Read Online Pursue the Past: Samair in Argos: Book 1 by Michael Kotcher - Free Book Online Page A

looked vile and smelled worse, and the fact that he was eating it by bringing the bowl straight up to his mouth and then having his mandibles shovel it into his mouth wasn’t helping Tamara’s digestion any.
                  “How about that… goop?” she said with a grimace.
                  “This?” he said, slightly raising the bowl.  “It’s good!  It’s a conglomeration of various…”
                  She paled as some of the goop dripped from his mouth parts and into the bowl.  “Never mind!  I’m sorry I asked.  I’m glad that you like it.”
                  He chittered with laughter, which caused some of his food so splatter a bit.  “It’s not my favorite, of course.  There’s a place on Suspiria that has the best plommenkaa.”  She knew the name, it was a zheen delicacy.  His amaranthine exoskeleton, what she could see anyway that wasn’t hidden by his coveralls, tinted suddenly with a bit of rose, indicating pleasure.
                  “Just like Mother used to make?” she teased, taking another bite.  She blinked her eyes rapidly.  It had been a long day, exceptionally long if you considered the hibernation.  But she wasn’t ready to rest yet.
                  His antennae curled, showing disgust.  “Don’t even joke about that.  My mother was the worst cook ever.  Even when it came out of a food synthesizer she managed to burn it.”  He took another slurp.  “So I’m impressed with your stamina.”
    She scowled.  “Is this a sex thing?  Because I’m busy right now and it isn’t funny.”
    He shook his head.  “It’s not like that.  I don’t do humans.  Besides, I’m already mated.  But most humans I’ve seen, especially on this ship, couldn’t have been working as long or as hard as you have since you came onboard.”
    She shrugged, finishing off the ration bar.  “I’m a Navy officer, I’m used to having close deadlines.  Besides, I’m motivated.”
    “Motivated?”
    Tamara nodded, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.  “Captain said I get to keep the fighter once it’s completed.”
    He nodded, impressed.  “I’m surprised you got the Captain to agree to that.  He isn’t known for his giving nature.”
    “Well, I’m technically buying it from him by working off the debt.”
    He eyed her quizzically.  “And how would you work it off?”
    “If he likes the quality of my work – our work – on the Perdition here, I’ll work to fix up the Grania Estelle .”
    Ka’Xarian nodded slowly, finishing the rest of his meal.  “Well, from what I’ve seen while we’ve been working on this, I’ll be happy to work with you on the big ship.”
    “Well, there’s not much left to do on the fighter.  Probably another day, working on the engine rebuilds and then another twelve or so hours putting the guns together.  Then after that just the tuning and tweaking.”
    “How long do you think that will take?”
    She sighed.  “Hard to say.  Hopefully only a few tedious hours.”
    He set the bowl down.  “Then let’s get to it, shall we?”
     
                  It actually took nearly three days.  After all that time, and barely six hours of sleep, Tamara took a step back to admire her handiwork.  Well, hers and Ka’Xarian.  She had to hand it to the zheen, he was pretty good at his job.  And maybe now, with proper support, they could get the freighter up and running correctly.  But that was a job for later.  For now, she was going for a test flight.  Or rather, she was once the Captain had inspected her work on the Perdition . 
                  He was inspecting the work, though he wasn’t pulling anything apart.  No, he was running a hand over a wing here, looking over a component there, even stuck his head in the cockpit for a closer look.
                  “So, what do you think?” she asked, crossing her arms over her