Marks of Admar

by Viola Grace

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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.

  Champions of Terra

  Marks of Admar

  Copyright © 2006 Viola Grace

  SERIES ISBN: 1-55410-732-6

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  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 eXtasy Books

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  Champions of Terra

  Marks of Admar

  By

  Viola Grace

  To the Erotica Superfans!! You know who you are! It is you I write for, so thanks!!

  Chapter 1

  Sarah sat quietly, meditating in the open air of the arboretum. The metallic steps sounded behind her, then stopped. Silence once again fell over the green oasis in the center of the space station.

  “Hey Amy, take a seat. I’m almost done here.” Sarah straightened, then relaxed into the silence once again. Carefully steering her consciousness around her friend. Her mind touched the life pulsing softly in the trees and flowers, as they provided the necessary oxygen and filtration to the station. Each was a bright spot in the stillness of the space that served as the backdrop for the exotic and eclectic blend of flora.

  With her eyes closed, she identified each species by its living signal, the age by the brightness of that same signal, and it’s origin by the particular tint of the life energy. Sighing gently, she reeled her mind back into her body, and opened her eyes.

  The world around her seemed lacking in color after what she had just experienced. She resigned herself to living in the physical world, at least for now.

  “So, Amy, why am I here?” She stood and turned to view her friend encased in the head-to-toe armor of the Alliance Negotiator.

  “Nice to see you too, Sarah.”

  “Sorry. There are way too many people on this damned station. This is the only place I can be alone for any length of time, and even then I can feel them moving around nearby.” Sarah shuddered and took a seat on one of the nearby benches and brushed the dirt from her robes. Her grey gloves did not absorb the dirt, but also did not do a great job of cleaning off the soil either.

  “I sympathize. I really do. But here is an opportunity for you to get to wander around on an uninhabited world. All you have to do is put up with Professor Ridwal.”

  Sarah groaned, “Oh, not that windbag! He’s the reason that I haven’t gotten any good assignments lately. That stupid Mdi disaster.”

  “You were proven correct and his theories were debunked. You should be happy.” There was an amused tone to the metallic voice.

  “How was I supposed to know that he had done a dissertation on the ‘Brutal Mdi Empire’? No one tells me anything.” She slumped down in an aggrieved manner.

  “It did stall his career for a while as well, but in the mean time he was able to blackball you with the Archeological Society. This assignment could remake your career.”

  Sarah paused and tapped her chin with one gloved finger. “Ok, what have you got for me?”

  “Well, remember when you tracked down Kyra for us?”

  “Yes. I have never watched so much alien porn in my life. But yes.” She grinned up at Amy.

  “Well, she had discovered the hidden jump co-ordinates for a planet called Admar. Admar was one of the first planets in the Alliance, if not the first, and the species of the Admaryn bore a startling resemblance to creatures of human myth and legend.”

  Negotiator Tyrell continued, “The Alliance has put together a team to investigate the site and you’re on it.”

  “Wow, what kind of species was it?” Her curiosity engaged, Alliance Reader Sarah Marks stood up and faced her friend directly. The metal gauntlets took her gloved hands in a firm grip.

  “We aren’t sure, and besides, that would taint your findings. The Stalix leaves in two hours. Be on it.” Tyrell squeezed and shook her hands, then made her way out of the arboretum. As usual, Tyrell had only tantalized her with the information that she had given to Sarah.

  Left staring at nothing, Sarah shook herself to attention. “Well, I had better get going then.”

  She quickly left the relative mental safety of the greenhouse making her way back to her quarters in only a few moments.A surprise of monumental proportions awaited her.

  The housekeeping robots had packed all of her clothing and effects. On her bed was a package of substantial size. Hands trembling with eagerness, she tore into the foil wrapping of the package, gasping with surprise and then laughing like a loon at the contents.

  Inside was an MP3 player with a selection of Terran music on the tiny menu, nestled on top of some of the brightest bras and panties that had ever been seen by human eyes.

  She carefully held up the bras and was amazed that they were in her size. Even on earth, she had had a rather difficult time finding bras that fit. It wasn’t that her breasts were abnormally large; rather, they were just on scale with the rest of her. For a human female, she was above normal in height and probably would not have been considered for the Alliance Sample Project if not for her empathy, as well as her talent for psychometrics.

  As she held the third brassiere up to her chest and admired the fabric in the mirror, her com beeped for attention.

  “Hello?”

  “OK Sarah, stop playing with your new toys and get onto that ship. The crewmen will be there in three minutes to pick up your luggage, so you had better tuck your new undies away.” The amused voice of Amy Tyrell was unmistakable. “I wish you the best of luck, and hope that you enjoy your new assignment. Stay safe and be well, buddy. Come home in one piece. That’s an order.”

  “Aye aye, Negotiator. I am not even going to ask you how you got this stuff. But thank you. Those damned restraint harnesses that the Alliance issued me are extremely uncomfortable.”

  An unmistakable giggle broke out of the com unit. “I know it is the single largest black market item being smuggled off the earth to date. Apparently, it is a unique form of clothing.”

  “You’re dealing on the black market now? Cool.”

  “Hey, everybody needs a hobby and the Haldis Imperium is a wonderful place to find people to get you anything you want. Ok, enough idle chit-chat. Get moving.”

  “Bye Amy, keep well.” Sarah waved at the screen.

  “Bye Sarah, now get moving!” The armored visage disappeared and Sarah quickly stuffed the contraband into a new carryall. She carefully wrapped the MP3 player in the cup of one of the bras and stuffed it into the center of the bundle. Just as she was zipping up the new precious parcel, a knock sounded on the door to her quarters.

  She called out to allow entry, and three members of the Stalix crew entered her main room. They picked up the luggage sitting on the center of the floor as placed by the robots and one of them made a grab for her new carryall.

  “No thanks, I have it.” She slung it over one shoulder, tugging her voluminous sleeve out of the way and smoothing the upper length of her glove to keep all available skin covered.

  “As you wish. P
lease follow us Reader, we’re ahead of schedule and are going to take off as soon as you are on board.” The crewman was Ghirdalan and gestured for her to precede him out of the room, as the others made their way into the hallway.

  Well, she could take a hint, and clutching her contraband close to her body, she made her way out of her temporary quarters on the Nodak station. The halls were silent, but she could feel all of the living beings in the immediate vicinity. She straightened and steeled her nerves as they reached the more populated area of the station, the docking stations and repair berths.

  She fought the urge to grab the crewmen and shove them unceremoniously ahead of her, her discomfort was growing in direct proportion to the amount of beings in her vicinity. Her senses were humming with the urge to delve into their minds and emotions. Flashes of the histories of the various ships were flitting through her mind as she walked to the shuttle berth that held their means to board the Stalix.

  The Stalix was a warship with independent jump engines. It was part of the second largest class of ship that the Alliance had commissioned from the member worlds. It was able to jump from one point in space to another, physically existing in two places for a few seconds, then transferring in its entirety to the target point. As such, the pilots were chosen because they had the ability to make the journey seconds before the ship did, to confirm the safety of the jump site. They were hard-wired into the ship, and it provided all the nutrients that the pilots would need to repair their bodies after the trauma of a jump.

  The current pilot was a member of the Tival species, with over ten years of experience as a pilot directly wired into the ship. It was a lonely life, but very few pilots ever bemoaned their lack of personal mobility for the life among the stars. They considered themselves lucky to be chosen as there were only a few species that could handle the physical strain of confinement.

  The Stalix’s previous pilot had been a Terran, but she had been injured in the Arena Station attack and had not been able to resume her duties afterwards.

  The shuttle trip was almost peaceful. The chaos of the station dropping away, the emptiness of space embracing her, and then the curiosity of the crewmembers was washing over her in waves. The close quarters of the shuttle let her trail her fingers surreptitiously over parts of their clothing without their noticing. Each of them had a different flavor to their curiosity about her. One was wondering if she was a dignitary, one was wondering if she could sense what he was thinking. However the one that almost made her laugh was the Tival who was wondering if they were sexually compatible.

  They were, but she was not going to tell him that. Sex was not something that was comfortable for her since the Alliance training that had ‘turned her up’. They revved all of her psi abilities almost to the point where they would drive her mad. She could sense everything that her partner had been feeling, thinking about and had touched in the last forty-eight hours. Occasionally it was less than flattering, so she just skipped the whole mess. It was lonely, but simple. As well, the training at the Citadel had left her with the ability to raid other’s dreams and fantasies. She could couple with any willing participant, provided that she recorded their acquiescence formally in her private records.

  She stretched and relaxed into her temporary quarters. She was being housed in the unused pilot’s quarters, rooms that were kept available by tradition. A tradition going back to the days when the pilot’s special talents needed shielding as they were not wired into the ship. She could feel the soft dampening caused by the psi shields, which were needed for the comfort of the pilot, which meant that her quarters were near the main bridge. For her they were perfect. No one had used them previously. There were no psychic traces to fight. No memories of other beings to contend with. Ah, glorious silence.

  She let her mind roam free about the ship. She touched and counted each and every member of the crew, one by one. The Tival that had escorted her to the ship was still interested in her physically and judging by the emotions that flitted through his mind, he had an attraction for any and all bipedal females. Perfect.

  Sarah wandered over to her terminal. Using her high-access keys, she punched up the duty roster for the ship. Her target was scheduled to go off duty in three hours so she had better find something to occupy her time until then. She dug through her bags and pulled out the new toy that she had been given, then set herself in a meditation pose and turned on the music.

  Hours flew by as song after song drifted through her mind in an endless cascade. As a change in tempo brought her out of her reverie, she realized that she could now take her ‘break’.

  Sleep came easily for her, it always had. As soon as she drifted off, she sent her astral self in search of her target. She found him easily. He was waiting for her.

  Nude and erect, it was obvious that his astral self was more than willing to co-operate with whatever she had in mind. She still had to ask the question.

  “Do you agree to interact with me in mind only?” Her voice was a quiet whisper in the stillness. She was still not used to this being her only sexual outlet.

  “I do. Will you leave the memory intact, Reader?” He seemed only mildly curious.

  “I can leave the sensations, but not the identity or the face. Is that acceptable?” Sometimes it was not, and she would have to take all memories of her contact with her.

  “It is.” His voice was deep and calm, but the twitching of his shaft belied his placid demeanor.

  “Alright then.” She stepped forward and took his face in her hands, bringing his mouth down to hers, tasting him. Or at least the representation of him that was on the astral plane. She set the delete suggestion in his mind and prepared to immerse herself in the sensations of his hands on her.

  In a flash, his arms were around her, his mouth exploring hers as well. His hands gripped her shoulders roughly and she felt his fingers bruise the skin. Oh, so he wants it like that does he?

  Sarah adapted her plan of attack and went passive in his arms. Let him do all the work.

  He drew his head back to meet her eyes, and smiled. It was quite a wicked grin. She found herself flat on her back with her thighs spread wide, and in an instant, his head was between them.

  “I have never tasted a Terran before. Looks like this is my chance.” He drew her lower lips apart with one finger, exposing the slick shining folds within. She watched his head draw close …closer…and then with a whir of jump engines, everything went black.

  * * * *

  “Reader Marks, Reader Marks wake up!” The voice was masculine and rather agitated.

  “Ohh, my head.” Sarah sat up very slowly and held her head gingerly in both hands. The rumble of the jump engines winding down gave her the clue that she had been missing as to the sequence of events.

  “Reader Marks! Please acknowledge.” The insistent voice was emanating from the com unit on the desk.

  “Alright! Alright, I’m up. Stop yelling.” She hauled herself off of the bed, disgruntled and cranky at having been woken from a sound, dreamless sleep. She stumbled across to the com station, flicking the screen awake to find a Medical crew member staring at her.

  “Thank goodness you’re alright Reader. The team members have all been in for their pre-landing check-ups with the exception being yourself. The sensors indicated that you were asleep, but no one could wake you.”

  “I was in a very sound sleep.” If you could call it that.

  Recently, it was found that Citadel trained personnel could be transported via jump ship with one proviso. The psi in question had to be asleep while the jump was in progress. The trauma of existing in two places at the same time, for those with the mental talents that made them so valuable to the Alliance, was extreme. It had been decided generations before that all Citadel personnel could only be transported via standard ship transport. Occasionally, even employing cold sleep to transport the needed talent to the required area.

  It had only been after a Reader who had gotten drunk at an ambassadorial
party was found on a jump ship, unconscious, but perfectly sane after three jumps to supply depots, while blissfully asleep, that the policy had been examined again. After a lot of research, it was found that sleep was the only way to ship the psychic. So the instant that the jump engines engaged, the talent was rendered unconscious. It was keyed in with a post-hypnotic suggestion. The powering up whine gave all the warning that the psi was going to get. This explained the abbreviated interlude for Sarah and her companion.

  “Well, we need you to report to Medical for the final check-up before planet fall. You will be there for some time. We need to make sure that you are physically fine before you go.”

  “I am on my way. Look up the etiquette for examining Readers before I get there, would you?”

  She flipped the screen off, and stretched.

  Damn, just a few minutes longer and she would have gotten off in the privacy of her own rooms. Now she would have to wait until the guys were busy at the dig and do it herself.

  She stomped to the door and made her way down the hall, careful as always to not touch the walls or any of the personnel that she brushed past.

  * * * *

  They were here. With a shivering rip in space they were here. After all of the centuries of waiting, they had finally arrived. One among them glowed in the darkness of space. Burning with the power of a race that he had been waiting centuries to see again. On the planet’s surface robots began to stir in an effort to bring him back into the physical realm. He should be ready by the time that they entered the city.

  Chapter 2

  "Reader, I’m glad you could make it. Please have a seat on the table.” The doctor was bustling around the room, not even looking at her as she entered and crossed the sterile floor. “I am Doctor Kredhan, Alliance Specialist in Exobiology.”