Free Obsolete (Terran Times Second Wave Book 24) by Viola Grace Page B

meal.
    She sat and finished her food while her brain spun. She was about to embark on a new career where she could rip things apart and put them together in any way she saw fit. It was at once the most appealing and most terrifying thing she had ever done in her life.
    When she finished her meal and cleared the table, she looked at Heilos and nodded. “I suppose this is farewell.”
    He chuckled and got to his feet. “I will see you off, but I will tell you that the short time I have been here, I have been consistently impressed with your skills and self-possession. I can only imagine the amazing feats you will accomplish. I only hope my daughters will do as well when they reach your age.”
    Olena blinked back tears at his heartfelt tone. His shaggy purple hair slid forward as he reached out and gave her a hug. “Scavenge well, Olena.”
    It wasn’t the most t-shirt-worthy expression, but she smiled and returned the embrace. It made it to her top-ten touching moments in seconds. She would remember this anytime she was unsure about her being away from Earth.
    It was good to have a memory of acceptance to haul out when she needed it. It joined the current six other times that she had been welcomed for being herself. With luck, that count would expand in her future.
    It was a shame that her future was uncertain.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    Olena was a little offended when the Terran being sent to a political post in the Nyal Imperium didn’t want to hang out with her during their voyage.
    The moment that the empath started vomiting, Olena was happy to be on the other side of the shuttle.
    The crew took the empath to sickbay and set a bot to scrubbing the spot she had been sitting in.
    Shaking her head at the unfortunately sick Terran, Olena continued to study schematics of some of the more commonly salvaged vehicles from a variety of species. Having a cast-iron stomach was surprisingly important in her line of work. The dead often arrived inside a wrecked ship. She had to be comfortable with bodies and doing situational scans for any legal action. She had learned the protocols on her first day.
    It was a long and boring transport through the stars, rather like being in fancy aircraft without the sense of approaching their destination. Olena used the time to study and rest. At Nodak, she would change to a Nyal Imperium deep-space transport. What she really wanted was to be working again. Perhaps she would have time between transports to get her hair and nails done one final time. It couldn’t hurt to find out.
     
    Having nanites bonded to her skull hadn’t even dented the advance she had received from the salvage station. Her hair follicles were now programmable, and she picked a fun purple to crown her on her start to a new life. It was in honour of her instructor, and she thought Heilos would enjoy the tribute.
    She snugged her bag on her shoulder as she left the groomer’s salon. It was a short walk to the departure bay where she would step into the next phase of her new career. Her nails were reinforced with something akin to titanium and her hair was purple. She felt pretty good about redoing her exterior for the new start. Now, she just needed to get to her spot on the salvage station and she could settle in to her new reality.
     
    Olena sat up on her twelfth day of work and rolled to one side, checking the salvage roster for incoming objects. Two scavengers were bringing in ships, and she had been assigned to the third scavenger who was hauling the detritus that had been floating around the same section of the asteroid field.
    Olena checked the estimated arrival time and grimaced. It was too soon for a solid meal, so she was going to have to drink breakfast in order to get enough sustenance for the day. If she ate solids, she would be puking in the zero-grav segment of the nameless station she worked on.
    She levered herself out of bed and took a gel shower. She smoothed the hot gel over her body and shattered it