Origin Read Online Free Page B

me. “I lied to that enforcer. Partially. I don’t know my family name, but I do remember my first name. It’s Siri.”

Chapter Three
    The clothes Anders purchased for me would have made me laugh if I remembered how. I did enjoy the curl of amusement in my belly as he scowled and dropped a small pile of them on the bunk in the small room they’d given me to use. He set a box of what I guessed were lady things on the small table bolted to the wall.
    “One store on this rock and the place was a joke. The clothes…well, they’re all plain and perfectly serviceable. It was either that or uh, more like what you have on under my shirt. I can imagine you’ve seen enough of those type clothes to last a lifetime. I got several pairs of shoes in different sizes. There was only one nice thing in that silly store.” He rummaged in the pile then pulled out a wrapped present from the bottom, handing it to me.
    I held the gift in my lap, not sure I could open it. A memory surfaced of another time, another gift. I saw a brief glimpse of a smiling woman with freckles like mine. A surge of love came with the memory. It wasn’t the first time I’d remembered her face. “I think the last person to give me a gift was my mother.”
    “There will be better gifts.”
    I put my hand on the plain brown wrapping. “I don’t need gifts. And one serviceable outfit would have been plenty. I don’t know how to pay you back for all this.”
    “Money isn’t something Clay or I worry about. We have plenty. We co-wrote a software program with Clay’s brother, Jackson, and it got popular. But even if I’d scraped together the funds for these pitiful clothes, I wouldn’t want you to pay me back. Open your gift.”
    Carefully, I unwrapped the brown paper, revealing a Dranellian cotton blanket in the prettiest electric green and black. “I remember these colors. Vordun flowers on Kithra were like this. Green with black centers.” I rubbed my palms over it, reveling in the soft, lush material. Blinking back tears, I didn’t look up. “Thank you,” I whispered.
    “Hey, this sad little room needed some color. You can’t look at yourself, after all.”
    “I am colorful.”
    “You’re beautiful.” He cleared his throat and stepped back toward the paneled door. “We run our ship on the standard twenty-four hour day and night. Lights brighten when it’s morning then dim when it’s night—that sort of thing. This door will not be locked from the outside. You are free to roam the ship because no one on it will hurt you. The rest of the crew will start trickling in soon. There’s a shower room through there.” He pointed at the other gray door in the room. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a real galley on this ship. We do have two fully stocked simulators and they are in what we call the galley at the end of this section. Clay is two doors down. I’m next door. You can call for me anytime you need me. All you have to do is choose the call buttons on the panel either by your bed or on the wall here.” He pointed to the square button-covered panel by the door.
    Overwhelmed, I hugged the blanket to my chest, blinked at him.
    His gaze dropped to my thighs and he cursed. “I’m so sorry! We have healing gel and other medical supplies in the med scanner room. I’ll grab them and be right back.”
    He ducked out and a real smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. It made my lips tingle. I touched them in wonder before sliding the Dranellian blanket over my cheek. It was mine. Truly mine.
    I had no idea why these men had rescued me. Maybe it was to take me home as they said—which seemed awfully generous. A knock sounded and I pulled my gaze from the other generosity—the pile of clothes—and looked at the captain standing in the doorway.
    “Anders is bringing the medical supplies. We do have a scanner if you think there might be infection.”
    “I don’t need to see a scan. There’s infection, but the gel should take care of it