Read Online Desert World Rebirth by Lyn Gala - Free Book Online Page A

the report. “I’m still at the part where they sound like thirteen-year-olds making threats.”
    “Oh, it gets better,” Shan said sarcastically before taking a big bite of sandwich.
    Temar was deep into a report with one side blaming the other for terrorist attacks when the board started to whine. It was a high-pitched sound that made Temar cringe. “I didn’t touch anything,” he cried out, putting his hands up as if that would prove that he hadn’t broken the machine.
    “Crap,” Shan muttered before he crammed his sandwich in his mouth and dropped to the floor, pulling the lower panel off the computer. He pressed against Temar’s legs, and Temar slid out of the chair to give him more room.
    “What is it?” Temar asked. The whine rose and fell, the sound cutting through his head and making his ever-present headache throb in time with the noise.
    “I don’t know.” Shan’s voice was muffled. “Get my gray tool kit, the small one by the door to my bedroom,” he called. Temar turned and ran from the room, grabbed up the bag, and came back. Shan knelt on the floor, his large hands moving as though tracing some wire, but the machine was such a mass of wires and glass circuits and control boards that Temar couldn’t understand any of it. He just slid the bag in next to Shan and bit his lip.
    Shan grabbed several tools and went to work. Three indicator lights went to red and then black, and Temar opened his mouth to warn Shan, but he didn’t want to break the intense concentration he could sense, so he waited.
    “You little sandrat. That’s where you are,” Shan muttered, and then the whine vanished, replaced with a persistent beeping noise that was less painful, even if it was just as annoying. “That’s really not much better.” Shan pushed himself up to his knees and peered at the panel. Inching closer, Temar watched the pattern of flashing blue, green, and violet lights. Violet was new.
    “Is it broken?”
    Shan gave an exaggerated shrug. “I don’t think so.”
    “So it’s supposed to flash like that?”
    “Clearly under some circumstances, it is. I’ll look it up.” Getting up, Shan headed for the other computer and pulled up what looked like more of the repair and use manuals.
    “It’s the left-hand indicators blinking violet,” Temar offered. Shan made a small grunting noise as he read through the material, and Temar watched Shan’s eyebrows come down as he frowned at the text. It was funny—everything had seemed to come easy for Ben. He’d laughed easily, talked to people easily, stolen water easily, and raped Temar easily. But Shan had this intensity, like he had to really concentrate on whatever he was doing. He was that way when he tried to talk to Temar about something important, and he seemed to throw everything into concentrating on his screen now. Temar studied the curve of Shan’s shoulder, the finger that ran down the screen as though trying to keep track of his place in the reading.
    Walking over, Temar stood behind him and rested his hand on Shan’s shoulder. Shan looked up, offering a quick smile before he went back to reading the manual. “It’s definitely the communication system. Nothing else seems to connect to that workstation,” Shan said, his voice distant as his finger ran down the screen before he scrolled it down and started his finger at the top of the screen again.
    “Okay, that alarm either means we have a new incoming stream or....”
    “Or?”
    “Or the system is going to blow up,” Shan said, but from his tone, he was joking.
    “I’ll make sure to stand behind you, then,” Temar teased right back. “So, who’s sending us a new set of complaints?”
    “Who knows?” Shan said. “These people do seem very capable of complaining.”
    “I have to admit that I’m a little surprised at how talented they are at that.”
    “Same here. I always thought of the inner planets as these powerful people with incredible technology that allowed them to