Free Mated (The Sandaki Book 1) by Gwendolyn Cease Page B

the Sandaki, stepped lightly onto the Silarin ship. For her first space voyage, she had accomplished quite a few tasks she’d never thought she would. She participated in a battle, though to call what had gone on between the Sandaki and the Silarin a battle was being kind. The Silarin had been overwhelmed and captured before they’d even known what had happened. Next, she’d actually talked with people from different species, quite a few, in fact. Now, she was stepping onto an alien spacecraft.
    The only thing that would make this adventure perfect was if Kavich would disappear. The warrior had not wanted her presence on the Drakon Scaal and, in fact, had ordered her off when she’d first arrived on the cruiser. If the Taj had not overridden his orders, she would not be walking around on the slave ship. She’d had to come on the voyage. She knew the Sandaki would find this ship. She had dreamed about it, and when she dreamed true, it always occurred.
    “Are you finished visiting?” Kavich asked.
    There was nothing in his tone to indicate he was being sarcastic, but she knew he was. The man was always a hairsbreadth away of being insolent with her when he spoke. She didn’t know if it was because she was a woman, or he was jealous of her position with both Taj , but she was fairly sick to death of him. So she did what she often did when dealing with Kavich—she ignored him and kept walking. She heard him huff out a breath behind her and was thankful for the full robe and hood that hid the smile she couldn’t stop.
    She brought up her wrist and touched the bracelet she wore. A map of the Silarin ship appeared to float in front of her face. She turned it this way and that, searching for what her gut knew she would find. Once she understood how to get to where she was going, she started walking again. While the ship wasn’t large, by any means, the corridors twisted and turned back on themselves, most probably to confuse any slaves that escaped the holding area. She couldn’t understand a race that depended on the sale of another to support itself. She wondered if they could return some of the women to their home planets. Probably not many due to the Silarin and their indoctrination procedures.
    She finally approached the door she wanted, but it didn’t open like the rest. She held her bracelet up to it and within seconds the door slid soundlessly open. She stepped in and looked around at the equipment that was vaguely familiar. Her stomach sank. She hated when her premonitions were right, especially considering what the equipment meant. If she was correct, and she was almost certain she was, both Taj Katan were going to be furious.
    She turned to the warriors who’d escorted her. “Stay outside this room.”
    Kavich, of course, did not listen; instead he walked in behind her. She hoped the man didn’t realize what he was looking at but doubted it. He would not be the Second of the Taj Rakin if he were stupid. She approached the command console and once again used the bracelet to access the controls.
    When the Sandaki warriors were created, they’d had the ability to tap directly into the ships they controlled. They were, themselves, such an advanced technology they could command systems with barely a thought. Haldise didn’t have that advantage, so she had created for herself a mini-version of what the warriors carried within their bodies. It certainly wasn’t as sophisticated, but it did the job.
    As her fingers danced over the screens, she was very aware of Kavich walking around looking at the large see-through cylinders. There were two of them and multitudes of cables and tubes ran to them from banks of panels. She knew, while in use, the lit panels would pulse with power. Now they were cold and dead.
    She used her bracelet to download the information contained in the units. She knew the ship’s main systems wouldn’t support them. The machinery in the room was something the Silarin shouldn’t have and