Chosen (HMCS Borealis Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

Sinclair, had been easier to read. Right now, she was assigned to a committee, deciding what to do with the new worlds they'd discovered here beyond the jump gate.   Not a cluster of uninhabited worlds — as the media said — but an entire universe; many of the new planets contained ruins of the Daltanin civilisation.   The Daltanin had been wiped out by the Horlan, the same species that attacked the Palani seven centuries ago.   Many of the Daltanin planets were still guarded by automated defences, eternally protecting their dead worlds.
    The new boss, Captain West, was the commanding officer of the heavy cruiser Bonaventure .   But when the jump gate had opened, the robotic Daltanin ships flooded through, and Bonaventure had been damaged in the battle to stem the tide.   Dozens of other ships — Canadian, American, British, Indian, Dosh — were also damaged or destroyed, until the crew of the Borealis had landed on the Daltanin homeworld and deactivated the defences.
    Captain West was right about Tassali Yenaara, of course.   Borealis had rescued her, adrift and alone.   Amba — her first name — had come to trust Dillon, as he had grown to trust her.   Before long, it had become something more.   Apart from their Ambassador, Amba was the only Palani living in all of human space.   Her perspective on the Palani and their history were enough for Admiral Clarke to see her as a valuable asset.   Valuable enough to turn a blind eye to her presence on a warship.
    Dillon poked at his terminal again.   After a few moments' pause, a woman's voice came from the speaker.   "Bridge.   Chief Black here."
    He smiled.   "Chief?   When did you get up?"
    "Chiefs never sleep, sir.   I've told you this before."
    "It's still witchcraft.   Are we ready to get underway?"
    "Aye, sir.   We are."
    "Very well.   Set a course to the jump gate, then to New Halifax, and get us underway."
    "Aye aye, sir."
    Dillon paused a moment, his eyes wandering toward the window.   "Who's my relief?   Who's got next watch?"
    "Kalla, sir.   Your watch should've ended thirty minutes ago."
    "Thanks, Chief.   Captain out."
    Taking one last glance out the window, Dillon pushed himself to his feet.   As soon as he handed off to Kalla, the next few hours would be his.   Time enough.   A smile spread across his face as he walked to his cabin door.

CHAPTER FOUR

    Pentarch Ontelis dismissed the servants, watching as the last of the young acolytes backed away from the bedchamber.   Once the door had closed, he turned around to face the room.
    Gone .   The Elanasal Palani.   The Chosen One from scripture, descendant of the Prophets, the hope of his people, had left of his own accord.   Ontelis sighed, surveying the bedchamber.   Once again he had to remind himself, the Elanasal was not just a collection of titles; he was a young man.   He had been carefully engineered, one DNA strand at a time, to a specific blueprint.   As near to a perfect Palani as their technology would permit, and even that was subject to some compromises.   Still, a young man.   A boy, in many ways.   Wise and intelligent, but uncertain and afraid.  
    Yet unexpectedly brave, thought Ontelis.   They had underestimated their creation, and were now being punished for their hubris.   He should have known; hubris always led to problems.
    The sound of gentle breathing reminded him that he wasn't alone. Pentarch Balhammis stood behind him; despite the man's size, his calm and quiet way often made Ontelis forget he was there.
    Balhammis, the snow-topped mountain:   a two-metre-tall leviathan, with delicate glasses on his nose and white hair on his head.   His ancestors had been Ensannon, an engineered subspecies of Palani built millennia ago, bred for combat.   Now the trait was inherited, like eye colour.   Or was inherited, thought Ontelis, back when anyone inherited anything.
    Balhammis turned over the note he held, the piece of paper tiny in his