Bonding

By Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Marisa relishes her undercover work—it suits her loner nature. But when an assignment meant to bust a ring of Ce'nark poachers goes sideways, Marisa finds herself in a position she never wanted—caring for another life form.

Even worse, returning the creature to its family proves more complicated than she imagined. And the truth she uncovers might have lasting ramifications throughout the system.

"Science fiction writing at its best."

—EssentialWriters.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: WMG Publishing
• Release date: Dec 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201779344

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. She publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov's Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.   

Book preview

Bonding

BONDING

KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH

WMG Publishing, Inc.

CONTENTS

Bonding

Also by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

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About the Author

BONDING

This part of K’dar’Ak smelled like wet wool. I pulled my parka hood around my face, thankful for the chill. Heat always accentuated odors. I glanced over my shoulder. My companion, George, was studying a snow mural as if he had never seen anything like it before. I couldn’t see the backup team, but I knew they were there. This was a part of my job that I both welcomed and feared. Done right, we’d break another ring. Done wrong—well. Done wrong, no one really cared.

No one but us.

George stuck his mittened hands in his pockets and the thermal lining sealed around them. He nodded toward me, his breath visible in the thin air. K’dar’Ak’s atmosphere was barely tolerable for humans, but that didn’t stop us from settling the place. Anytime there was money to be made, humans would gather. These beautiful towns, carved out of snow and k’dar, a hard grainy wood-like substance, would disappear if the funds ran out.

I took a deep breath, feeling the chill in my lungs. It felt as if I could never get enough air, even though all the studies said I could. I just hadn’t acclimatized. I had arrived on K’dar’Ak only last night; George had figured my breathless state and my chill-crystalled skin would mark me as a newcomer, and make me less suspicious.

I hoped so. I hated working at a disadvantage.

George had also figured that my small frame, my high-pitched voice, and my wide eyes would have a similar effect. Most people saw me as younger than I am. That, combined with my girlish presence, made them dismiss me, just as they would dismiss a young boy who came into their midst.

I rounded the corner, out of sight of George and the backup squad. This was so that my contact wouldn’t get nervous. I had three different security implants, tiny chips—each more undetectable than the last—and I activated all of them before continuing.

The wet wool smell increased. Someone had once told me it was caused by a combination of the building materials and the snow. K’dar’Ak looked like no place I’d ever seen before. The homes were small and round—igloo-shaped, some Earth historian once told me—but the k’dar formed the frame. A thin porous material also native to K’dar’Ak stretched over that frame, and then the locals let snow gather all winter, spending much of their leisure time creating murals on the exterior walls. I’d watched one local work that morning, using tools I’d never seen, creating lines in the snow, using one tool to melt the edges around the line, and then another to freeze the line solid. A few humans used snow paints to decorate their murals, but those weren’t as pure as the native murals. Each native mural looked