Read Online Sarazen's Claim, Book One by Isabel Wroth - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Isabel Wroth
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socialized with, and even as a child I was taller than most of the men. It made me an oddity,"
"You were called, odd?" Tarek asked it like he was affronted, baffled by the idea that someone would call her odd.
"Among other things, yes." Often the butt of jokes, ridiculed, teased because she'd been gangly and had such frizzy red hair. In fact, whatever was in the enzyme wash had her crazy hair for the first time in her life, feeling soft, smooth and silky. It wasn't all over the place like normal, didn't feel so heavy because she'd opted this morning not to braid it back out of her face.
He looked down at her sideways, his nostrils flaring for a moment before he grunted and swept his thumb up and down against her spine. "Your kind are strange, my one. But I see how they would have cause to be jealous of your beauty." He didn't say it as though he was complimenting her, he said it as though it was a factual observance, and a few of the warriors in the lift grunted in agreement. The doors slid open and Tarek gently urged her forward, sweeping her down the corridor that looked all the same and directed her to wave her hand across the small round port beside the door. "Your communicator has been programmed to access all levels," He told her, but it didn't really matter much, since she didn't know how to navigate the warship.
She had thought he would take her back to his quarters, but the room they were in now appeared to be some kind of observation deck, or a common room with comfortable lounges and low tables all facing a massive open bay window that showed the streaming color of the stars as the ship cut through space. She hadn't seen anything like it before, not having quarters high enough on the Aria to have gotten a porthole to look out, and her lab was in the heart of the ship, so her view of the universe had been steel grey walls. The only colors she saw, the only marvels, had been through her microscope and the rare times she had been allowed to join a surface crew to gather samples from alien planets. Or the rare times when she was allowed access to the library database.
She walked forward with her mouth probably hanging open, and turned her hands over to see how the lights flashed over her body, the blue and silver streaks of light beautifully making the room seem like it was underwater. "It's beautiful," She heard herself murmur, and suddenly her curiosity was overwhelming. "How big is your ship, Tarek?" She turned to find him watching her, his arms moving from where he'd crossed them over his chest, to move his fingers over the cuff like tablet on his forearm. Their technology baffled her, delighted her, and she gawked when a hologram appeared between them of a massive looking vessel shaped like an arrowhead. "In comparison, my vessel is five times greater in mass than your Aria . There are twenty thousand warriors on board."
"Holy shit. Are you invading a solar system or something?"
His amusement was plain, and he spread his hands to widen the hologram so she could see the different levels and get a better idea of how massive the ship really was. "No, my one. Our territory is vast, and fifteen of our vessels all of the same size routinely patrol a specified quadrant. I don't know how to accurately describe units of measurement to convey their space, would you like to see a map?" She nodded, and the particles of light shifted to show her a solar system, and she listened attentively, trying to understand just how massive it was. She understood that each of the fifteen planets that orbited a red dwarf star, six times the size of Earth's sun, were all part of Sarazen territory, and if it took ten warships carrying twenty thousand warriors to patrol that territory, it had to be a shit ton of space. One warship per planet, basically, and smaller ships for supply, trading, transport and things ran between them all. "Were we close to any of these planets?" She asked, and Tarek shook his head,
"You were called, odd?" Tarek asked it like he was affronted, baffled by the idea that someone would call her odd.
"Among other things, yes." Often the butt of jokes, ridiculed, teased because she'd been gangly and had such frizzy red hair. In fact, whatever was in the enzyme wash had her crazy hair for the first time in her life, feeling soft, smooth and silky. It wasn't all over the place like normal, didn't feel so heavy because she'd opted this morning not to braid it back out of her face.
He looked down at her sideways, his nostrils flaring for a moment before he grunted and swept his thumb up and down against her spine. "Your kind are strange, my one. But I see how they would have cause to be jealous of your beauty." He didn't say it as though he was complimenting her, he said it as though it was a factual observance, and a few of the warriors in the lift grunted in agreement. The doors slid open and Tarek gently urged her forward, sweeping her down the corridor that looked all the same and directed her to wave her hand across the small round port beside the door. "Your communicator has been programmed to access all levels," He told her, but it didn't really matter much, since she didn't know how to navigate the warship.
She had thought he would take her back to his quarters, but the room they were in now appeared to be some kind of observation deck, or a common room with comfortable lounges and low tables all facing a massive open bay window that showed the streaming color of the stars as the ship cut through space. She hadn't seen anything like it before, not having quarters high enough on the Aria to have gotten a porthole to look out, and her lab was in the heart of the ship, so her view of the universe had been steel grey walls. The only colors she saw, the only marvels, had been through her microscope and the rare times she had been allowed to join a surface crew to gather samples from alien planets. Or the rare times when she was allowed access to the library database.
She walked forward with her mouth probably hanging open, and turned her hands over to see how the lights flashed over her body, the blue and silver streaks of light beautifully making the room seem like it was underwater. "It's beautiful," She heard herself murmur, and suddenly her curiosity was overwhelming. "How big is your ship, Tarek?" She turned to find him watching her, his arms moving from where he'd crossed them over his chest, to move his fingers over the cuff like tablet on his forearm. Their technology baffled her, delighted her, and she gawked when a hologram appeared between them of a massive looking vessel shaped like an arrowhead. "In comparison, my vessel is five times greater in mass than your Aria . There are twenty thousand warriors on board."
"Holy shit. Are you invading a solar system or something?"
His amusement was plain, and he spread his hands to widen the hologram so she could see the different levels and get a better idea of how massive the ship really was. "No, my one. Our territory is vast, and fifteen of our vessels all of the same size routinely patrol a specified quadrant. I don't know how to accurately describe units of measurement to convey their space, would you like to see a map?" She nodded, and the particles of light shifted to show her a solar system, and she listened attentively, trying to understand just how massive it was. She understood that each of the fifteen planets that orbited a red dwarf star, six times the size of Earth's sun, were all part of Sarazen territory, and if it took ten warships carrying twenty thousand warriors to patrol that territory, it had to be a shit ton of space. One warship per planet, basically, and smaller ships for supply, trading, transport and things ran between them all. "Were we close to any of these planets?" She asked, and Tarek shook his head,
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