Read Online Start by Odette C. Bell - Free Book Online Page A

stone—in reality, they
were pure telekinetic magnetised material. The very stuff TI
implants operated on.
    Still,
even though they were only class I weapons, Cadet J’Etem had a good
handle over them.
    “That's great,” Carson managed as he smiled at her.
    Demurely, she offered a shy smile of her own. “Thank you; I’ve
been practising hard.”
    “That's great to hear,” he said, realising he’d said great
twice, as if he didn’t have the brain cells to think of another
word.
    Someone sniggered at his side, and he turned to see it was
Sharpe.
    “How's
it going, tutor?” Sharpe asked with a pointed look.
    “Fine,” Blake said.
    “Cadet
J’Etem here is one of our finest TI specialists,” Sharpe pointed
out needlessly.
    Carson
already knew that, though he liked the polite smile J’Etem gave at
the compliment.
    “It's
nothing, really,” she managed, “I'm nowhere as good as I should
be.”
    “Don't
be humble, Cadet; you've put in the hard yards, and it has paid
off. Unlike some,” Sharpe said as he shot Cadet Harper a stern look
over his shoulder.
    Harper, for her part, looked as if she'd given up. Several
training blocks were strewn at her feet, but she didn't appear to
have the ability to shift even one of them.
    “You
know, I could try to give her a hand,” Carson offered as he nodded
Harper's way.
    Sharpe
gave out a laugh like a bullet blast, “don't waste your time,” he
said simply.
    Though
Carson already knew Sharpe had a temper and a personality like a
bulldog, he bristled at that. Yes, Harper appeared to be
particularly incapable, but she didn't deserve everybody's ire. She
wasn’t incompetent on purpose. She simply appeared to be flaky. Yet
before Carson could point this out, he watched as Cadet J’Etem
reached down and managed to activate four blocks by her feet all at
once.
    He was
impressed, and he offered her a smile that conveyed
that.
    Then,
with perfect timing, she managed to make them spin around
her.
    She
really was good, and he realised that before too long, she would
undoubtedly make her way into the Force.
    He
could use good TI practitioners like her.
    Yet,
just as soon as those four blocks began to spin, one of them darted
off.
    Quickly.
    In
fact, blindingly fast.
    He had
time to stumble forward as surprise slackened his brow, before the
block shot across the room with the speed of a bullet.
    It
slammed into Harper.
    She
turned briefly and he saw her eyes widen as the block smacked into
the centre of her chest, sending her flying as it did.
    There
was a crack, and it most definitely sounded like bone.
    The
block didn’t just knock her off her feet. It pinned her to the
ground.
    Sharpe
was the first to react. The Commander sprinted towards her, then
reached forward with his hand, spreading his fingers and activating
his implant. A faint yellow energy played across his fingers as he
used as much power as he could muster to pull the block off
Harper.
    It
should have been an easy task for somebody like Sharpe. For all the
times he claimed Blake was a master, Sharpe was one of the best TI
practitioners at the Academy. Yet as he reached Harper, it was
clear he was having trouble pulling the training block off her
chest.
    It
still pinned her to the ground, pushing down with all its weight
against her chest.
    “Come
on,” Sharpe hissed under his breath.
    Then,
with a snap, the training block finally released, and Sharpe
managed to yank it off the cadet.
    Carson
now sprinted to his side.
    “Oh
god, Harper,” Sharpe said under his breath. His anger was obvious,
but so was his compassion. With one look at the man, you could see
his features were pale and drawn. He immediately used his wrist
device to check her vitals, then made a quick call to the medical
bay.
    Harper
was unconscious.
    Her
head lolled to one side, her hair a mess over her shoulder as the
clip that had fixed it lay broken beside her.
    With a
powerful kick of fear, Carson noticed a trickle of blood trailing
down the