Spears of the Sun (Star Sojourner Book 3) Read Online Free

Joe.
    “Nothing solid yet. That's where you come in.”
    Three Terran men entered the restaurant and sat at a table across from us. Something about their demeanor set off alarm bells. I lowered my mental shields and probed. They were more interested in the menus they studied than in observing us. But then, if they were sent by General Rowdinth, they'd know I was a tel and they'd guard their thoughts.
    The waitress came out from the back room and blocked my sight of them as she took their orders.
    “Joe?” I nodded discreetly in their direction.
    “Stay alert,” he said. “I don't like their looks either. Just act normal…for you.”
    “I'll try,” I told him. This was no time for sarcasm. “Where does this alien rogue general fit into the scheme?”
    “All we know about him is that he was indicted for rape and first-degree murder of a Terran woman.” Joe fumbled as he put away his unlit pipe but I saw him slide a call unit from his pants pocket and press a button. A green light blinked on.
    “I chewed a fingernail. “What the hell are we dealing with here?” I whispered. “This slime raped the woman and then murdered her too?”
    “She was from a mining camp, and it was the other way around.”
    “Jesus and Vishnu.”
    The smell of frying fish wafted out from the kitchen and did nothing to settle my queasy stomach.
    “Keep talking,” Joe said and glanced at the men. He speared a piece of stew meat in his dish and chewed. “These crotes at the table might just be workers and nothing more.”
    I tried to pick up the cup of coffee but my hand shook.
    Joe noticed. “Put it
down.”
    I did. “I can't be the only undercover agent on an operation this important. Who are my colleagues?”
    “One way we protect our W-CIA agents,” he said around a mouthful, “is to keep all your identities secret, from each other, too.”
    I pictured secret handshakes, clandestine meetings, safe houses, and a cyanide pill tucked inside my cheek.
    I spit out the chewed fingernail. “I want Lisa off Earth!”
    “Keep your voice down. She already is. We figured that was your prerequisite for this work. Mine too.”
    “Don't tell me where she is, Joe. If my mission is uncovered by General Rowdinth, I don't want to know where Lisa is.”
    “I wasn't about to tell you. Then I take this as a
yes
on the mission?”
    I rubbed my eyes and sighed. “Next thing, they'll ask me to save the galaxy. Then maybe Great Mind will hire me to straighten out things in Nirvana.”
    “Who the hell's Great Mind?”
    “The tag who runs it all. You call Him Christ-Buddha.”
    “You got a direct line?”
    “Party line.”
    “You'll have to tell me about that when this mess is over.”
    “You'll have to ask Spirit. He's the authority on God.”
    “Spirit?” He put down his fork and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “Great Mind. Spirit. I don't think you inhabit the same universe as the rest of us.”
    I thought of Willa and wondered if her kwaii had reincarnated yet. And where? There was no use talking about it with Joe. He wouldn't understand. I drummed my fingers on the table. “Telepathy does that for you.” Speaking of which… I glanced at the three tags as they studied dessert menus.
    “Stop looking at them.” Joe gestured toward my plate. “You going to eat, or just let it collect dust?”
    I stared at my dish. “I'm not hungry.”
    “Eat anyway. People don't come to restaurants when they're not hungry.”
    I chewed an undercooked asparagus spear.
    “You know,” Joe said, “I lost my partner five months before he retired.
    Here comes the Dutch-uncle talk,
I thought.
    “Tag was blown away by pirates stalking the trade lanes between Earth and Titian. Curt and I worked together for eighteen years.”
    “But life goes on, right?”
    “Unless you figure the people you care about are immortal.”
    “Why don't you smoke your pipe while I try for a mindprobe on one of those three tags.”
    “Abby made me give up the pipe couple