Blog Hop Excerpt Teaser (Yes, another one)

Here's another excerpt from The Case of the Senshi Pearl (Interstellar Intelligence Agency, #1), which I'm giving away to commenters during the SFR Brigader's Midsummer Blog Hop.

21st Day, 13th Month, 3012 G-Year

Planet Nereus

City of Vodnik

Country of Rusalka

A small wind picked up and Kane eyed the vents. Still closed. The temperature of the air heated. Evaline grasped his forearm, and gasped as a small tornado formed in the center. It whirled, first in a wide loose swirl about three feet tall, then grew and tightened. The space around the phenomenon distorted, like a mirage when gazing through the desert.

Two tiny pale feet materialized on the ground, growing calves, knees, and petite thighs.

"Oh my gods, Kane," Evaline whispered in awe.

"It is magic," the emperor commented from the water area.

A chair nearby crackled and splintered. Kane gestured to one of his men and they reached out and jerked it away. The corner piece of the chair arm had disintegrated, leaving only a small splintered gap. Agent Tanuki's naked form slowly appeared. Her athletic hips, fit abdomen, and arms covering her small chest. Kane's mouth went dry.

Evaline excused the security team -- for obvious propriety's sake -- and grabbed the robe. She prepared to drape it over the small naked female.

Small was an understatement.

She barely came to Kane's chest. Slim shoulders held a long narrow neck and diamond-shaped face. The wide cheekbones accented her wide mouth. She had big blue eyes, the color of the night sky before full moonrise. A long thick scar etched from her right eye socket, down across her cheek, before disappearing behind her hairline.

Her pitch-black hair was in a short style, buzzed in the back and angling longer to a point towards the front. Bright blue streaks the color of her eyes highlighted her hair in thick chunks. Her skin was like the little porcelain dolls in the toyshops around town.

She let her arms drop, and turned to them in her full nudity. Kane blushed. She was obviously not shy. She smiled, and then bowed to the mistress and emperor. Evaline stood holding the robe, unsure what to do next.

Raina stepped forward and reached for the robe. She bowed again, and then said something in a foreign tongue. The mistress cast a confused look at Agent Tanuki. The agent searched the space behind them from her position.

The mistress's assistant stepped forward, holding an injection system of some sort. "I think this is what she is looking for, My Mistress."

Raina gave a broad smile, nodded, and took it. She pulled back the holster, and it clicked. Then she pressed it behind her right ear and squeezed the handle. On a small pop, the agent winced, and then closed her eyes.

"Thank you, Mistress," she said in a bold voice contrary to her small size, surprising him.

Evaline stammered for the first time in all the years he'd known her. "I-I thank you for coming, Agent Tanuki."

"That's the way to travel!" The emperor had a boisterous laugh. "Where'd you learn this skill?"

"It's not something you can learn to do unless your meta composite is designed for it from birth," Raina replied.

Her shoulders slumped after putting on the robe. Kane stepped forward. "Do you require rest, Agent?"

She met his stare with her own. Something akin to thunder slapped his chest, and his breath escaped him.

She nodded. "Yes, if there's time. The process can be taxing on the essence, and the newly formed protons require an adjustment period."

Essence? Newly formed protons? These terms zoomed right over Kane's head.

"Of course there is time, Agent." The mistress glanced at the emperor. "How about we meet first thing tomorrow morning to discuss our course of action." The emperor nodded, and slipped under the water. "Your things from IIA arrived via the ionic transport," Evaline crooked a finger for one of her attendants, who answered by slipping an arm under the agent to prop her upright. "Let's get you to a room to rest for now."

Kane followed, still trying to find his equilibrium. The agent wavered at the doorway, stumbling. The attendant struggled to keep her up. Kane cursed under his breath, and lifted her small form in his arms. Her legs were draped over one arm. Her shoulders were tucked against the other. He nudged his chin, and the group moved through the Rusalka House of Despot. Her head dropped against his chest.

This could be trouble.