In Ashes Born (A Seeker's Tale From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1)

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Book: In Ashes Born (A Seeker's Tale From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1) by Nathan Lowell Read Free Book Online
Authors: Nathan Lowell
be your partner.”
    “What?” He shook his head. “I must be drunker than I thought. Partner?”
    “We’ll hash it out tomorrow but you can’t win that auction with your level of resources.”
    “And you can?”
    I shook my head. “Not by myself. If we pool our funds, we can outbid the breakers and still have enough left over to refurbish the ship and get her crewed up and ready for space.”
    His grin came back. “Just like old times!”
    “Go sleep. I need to try to get a nap in before Margaret Newmar wrings me out again in a few stans.”
    He nodded and only stumbled a little bit getting out the door and closing it behind him. A few moments later I heard his cottage door close in the silence of the early, early morning. I made one last survey of the room and blew out a deep breath before slapping the light switches and shuffling off to my bed.
    I had no idea what I’d do with the mess out front, but the mess inside me felt a little less hopeless for the first time in a long, long time. I zipped out of the shipsuit and crawled between the sheets, letting the garment fall to the floor as forgotten as a snake’s shed skin. I’d no sooner closed my eyes when the brassy tones of reveille pulled me back from dreamland.
    I didn’t groan when I crawled out and stepped into the shower. It wouldn’t have done any good, and I really wasn’t the kind to groan when there was nobody around to appreciate it.
    I felt almost human when I stumbled into the living room to find a pair of shorts and a fresh ship-tee. I felt a little exposed padding naked and damp through the cottage, but managed to find enough clothing to wear for my workout among the piles of “what do I do with this?”
    I slipped out of the cottage and struck out for the studio. The fogginess inside my head burned off as I crossed campus. The fresh morning air, cool and damp, pulled the last of the sleep from my muscles. When I got to the studio, I was ready to go and started my warmups immediately. I had to struggle to push the coming discussions with Pip out of the way and focus on the movements and my balance, but within a few ticks I found my pace and relaxed into the discipline.
    “Good morning, Ishmael.”
    “Good morning, Sifu .”
    “Rough night?” she asked.
    I ended my warmup cycle and turned toward her. She stood at the edge of the floor, her head turned slightly to one side in a birdlike gaze.
    “Short night. I didn’t get to sleep until nearly 0200.”
    “Ah,” she said and nodded. “What were you doing up so late? Or should I not ask?”
    I smiled. “Pruning.”
    She beamed. “That’s what it is. I knew you looked different this morning. I should have realized.”
    “Different?” I almost laughed. “How can you tell?”
    She shook her head, that same quirky smile on her lips. “Something about your stance. It’s looser, more balanced maybe. Your posture has changed. You’ll find the chi flows better today, I think.”
    Her answer surprised me. “Really?” I looked down at my hands and arms. “I haven’t noticed it with my warmups yet.”
    “It’s either that or the fact that you’re wearing one blue and one green sock,” she said.
    I looked down to find my feet clad in different colored socks inside my tai chi slippers. “Yes, I might not have actually finished pruning last night before I was interrupted.”
    She nodded, her lips pursed. “That would make sense. Mr. Carstairs called, no doubt.”
    “Actually, he did.” I shrugged. “He came to find out if I was all right. I’m not a night owl as a rule, but I started late in the evening and just got carried away.”
    She nodded again. “I can see how that would happen. Well, we should get to it.” She bowed to the floor and we began the morning’s lesson.
    For some reason I kept messing up Four Corners. We’d worked on it for days and I had thought I’d gotten the movements down. That morning, dealing with the complexity of the forward and backward

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