Free Interdict by Viola Grace Page B

generation and, apparently, several after that.
    When she first found out that she was going to zip through a rip in time and end up on an interdicted world in the past, she had thought it a ridiculous supposition. When the Alliance archivist took her aside and showed her all the history that her descendants had created, going back to her arrival on the Drai home world, her daughter Coral and all the daughters in a long, straight line right up to Livin.
    None of her girls had it easy, but they all achieved a family with males who had dreamed of a life with their mixed blood and unusual talents.
    Garo was her mate's name and he was waiting for her sometime in the past. She just had to find a way to connect her present to his past, creating a joint future.
    It shouldn't be a problem.
    She spent a night of visiting with Livin and Vasu as well as staying up reading her own spidery handwriting, learning about her first year in the wilds of the Drai home world. Her eyes widened at some of what she had written and she winced at others. Cynthia felt wave after wave of unease. She was going to have quite a time of it before she managed to settle in. Cynthia hoped that she could pretend surprise when she entered those stressful moments. A nervous giggle would not be appropriate while being dangled off a cliff.
    Before she got a few hours' sleep, she left all of her possessions in a case within her quarters. An instruction to send them to Fury at Morganti Base was her final bit of hand writing in this timeline.
    When she woke, it would be time to fly and if everything went the way it had the first time, she would be falling through the skies of Drai within the week.

    Chapter Two
    Flying out to an unoccupied area of the Saru system with an honour guard was the oddest feeling. Star Breaker was on one side with Stellar Storm on the other.
    Cynthia kept her small shuttle steady as they approached the site that Echo in Time had pinpointed.
    As she stilled her engines at the proper coordinates, the two women paced her as she glided forward. Stellar Storm sent a double click through the com system.
    Cynthia knew what she was asking. She responded through her com. "Yes, I want to do this. For better or worse, I have been waiting for this moment. At least I will go out in a swirl of energy and fire."
    The comet that they were waiting for was right on schedule.
    Echo hadn't mentioned it until they were getting into the shuttle and there was no written word in Cynthia's old journal to tell her what the magical missing ingredient had been.
    Cynthia shrugged to herself. She wouldn't write it in this time either. If she had known, she would have sought out the comet to speed things along and that would have put her in the right place at the wrong time. Patience might be a virtue, but it was not her strong suit.
    The comet approached and her glide took a path that would put her squarely in the tail.
    Star Breaker flew by with a thumbs-up and a wreathing of power began around the exterior of her suit. Stellar Storm did the same and the moment that the shuttle alerts started shrieking about proximity, a writhing ball of energy surrounded her.
    Her ship skewed sideways and directly into the tail of the comet when Star Breaker let her power fly. Energy sluiced around her and it was the final burst that ripped the hole in the universe and threw Cynthia through it.
    Everything went bright and then everything went dark.
    * * * *
    Garo Weelich was on a patrol flight when the comet passed his world. His wings scooped the air as he watched the progress of the comet with one eye and his trajectory with the other.
    Garo, how long are you going to be out here?
    Garo watched his brother Mercuros approach.
    I have two hours left on duty. Why?
    Mother is trying to get our agreement to attend next week's Introduction. She is getting downright desperate to get one of us mated off, brother.
    I am aware of it, but none of the women I have met so far has matched my