Page 6 of Breaking Ties

“That is precise.”

“I can see it now. I have always felt it, but now I can see it.” She smiled. “It’s rather nice.”

She continued eating, and when she finished the food that had been brought for her, including fresh fruit, she drank water and sighed. “I will be hungry again in another hour. The height has done a number on my appetite.”

The guards nodded and watched over her while she was reading. The survivors were called to start loading into the shuttle, and Aubrey smiled. They were going to be in that confined space for a while.

The guard to her left said, “The private shuttle has arrived.”

“Oh, excellent. May I keep the tablet?”

He chuckled. “No, but there is one for you on board.”

“Okay.” She handed him the tablet, and he put it in a holder. She got up, and they walked her out a different door and over to the sleek ship waiting for her. The guards walked her toward the pilot, who had orange sherbet skin and a lime-green crest that flopped to one side.

“Lady Aubrey, I am your escort to the station. Please come on board, and we will get you settled before the others even lift off.”

“Thank you. Your designation?”

“Flight Commander Aberen.”

“I am pleased to meet you. Do you have a tablet I can use?”

Aberen nodded. “I will get it for you the moment we settle you.”

“Thank you.”

Aubrey turned to her guards and saw the medics watching. She bowed to them both. “Thank you for your help and your awareness. It was wonderful to be seen.”

She straightened, and the staff at the station bowed to her. She smiled and nodded when they straightened. With that, Aubrey walked into the shuttle, got settled with a beverage and a tablet, and the ship closed up and headed to the Education Station.

It was finally time for her life to start.

Chapter Two

“Lady, one of the first people you will meet will be a therapist. They will assess your mental condition before anything else happens.” Aberen was briefing her before she left the shuttle.

Aubrey looked at her. “Very well.”

“We are waiting for your guards, as there have been a few kidnapping attempts on those who have Hmrain compatibility. With your markings, you are already compatible; it is the rating that is in question. So we wait for the station guard. All of them.”

Aubrey blinked. “Oh. Got it.”

“Your eyes are turning to pearl.”

“Are they? Excellent; one more dissimilarity between myself and my sister.”

“She is down on the surface?”

“Yes.”

“We could have brought her up.”

“She left me tied to a metal structure and left me to die in the direct wind, so... no.”

Aberen nodded. “I understand. It is appalling, but I understand. Will you punish her?”

“No. She and our other companions are going to learn that they are going to worlds where deception from the new species isn’t allowed or encouraged.”