Hollow Space Read Online Free PDF

confessor. Because of her unusually strong emotional ties to the common crystals, she feels their pain more than those of my sect—the energizers. Though if we are around a crystal that is truly dying, we are as aware of it as she is. They just wouldn’t tell their story to us. They would imbibe the most basic of information to us so that we may report the mode and/or method of their demise.”
    “Where did this piece of technology come from? Whose quarters did you find it in?”
    Amanassa shrugged. “A note was slipped beneath the door of your quarters early this morning informing her of where to find the vidi-tuner.” Amanassa shook his head. “At least she had the intelligence to come to me and not try to ease the crystal’s pain on her own. As if that was a possibility.” Anger etched the last part of Amanassa’s statement.
    Michaelerus wished he could get one break—just one clue as to how the Dareauxians actually operated. Hopefully, if he could get just a little more insight, he could figure out how to continue with the mating and give his t esra peace.
    “She is rarely at peace.” Amanassa clapped Michaelerus on the shoulder and reminded the supreme commander of his guest’s telepathic ability. “She takes her duty very seriously.”
    He watched her lean over the damaged piece of quartz. Through his own empathic connection, he felt her sorrow. Reaching out with the telepathy wrought from the mating, all he heard was chanting in a language unknown to the intergalactic translator. It was lovely, yet so morose, it knifed through him. It wasn’t just one voice singing a song so sad it broke his heart, though. There were three. One was Jada’s. Another was Amanassa’s. The third he didn’t recognize.
    Michaelerus slashed his gaze to Amanassa’s face. “The crystals are truly living entities.” Some would say the sand of Lazarus Seven was too. In many ways it was, but it wasn’t essential to his life and that of all the Navorains. Many a Navorain had gone without ever being touched by the glittering dust. Those were mostly half-castes and those born from rogue groups who resided on other planets. A few were warriors who were being punished for some crime.
    The crystals were different for the Dareauxians. They weren’t just empathetic—their main purpose wasn’t to bring solace to a warrior or mate a Navorain. They were truly two parts of a whole that made up their civilization.
    “Your sand is amazing, but it is true. The sand is a part of your world but is neutral. It does not make decisions for you except when you mate, and then, it is only telling you that you are compatible with the person you have come into contact with.” Amanassa’s hand dropped back to his side. “The crystals really are a part of us.”
    “Is there anything we could do for it?” He meant to include his doctor or crew but missed the mark. This is a lot to take on.
    “No.” Amanassa sighed. His expression turned grim. “This crystal is at the end of its life. Once we are done at Community Headquarters, we’ll transport it back to Dareaux where it can be buried amongst its relatives and friends.”
    Standing beside the counselor, Michaelerus watched the glow from the crystal pulse slower and slower until it gave one last faint beat and then grow dark. Jada broke down in sobs. She hugged the stone to her chest. The chant he’d been listening to became a long, low drone of a single person—Amanassa.
    It was a requiem.
    “Take her to your room. I’ll see the crystal is prepared for burial.” Amanassa took a single step away from Michaelerus. “Congratulations on your mating.” The counselor clenched his jaw for a moment but then physically relaxed his stance. “The New Chastity Party is a major concern for our kind, but we will somehow find a way around all the nonsense of it.” His gaze slid to Michaelerus’s face. “She worries she’s done irreparable damage to the alliance we need to forge with your