Love of Olympia (Olympia Gold) - Page 8

Deidra moved to the next stone podium. The Gold Standard still maintained cooperation with the WBO. Their donations of specimens from colonies and undeveloped planets were as much for entertainment as they were for research. Many arenas from previous Olympias were designed to mimic the living conditions of these outlandish specimens. There were finned quadrupeds that sifted through sediment as easily as water. There were tiny serpents specialized in invading the bodies of larger creatures, to consume them from the inside. There were beasts that entrapped the mind of anything they met eyes with. Deidra wondered if she’d see anything of the like in her own Olympia stint.

However long it lasts, she tried not to think.

“There she is!” filled the air around Galia in whispers. She stepped through the doorway to the Game Room. The lantern-light inside sparkled up and down her wild curves in the endless rhinestones of her black dress. Her thighs rippled with each proud step into the room. With her crooked smirk and crimped hair, she even humored the idea that they were talking about her. Then she caught the glint of the black helmet on the other side of a huge crowd. Of course. The Terra Eagle.

“There she is,” Galia sighed to herself. The Eagle’s yellow scanner line ran up and down her visor as she nodded to one spectator, then the next.

“I heard she has some sort of mutation,” someone whispered, on the topic of why the Eagle never appeared outside her black and fluorescent green exosuit.

“No, it’s a special bio-link to her ship. She controls it remotely with her thoughts!” anoth

er attested. Galia reached for a glowing violet glass of sweet tonic from a passing waiter. She sipped away the unscratchable itch to grab taxotrol from her pocket while she listened in on rumors she’d heard before. Among countless legends from the speculative stardust, there came one she wasn’t familiar with.

“Did you know she enters the Olympia every year to honor her friend who died in it?” Galia turned an ear to listen in on that one, until she caught the eye of someone she recognized. Someone who recognized her. Deidra.

The Gold Standard servant was enthralled instantly by Galia’s dazzling dress. She couldn’t look away. There was only a single thing different about Deidra, but it was enough for Galia to forget about eavesdropping. She was clean. Deidra’s freckles were dotted across a smooth, dark face. Her hair was oily, but in a natural way that came from a hot shower. It frizzed down on either side of her soft, yet somehow crisp gaze. Her uniform was spotless. She was clean. That was all it took for Galia to see what she missed before. Deidra was gorgeous.

“I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw you on that screen,” said Galia. She waltzed across the deep green carpet to the girl.

“Pretty Brazen, huh?” Deidra chuckled ironically. Galia pulled her chin back, arms crossed to test her.

“That is not how you guys got your name,” she laughed.

“Came with the ship,” Deidra assured her. Galia shook her head at The Gold Standard’s cruel humor.

“Don’t suppose entering was your idea,” she said. Deidra opened her lips to answer, but the voice that followed was that of a young man.

“That was all me,” Devin injected himself between them.

“Should have known. The showman,” Galia laughed.

“In the interest of potential alliances, I’ll choose to take that as a compliment,” Devin gave Galia a half-bow.

“Sure,” Galia leaned over his shoulder to whisper, loud enough for Deidra to overhear, “Just don’t forget the people who stand by you.”

“Galia?” came from behind them. She went rigid at the sound of it. A single word undid it all. The ship. The arms dealing. The drugs. One word made her a little girl again, sketching off-world creatures in a notebook under the stairs of their parent’s porch. A little girl huddled next to her sister. “Galia, I know it’s you. I’ve been looking all over this ridiculous building for you.”

“Excuse me,” Galia said to Deidra and Devin. She managed to hold a grin until she turned to leave them, bewildered. She grabbed the braid-haired brunette that had called her by the arm and dragged her to the edge of the Game Room.

“You can change your hair and dress like a gangster, but you won’t get away from-”

“Elaine. What are you doing here?” Galia cut her short.

“I’m here to talk you out of doing something stupid before you regret it,” said Elaine. “Galia, come home.”

“Home!” Galia laughed, “I have every intention of getting back in the Dreamweaver after the Prelude. Sure, I’ll be home.”

“Galia, please… you can imagine how hard it was for me to get in here. If you want me to beg, I will,” the hurt in Elaine’s eyes was etched deep, a river at the bottom of a canyon.

“About as well as you can imagine how hard it was for me. If you think I’m turning back, you have me confused for someone else,” Galia shook off. She put a hand on Elaine, to shove her away, but not before Elaine got one on her.

“Just because your dream didn’t… Don’t do this, Galia. Come back.”

“Where have you been for the last ten years, with all of this, huh?” Galia stared at the ceiling, unbelieving at the water rising behind her eyes. After all this time.

“Looking for you!”

“Attention, spectators and combatants,” Cybil Cerano’s voice rose above the chaos of the meet-and-greet, through his lapel amplifier. Galia and Elaine stopped to listen, along with the rest of the Game Room. “Grab something solid and hold on for descent… the Prelude is over.”

Tags: Kennedy King Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024