From The Journals of A.From The Journals of A.I. David Majors Shardik 020 / 0672 The door to the apartment slid open with only the slightest whisper, but Ember heard that whisper and slammed the book in her lap shut quickly, looking up to see who had entered. Her guilt at being caught intensified. "P'raine!" she said. P'raine walked in silently, shaking her head. "What are you doing in here?" she asked. "I was just... I mean... I just... Oh, damn. I was feeling lonely, so I decided to come in here and just... be alone." "That's not a very good cure for loneliness, kiddo. Wha'cha readin?" "It's just a book. I thought I'd get caught up." "Let me see." "It's just a book." "Bawr, you may well be five hundred years old, but I'm still your friend. I know better than that. Give it here." Ember's muzzle fell, her nose flaring with more than a little embarrassment as she turned over the gray hardcover to P'raine. P'raine turned it over and read the title. "The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, Personal Threads, 148." She put the book down on the mildly dusty coffee table and sat next to Ember. "Still hurts, doesn't it?" Ember nodded, miserably. Tears welled in her eyes and she said, "He's not dead. He can't be dead." "They've been missing for nearly fifty years, sweetheart. If they're out there, it'll be a long time before we find them. The last report we had was of a Sinox attack on their location, but Ian told me they swept that area pretty hard." "Rainy, you can't kill someone like Kennet Shardik. |