Read Online City of Pearl by Karen Traviss - Free Book Online Page B

officer. Good to meet you.”
    â€œI’m sorry we asked you to come alone,” he said. “We don’t want to appear hostile. But we didn’t plan on having visitors from home, and it’s a shock to have our first contact with troops.”
    â€œI can understand that now,” she said, and meant it. All the forces of secular enforcement were soldiers to him. “I apologize. We could have done this better.”
    â€œYou’ve come a long way. We need to do some talking.”
    â€œIf I’ve interrupted something important, I can wait.” She was stepping gingerly from one cracking slab of conversational ice to another, never sure when she would fall in. “Busy?”
    Josh held out the flowers for inspection. She put out a hand to touch them but the suit made the exercise pointless. The restriction was irritating her.
    â€œHellebores,” he said. “We have real holly as well, but the trees are too large now to bring them inside. We wouldn’t cut them just for decoration, of course.”
    â€œThey’re very realistic.” She longed to scratch between her shoulders. “Look, how long will it take for you to analyze the blood samples?”
    â€œWe’re processing them now. I promise you it won’t take long.”
    At least it proved they’d retained some level of sophisticated technology if they could run a lab. Had they also developed that defense system? They’d had nearly two hundred years to do it. But she doubted it.
    â€œWhy don’t you sit here awhile?” Josh offered, as if she could have done anything else. “I’ll be back as soon as your own samples are cleared.”
    Shan found herself alone in the church. It would have been a serene experience if the suit helmet hadn’t amplified her breathing. She concentrated on the rise and fall of her chest and settled into a shallow rhythm. Colored light from the window edged across her lap, picking out the monitor panels and seals. It was hypnotic.
    A saint surrounded by animals hung motionless in light before her. She read the words on a scroll at his feet: “It is Satan and his henchmen who martyr animals.” It was almost wiccan. She knew Josh wouldn’t have agreed.
    Â 
    Shan woke with a start, heart pounding. Josh was standing over her. He smiled and tapped his head. “You can take that off—you’re clear,” he said. “Sorry I startled you.”
    She broke the seal with relief. The air that rushed in was wood-scented and slightly damp, underlaid by unidentifiable smells that reminded her of fruit as they hit her palate. “That’s better,” she said. “I nodded off. I think my metabolism is still screwed from the cryo. So, no bugs?”
    â€œSome, but nothing we can’t handle. Come on. I’ll show you the town.”
    She followed him back down the nave, relieved to be getting out, like a burglar who had lost her nerve. Treading on other people’s sacred soil always disturbed her. She paused to look up at the fine stained glass again.
    â€œThat’s quite a sight.”
    â€œI’m told the translucent areas are actually the most wonderful blues and mauves,” Josh said. “But not to human eyes.” He looked suddenly awkward, and turned away. Was he talking about the vision of angels? Perault’s voice intruded from the dead past: We know they made contact with aliens . She decided not to ask, not yet.
    It seemed indecent to take off the rest of her suit in the church. When she reached the porch she struggled free of it, draping it over one arm. She could feel a slight but steady breeze on her face—artificial, she imagined—and a heady mix of cooking smells that she couldn’t quite identify beyond garlic and ginger.
    â€œI’ll walk you round the main parts of town, so you get your bearings,” he said. “It’ll take awhile. We don’t use vehicles much.