Read Online Kicking Ashe by Pauline Baird Jones - Free Book Online Page B

she is a Garradian.”
    “A Garradian.” Calendria sounded shaken. “Is that possible?”
    “I do not know. She believes it.” It was the only known way to beat a scent parsing, if the person believed they spoke the truth, though it didn’t always work. A good scent parser could pick out traces of conflict between the conscious and unconscious mind.
    “It,” Calendria hesitated, “won’t save her from the Authority.”
    He’d touched her in sight of his team, placed her under his protection to protect his team, but he felt the binding power of the action, and beyond that an imperative to protect her . As if she mattered in a way beyond conscious thought. What he’d done was more binding than a partner matching ceremony, which could be nullified by mutual agreement, though it wasn’t an obligation the Authority would respect or honor. Could he save her? Could he save himself? The question surprised him. Save him from what? But he knew. He wanted to be free from the life he did not want, the life that did not fit. He did not want to be trapped dirt side by a suitable partner. He wanted…more.
     

THREE
     
    Ashe stayed in the shower until it began to have a strange effect on her skin. The streams of water hitting her, the sound of droplets beating the wall had been an appropriate accompaniment to her scattered thoughts and it soothed the aches Lurch lacked resources to ease. She stared at her wrinkled fingers in vague puzzlement, then turned the water off. Her back against the warmed surface of the shower, she snagged a towel and dabbed at the water running down her face, too tired to do more. I am sorry .
    For what?
    For getting you into this.
    Into what?
    We’re prisoners of the guy you love to hate. She half-heartedly rubbed her wet hair, not averse to the cooling effect of the water running down her body. I was so sure I was better than them all, so sure I could save the universe.
    I think you did save the universe. With some help.
    If we did it, how come the Time Base hasn’t sent someone in to retrieve us?
    Saving the universe did not necessarily save the Time Base.
    But wouldn’t you know? You’re the one who did it. Even if you changed your mind, wouldn’t you know?
    Not even I understand how Time works. In the pause she felt him thinking. Perhaps we’re here for a reason.
    What possible reason? Besides a big, huge accident caused by their big, huge bomb, she didn’t add.
    If Time sent us here, then time will reveal the reason.
    She hated it when he turned Zen—she had to pause to get a definition of the word. Did she believe him because she wanted to believe there was some cosmic connection between her and Shan? It was stupid, juvenile even. He looked at her like he wanted to chew her up and spit her out. She needed to keep her distance or she was going to do something stupid—she huffed at herself—before doing something else stupid.
    As long as she could remember, all she’d wanted to do was be in the Time Service. She did not remember when the feeling had grown in her. Perhaps it had always been there, like Lurch. When she turned fifteen Earth years, her father had given in and let her join. All the time, all the training, all the missing seasons with her family, the life she hadn’t lived. Was it worth it? If they’d done it, then yes, it had been worth it, but was it wrong to wish for…more?
    You are weary, your resources depleted. With rest and food, your optimism will return.
    Optimism. Usually he called it attitude and wanted her to lose it. Couldn’t accuse him of kicking her when she was down. She dragged on the robe and stepped up the basin, delaying the moment she must face these people again by trying this teeth brushing system. Odd and inefficient, she decided, as she rejected the comb and finger fluffed her hair. How ironic that the first man to ever try to get her out of her clothes wanted the uniform. Would he try to take it by force? The quiet drip, drip of water gave no