutation in
Her mind was obviously working overtime. After this, she'd do well to get some sleep. Heading down the aisle with the books in tow, she found a seat by the visi-panels, taking a moment to appreciate the simulated view of Teleran mountaintops from an ornately, paneled window.
The craftsmanship the faux window frame it emulated was of the finest quality and really set the Teleran people apart from a good deal of other, allied cultures. If they weren't so brusque to outsiders, and well, seemingly each other, she'd have visited their planet long before they'd been forced to evacuate.
A yawn escaping her, Shala cracked open the first book and relaxed into a pillowed reading seat. It was a tome that covered the reasoning behind various seasonal events, and she was fully sucked into its depths by the time she reached the fifth page.
Her head popping up at the feel of heat on her neck, Shala frowned and turned to glance around her, wanting very much to settle the matter of whether or not she was being watched once and for all. But she was met again with rows of books kept in impeccable condition, their spines staring out at her as pridefully as a book spine could.
Rubbing her eyes, she turned back to the book at hand and continued her reading, fascinating over the wealth of information in its depths. Not much shook her attention from it – she was in information-vacuum mode, hoovering the data with the greed of a newborn learning its world – but as scholarly types swept past, she lifted her head from time to time to watch the blur of them passing by.
It was comforting here. She hadn't been to an archive in some time. Shala was at her best when she was learning something. She'd figured that out about herself early on when university helped her to overcome a number of rudely aggressive alien girls who thought they might have a bit of fun attempting to humiliate her before they were taught what she was made of intellectually, just as rudely.
It was well past star set when Shala finally pried her eyes from the third book, making a mental note to finish it at her earliest opportunity. She felt good about the reads she'd consumed. All that was left were footnotes in a specialized historical tome. They'd be important, but Shala had the actual content to feed on for now. And she was all the more secure for having spent the time she did in the archive.
Her gut still tugged her though, and when thoughts of the memotic's containment crossed her mind, she decided to head back to the main deck and poke her head in, maybe give them a heads up to keep an extra scan trained on the formless girl.
Her gut feelings had never warned of false dangers before, and as much it would be great if they did now, she was better off leaving some sort of word that might help avert potential disaster.
She couldn't be sure what sort of disaster and truly might only be sensing the fallout to come when the enforcer learned that his daughter had been disembodied (which everyone was already imagining, dreading, and bracing themselves for). She'd feel better if she let her crew know something didn't feel right. She did have a bit of seership in her blood, and it did come out sometimes to warn of potential danger.
Returning the books to their shelves she made her way up deck, not bothering to change before she headed there. Everyone knew who she was, and she had no plans to stay for long. When she reached the second level, her gut was squeezing with alarm, and she sped her steps until she was standing before the guard station, frowning to find Temmen taking post there.
“Uh, hey, Temmen.”
The Alaran's golden eyes snapped up then instantly relaxed into a kind of boredom. He averted them and turned his attention back down to his scanserv, flicking through whatever digitized comic he'd recently downloaded, like she was barely even there. Not giving so much as a salutation in
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