Koreshi Chronicles - Chapter X: Tandem

"You ready?" Lyta stood with her hand poised on the pull for the starter.

"We shouldn't be here."

"But we are here. Too late to turn back now."

"Janus Kerasi..."

Lyta smiled, an eager, anticipatory grin. "Annnndddd... go!"

With a sharp tug on the starter, she was gone.

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Koreshi Chronicles - Chapter X: Lighting the Way

Lyta found Jonas sitting in an easy chair, watching the street-life of Lyonesse as it passed below his window. A blanket was tucked around his lap, an empty mug beside him on a night table. The medical equipment was gone -- taken away by Doc Chambers when he had returned to points further south -- and there was no sign that the hotel room had been used for anything other than sleeping and resting.

Lyta knocked softly as she entered. “Thralan?”

Jonas looked up and smiled. He seemed tired. Lyta wondered whether he had gotten any sleep inside the Doc’s portable MRI machine. “Hippartha.” He gestured towards a chair opposite him.

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Koreshi Chronicles - Chapter X: Seeds of Change

30 Summer 1928

The Saracen Memorial Hospital had a beautiful garden, full of trees and flowers both native and imported. It was remarkable what money could buy in the UMF, Lyta reflected as she trailed her fingertips over the ivy-covered railing beside the path. She had no idea what their hospital stay was costing, and frankly didn’t care. They had the money, and what was the point in having wealth if you couldn’t use it to make yourself comfortable while nursing a head wound? Or worse, she thought as she reviewed the conditions of some of Tatsugoro’s team.

She walked carefully. The pain had mostly stopped, but she still occasionally found herself dizzy or lightheaded, and the last thing she wanted was for a fall to summon the nurses. Out here, in the calm afternoon amongst the rustling trees, she could almost pretend she was alone. That she was somewhere else.

She found Jonas sitting on a bench, watching a bee as it flitted from flower to flower. She stood a little distance away, waiting, making sure she wasn’t interrupting, before she took a few steps closer. “May I join you, Thralan?”

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Koreshi Chronicles - Chapter IX: Cold, Hard Choices

Thirty minutes into flight the cacophony of the storm had abated. “We’re through the worst of it,” Diego called back from the cockpit as the turbulence and wind gave way to the more familiar and reassuring sound of the hopper’s twin thrusters. “I’m going to set her down to check that the fuel lines aren’t too iced over before we continue on to Djakarta Point.”

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Koreshi Chronicles - Chapter VIII: What Any Of Us Want

02.SU.26, Shores of the Western River, The Great Western Plain

A chill woke him from the darkness and he opened his eyes to the light. The wind was picking up as Helios dipped to the horizon. He rolled over to take in the gently swaying grasses rustling against a backdrop of ochre, bleeding into cobalt and then dark ultramarine. After a while he lay flat on his back again. He watched the first stars above, enjoying the moment, relishing it like only a freed man could.

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