Page 111 of The Edge of Dawn

He might be a dangerous Kordolian, but he was her dangerous Kordolian, and she was afraid for him. The tension inside her was almost unbearable, and her barely controlled psychic energy was becoming swirling chaos.

She tried Dragek’s glass jar trick, but her mind was too scattered, her soul overwrought.

She couldn’t exist like this. She needed some sort of diversion.

Jade dragged herself out of bed and went to the wardrobe-thing where she selected a soft, deep khaki turtleneck and a pair of loose black trousers. She slipped out of her robes and carefully hung them up.

Then, she got dressed. There was even underwear and a camisole and a bra—soft, simple, unpretentious, made from some silky-cottony type fabric.

As she put on each piece, she ran her fingers over the fabrics. Everything was incredibly well made, the materials luxurious and impossibly soft. A tactile dream. There were no tags, no seams, no loose threads.

On the surface, the clothes looked human-made, but they were far too perfect to have been made by human machines.

She wasn’t even sure she could identify the fabrics. Wool? Silk? Cotton? Something else entirely?

Maybe Kordolians could make anything. Even the so-called natural fibers on Earth were made with recombinant technology these days rather than being harvested from actual animals and plants.

Finally, she pulled on a pair of supple boots that reminded her somewhat of the split-toed shoes she’d seen workers wearing in Japan.

Everything was in her exact size.

The clothes fit well. Too well. Even better than some of the expensive garments she’d carefully chosen for her old wardrobe on Earth.

How did they know?

She let out a puff of disbelief and shook her head. Why even question it?

They were Kordolians. Impossibly technologically advanced and already scarily adapted to human ways.

Doing whatever they wanted.

Treating her like a guest in a fancy hotel, with everything catered for.

Huh.

She shook her head and let out a puff of disbelief, staring up at the ceiling. Her body was filled with tension. She didn’t know what to do with herself, and she couldn’t contain her aura.

Voices were starting to murmur in the back of her mind again.

She was edgy.

She had to do something.

Suddenly, a soft chime echoed through her quarters. Although the sound was gentle, she was so on edge that she actually jumped.

What was that?

It had come from the door area. Was it a doorbell or something? Did the Kordolians actually use these, or had they just programmed it for her benefit?

She walked across to the door… and then froze.

Whoops. She’d totally forgotten about her broken foot, and the little floating sentient crutch was nowhere to be seen.

But it didn’t hurt anymore. She could walk perfectly fine.

Zyara’s instructions echoed in her mind.

Don’t bear weight for about a day or so.

---