Outcast Read Online Free PDF

merely wishing to inquire about your health," Lan said eventually, shifting in his seat. "But I was trying to find the correct phrases. It is unusual for me to speak in words."
    Prez looked at the Aldorian's inoffensive expression, feeling stupid for a second. "My apologies then," he said. "And... welcome aboard."
    "Thank you."
    It appeared that Lan was getting to know the customized navigational console very quickly, and Prez was relieved. He got through three bags of Skits and half a chapter of Flaha Maloha's Belaari for Imbeciles before the Andran bureaucrats finally released the vessel, and he eased the Outcast out of the docking station and into orbit. The couple's ship was on the other side of the planet, so he programmed in the coordinates and sat back, licking the crumbs off his fingers and listening to the hum of the engines. Not for the first time, he missed Flack, the easy conversation and endless jokes and anecdotes that meant Prez didn't have to make much effort to talk. He wondered how he was going to get the couple off the ship without Flack or Doc to help, and the Aldorian's slim arms didn't look any stronger than his own.
    Prez had never seen an Aldorian in the flesh before and glanced surreptitiously at his co-pilot's reflection in the window as the ship glided through space. Lan had a long, handsome face and slanted black eyes that moved independently of each other; one was studying the console, the other focused on the Tablet he was now reading with details of the Outcast's next mission. His purplish skin seemed almost translucent, changing color in blushes of dark and light. The ill-fitting robes gaped open as if he didn't know how to tie them together, revealing a nicely muscled chest. Apart from the thick ringlets that hung down to just below his shoulder, the same color as his skin, his body seemed completely hairless. Only his hands looked familiar, the three strong fingers and two opposable thumbs that every race seemed to have -- everyone except Prez and some of his friends, and the aliens from the blue planet so far away that still hadn't managed to pilot a spacecraft beyond their own moon.
    Then he saw one of Lan's eyes meet his own, and he dropped his gaze back to the console, blood rushing into his cheeks.
    Lan showed no reaction to being stared at. "The payment for this mission seems..." he said, looking at the Tablet and frowning as he searched for the word, "extreme."
    "I can't find a thing wrong with the contracts. They're even opening a jump gate for us to get there in time to pick up the cargo, paid for courtesy of the Belaari government , no less. And jump gates aren't cheap."
    "I have checked," Lan said. "But still."
    "Well, it must be a valuable cargo. Honestly? I don't give a sar-sal' s fart what it is, as long as I get the gees." Prez rubbed his hands together and grinned. "Then I can get rid of this old box and finally get a ship that's fast enough to leave this system before I die of old age."
    "Where is it you wish to go?"
    Home was the first response that sprung to mind, but he kept it to himself. "As long as I never have to do business with any Belaari ever again, any place is fine." Then he groaned. "That reminds me, I'll have to turn this thing on again." He reached under the console and jerked his hand back. "Ohay! He bit me."
    "He?"
    "Flack. Thought he was in the shuttle." Sucking his finger, Prez pulled out a small black electronic device with a blinking red light on the side and set it beside his seat. "I'll just leave it a while," he said. "We've got a day to go before we get to the jump gate coordinates, so feel free to have a look around, meet the others."
    Lan picked up the device and turned it over in his hands. "What is this?"
    Prez tapped his head. "It activates this translation chip. Got one implanted a while ago. Belaari don't lower themselves to speak in Common, and theirs is a beast of a language to learn. I keep it off, mostly. It doesn't really work, and it