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  Astral

  Life out of her body was fun but when she tangles with a stellar avatar, life inside her own skin holds a lot of appeal.

  Dina has been going from assignment to assignment, helping out with mediations in hostile environments. Since she leaves her body in safety, her mind walks worlds that would kill her physical form instantly. When an offer from a nearby star gets her attention, she has to choose between a life out of her body, or a passenger in her very soul.

  Arci, the living star has been searching for a match for his avatar since Zakkar’s species disappeared. When the Terran seems to meet all of his avatar’s needs, Arci senses that she can fulfill some of the things missing is his own existence as well. It will take both of them to convince her to join them, but their threesome will eventually come together, mind, body, souls, and star.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Astral

  Copyright © 2012 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-108-9

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Devine Destinies

  An imprint of eXtasy Books

  Look for us online at:

  www.devinedestinies.com

  Astral

  A Terran Times Tale

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Dina Markowitz sat at the com unit, her ears burning with her blush. “Please repeat that last request, sir.”

  The silver-skinned Ontex looked distinctly uncomfortable. “A star has requested you as a mate for its avatar.”

  “That is impossible. The radiation alone would kill me.” She tried to be practical while her blush still raged.

  “The star is offering you the opportunity to share its power.” He blinked his huge black eyes and smiled hopefully at her.

  “Why are you responsible for telling me, Refoal? This is usually something that is handled by folks who can actually say sex without flinching.”

  “I have been your assignment dispatcher for four years, Dina. It was my duty to inform you of the offer.”

  “So, the offer has not yet been accepted?” Dina really wanted to bite her nails, but it was impolite to do so in front of her dispatcher.

  “It has not. It is still pending and the decision is scheduled to be made later in this council session.”

  Dina paused for a moment. The council might not decide in the star’s favour. She may be able to live her life as a non-resident mediator quietly on her station with no one getting in the way. While the quiet life had been a little lonely at first, she had gotten used to keeping her body on her small unit on the adjunct of the unmanned station. Fish was a remarkable cure for loneliness.

  “Dina, Dina! I asked if you were all right with this arrangement.” Refoal frowned.

  “No, I am not all right with being handed off to a star, to be irradiated and hopeful I will survive the transformation process. I like my job here. I know what happens next.” She shrugged.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “No celestial body is getting near this body in this life.”

  He nodded. “I accept that as a theory. In reality, it is a likelihood.”

  Dina sighed. “I know, but I can set out my wishes and dreams like everyone else in the universe.”

  “Fair enough. I will contact you again when I have more details. Do you have the records for your current assignment?”

  “I do. I am heading to the negotiations in a few minutes.”

  “Don’t forget to do a systems check.”

  She smiled. “Yes, Refoal. I will. Good evening to you.”

  She disconnected her com connection and stretched. She tried a few moves that she had learning in Citadel training and when her limbs were loose and relaxed, she wandered toward her dispatch centre.

  She locked the door behind herself and lit up the interior of the centre. As the lights cascaded over her support chair, she opened the vents in her suit to allow for the implants.

  Humming to herself, she hooked up her life support. Dina was preparing for her mission to the surface and she needed all the fluids she could get.

  Her holographic fish checked on her and flipped its fins. She smiled at him like she always did. “Hello, Fish. You seem especially red today.”

  The fish did fancy flips around her and she quickly plugged herself in.

  Fish was the interface for her ship’s systems and as long as he was swimming happily, she had nothing to worry about.

  Dina settled in her chair and breathed deeply. The chronometer over her head counted down to the moment of her appointment.

  “Dim the lights.”

  The lights faded to a subtle illumination and Dina let her mind separate from her body.

  Dina floated down toward the spinning orb beneath the station. The Qua’ak were trying to make a truce with the Qua’ar, their neighbours to the north. Yeshkin was an Alliance world, but the gasses that covered the planet were too corrosive for a standard Negotiator, so they had to call in a specialist.

  With nineteen languages in her mind at any given time, Dina was the perfect choice for the assignment of hostile-planet mediator. Her ability to keep her mind in a cohesive column as well as the centre’s systems provided her with the ultimate in telepresence. She could be in two places at the same time and never suffer from the environment she was visiting.

  Keeping a holographic representation was where she needed the help of her specialized systems. Other than needing a technological boost, her astral projection was honed to a fine science.

  She bobbed in the thick, orangey gaseous layer next to the two representatives. The negotiations for a truce had taken hours longer than she had anticipated, but Shemmo and Lallar were finally in agreement as to the terms of the truce.

  “Please sign the documents in front of you.” She kept her gaze on the document as they pressed it flat to the stone and pressed their palms to it. She twirled her fingers and the attendant reversed the document for the secondary signatures.

  When they had seared their palms to the document, the attendant ripped it in two, in Yeshkin fashion.

  “With this document signed, you shall each take a half and return to your people. Only when the other half is surrendered gratefully, eagerly and without malice or danger can this agreement be undone. From now on, you will share the bounty of the gas fish as well as the oil of the crawling carp. A trade agreement has been reached and ratified here today. I have filed the recording with the Alliance, so it is locked in for no less than nine generations. After that, you may renegotiate the details.”

  “Thank you, Mediator. Your presence here has helped diffuse a tense situation.” Shemmo bowed.

  “Our thanks as well. Things were getting tense in both our countries.” Lallar bowed as well, his heavy gills working to breathe the caustic atmosphere.

  She bowed in r
eturn. “Contact me if you have any further need. I will be hooked to your station for the next five days.”

  Dina sat up, gasping with her limbs trembling. Her body did not take to extended absences, but there was no way of telling time on Yeshkin. Days and nights were all blended together in that strange orange mist.

  She lay back and panted as her mind and body struggled to reconnect. Her fish flipped and twisted in the air above her head, his red colour turning a bright blue as she watched.

  “Lights up.”

  Her heart pounded and she slowly removed her supply lines. “Well, Fish. It seems we have a visitor. Let them into the station and keep the security on my pod tight.”

  Fish flipped and disappeared while Dina struggled to free herself from the muscle fatigue that weighed on her every time she left her body.

  She stumbled free of the chair and sealed the vents on her suit, including the one at her crotch that had housed the tubes for her other functions. Her bodily functions still continued while she was out and wandering around, but without conscious control, she had to make a few concessions for duty over dignity.

  The cup of water that was set to pour automatically was blessedly cool as it ran down her parched throat and splashed around her empty stomach. Dina grabbed a ration bar and munched while the dispenser poured another glass of water.

  After two bars and five glasses of water, she felt almost coherent again. She stopped in the lav and brushed her hair and teeth before splashing her face with water.

  If the visitor was hostile, Fish would have been green. Blue meant that the visitor was Alliance affiliated and it was time to find out who had come knocking on her door.

  Chapter Two

  “Unlock the seal.” She bit her lip and watched her reflection in the polished door panel. Dina knew that her white blonde hair was startling, as were her powder blue eyes, but her pigments had taken a hit when she got her first round of intravenous supplements. Fortunately, it had been the only signs of her body’s shock to the invasion, but it still made her uncomfortable when she met strangers. Since she was aware of her discolouration, she felt rather obviously freakish when she met new people.

  The door slid back soundlessly to allow her into the airlock and hallway to the main station. She ran her hands down her suit, smoothing phantom wrinkles on the body-tight uniform. Fish led her through the halls to the observation deck where a man was sitting and staring out at the stars.

  “Hello. Are you waiting for me?” She blinked in shock as he turned and she took in the dark blue skin with the sparkling of stars inside.

  He was wearing a body suit similar to hers and it left nothing to the imagination. His eyes swirled with a slow pulse of liquid silver. “I believe that I am. You are Dina Markowitz of Terra, yes?”

  “I am. Who are you?”

  His smile was slow and caused her stomach to do a nervous flip that had nothing to do with the rations she had just packed in.

  “Zakkar Yelwing, Avatar of Arci. He is attempting to secure you as my bride, but I thought you might be more amenable in person. Most of the races on your world no longer engage in arranged matings.”

  She blinked and extended her hand in formal greeting out of reflex. She felt the jolt at the contact and while she was able to determine that he was a powerful psychic, there was something even stronger just under the surface.

  “What world are you from?”

  “Valoi, in the Arci cluster. My folk died out centuries ago and I am the last one left.” His smile was matched by the slow caress of his thumb on her hand.

  She swallowed and tried to keep her voice chipper. “Arci is staying quiet? From what I have heard, that is rare for a star or planet.”

  Zakkar’s smile stayed in place. “I was very firm with my star. He needs to stay aside so that your decision is made solely on your own. I have to sell myself on my own merits.”

  She tried to take her hand back and he resisted for a moment before releasing her. “You are selling yourself?”

  “Courtship, if you would. My folk didn’t engage in it, but I have been studying your customs and I believe that I have created a suitable plan.” His amusement was still in evidence.

  Apparently, he knew something she didn’t.

  She clued into his comment. “How long have you been studying?”

  He paused, his smugness shaken with that one question. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because it seems a little creepy that you would be learning my customs without having confirmed that I was available for you.”

  He ran a hand through his midnight black hair. “I have been researching you and your people for two years. Arci has had a request in for a compatible female for me for over three hundred years. When you entered the Alliance, the file was flagged and as you progressed in your chosen field, it became more and more obvious that you were the only possibility.”

  She snorted. “How flattering.”

  He blinked, “You should be flattered. My species quickly died out when their pursuit of intellectual stimulation took over and their sex drives faded. That you are compatible with one of the races who drew up the charters of the Alliance is a high compliment.”

  She blushed. “I apologize, but if your people died out because of lack of interest in the physical, why are you interested?”

  He gave her a look that caused her toes to curl in her boots. “I have been an avatar for a very long time, Dina. Arci chose me long before intellect was all that my people valued.”

  So, he wasn’t just a stalker, he was an ancient stalker. The tingle that was still rioting on her hand was slowly moving up her arm and she fought the urge to brush it away.

  Her stomach growled hungrily. It seemed that the ration bars had not been enough. Sighing, she looked to Zakkar. “Would you care to join me for my lunch? I think I missed a few meals on that assignment.”

  He seemed pleased. “I would. How was your time on Yeshkin?”

  She blinked but led the way to the galley. “It was fine. Very long, though. The Yeshkin do not seem to need to eat or sleep.”

  He chuckled. “It is the side effect of their atmosphere. They gain enough nutrients from the gasses to keep them alive for months if necessary. They like their meals but having to break for one is considered a sign of weakness.”

  She sighed. “It would have helped to have that information two days ago. I need to eat several times in a normal day.”

  “It is one of the things that I miss as a stellar avatar. Food was important when I was growing up, but the star keeps me fed now.”

  In the galley, she dialled up food for two. “I think you can still eat, so would you care to try the rations I have? They are a very good approximation of food from my home world.”

  He looked at little nervous. “It has been a while, but please. Yes. I would love to try it.”

  She laughed. “It isn’t fancy. It is supposed to be meat in gravy with a tuber and vegetables. If you don’t like it, I am sure I can fit your serving in.”

  His smile was that of a curious boy and not a man made of starlight and muscle.

  Chuckling to herself, she retrieved the hot meals from the unit and carried them over to the table. She turned and retrieved two sets of utensils as well as two glasses of water.

  Smiling at the familiar-ish food, she prodded at the meat-like substance and bit into it. Despite it being an unappealing colour it tasted a lot like roast beef and potatoes.

  Zakkar watched her, his quicksilver eyes swirling. When he was assured that she was indeed swallowing, he prodded at a vegetable and nibbled daintily at it.

  She couldn’t help but keep her gaze fixed on his reactions. They were fascinating. He didn’t like the red vegetables, but he enjoyed the potato substitute as well as the meat and all the other veg.

  When he finished eating, there was a flash of light and he looked at the dispenser speculatively. “May I try something else?”

  She shrugged. “Sure. I have enough food here for thr
ee years. Go nuts.”

  He blinked at her phrasing. Some of the words in Alliance Common just didn’t translate well, so she simply smiled angelically while he attached whatever meaning to the word nuts. That he chose.

  When he came back from the dispenser, her eyes widened. He had found her dessert selections. His tray held a sundae, brownies and what looked like apple crumble.

  “Wow. Sweet tooth. I would never have guessed.” Dina continued eating, tiny bites that her body would be able to break down quickly.

  She watched him discover the Terran treats and had a hard time keeping the smile from her face. If they had been in a group of people, ignoring him would still have been difficult, but she would have managed it. Here, in a one-on-one situation, she couldn’t ignore the charm of his joy of discovery.

  He was working on the sundae when he asked her, “How did you get into distance mediation?”

  Dina cocked her head. “Leaving my body was something that I had always done. Every time I closed my eyes, it seemed that I was in another country or another world. When the Alliance called for Volunteers, I was standing in line to apply with thousands of other Terrans. I wanted to know if my talent was real or I just had an active dream life.”

  Zakkar paused with a spoon full of ice cream. “And?”

  “They sedated me and quickly proved that I was not mad and not simply enamoured with my imagination. I woke out of my body in the facility and scared the bejeezus out of the applicants in the waiting room. I was offered one of the positions immediately and then I had to break the news to my family.”

  “They were not in favour of you leaving?”

  She laughed and almost choked on a mouthful of food. “My mother didn’t want me to even work more than fifty kilometres from her. Leaving the planet had her weeping for days.”

  “You don’t regret leaving them?”

  She sighed and propped her head on her hands. “Sometimes. I really do regret it sometimes, but mostly, I am enjoying be out here meeting new races and making myself useful.”

  “I understand. I missed my family when Arci tapped me, but they were proud and since they were happy, I could embrace my new life with more ease. Change is always difficult, but if we pay attention, we can find things in our life that we didn’t even know were missing.”