The Lereni Trade Read Online Free PDF Page A

and sniffed. Not exactly cake and donuts, but
she was too hungry to argue.
    Feeling his eyes on her every move,
she peeled back the rest to expose a dark, lumpy slop.
    "Ugh. What is this stuff?"
    His grimace burned off any hope.
"Rations…Nutritious but not good."
    "Not good? You don't like
it?"
    He shook his head, confirming what she
suspected.
    "But you must eat," the computer said
from his words. "Keep your strength."
    She set the pack in her lap and
studied his alien face for some human, familiar sign of what they
weren't telling her. "Why?"
    He looked away to the others, who had
paused in their work to stare at Torik and her. "You are
important."
    Important enough to keep alive but not
enough to explain why.
    Sooner or later, she was going to
learn for herself.
    But first, she needed something in her
stomach.
     
    * * *
     
    Krissa dumped the half-eaten slop in
the dining area incinerator chute, glad to be rid of it after what
she was able to choke down. The food left a bitter taste in her
mouth that left her grimacing and wanting to wash her mouth clean
with something more tasteful than recycled water.
    "That stuff is awful."
    Torik gave a less than enthusiastic
nod.
    "How do you survive on
that?"
    "Necessity," he said.
    It would be pure necessity that moved
her to eat it, but until that was a problem, she wasn't
desperate.
    At the approach of steps, both of them
turned. Karik, whom she recognized by the bars on his shoulder as
much as the greater depth of his chest and jaw, stopped in the
doorway.
    "Torik."
    He turned fully to face his commanding
officer.
    "Command center." Saying nothing more,
Karik marched out.
    Torik gave her only a glance and
followed in obedience.
    Curious, Krissa trailed him from the
food area to the main hold and across the common room. At the
narrow hall to the control room, Karik turned, stopping Torik. His
eyes pressed her to halt.
    "Not you," the bigger alien said and
marched away with Torik following.
    They disappeared when the door
closed.
    The computer hadn't interpreted. She
had understood those simple words.
    The corner of her mouth twitched into
a satisfied smile. She was getting it as quickly as she had hoped.
Soon, they couldn't keep secrets from her except through closed
doors.
    If she played dumb, maybe they would
reveal the secret Karik held close to his chest. Or maybe he
understood too well, which was why he had taken Torik into their
command deck and had spoken to him privately in one of the other
rooms that morning.
    Karik wasn't stupid; he knew what she
wanted. But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of revealing
anything.
    At the ruffle of fabric, she turned to
the other two aliens at the booth table. They watched her with what
she could only interpret as curious gazes.
    A shiver of discomfiture made her
shift on the spot and look for a place to wait for Torik where she
wouldn't be constantly under their surveillance. He was the only
one who seemed to care, and no one had ever cared for her. They had
always kept their distance, like these two. Karik was also
different than most people she met, if she was going to consider
these beings people. She couldn't yet place it, but it wasn't the
same as school friends or family who would make her feel like she
wasn't there. Rather, he seemed to go out of his way to be cold to
her.
    Or she was imagining it all. She
hardly knew them.
    Rather, she only knew that she
appreciated Torik, but even he kept a secret from her.
    A secret that Karik commanded him to
keep from her.
    What did they want with her? Why had
they sought her specifically?
    If the other two weren't watching, she
might have been able to sneak up to the door to listen.
    Like that would do her any good. She
might be learning a few words, but she was far from fluent in their
language. In time, that might work, but for now, she was in the
dark.
    Krissa looked about the quiet hold,
watched the two at the table long enough to realize they played a
game and soon tired of their