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

of months back.” He sipped coffee. “I found another hobby.”
    “Oh?” I waited. Joe likes pregnant pauses.
    “The fine art of getting old with grace.” His hand went inside his jacket and gripped something. A weapon, I assumed.
    “I hope we both make it to old age,” I said. I closed my eyes, exhaled a breath and relaxed, trying for an alpha brain rhythm, the most conducive for telepathy. I pictured the red ball coalescing within my mind, forced it to grow with my energy, and threw it at the most sinister-looking of the three tags, a big guy with fleshy, tattooed arms and a black leather vest over his blue checkered shirt.
    I got trouble with my truck
. He formed the thought, then said it aloud.
    “Oh, yeah?” another burly tag answered. This guy was bald and wore a tattoo that announced:
Bald Eagle! Don't Mess With Me!
His mustache and beard were dark and thick, and I got the silly idea that his head was on upside down.
    “You always have trouble with that beast,” a thin hawk-nosed tag with glasses said. He was young, and I think he just hadn't had enough time to pack on the pounds. “What's the problem
this
time?” he asked.
    “Damn electrical system again. I'm holding that rig together with spit an' a prayer.”
What the hell…?
he thought.
    “He's watching you,” Joe said casually, between bites.
    “Oh, shit,” I muttered. “He knows.”
    He's that telepath,
I caught the tag's thought. Then he said it aloud to his friends.
    I opened my eyes. The three of them had turned to stare at me.
    “You carrying your stingler?” Joe took a sip of coffee.
    “I left it in the parked hovair. They're truck drivers, Joe.”
    “Maybe.” He let out a breath and continued eating. “How come he knew what you were up to?”
    “I still have trouble probing minds that are sensitive to telepathy without them knowing it. Sensitives.” I nodded. “I guess I haven't learned the fine art of focusing.”
    “I could've told you that.”
    “Thanks for your support.”
    The three tags stood up.
    Joe slid out his weapon, a stingler, and tucked it next to him on the seat.
    I tensed, ready for whatever.
    But they just strode out of the restaurant.
    The waitress came out from the back room with a tray of food. Wait!” she called.
    The last tag slammed the door behind himself.
    “What happened?” she asked me. “I was bringing them their orders.”
    I shrugged. “I think they had an argument.”
    “Oh.” She tossed back her hair and winked at me again.
    I winked back.
    And just that fast, things returned to normal.
    I let out a breath. “When's the shuttle due to pick us up, Joe?”
    He checked his watch. “In about three hours' time. Interstel's starship is already orbiting Halcyon.”
    I sat back. Dark energy. Scientists knew very little about it. Still, they had harnessed it to manipulate space-time and get starships to their destinations inside bubbles. But as a means to burn up Earth? I shook my head. I purposely didn't ask Joe if my former wife Althea and his wife Abby were also off Earth. He was right. The less information I carried around, the better. The Fourth of July… “What's today's date, Earth time?”
    “By the Gregorian calendar, April 24th.” He checked his watch. “You want Earth time of day?”
    “No. That's close enough. If we fail in this mission, will the Worlds Bank hand over the depository to this slime?”
    Joe squinted at me. “You never cared two creds for the things money can buy. Do you know what would happen to the Worlds Trade Centers on all of Earth's dependent colonies, and the free worlds,
and
the alien planets, if they found out there was no gold to back Earth's money?”
    I shook my head.
    “I didn't think so.”
    “There's no gold? Well, if no one
knew
that their creds weren't backed by gold – “
    “That's the best kept secret in the Worlds' Government on planet Alpha.” His grim expression scared me more than the threat to Earth.
    “What is?”
    “The financial