Star Kissed Read Online Free PDF Page B

what looked like a lunch box with soft walls and a spout for drinking. “There is more food in here. We will leave you alone to change.”
    She accepted the satchel and retreated deeper into the room. The uniform was two pieces: a long-sleeved shirt and pants. They fit snugly, like the clothing she wore to her Pilates training three times a week. She pulled the fabric away from her arm, astonished when it stretched a full two feet without ripping. She released it, and it snapped back into place, like a second skin.
    “Like pajamas,” she said in approval at the comfortable outfit.  
    Mandy looked at each necklace again as she lifted the peach medallion to tuck it beneath her shirt. The one filled with broken glass shards she removed. She slung the water satchel across her chest and moved to the open area outside the room, where Urik and Penal waited for her.
    Interested in trying to open the necklace, she didn’t notice when they stopped talking and stared at her. She glanced up and held out the small storage box.
    “This is the one Gonor said to give to you,” she said to Urik. “He put stuff inside, but I don’t know how to get it out.”
    Urik blinked and took it. He shook it once, twice, then opened it and dumped the glass shards onto his hand.
    He shared a look with Pinal then smiled.
    “I knew he was good,” Pinal said, once again pleased.
    “It’s pretty,” Mandy said and leaned closer. Urik held out his hand to her. “But why do you want broken glass?”
    “It’s only the rarest type of currency we have, outside of energy shards,” Pinal explained. “This amount will buy us a city.”
    “Glass?” she asked. She touched it. The edges of the glass were worn down from time, but there was no mistaking the translucent colors, like colorful vases lined up in an antique store’s window. Amber, clear, pink, green, blue … all glinted in the light of the flameless fires. “It’s plentiful in my time.”
    “This is from your time. Or so historians believe,” Urik said. “Which is why it’s so rare. Ten thousand-year-old fragments from a world long gone.”
    Her gasp made them both look up. Mandy’s throat was almost too tight for her to breathe. Urik replaced the glass in its box.
    She stared at the box containing the fragments of her world. She knew how valuable ancient Roman coins and Egyptian artifacts were in her time. These were even rarer. She watched him place the necklace around his neck, trying hard not to think of all she’d lost. If she didn’t continue telling herself this was a long dream, she’d just fall over and cry herself to death.
    “I’m ready,” she said with a deep breath. “I want to leave. Can you take me to a star gate?”
    She thought Urik looked amused.
    “There is one near. We can leave the city soon but not now,” he said. “We have to wait until the patrols subside.”
    “We’ll show you first where we must go.” Pinal said.
    Dread settled heavier into her stomach. Mandy trailed them as they took her through a narrow doorway and up a set of stone stairs, these normally spaced. The stairs exited at another door-less doorway – a staple in the future, she mused – and onto the roof of one of the large Lego-block buildings.
    “This is the city,” Urik said, sweeping his arms out. “There are the gates and the great beyond.”
    The city consisted of dark cubes, fog and grayness. She faced the gates. They were made of larger blocks, lower than the surrounding buildings. She could glimpse what looked like black sand beyond and maybe, a river. But between them and the walls was half the city.
    “The city ends at the River of Sludge. It’s filled with a thousand years of chemicals that will paralyze a man with its scent alone,” Urik said.
    “Then the scorching sands start,” Pinal added. “They burn through our boots, even when it’s cold. We must cross both to get to the star gate.”
    “You are more …” Urik looked her up and down “… delicate