GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

trail to L.A. as soon as she could afford it.
    The first day of her first real job was when she connected with Aster. It had been Aster's first day too, but that was the only thing they had in common. Besides their appearances and personalities, there was another major difference between them. Aster was disgustingly rich.
    The Mackenzie Foundation had been set up by Aster's grandmother to give away some of the family fortune. Aster had just received her PhD in economics from Harvard and had been groomed since childhood to take over the Foundation.
    Before long, Cherry had challenged herself to break Aster's mundane lifestyle of working, eating, sleeping and more working. It had taken months for Cherry to force a good laugh out of her but it had been worth the effort. Aster turned out to be the best friend Cherry ever had and vice-versa.
    Eight years later when her grandmother died, Aster took over as director of the Foundation and Cherry moved up as her efficient, yet carefree, executive assistant.
    Cherry never made it to Hollywood, nor could she take complete credit for turning Aster's life around. But fate had given each woman her heart's desire in the end.
    Aster mated with the man of her dreams and managed to indirectly make a positive impact on the planet's environment.
    Cherry became a star—the only thing she had ever wished for. Achieving that goal in Innerworld had made her happier than she had thought possible... for a time. Lately, though, she had become bored with the routine of her work. There was nothing she wanted to do more than act. It simply wasn't a challenge anymore.
    The moment she heard about the Noronian Performing Company audition, she had her new challenge. She hadn't even realized how confined she felt in Innerworld until she imagined traveling to other planets.
    Freedom. Even a million miles from that dirt farm in Georgia, the word still had the power to make her pulse race. With a smile on her face and the determination to enjoy her first taste of outerspace, she returned to the bridge.
    "Oh, my," Mar said appreciatively as Cherry entered then he immediately turned so that Dot could see what had surprised him with her own eyes.
    "Oh, my," Dot repeated in a different, more concerned tone of voice. "You certainly look... different."
    Cherry laughed. "Geez, I hope so. That peasant maiden get-up is one of the worst." Her gaze moved to Gallant as he started to turn around then paused to adjust his eye patch. She couldn't help but wonder why he had to wear such a thing when any physical defect she knew of could easily be repaired by Innerworld's medical personnel. What could it be hiding?
    She waited for the kind of complimentary greeting men usually paid her as Gallant quickly scanned her from head to toe, but he swiveled back around without a word.
    "Well," she said when it was obvious he wasn't going to comment on her improved appearance. "What do y'all do around here for fun?" she asked, momentarily slipping back into her Georgian accent.
    Before anyone could answer, she walked to the side of the bridge and touched the glass. "This is really amazing. It's practically invisible. How does it stay so clean?" She pressed both hands against the glass then stepped back. Her prints remained visible for only a few seconds before they vanished. "Self-cleaning, huh?" She turned to see Mar grin at her and she smiled back.
    Cherry circled the bridge, looking out from every angle possible. "It's so dark. How can you tell where you're going?" When she received no answer to this question either, she walked up behind Gallant and tried to read what was on the monitor in front of him.
    Gallant tensed as he felt her hovering over him. It was bad enough that he had made the mistake of seeing what she looked like out of costume, with her this close he could practically feel the energy radiating from her body. She was making it extremely difficult to think of her as an inanimate object. "Perhaps you would like to read or