Lady of the Star Wind Read Online Free PDF Page B

moment, she stepped into the room and retreated in the same breath because a flicker of the disorientation she’d endured when she’d Traveled whirled through her body.  
    One step at a time, Sandy retreated from the door, which closed when she’d moved two feet down the hall. Hand to her forehead, she leaned against the wall, trying to control her breathing and quell the panic response induced by the sensation of Traveling. Trembling, leaning on the wall to counteract her vertigo, she made her way to the bedroom and sat next to Mark for some time, blaster in her lap. Maybe solo exploration isn’t the best idea. Yet the one door she hadn’t tried was enticing. Finally, she rose and walked into the hall, straight to the door.

    He woke with a gasp.
    Having learned his lesson the last time, Mark had no intention of opening his eyes too soon. He rolled onto his back, assessing how he felt, trying to remember what the seven hells had happened. Memory answered him with the kick of an adrenaline rush. Forgetting caution, he opened his eyes at the same time he moved to a sitting position, staring at his unfamiliar surroundings. A mild wave of residual vertigo chased itself through his head, passing in a moment. He pushed aside the coat lying across his body.  
    He was in the center of a large chamber, opening onto a hall. The ceiling soared twelve feet above him, a translucent white surface crisscrossed with thin bands of black. The room had been cut from living rock, veined in greens, yellows, and browns of semiprecious mineral polished to a high gloss. Here and there along the walls he saw seams and other indentations whose geometric regularity indicated deliberate placement by sentients, not natural processes. He sat in the middle of a large, three-stepped dais. It wasn’t rock, having molded itself to his body like a supremely comfortable mattress, but he couldn’t identify what the material could be.  
    No sign of Sandy, which sent his adrenaline spiking higher.
    He swung his feet over the edge of the bed, reaching for the boots flung on the floor. A slight noise distracted him, and boot in hand, he stared at the princess, standing there like an illusion. Incongruous in her beautiful turquoise silk and lace dress, leaning against the wall, she smiled at him. Meeting his gaze, she padded barefoot toward the bed. He noticed she carried his service blaster.
    As she tossed the weapon on the bed, she said, “Oh good, you’re awake again. Symptoms any better?”
    He rubbed his forehead, remembering the pain and vertigo. “Yeah, I’m firing on all jets now.”
    “How’s the shoulder?”
    Mark flexed his arm, kneading his shoulder with the opposite hand. “A little sore. What happened? All I remember is breaking that globe thing under my foot and then a whole lot of hot wind—like being in a sandstorm.”
    “Exactly like it. Barent Kliin shot at you just as we were Traveling out of there, but the blast went wide—a near miss.”
    “Lucky for me. But why was I so sick? Near misses don’t make you gut sick. Because let me tell you, I’ve had near misses and I’ve been shot before, and it’s nothing like this experience.”
    She sat on the bed, close to him but out of arm’s reach. Her face serious, the princess seemed to be studying him as she answered. “I don’t think you’re as good a candidate for the Traveling process as the Nelafinari led Lajollae to believe. Or else she didn’t care. Traveling didn’t affect me much beyond a bit of nausea, but you were in agony from the moment we arrived. Wherever we are.”
    “You’re calm about it all, pretty sure of the facts.” Mark straightened his tunic and reached for the blaster. He flipped the safety on and holstered the weapon. “You shot at something?”
    Sandy shrugged. “Target practice. I’m at least a day and a night ahead of you on this planet. And I didn’t take any ill effect from the trip.”
    “I’m sorry, but can we slow down and begin