Read Online Anstractor (The New Phase Book 1) by Greg Dragon - Free Book Online

He smiled at her, and she looked up weakly at him and nodded.
    “Yes, let’s quit this dump.”
    Rafian poked around at the controls of the vessel, and after a few moments, he figured out how to activate the transmitter. Pulling up the star map, he transmitted a message to the Helysian for rescue and put in the verification codes that were asked of him the minute it went through. Almost instantly, the ship erupted into a screaming alarm, and Rafian steeled himself for combat as several of the octopi came into the room and paused to look at the couple.
    “ Dvat…sel…un…Rafian…cuor Aurora ,” Aurora offered up in her best Searnese.
    Rafian understood her to be introducing them to the machines, but he didn’t know whether they would understand her. Before long, the alarms went silent, and even though the robots had seemed ready to vaporize them a second ago, they wheeled away to continue their work.
    “To think, our thoughtful marines were content to let a brilliant officer like you die in space, Aurora. Ha! What you did just now was nothing short of amazing!”
    Rafian was sweating like crazy, but he managed a grin.
    But Aurora was not looking well.
    “Can you hold on for another hour, Aurora—just one more hour? Can you do this for me, hon?”
    He was pleading with her as she fought to keep her eyes open and focused while he rubbed her hands to make them stay warm. As the minutes ticked by, Rafian tore the room apart, looking for something edible to feed Aurora. His search yielded nothing, but luckily for them, it didn’t take long for the rescue ship to appear. Aurora was extremely pale, but she propped herself up on one arm, trying her best to be brave.
    “In a few minutes, you will be on a friendly ship, with food, drink, and all of the things that you like, Aurora. What do you think about that, huh?”
    Rafian made it a point to keep talking so that she would be forced to respond, and when they boarded the ship to be rescued, she made sure to stay awake in order to acknowledge that it wasn’t all a dream.
    * * *
    On Helysian , Aurora was fed, vaccinated, and taken to the infirmary, while Rafian was scolded and punished for his unsanctioned rescue mission. It was a complicated return and ceremony for Aurora, but she was granted her wings as a pilot for “making it back to the ship.”
    About a week after they had returned, Rafian was in the simulation room gearing up for a mission when a beautiful, young woman in a pilot’s uniform sat down next to him and held him close.
    “Erm, hello?” he said quietly as his eyes began scanning the room quickly for any sign of Vani.
    “Rafian…do you not recognize me?” she exclaimed before punching him solidly in the arm.
    “Oh, my gods! Aurora?” he said as he stood up to take her all in. “You look…you look like a model!”
    Smiling, Aurora patted the seat next to her, motioning for him to sit. When he did, she poured her heart out, tearfully thanking him and letting him know she owed him her life in debt. Rafian thought about it for a while, and then, after a hug that lasted an eternity, he looked at her and said, “How about I call you sister?”
    “What do you mean, Raf?” she asked, puzzled.
    “Well, we’re both outsiders, Aurora, and I can’t shake the closeness that I feel with you, having had you as a partner in hell these past few days, y’know? It would be nice to have some sort of family here beyond girlfriends and things like that. Someone who will actually care when I do good things or when I get into trouble. Nobody seems to care about us outside of our uniform and service. So if you’ll have me, I’d like to call you sister.”
    Aurora’s eyes were all fire and excitement at the prospect, and she kissed him on the cheek with glee.
    “Yay! Of course, brother!”
    Though there would be no official vacation given to young Rafian as a result of his adventure in saving Aurora, he felt he had done something useful, and it made his heart