Dana Cartwright Mission 3: Kal-King by Joyz W. Riter Page A

didn’t want to say much more.
    “From Earth?”
    She shook her head, not wanting to reveal details, taking a long sip of the golden-brown beverage the bartender delivered.
    “You’ve got strange eyes,” Rick mumbled. “Wasn’t sure. You look exotic.”
    Dana nearly burst out laughing. “Exotic? Me?”
    Either he was teasing or he was an SSID plant. She decided to play it safe and say little. Better to keep him talking, though she didn’t want to feign too much interest, lest he get the wrong idea.
    “Do star liners have big crews?”
    “About twenty on ours…lots of turnover. People bump up to the bigger birds.”  
    She offered Rick some of her snacks and he tasted the dip, using a cracker. “Most of the food here has a funny taste. This isn’t bad.” Dana chuckled, reminding, “T-town isn’t exactly a bright spot on the star charts.”
    “Not true,” Rick said, “T-town is a favorite of the business sector; and this big conference is bringing a whole lot of businessmen in. In another few days, this place will be flooded — even when the sun is up.”
    “Oh, no…everyone scurries for cover during daylight hours. You can get some decent Earth coffee over at the marketplace. Just don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce.”
    Rick laughed, enjoying her jest, giving her a wink.
    All at once, they heard a commotion near the side hatch.
    “Bar fight,” Rick deduced, taking ahold of his beer mug and swiveling around to watch.
    Dana glanced in that general direction and saw a Tresgan. It wasn’t Hawk. This one was bigger and nastier looking, and he was taking on a Rigelian. “Not good,” she remarked to her neighbor, as she gulped down the last of her beer.  
    She grabbed for her backpack, brought out her last 10-C note and laid it on the bar, then scooped the last few nibbles of crackers and cheese into a side pocket and slid off the stool.
    “Better get out now, Rick,” she cautioned, and then bolted for the hatch. He wasn’t behind her when it slammed shut.  
    By the time Dana reached the far side of the promenade, patrons began to pour out of the lounge and security began to arrive. She watched from a safe distance until the call went out for medics. Though she still had current certification, she wasn’t about to go back inside.
    The air temps started rising. As she walked along aimlessly, enjoying being pain-free, Dana mulled over possibilities, and an idea dawned.  
    Star liners had “lots of turnover.” That’s what Rick said. She had the credentials. Maybe… She scoped out a vacant robo-cab and used the transport card, setting the spaceport admin building as her destination; the very building where the recruiters for the big private ships often loitered.
    “Worth a shot,” she decided, “besides, the Commissioner wants to see me again, though I have no clue why.”  

CHAPTER TEN

    Hawk scowled, finding his new orders distasteful and repulsive.  
    Apologize to Cartwright! Awk!
    His Master insisted, superseding personal preferences. The human, whose image stared at him from the view screen, ruled.
    Hawk acquiesced.
    Augustus Kaelin King did not even so much as blink his mismatched eyes — one blue and one brown — when commanding, “Do not fail me again, Hawk! You must not harm her in any way; nor allow anyone else to harm her. Do you understand? I want Dana Cartwright alive and unharmed!”
    Hawk squawked an affirmative.
    “Whatever it takes…bring her here, to Arkares. I need her.”
    Kaelin King wanted Dana J. Cartwright. The reason was clear. They could be twins. They had the same cinnamon-colored hair, though hers was very long and King’s was thin and receding at the temples. They had the same mismatched eyes. In size, they were very much alike, small and thin. King was clever — in some ways brilliant — and like Cartwright, he had a temper.
    “I will succeed, Master, or I will die,” the Tresgan vowed. As the view screen went blank, Hawk shivered, fluttering