Free Defender of the Empire 2: Facades by Catherine Beery Page A

WERE PREGNANT AND SOMETHING BAD MIGHT HAPPEN?
                  I’m not in a relationship like that, I pointed out.
                  Kylesst sighed. I WAS BEING HYPOTHETICAL.
                  I know. And I understand your point, too. It would be hard to leave someone I care about to be safe while they remain in harm’s way. I sighed. I can’t help asking ‘what if’, though.
                  SO DO ALL WHO LOOK BACK AND WONDER AT THE CHOICES THEY MADE.
                  I grunted and continued scrolling through the file on my parents. I knew what had happened to my mother. And I knew that my father had taken me to be raised by my aunt. So what happened to him? Since he cut me free on Coronaius, does that mean I’m a Primary Citizen? I wondered while I searched.
                  There was quite a bit on my mother. Pictures of her were all over, and I paused to stare at one. I’m sure it was said a lot, but my mother was beautiful. Her red hair was long, and gleamed in the picture like a newly minted coin. In this particular picture her moss green eyes, similar to Aunt Sylvia’s, seemed to glitter with life. I looked nothing like her. Where she would draw attention, I would fade into the background. The only thing I seemed to have inherited from her was her courage, if Admiral Wingstar was correct. Looking at my mother’s image, I could see that courage he mentioned. But I wasn’t so sure that I had inherited it. Courage was something I struggled with, since it was the name for the ability to accept one’s fear and still do what needed to be done. Shaking my head slightly, I continued scrolling through various documents. There were news reports on the passing of a distant relative of the imperial family. In those, she was said to have been an ambassador. In a way, that wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the whole truth.
                  Eventually, I discovered what happened to my father. A few weeks after my mother’s death, Joseph Raven reappeared in the Medrais System. He had been in a small civilian trade ship that had bypassed the Medrais Space Station. After many attempts to contact him, he had finally responded to announce his name, before cutting all communication and flying straight into the star. It had been so public and obvious what had happened that no Shade investigators were required to find the body. There was nothing about Raj, his Spectral Raven, other than to say what it had been. Nowhere in the report did that sound atypical, considering that Spectrals spend some time to mourn their companion’s passing before finding a new Shade, which meant that Raj was out there somewhere… Was it possible for me to find him?
                  I frowned as I continued scrolling. I found some news reports that told of the tragedy of a broken hearted Joseph Raven committing suicide. There was no mention of a baby, probably because only the Order knew there had been a baby. I guess they figured that I had been with my father when he flew into that star but hadn’t wanted to share that horrible tale with the public. Since that hadn’t been true, I’m really glad they kept my existence to themselves. But had it really been a broken heart that led my father to commit suicide? Had I not been enough to hold him to this existence? Is that why he gave me to Aunt Sylvia? How had he found Aunt Sylvia when she hadn’t even told her family where she was?
                  A RAVEN SPECTRAL, Kylesst explained. THEY HAVE A GIFT FOR SEEING AND KNOWING THINGS BEFORE THE REST OF US.
                  If that is true, why hadn’t he warned them about the attack? I asked.
                  THAT I DON’T KNOW. Kylesst sounded troubled. IT COULD HAVE BEEN BECAUSE THE AMBUSH WAS LED BY SOUL SHADOWS. But, he didn’t sound convinced. There was something else going on. I could feel it. My gut said that no Spectral