Catch a Falling Star Read Online Free

mind at
     all.” She waved the light back and forth though it never moved
     from his face before refocusing on his eyes. She couldn't help
     noticing his dark hair and a face that was very well put
     together. Then there were his eyes, dark yet shining in the
     torch's light. He was certainly handsome... Terran but very
     exotic... male... nice. What else did he ask? Oh, yes. “The rest
     of the ship that used to be yours is – elsewhere and not
     your worry.” She made sure to emphasize that, whether he liked
     it or not, it was no longer “his” ship.
    Though she didn't let
     down her guard, she did continue to use the club as a crutch
     while she thought. What was she supposed to do with him? Send
     him away? That might be best, but for some reason she found
     herself asking him a question instead. “Why aren't you dead?
     There didn't seem to be much control behind your entry into the
     atmosphere from what I could tell. And based on the wreckage,
     none at all in the landing.”
    The man grinned,
     showing very white teeth. “I am, let us say, very lucky. You can
     take me to my ship, yeah?” He wasn’t acknowledging the club as
     if he thought it inconsequential, or maybe he just wasn’t afraid
     of her wielding it.
    “I appreciate your…
     finding me, but I need to be get back to my ship.” Now
     he emphasized ownership of the starfighter. “I am in your debt,
     of course.” His hand moved down by his leg but it was impossible
     to see what he was doing. “Perhaps you can keep the pod for your
     kind assistance.”
    “There's no 'perhaps'
     about it. I don't need your permission to keep it.” She frowned,
     suddenly not so sure of herself. Was he going to cause her
     trouble over salvage rights? Did he have a right to fight her
     claim? She didn't remember hearing how the law worked when the
     person in the ship survived. Wait! It didn't matter. He was
     Federation and this was Alliance territory. He was probably
     considered salvage as much as his ship was by the Alliance, she
     realized. She also realized she didn't like how that thought
     made her feel.
    It was an uneasy
     affiliation between the United Alliance of Free Planets and her
     world. First of all, big laugh on the 'Free' part. They hadn't
     had a choice to join. It had been a unilateral decision on the
     part of the Alliance who were greedily grabbing up any sector of
     space they could to gain trade and resource advantage over the
     Federation. Second, her planet was the only primarily Terran
     colony in the sector and only a handful in the conglomerate
     known as the Alliance. Fortunately, because of the prejudice
     those in control of the government had toward Terrans,
     Earth-born or not, her planet was never considered worth
     bothering about. For years the Alliance ignored them and they
     were mostly able to ignore the Alliance. Now, however, they,
     like other previously forgotten outlying worlds, had become a
     handy supply of warm bodies to populate Alliance battle cruisers
     and ground troops.
    That reminded her of
     her brothers and that made her direct anger at the Federation
     pilot, even if he wasn't on the side that had probably taken
     them away. She raised the club and waved it at him. “Go find it
     yourself. If you can.” She slowly spaced out her next words as
     if he was a little slow to understanding. “Others have most
     likely carted it off by now – in pieces – as salvage.”
    The man’s grin
     faltered and the harsh light showed the muscle that clenched in
     his jaw. His smile was less sincere and there was no mistaking
     the aggression when he turned his body to face her squarely. “I
     am sure I did not make myself clear, querida . Please
     show me to my ship. Where it crashed. Where you found the pod.
     Then I will be out of your hair, yeah?”
    He couldn’t see her,
     not the details of her anyway, not with the hand torch blinding
     him. She was just a faceless entity to him; an obstacle in his