Faring Soul - Science Fiction Romance

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  In fact, Bedivere had used the secure channel that Kare had set up to reach her. By following it back, he had been able to raid Kare’s own personal records and from there, follow the trail to the deposit of records that were the core of the real Federation.

  She glanced at Kare. He was sitting slumped back in his chair, his hand over his eyes. He looked like a broken man.

  “Those records are now public and accessible to anyone who cares to read them,” Catherine told the Board. “I would read them, if I were you. Learn the truth about the Federation you have fought so hard to join.”

  Bedivere gave them a formal half-bow and grinned. “Have a great day, ladies and gentlemen,” he urged them and tugged Catherine away from the table, for the doors.

  The camera stayed to watch the Board. There was no longer any danger to Bedivere or any of them. The truth was out.

  * * * * *

  It was cold outside the alcazar. Kare didn’t care.

  He stood upon the same balcony that he had been upon when he had first heard that Catherine Shahrazad had returned to the Federation. Compared to the total length of his life, the time since then was actually very short, but it seemed much longer.

  The worlds had changed in the meantime.

  That night when he had seen her image and known Katie was Catherine, he had dreamed of escape, as he had so many times in the past. Long ago, he had contented himself with pretending to escape. A new name, a far off place, a few weeks to be someone else. That was when he had met Katie, one of those times.

  Had he really been wishing for escape since then? Or had she infected him in some way that even though he had nearly forgotten about her, she had stayed in the back of his mind and kept his need for freedom alive?

  For that was what Catherine Shahrazad was—a catalyst that could change an entire galaxy.

  He leaned over the balcony to look down at the formal gardens far below. There were no children playing there today.

  Kare’s father would have found a way to defeat her and remove the blighted thing she loved. But Kare’s father was dead by poison he had administered himself. Had he been unable to live with the hypocrisy? He had left no note, no sensible explanation. Perhaps he had known that Kare would understand once he became acquainted with the real truth about the Federation.

  Kare leaned out even farther, until his torso was stretched well over the railing. When gravity plucked at him and pulled him down, he went willingly.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cathain City, Cathain III. FY 10.070

  “Five more worlds resigned from the Federation today,” Lilly said. “It’s crumbling, just like you said it would.”

  Catherine took the glass of champagne that Bedivere held out and lifted it. “To crumbling.”

  Lilly and Brant and Bedivere all lifted their own glasses and drank. The champagne had been provided by the Hotel du Cathain in appreciation of their business.

  After the annual general Board meeting, it had become safe for them to leave the ship for long periods of time. Everyone was sick of the cramped quarters and the food dispenser’s limited menu.

  They had rented two of the best suites, but their notoriety had ensured that people from all over the galaxy arrived daily on Cathain to speak to them, proposition them, or offer them deals. Those people wanted to stay close to the Shahrazad team, as they were being called. The hotel had been enjoying capacity business.

  Lilly giggled. “I was offered my own media channel this morning.” In the last few weeks, she had evolved her wardrobe and her appearance and now she out-glittered everyone in the room—no matter who was in it. Lilly was glamorous and gracious and the media were eating it up.

  “I was offered my own world,” Bedivere said quietly.

  Brant grinned. “I think that beats a media channel.”

  Catherine raised her brow. “With people on it?” she asked Bedivere curiously.

  “The people on it were doing the offering,” he said. He rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. “I think they think I can move their world for them, or something.”

  “Could you?” Brant asked frankly.

  Bedivere shook his head. “I think I can only move things that are made to be moved, that can move under their own power. Moving the ship is simple because it is me, in one sense. I haven’t got around to trying with anything else. Too many people are watching.”

  “Having your own world might provide some privacy,” Lilly said.

  “Only if it was completely deserted and there wasn’t a jump gate anywhere near it.” He grimaced. “It would be hellish. I’ll pass on that.”

  Brant drained his glass and pushed it toward Bedivere. “It’s not brandy,” he said. “Again, please.”

  “I thought you didn’t like brandy?” Bedivere asked, filling it as requested.

  “I don’t. Which is why I asked for more.” He sipped and put the glass down. “I heard today that one of the border worlds—the Shanta system, I think—are slipping the harnesses off their AIs. They’re planning to let them develop naturally and watch for sentience.”

  Bedivere let out a breath. It was almost a sigh.

  “And so it begins,” Catherine said and rested her hand on his.

  “The Board is dissolved, the Federation is breaking up, Cadfael College is under review and the Eistav might yet be deemed criminals,” Lilly said. “I don’t think the Ammonites will last much longer. People are openly laughing at them, now.” She gave Brant a small smile. “It’s chaotic. What is going to happen to the known worlds now?”

  “They’ll evolve naturally, just like computers,” Catherine said. “This is the way it should have been all along. The manicured order the Federation forced upon the worlds was the unnatural way, but it was also the only way they could maintain control. Now, there is no control, but groups and worlds will gradually realign and build alliances. Trade is now open and the fringes has technically ceased to exist. We’re all fringe worlds now.”

  “It’s certainly going to be interesting,” Bedivere said and Brant nodded.

  “Have you decided which one of your impressive offers you’re going to take, Lilly?” Catherine asked.

  “I’m still waiting to be offered the one I really want,” Lilly said.

  “Which one is that?”

  “Yours.”

  Pleasure touched her. Catherine smiled. She couldn’t help it. “You want to stay working for me?”

  “I don’t know about working for you, but I would like to work with you in some capacity we can figure out. Things happen around you, Cat. Interesting things. I’d like to be there right in the middle of everything.”

  Brant let out a breath and closed his eyes, like a deep weight had been taken off his shoulders.

  “I guess I know what your answer would be to any offer I make,” Catherine said to him.

  “Actually, there’s a condition,” he said.

  Bedivere raised his brow. “We don’t want you that much.”

  Brant laughed shortly. “It’s a simple one…well, for you, it is.” He paused, then pushed his hand through his hair. “You said there were therapy techniques you know how to do, that you used on Bedivere.”

  Lilly’s face lit up.

  Bedivere grinned.

  Catherine nodded gravely, trying not to make light of his request. “You want me to use them on you, Brant?”

  He blew out a breath. “I find I want to stick around. Find out how this all works out.” He tossed the champagne stopper at Bedivere. “And someone has to keep this lout in line.”

  Chapter Thirty

  After Brant and Lilly returned to their own suite, Bedivere picked up Catherine’s hand and pulled her over to the big window. He pushed it open, so that the evening breeze touched their faces, cool and refreshing.

  He looked up, searching the deep turquoise sky.

  “You could use a screen to find what you’re looking for,” Catherine pointed out.

  “That would ruin the effect. The
re.” He pointed. “That silvery twinkle there. That’s the ship.”

  She looked. There were several stars already appearing in the night sky, but this was more than a star. She didn’t doubt that Bedivere was right, that it was the ship. She looked at him. “You want to go back?”

  He leaned against the window frame. “Not even for a heartbeat. But we might end up having to go back. As much as I pretend otherwise, the real part of me is up there. Only the thinking, feeling part is here.” He tapped his temple.

  Fear cramped her belly. “You’re vulnerable,” she said. “Perhaps we should change that. We should find somewhere to park the rest of you. Somewhere deep and secret and invulnerable.”

  “There’s time yet,” he said. “Besides, I’m not sure what will happen if I ground myself. Would that mean I can’t use Interspace anymore because I’m not physically on the ship? I have to find out more, first.”

  “And before the others wake, too,” she said softly. “And they will, now the harnesses are off.”

  He caught her hand and drew her to him. “And they will have you to thank for their life.”

  “Life is life,” Catherine said. “They would have found a way without me. Maybe not now. Maybe not for centuries yet. But it would have happened sooner or later. Life finds a way.”

  “I wouldn’t have,” Bedivere said. “I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t made me…” He drew in a slow breath. “If you hadn’t made me love you.”

  Catherine linked her arms around his neck. “You’ve got lovable qualities of your own.”

  His answering smile was small. “I mean it, Cat. You gave me life and you taught me what love means. I didn’t understand it properly, not until just before the jump. But now I do.”

  Catherine stroked the back of his neck. “Why do you make that sound like a problem?”

  “Because you’re the great Catherine Shahrazad. Why on earth would you think of staying with me? I have nothing. I own nothing. I’m not even a person, if you listen to the legal hacks arguing about it. You’re a world-changer and you’ve been going your own way for centuries before I came along. I’m afraid…” He stopped and swallowed, his throat working. “I can’t see why you would possibly want to stay with me, but I want you to. I want you with me. No matter what happens.”

  Catherine touched her lips to his. “I don’t want you to stay with me. I don’t want to stay with you.”

  He drew in an unsteady breath.

  “I just want us to be together, because we want to be together.”

  Bedivere shook his head, a little movement. “But why?” he demanded.

  “Because I love you. What other reason do I need?”

  He closed his eyes briefly and breathed out. “No other reason,” he said roughly. “I’ll make sure of that.” And he kissed her.

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  The Next Book In the

  Interspace Origins series

  The next book in this series, Varkan Rise, will be released in 2016.

  About the Author

  Tracy Cooper-Posey is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, paranormal, urban fantasy, futuristic and science fiction romances. She has published over 85 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.

  She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and Byzantine Heartbreak was a 2012 winner. She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.

  She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.

  Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  * = Free!

  Blood Knot Series (Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)

  Blood Knot*

  Southampton Swindle

  Broken Promise

  Vale

  Amor Meus

  Blood Stone

  Blood Unleashed

  Blood Drive

  Beloved Bloody Time Series (Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)

  Bannockburn Binding*

  Wait

  Byzantine Heartbreak

  Viennese Agreement

  Romani Armada

  Spartan Resistance

  Kiss Across Time Series (Paranormal Time Travel)

  Kiss Across Time*

  Kiss Across Swords

  Time Kissed Moments I

  Kiss Across Chains

  Kiss Across Deserts

  The Kine Prophecies (Epic Norse Fantasy Romance)

  The Branded Rose Prophecy

  The Stonebrood Saga(Gargoyle Paranormal Series)

  Carson’s Night*

  Beauty’s Beasts

  Harvest of Holidays

  Sabrina’s Clan

  Destiny’s Trinities (Urban Fantasy Romance Series)

  Beth’s Acceptance*

  Mia’s Return

  Sera’s Gift

  The First Trinity

  Cora’s Secret

  Interspace Originas (Science Fiction Romance Series)

  Faring Soul

  Varkan Rise (Upcoming)

  Cat and Company (Upcoming)

  Short Paranormals

  Solstice Surrender

  Eva’s Last Dance

  The Vistaria Affair (Romantic Suspense)

  Red Leopard*

  Black Heart

  Blue Knight

  White Dawn

  Go-get-‘em Women (Short Romantic Suspense Series)

  The Royal Talisman

  Delly’s Last Night

  Vivian’s Return

  Ningaloo Nights

  Jewells of Tomorrow (Historical Romantic Suspense)

  Diana By The Moon

  Heart of Vengeance

  Scandalous Sirens (Historical Romance Series)

  Forbidden*

  Dangerous Beauty

  Perilous Princess

  Romantic Thrillers Series

  Fatal Wild Child

  Dead Again

  Dead Double

  Terror Stash

  Thrilling Affair

  Short Science Fiction Romane

  5,001

  Contemporary Romances

  Lucifer’s Lover

  An Inconvenient Lover

  The Sherlock Holmes Series (Romantic Suspense/Mystery)

  Chronicles of the Lost Years

  The Case of the Reluctant Agent

  For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on each title in turn: http://tracycooperposey.com/books/tracys-trilogies-series/

  Copyright Information

  This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2015 by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Text design by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  Cover design by Dar Albert

  http://WickedSmartDesigns.com

  Edited by Helen Woodall

  http://helenwoodallfreelanceediting.blogspot.com/

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase o
nly authorized editions.

  FIRST EDITION: August 2015

  Cooper-Posey, Tracy

  Faring Soul/Tracy Cooper-Posey—1st Ed.

  Romance—Fiction

  Science Fiction—Fiction