Read Online First Watch: A Watcher Bay Adventure by Auburn Seal - Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t have changed this much—a complete and total value shift—in five years, regardless of how many planets he’d encountered.
    The aircraft began to experience turbulence and Levra fought the urge to vomit. Or to think about her sister’s last flight. Her mind slipped back to when she’d first boarded this aircraft a blond woman, a female officer, approached her.
    Her visit with Morgan Moore didn’t help the nagging worry at the back of her mind.
    “Mrs. Shield, it’s good to meet you.”
    “Thank you, Officer Moore. You as well.”
    “Call me Morgan. You aren’t one of my soldiers.”
    “You are Gunnar’s second-in-command, though. Maybe I should call you captain?”
    Morgan laughed. “Not unless you left your civilian status behind in New Seattle. I heard about the work you do with the Ddaerans at Dwyr. I admire your love for them.”
    “They are a wonderful people with a rich culture. We have much to share with them, and they have much to teach us as well. I hope we find a similar situation at our destination as I enjoyed at Dwyr. Gunnar said there is a rumor about these particular villagers possessing extraordinary abilities.”
    A strange look passed over Morgan’s face. “Let us hope not. If you wish peace for the Ddaerans at Glanmorr, you should hope they are very ordinary.”
    “What do you mean?”
    She shook her head. “Nothing. Nevermind. I shouldn’t have said anything. Forget I did.” Morgan took a deep breath. “One more thing, Mrs. Shield.” She looked around for something and continued hesitantly. “I really shouldn’t say this, but you should know. It’s only right for women to stick together.” Her voice lowered considerably. “You shouldn’t trust Ana. With your husband, I mean.”
    And then Officer Morgan Moore walked away. It was a strange comment for her to make, and Levra hadn’t forgotten it, but she also didn’t feel comfortable discussing it with Gunnar. She had an instinct he shouldn’t know about Morgan’s suspicions about the mission. Officer Moore seemed like a nice person, and she didn’t want her to get in hot water with Gunnar.
    It was after midnight now, and the sky outside Levra’s window was dark. Now the turbulence tossed their craft around in the sky and Levra contemplated Morgan’s words. She’d rather think about the accusations the officer had hinted at than envision their plane falling from the sky.
    The comment Morgan had made about Ana was difficult to shake. Ever since she’d made those remarks earlier on the voyage, Levra paid a little more attention to communications officer Ana Chekhov. She seemed very nice.
    When Levra first met Ana two weeks ago, she’d seemed a bit phony and awfully comfortable with Gunnar, but Levra had tried to put her suspicions and feelings of jealousy aside. Ana did seem a little over-friendly with some of the guys, especially Gunnar, but Levra had never seen her do anything inappropriate. Perhaps Officer Moore had some issues. Levra would watch all of them. She wasn’t sure who to trust at this point. She wished she could at least rely on Gunnar, but it wasn’t a sure thing in her mind anymore.
    Gunnar sat back down next to Levra in time for the landing.
    The captain’s voice came through the ship’s loudspeakers and broke through her thoughts before Gunnar could sense something was wrong.
    “We are approaching our destination and will begin our descent. Please be sure your straps are fastened securely. There’s a large, very powerful storm on the radar. We will be landing in rough conditions, if we can land at all, and the ship can’t stick around for long. We’ll be back in a few days with more supplies once the storm clears. Unloading will commence immediately upon landing. Prepare your belongings.”
    She glanced at Gunnar, trying to hide her anxiety. She’d been nervous about flying even before the accident with Mitch. Since then, her anxiety was nearly crippling. She didn’t like to fly. At