AnnaleeBlysse_StarlitDestiny

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Yes, but about the Nav. You will be a much better navigator.
She jumped up, hugging him. He pushed her back, embarrassed at her display of emotion. And there is one more
thing, she said.
Why am I not surprised? Lyn was teasing her, but she didn t mind.
No, you should not be surprised. I need to know more than navigating, and flying. I need to learn about how to fight.
Lyn s eyes remained locked on her, a dark brow shot up. Krys and I will never allow you to do something so foolish
as take on the Command.
Not me. Eventually, my people will retaliate. I will bring the knowledge back to Lyask, to all of my people.
"I will only help you if you agree to my stipulations.
Dena frowned impatiently. What then?
First, you will always obey me. How can I teach you if you re always questioning me?
That is fair, Dena admitted, though she doubted it was something she could easily do.
Second, you will not force me to keep secrets from Darian.
But--
He held up his hand, his dark eyes boring into her. I will not lie to him to suit your purposes.
Relieved, Dena poured over his statements. Would his stipulations suffice? Could she live with them? Spending too
much time with Krys could prove more than she could bear. It would weaken her eventually because, though she
wanted to become a star pirate and help Lyask, more than that, she wanted to be loved.
Lyn, she sighed. Anything else?
No, number one takes care of every conceivable future problem, doesn t it?
It did, and he would undoubtedly hold it over her in the future. But she could honor him. Or at least try to. When
problems arose, she would deal with them as they came.
Well then, I have a meeting with the Tahn Rorian that commissioned this trip. You will guard the cruiser. He
explained how she could watch for intruders, and how she could contact him through the comm-unit he wore if anyone
other than Krys tried to board the cruiser.
After Lyn left her, the first information she searched for was the name Rojay Bazluhr. It didn t take her long to find a
vidclip of an interview when he first accepted his post on Vertor. Dena listened to the man speak, her heart aching at
the similarities between father and son. Further searching revealed information about Rojay s wife Mareen and their
children Krys and Marinda.
Dena gasped in shock when she discovered another vidclip where a stolid reporter speaking in a monotone voice
file:///D|/Pub%20Folders/NCP%20Publishing/Text%20an%20HTML%20bks/AnnaleeBlysse%20StarlitDestiny%20NCP.htm[2/5/2009 4:21:20 PM]
Starlit Destiny
explained how Krys Bazluhr had died when the transport he was piloting crashed into a black hole in a freak accident.
She fast-forwarded through the footage until the funeral procession, where his mother and sister sat, hardly able to hide
their emotions. She wondered why his father wasn t at the funeral and soon discovered the answer. A week earlier,
Rojay Bazluhr had been the victim of an unknown assailant who it was reported killed him for less than one hundred
credits. Dena couldn t help but note the coincidence of the deaths of both father and son.
She sat back, shaking her head. When Darian said that Krys was dead, he wasn t talking figuratively. Krys had been
forced to abandon his life and take another identity.
By cross-referencing Krys Bazluhr s date of death, she found that Jaret McDiarmid had also died in the accident. The
pictures she found matched the men she knew. Jaret s funeral had been small, attended only by a few Sarza Command
offers. She was somewhat interested in all the circumstance that surrounded Krys Bazluhr s death and considered
rewinding and watching the beginning.
But as she began to look for information about that mission to Lyask, what she found was much more disturbing.
Everything that was recorded was a lie. It was said that her people started the conflict. Her people had no weaponry,
warfare wasn t part of her culture, it never had been. She hoped to find some evidence regarding the prisoners taken.
But there was nothing more.
Finally she gave up and read about Tahn Ror, quickly losing herself in studying about a strange, new world. They
appeared to ally themselves with her people, and, even if their reason was only monetary gain, it would be wise if she
knew about them.
* * * *
And why was the little witch researching my family on the Nav? What did you tell her? Krys was hollering from
behind a firmly shut door.
Dena held her breath, wondering what Jaret would say. Knowing that he didn t want to lie to Darian made her nervous.
Hardly more than you did, Jaret hollered right back. I only let the last name slip. What are you afraid of anyway?
Nothing!
She has the same enemy. And now she s involved. She has the right to know the dangers.
She s probably part of the danger!
It disturbed her that she was part of the reason they were arguing. It bothered her even more that she couldn t figure
out what they were arguing about.
Not having heard the term witch before, Dena searched on the computer. An image of a green woman with a
wrinkled nose, complete with a bulbous mole, appeared. The ugly woman was stirring a bubbling cauldron.
Rage churning in her gut, Dena read that the potion the witch was brewing could turn a prince into a toad. The image
of a toad didn t match Krys physically, but certainly his personality was meant to be encapsulated by toad skin. She [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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