Read Online Quantum by Jess Anastasi - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jess Anastasi
Tags: Suspense, adventure, Paranormal, Action, paranormal romance, Space Opera, Military, Sci-Fi, Alien, shifters, love, Entangled, Rogue, PNR, shape shifter, secrets, Select Otherworld, Mistaken Identity, Ship, Pirate, Jess Anastasi, Save the World, Marauder
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Two days. Two days of hiking through rough wilderness—likely carrying an injured soldier if they couldn’t bring Jaren around—before they reached any type of civilization and could call for backup. When she’d agreed to the maniacal plan of hijacking Zander Graydon, she’d never imagined things would turn out like this.
The first thing she’d be doing when they got out of this forest would be contacting Rian and giving him a piece of her mind. And then she’d be telling him that instead of bringing Graydon to him, he could get his ass and his ship over to meet them so he could work out whether or not the captain admiral was really a shape-shifting alien. Hell, it’s what she should have told him in the first place.
Chapter Five
Nadira
The problem with backwater worlds? They were exactly that—nothing more than poor farmers scraping a living off the land. Besides fresh food, there were no decent supplies to be had. And apparently not one bottle of Rian’s favorite weakness of choice: Violaine.
Zahli and the ship’s doctor, Kira, haggled over the price of some fruit. Easy enough to tell the trader had jacked up his prices by about 200 percent when he’d realized they were from offworld.
Rian leaned over, plucked an apple from the display, and took a huge bite out of it, stopping the argument as everyone turned to look at him.
“I hope you’re going to pay for that. In hard credits. We don’t take red currency here on Nadira.” The trader leaned sideways a little, his eyes flashing between them all, while his hand dropped below the line of the table, bowed from the weight of produce.
While taking a second bite of apple, Rian kept a close eye on the shifty trader. The guy better not be going for a gun, because ending this little bargaining attempt with weapon fire would just make him cranky, especially considering how low his supply of Violaine was getting.
Then again…
Rian pulled out his nucleon gun in a quick movement and aimed it at the trader’s forehead.
“We’ll take your goods at the local price.” He took another slow bite out of the apple, his aim unwavering.
The trader paled and went motionless. “The local price is thirty credits per pound.”
Yeah, maybe on a rich planet like Yarina.
“We’ll take your goods at the local price, or we’ll just take them. It’s your choice.”
“Gentlemen, please!” Another man approached, but Rian didn’t take his gaze off the trader, in case the rip-off merchant was stupid enough to go for whatever weapon he had hidden under his table.
“There’s no need for such excitement.” The man stepped into his line of vision wearing an IPC government suit. “Cormann, give our visitors your goods at the local price. After all, we don’t get many offworlders stopping by this part of the galaxy.”
As the trader nodded reluctantly and turned to address Zahli, who currently held all the credits, Rian lowered his weapon.
“Welcome. I’m sorry I didn’t get here to greet you sooner, but I was stuck in a subspace conference with the IPC,” the newcomer said.
The guy held out his hand, but Rian stared at him for a long minute as he reholstered his gun, weighing up his initial impression of the man before slowly returning the handshake. Clueless local given high government position on some no-account world—no threat.
“I’m Leroi Hendricks, the grand chancellor of Liese and high president of Nadira.”
Behind Hendricks, Zahli and Kira shared a concerned look.
Frecking hell. So much for flying under the radar…or Reidar.
Rian forced a smile and moved into an easy stance. “Well, how about that. I can’t say we’ve often been met by a planet’s high president when stopping to purchase supplies.”
Hendricks clasped his hands in front of himself and rocked back on his heels, looking more than pleased. “Like I said, we don’t get many people stopping by this part of the galaxy, but we’re hoping that’s about to
Two days. Two days of hiking through rough wilderness—likely carrying an injured soldier if they couldn’t bring Jaren around—before they reached any type of civilization and could call for backup. When she’d agreed to the maniacal plan of hijacking Zander Graydon, she’d never imagined things would turn out like this.
The first thing she’d be doing when they got out of this forest would be contacting Rian and giving him a piece of her mind. And then she’d be telling him that instead of bringing Graydon to him, he could get his ass and his ship over to meet them so he could work out whether or not the captain admiral was really a shape-shifting alien. Hell, it’s what she should have told him in the first place.
Chapter Five
Nadira
The problem with backwater worlds? They were exactly that—nothing more than poor farmers scraping a living off the land. Besides fresh food, there were no decent supplies to be had. And apparently not one bottle of Rian’s favorite weakness of choice: Violaine.
Zahli and the ship’s doctor, Kira, haggled over the price of some fruit. Easy enough to tell the trader had jacked up his prices by about 200 percent when he’d realized they were from offworld.
Rian leaned over, plucked an apple from the display, and took a huge bite out of it, stopping the argument as everyone turned to look at him.
“I hope you’re going to pay for that. In hard credits. We don’t take red currency here on Nadira.” The trader leaned sideways a little, his eyes flashing between them all, while his hand dropped below the line of the table, bowed from the weight of produce.
While taking a second bite of apple, Rian kept a close eye on the shifty trader. The guy better not be going for a gun, because ending this little bargaining attempt with weapon fire would just make him cranky, especially considering how low his supply of Violaine was getting.
Then again…
Rian pulled out his nucleon gun in a quick movement and aimed it at the trader’s forehead.
“We’ll take your goods at the local price.” He took another slow bite out of the apple, his aim unwavering.
The trader paled and went motionless. “The local price is thirty credits per pound.”
Yeah, maybe on a rich planet like Yarina.
“We’ll take your goods at the local price, or we’ll just take them. It’s your choice.”
“Gentlemen, please!” Another man approached, but Rian didn’t take his gaze off the trader, in case the rip-off merchant was stupid enough to go for whatever weapon he had hidden under his table.
“There’s no need for such excitement.” The man stepped into his line of vision wearing an IPC government suit. “Cormann, give our visitors your goods at the local price. After all, we don’t get many offworlders stopping by this part of the galaxy.”
As the trader nodded reluctantly and turned to address Zahli, who currently held all the credits, Rian lowered his weapon.
“Welcome. I’m sorry I didn’t get here to greet you sooner, but I was stuck in a subspace conference with the IPC,” the newcomer said.
The guy held out his hand, but Rian stared at him for a long minute as he reholstered his gun, weighing up his initial impression of the man before slowly returning the handshake. Clueless local given high government position on some no-account world—no threat.
“I’m Leroi Hendricks, the grand chancellor of Liese and high president of Nadira.”
Behind Hendricks, Zahli and Kira shared a concerned look.
Frecking hell. So much for flying under the radar…or Reidar.
Rian forced a smile and moved into an easy stance. “Well, how about that. I can’t say we’ve often been met by a planet’s high president when stopping to purchase supplies.”
Hendricks clasped his hands in front of himself and rocked back on his heels, looking more than pleased. “Like I said, we don’t get many people stopping by this part of the galaxy, but we’re hoping that’s about to
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