Free The Marann by Sky Warrior Book Publishing

said.
    He raised an eyebrow, waiting with his
usual patience. She fiddled with her food. She looked up to find
him staring at her. “Forgive me, high one,” she
murmured.
    He raised the other eyebrow.
“For?”
    “I don’t need much, but—I need
more...” she stumbled.
    He cocked his head. “More of
what?”
    “I miss—I miss just... just talking
with another woman.” She winced. Talking about this made her feel
naked. Taking a breath, she pressed on. “Girl talk. We—we need to
talk to each other sometimes, just women. Unburden our hearts. I
never realized before just how much I need it.”
    He nodded, a thoughtful look in his
eyes. “I understand. By limiting your contact with the ship, I have
deprived you of something you need to be content.”
    “I’ve always thought I didn’t need
anyone. I was happy by myself in Casey, living alone. I guess I
wasn’t as alone as I thought.” She fell silent, staring past him,
at the dark outside the windows.
    Something like compassion warmed his
expression. “Very well,” he said. “For the sake of Kyza’s tutor,
there shall have to be less peace in the Sural’s airwaves. You may
contact your ship each day when it is in orbit.”
    She turned back to him, a huge smile
bursting onto her face. “Truly?” she blurted.
    “Indeed. It would be best if you chose
a regular hour to do so.”
    “Thank you, high one,” she said, and
jumped up to run off to her quarters. Hands shaking, she powered on
the comms and explained her call.
    “Who won the Super Six?” was her first
question when Adeline Russell came on the screen.
    Adeline’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s
the first thing you want to know?”
    Marianne nodded. “I love interplanetary pro cycling.”
    “Just a second, I’ll look it up.”
Adeline looked away from Marianne for a moment. “Brad
Yates.”
    “Yes! ” Marianne exclaimed. “He
looked so promising last year!”
    Adeline just shook her head. “Whatever
makes you happy,” she muttered.
    “What about my friend Susan? Do you
know if she’s… I don’t know, angry with me, for not
calling?”
    “You shouldn’t have told your friends
you would keep in touch,” Adeline said with a frown, “but yes,
she’s fine. She’s dating the Spanish teacher we sent to replace
you.”
    Marianne blinked. “What, really?
What’s he like? Is he treating her right?”
    Adeline laughed. “Relax, Marianne,
he’s perfect for her, all sexy and Spanish.”
    “A real Spaniard?” Marianne broke into
laughter. “That’s perfect! At least he’s not the boy next door. She
really didn’t want to marry him.”
    Thereafter, Marianne called the ship,
if it was in orbit, every morning after transmitting written
reports to the Admiral and the Ambassador—if it wasn’t too late in
the night, ship’s time. The ship remained in orbit for three
terrestrial months at a time, then headed back to Earth for a
month. When the Alexander orbited the planet, it helped
Marianne keep track of Earth time. She was prone to lose track on
Tolar, where the twenty-five hour days threw her off and the Tolari
counted time in terms of seasons or years, if they counted it at
all.
    On most mornings, she chatted with
Adeline, who functioned as the Ambassador’s administrative aide.
When Adeline was unavailable, she chatted with the Admiral’s calm
and motherly wife Laura who, though not the brightest star in the
sky, was insightful and wise. Laura had children Marianne’s age and
could see right through her. That was a little disconcerting, so
she preferred to chat with Adeline—or Addie, as she wished to be
called.
    “Kyza is learning to eat at the
refectory table with us,” she told Adeline on one winter morning
when the temperatures in Suralia fell lower than usual. “Though all
she does is climb all over the table, grabbing and chewing on her
daddy’s food, while her nurses have to scramble to keep her from
falling on her head.”
    Adeline laughed. “She