Astral Read Online Free PDF Page A

stay in the pod.”
    “Do you have supplies there?”
    “I can use the intravenous feeds. I will be fine.” She tried to smile brightly, but her head spun and she wasn’t even moving.
    “We will get you through this. I promise.” The worried tone in his voice did not inspire much confidence.
    She chuckled. “You can try and I will follow along as best I can.”
    Light was still pouring out of her and she couldn’t stop it. Her body was limp, her joints weak and she was completely helpless.
    He lifted her from the scanning bed and carried her back to her pod, settling her carefully on her chair.
    She relaxed and felt his hands slide over her in both comfort and containment.
    “Just rest, Dina. I will take care of everything. Just rest.”
    Sighing, she slipped into a deep sleep, taking the image of Zakkar leaning over her with Fish flitting urgently above his head.
    Dina felt hot, cold and then a persistent tugging that brought her out of her endless night. “Wha?”
    “Your containment suit arrived from Morganti. I am putting it on you and then you are sitting up so we can get some soup into you.” Zakkar’s voice was calm and amused as he worked the tight suit up her thighs and over her hips.
    She let him tuck her into the bodysuit and smiled at the gentle compression that she felt as the suit moulded to her body. Her throat was dry, but the loose feeling was gone from her joints, leaving a slight ache and a peculiar energy.
    As soon as he had the suit sealed, he tilted her upright and then he rotated the chair he was sitting on to take a bowl of soup into his hands.
    “Fish has been very cooperative and the Alliance has given me full access to the systems.”
    She frowned, but she opened her mouth when he held the spoon to it. The soup was chicken noodle and it was hot enough to drink but not hot enough to scald. Like an infant, she waited for the next spoonful with her lips parted.
    He was incredibly patient as he fed her and by the time she was finished, her energy level was through the roof.
    “What was in that soup?” She could feel power flowing through her.
    “A little of Arci’s power in a chicken-flavoured base.” He laughed at her expression.
    She looked down at her suit, expecting to see her standard uniform colour and laughed out loud at the nude colouration.
    “Arci had it designed so that you could wear clothing appropriate to your station, whatever that means.”
    A bright giggle started in her belly and spilled out of her throat.
    He had a quizzical smile on his face, but the pleasure in his eyes was genuine.
    “So, where can I get these clothes?”
    “Some were delivered with the suit. All are designed to withstand radiation and a variety of hostile environments.”
    She tilted her chair to ease her rise to her feet. As she thought about rising, she floated up out of her chair.
    “Holy crap!” She dropped with a thud back onto her chair. Looking at Zakkar in shock, she had to ask, “What the hell was that?”
    His lips twitched in amusement. “You were flying or hovering. Gravity will have little pull on you if you don’t wish it to.”
    “Why don’t I feel Arci in my head?” She checked her mind over and over.
    “He thought it would skeeve you out. He got that word from your mind.”
    She tried to get out of the chair again and managed to stand on her own two feet.
    Fish was happily frolicking around her head, his colours brilliant and his attitude perky. He seemed quite chipper and that gave her a bit of relaxation that she had desperately craved.
    Arci had been rummaging around in her thoughts. It was less upsetting than it should have been.
    “Where are the clothes?”
    He smiled. “Right here.”
    The box was sitting on one of her prep tables. She took the few steps and opened the box, gasping at the contents. “Wow. These are…wow.”
    She slipped the gown on over the skin-matching bodysuit and smiled as the red fabric flattered her body and flowed to the floor. A