She flashed her identification seal at the driver, who nodded as he made note of the number to bill the Legion. She didn’t like the fighting aspect of her career, but she tried to look at it as the price of flying a Rigel starfighter.īut it was a price that took its toll, Shaylah thought as she got out of the aircab, in pressure as well as blood. ![]() She wanted a fast ship, open space, and a star to shoot for, not a slow, lumbering craft that couldn’t get out of its own way. She could have turned to commercial work, but jockeying the heavy cargo ships through the crowded traffic lanes, or passengers on the multitude of milk runs between colonies, wasn’t her idea of flying. And since the thing she wanted most in life was to fly, she had little choice. ![]() Early on she had arrived at a very simple realization: One only stayed in the Coalition Legion if one toed their line. The blessed, almighty, all-consuming Coalition. “The Coalition,” Shaylah muttered under her breath as, after throwing the port captain a halfhearted salute, she climbed into the aircab. Have a nice stay, Captain.” Then, almost as an afterthought, came the required words. The exterior of the small transport was battered, but it sounded smooth enough, and the guide smiled engagingly. “Certainly.” The woman pressed a button, and within moments an aircab appeared. ![]() She’d intended to walk-Califa’s residence wasn’t far-but the hot, wet air was more than Shaylah wanted to deal with, so she nodded. “Of course,” the woman said, eagerness taking any rudeness out of her interruption. “Until they order me back, I suppose.” Or until the ship was repaired and she could get flying again, she thought. “You deserve a rest.” The woman lifted a brow. I’m just here to visit an old friend.” Her mouth quirked. Is that why you’re here? For a rehab visit?” She glanced at Shaylah’s forehead. “You’re becoming quite the hero,” the port captain said. None of those ships would attack a Coalition colony again anytime soon, she thought with satisfaction. The Sunbird had swooped in, disabled, and boarded them before the three commanders had even been able to identify their foe. The victory had been, she knew, largely a matter of luck, a well-trained crew, and the fortunately plodding battle tactics of the Romerian forces. “We heard all about the battle, about how you went up against three Romerian starcruisers and won. Shaylah only vaguely recalled the captain from her last stop here, what seemed like eons ago, but the woman seemed to recognize her immediately. She handed him the recorder with the list of needed repairs and walked off the suspension dock toward the Carelia port captain’s office. Since the ship had never been perfect to begin with, Shaylah overlooked that piece of exaggeration and trusted to the glow of greed in the man’s eyes to get the job done. “Yes, ma’am! I’ll have her so perfect you won’t even recognize her yourself!” You get her back in shape while I’m here, and there’ll be another one in it for you.” She smiled wryly as she glanced back at the battered, delta-winged starfighter. His voice trailed off, as if he feared insulting her. “That where you been, Cap’n? Ship looks a bit. “A withal!” he exclaimed, “A Romerian withal!” He gaped at her. She flipped it toward him he caught it, then stared when he saw what it was. She dug into the pocket of her uniform tunic and pulled out a gleaming coin. Shaylah glanced at the smartly uniformed landing bay attendant. Twin suns make it like walkin’ into a Zap cooker.” Her frown as she hit the wall of humid heat outside the ship’s pressure lock was involuntary she only knew the expression had flitted across her face by the pull of the neuskin graft over the almost healed wound at her temple. THE FACT THAT she was exhausted colored Shaylah’s reaction as she stepped out of the Sunbird. We at BelleBooks enjoy hearing from readers. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.įirst published in 1994 by Topaz, an imprint of Dutton Signet, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc. Printed and bound in the United States of America.Īll rights reserved. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events or locations is entirely coincidental.īell Bridge Books is an Imprint of BelleBooks, Inc.Ĭopyright © 1994 by Janice Davis Smith writing as Justine Davis Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Other Justine Davis Books coming soon from Bell Bridge Books: ![]() Lord of the Storm’s Accolades and Honors: One of Romantic Times 200 BEST OF ALL TIME! “ so many sparks that it’s a wonder the book doesn’t set itself on fire while you’re reading it.”
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