Axira Episode One Read Online Free Page A

bring down an ancient master who had enslaved the last of
my kind to wage a never-ending battle with anyone who disputed
him.
    I, of course, did not share this with Jason. Instead I looked
ahead, noted that the engineering hall was right before us, and I
nodded towards it. “It appears our team has already
left.”
    “ Oh great,” Jason sighed, his breathing still relatively
unaffected by his pace. His sister, however, had already fallen
behind. “Come on, Elle, we’ve got to find out where they’ve gone.
Knowing Ma’tovan, he’s probably taken everyone straight to the
training ground.”
    “ Oh no … how far away is that? We’re going to be in trouble,
aren’t we?”
    “ I’ll take you there—” Jason began, but was interrupted by the
soft chime of the device he wore on his wrist.
    It was a personal computer. It acted as a communication
device, a scanner, it monitored bio readings, and could be used as
an intrastella beacon in cases of distress. I had not received my
own yet. When I did, I would be unsure how long it would take to
convince myself to put it on my wrist.
    It would feel too much like my shackles had.
    “ Singh, report to the armory, we’re running a test on the new
matter disrupter rifles,” a voice emanated from Jason’s wrist
device. “On the double.”
    “ Yes, sir,” Jason replied.
    I watched as his smile dented. He looked at his sister and
shrugged expressively. “You are going to have to get there on your
own. Now, the training ground is—”
    “ Approximately 500 meters from the
2 nd Dormitory Block,” I
interjected, pointing in the correct direction, despite the fact we
were inside and there were no windows around us.
    “ Yeah, yeah it is. Damn, I’m glad you know where you’re going.
Can you take her there?” Jason smiled hopefully.
    I looked at him, blinking, then nodded.
    This was not how I had expected my first day as a recruit
would go. Though I had understood I would not be doing anything to
fight my master straight away, shepherding admiral’s daughters had
not been on the agenda.
    “ Okay, I’ll come see you as soon as I can.” Jason backed off,
turning at the last moment. “Just try to stay out of trouble. Oh,
by the way, I’m Jason Singh, forgot to introduce myself.” He waved
at me.
    “ I know who you are.” With that, I nodded at his sister,
informed her to follow me, and ran at a pace she could handle down
the corridor.
    If I had not been with her, and I had known the coast was
clear, I would have done a subspace jump. To do one, I simply had
to open a subspace pocket, jump inside, and then reopen the pocket
wherever I needed to be.
    The move had a limited range; I could usually only travel
within 50 meters of where I was standing, more if I had a visual
lock on where I needed to be.
    It was one of the only abilities still available to me, one
of the few that was virtually undetectable. I could not, however,
hope to pluck up my energy blade and start swinging it around; it
had a unique signature that could be easily detected. If it was
detected, he would find me.
    “ Oh my god, I’m really, really sorry for making you late,”
Elle puffed through a shaky breath.
    “ You have already said this.”
    “ I’ll let Lieutenant Ma’tovan know this wasn’t your fault.
Hopefully he’ll only punish me.”
    “ Save your breath; run faster,” I commanded.
    She did not heed me.
    She continued to talk to me. I believe the humans called it
chatting. It was inane. She talked about everything from the
weather to who her bunk mate would be. She told me her mother was
an admiral – recently promoted from captain – and that she really
didn’t want to let her down. She told me her father was a bio
physicist who was working on organic matter transportation. She
also told me she wanted to specialize and become a
doctor.
    I refrained from pointing out that medical professionals were
usually less flustered. In fact, I refrained from talking full
stop. She