Starflight Read Online Free Page A

for confusion to register on his face before his body collapsed to the floor, landing with a clang. Solara dropped to her knees and immediately started working the bracelet over his hand. As soon as she slipped it free, she shoved the band around her wrist and made for the stairs. She was halfway to the exit before she realized a snag in her plan.
    The bracelet couldn’t be used without identity verification, which meant she would need his handprint for the scanners at the retail center.
    “Oh no,” she whispered, and whirled around to face his sprawling body. If she wanted Doran’s credits, she would have to take him with her into the outpost.
    Just how was she supposed to do that?

H e awoke to searing pain.
    His body throbbed in places he hadn’t known existed. Even his teeth had a vicious heartbeat. But it was his skull that screamed the loudest. It felt like someone had peeled back his scalp and coated his brain with molten ore.
    What the hell had he done to himself?
    He opened his eyes a crack and immediately wished he hadn’t. The light was too bright, burning a path to the center of his aching head. Moaning, he clutched his temples while rolling onto his side. A sudden image flashed in his mind of being trapped inside a closet, but when he felt the surface beneath him, it was hard and frigid—metal, not carpet. A quick peek confirmed it. He exhaled in relief. He must’ve passed out and hit his head. That would explain the unholy pulsing between his ears.
    “Hey,” whispered someone close behind him. “Are you all right?”
    Was he all right? What kind of asinine question was that?
    “Fan-damned-tastic,” he barked, wincing at his own shouts. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “What happened to me?”
    Instead of receiving an answer, he felt delicate fingers probe his scalp. “It’s a good thing your head’s so hard,” the person said, and he realized for the first time that the speaker was a young woman. “Can you sit up?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Let’s try,” she said. “I’ll give you a push.”
    She cupped his shoulders and guided him into a sitting position, then helped him lean back against what felt like a metal rail. His head pounded at the change in altitude, but the rest of him didn’t object.
    “Better?” she asked.
    “Not really. I feel like my brain’s about to explode.”
    “It’s no wonder,” she chided as if he’d done something wrong. “After all the Crystalline you drank last night, your liver’s probably begging for mercy, too.”
    “Crystalline?” Was he drunk? He didn’t think so, but the waves of nausea roiling inside his stomach forced him to reconsider. “What are you talking about? What happened?”
    She didn’t say anything for the longest time. When she finally answered, it was with a question of her own. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
    The odd response made him wonder who he was talking to.
    He squinted open his eyes to look at the woman, surprised to discover she was a girl about his age. She had a heart-shaped face with full lips pulled into a frown, and a nose that turned up slightly at the tip. He couldn’t tell whether her eyes were green or brown, but they were fringed with dark lashes that matched the color of the intricate braids encircling her head. She wore black pants and a fitted gray top, simple clothes but of seemingly high quality, and peeking out from above her shirt collar was a tiny pink birthmark in the shape of an S.
    He knew that birthmark.
    “Did you hear me?” she asked. “What do you remember?”
    He tried thinking back but couldn’t focus over the pain. “I don’t know.”
    “Let’s start with something easy,” she said. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
    “One.”
    “What’s two plus two?”
    He shot her a glare. “I’m injured, not deficient.”
    “Who’s president of the Solar League?”
    “Haruto Takahashi. These are ridiculous questions.”
    “What’s your name?”
    He opened his