Catching Stardust Read Online Free Page B

name behind the brand.”
    It was true. The last time Zander had gotten excited about a new discovery, he’d been sure it was groundbreaking. He’d put everything on the line, and for what? To be made a complete and utter fool of when his “discovery” turned out to be little more than an overdramatic misreading of data.
    And it had almost cost the Arius’ everything. People didn’t want to buy new technology from an astronautics corporation whose founding members couldn’t even read their own data correctly. And now that the world was starting to embrace the idea of personal space travel in the not-so-distant future, their consumer technologies line was going to skyrocket. But only if they could keep their credibility in check as one of the top companies in the field. If people couldn’t trust their brand, they’d be out of business.
    “You’re right,” Zander conceded. “I can’t risk us losing everything because of something that’s probably nothing.”
    “So you’re dropping it?”
    Zander’s mind fogged over as fatigue set in. “Yep. I’m done for the night. And I’ll throw out my non-research in the morning.”
    “Glad to hear it. You’ll be happy you did once our new line of personal space travel products kicks off in the next five to ten years. And then you’ll really get the recognition you wanted. It’s coming. You just need to be patient.”
    Zander clicked his cell phone off. He could barely rouse enough energy to collect his papers from the roof and cover the telescope before dragging himself back downstairs to his bedroom.
    Tomorrow he really would throw everything away so he couldn’t be tempted by it. And surely tomorrow night the star would be back, right where it belonged.

Chapter Three
     
     
    “Say what now?” Maia mumbled. Something was very wrong with this picture. In all her eternity, she couldn’t remember hearing about a single incident of the communication system going down.
    Ever. In. Eternity.
    That kind of thing didn’t happen with their communications system. It was fail-proof. She’d never heard of Tele-technicians before either. Did that job even exist? Their communications moved through sound and light waves, not fiber optics or whatever primitive telecommunications Earth used.
    Something suspicious was going on, she was sure of it. If one of the seven sisters couldn’t get through to Pleiades, it was for a reason. And it had nothing to do with the operator or a “problem” on the line. No, she was blocked from calling home on purpose, but why? Why would someone want her stranded on Earth without at least a way to let her family know she was okay?
    Something was very wrong with this situation.
    She needed to clear her mind so she could focus her thoughts enough to deal with Zeus and figure out a way to make him answer for his actions. She might even call up her father and give him a piece of her mind too. After all, Atlas was probably as much to blame for her being here as Zeus was. Atlas may not have physically sent her here, but she would wager all the stardust in her bank account that it was his orders Zeus followed when he sent her here.
    Why couldn’t Atlas accept she was strong enough to deal with Orion? Frustration at her father, at Zeus, at Orion—damn it to Hades, all of the men in her life could go suck it. Not one of them respected her enough to stop meddling in her life.
    When she got back to Pleiades, she would wring their necks.
    Maia flopped backward onto the bed, conceding defeat, at least for the moment. What she needed right now was a hot bath to help clear her mind and ease her annoyance.
    She twisted the dials on the faucet and hot water poured out, filling the tub, steam fogging the small bathroom. She stripped off her grass-stained dress and dipped a toe into the bath water.
    A knock sounded at the door. Room service.
    Reluctantly, she stepped back out of the tub. Maia slipped into the fluffy white robe that hung on the back of the