Read Online Dragonstar Destiny by Thomas F. Monteleone, David Bischoff - Free Book Online

indeed make it back to Earth. The means of achieving this feat, however, was a complete mystery to him. His unflagging optimism was reflected in his decision to retain living quarters in the tent which only weeks ago had been a part of the Saurians’ continuous outdoor bazaar. After the Documentary Riot (as it was now called) and the eventual realliance with the Saurians, the humans had been given the bazaar tents as temporary housing until more permanent quarters could be built by joint teams of humans and Saurians.
    But Phineas Kemp wanted no part of “permanent housing.” He didn’t like the sound of those words, and so, despite the still-lingering Saurian redolence of the tent, he and Mikaela made no effort to secure more comfortable digs.
    The stove’s flames accepted the new cuts with warm gratitude, and Phineas now began preparing for the evening meal. He was a member of several committees, but today was his day off, and he was playing house husband for Mikaela, who was attending a round of meetings with the Ruling Council, of which she was an elected member, and various committee chairmen and chairwomen,
    Phineas frowned as he stood up and began pulling goods from their ration larder. Already the bureaucracy of their normal world was beginning to creep over their survival camp like unstoppable fungus, like Georgia kudzu, and to choke off all recognizable signs of life and accomplishment. He had never liked trying to do things by committee, but it seemed as though it was the only way to mollify some of the more liberal and idealistic factions among the Human Enclave. He believed that too many cooks spoiled many a stew, and that there was no replacement for singular, decisive, one-man-in-charge kind of leadership.
    Phineas Kemp serving as a committee-person! The idea seemed ludicrous, and he loathed being a part of not one, but several of the damnable things! But he had no choice ...
    Mikaela was always telling him that he suffered from a John Wayne complex, but he didn’t think it was very funny. Phineas had not risen through the ranks of the IASA to the rank of Colonel, before reaching the age of forty, by being a chumpy, cautious, indecisive wimp.
    Hell no!
    Very quickly he gained a reputation as a take-charge guy. A guy with what the Italians called cogliones —balls . In fact, he had always known that his nickname among the lASA officers was “Iron-Balls,” but he’d never let any of them know it.
    Well, It would be a cold day in hell before anybody could say that Phineas Kemp threw in the towel, that was for certain. He’d never quit on anything in his life and he wasn’t about to quit now. Wherever this giant tin can was going to end up, Phineas vowed that he would be ready for it.
    As he placed the rations in their cook-pak containers onto the stove, Phineas heard footsteps on the loose gravel outside the entrance to the tent. Turning, he saw Mikaela Lindstrom enter. She wore her usual loose-fitting khaki jumpsuit, with her long, sparkling blond hair piled up on her head. It was totally functional, but when errant strands started to fall out of the bun-like construction, Phineas found it sexy as hell.
    “Hello, my dear,” he said with a smile. “How did it go in the office today?”
    “Meetings bore me,” said Mikaela.
    She moved close to him, hugging him, letting her head linger on his shoulder. Being at least ten centimeters shorter than Phineas’s less than imposing height, Mikaela always made him feel quite tall. He kissed her long, delicate neck and relished the smell of her freshly washed hair. A sudden rush of desire surged through him like an electric shock. He wanted her as strongly as he ever had.
    Mikaela, backing away from his embrace, must have felt his sudden wanting, too. She looked at him with a wry smile.
    “Feeling inspired all of a sudden?” she asked.
    “You might say that. Can’t help, Mickey. It’s what you do to me.”
    “Don’t call me Mickey. You know I hate