Viola Grace

A chill of nerves ran through her as she hiked up the path that would take her to the com centre. In her twenty years at the Citadel, Thoola Education Centre, she had gotten four calls. The first two were from her mother telling her how proud her mother was that she was doing well. The third had been the notification that her mother was dead, the fourth communication was that her father was dead. It had been years since she had heard anything from her home world.

Saluthic was a quiet world in the Vexar Empire. Technically, Syrella was the Duchess of Saluthic now, but it was an empty title with her father’s properties entailed to one of his male relatives.

There was something about not knowing the person who was calling her that sent a ripple of unease down her spine.

She nodded to a few instructors and their students as she passed through the main hall. Autumn on Thoola was a good time for new intakes. If they could adapt to the harsh winters, they improved their character dramatically.

Syrella moved through the familiar halls until she was standing outside the com centre. With a deep breath and a serene expression plastered over her features, she opened the door.

Tuubi was on the com today, and she got to her feet, winking as she patted Syrella on the arm. It was obviously a private call.

Syrella sat at the station and keyed in her pass code. The face that popped up on screen was familiar in that it was Vexar. Aside from that, she had no idea who she was looking at.

The woman was matronly with her hair up in a formal coil. “Syrella? Is that you?”

Syrella blinked. “I am Syrella. Who am I addressing?”

“Lady Algiatha Loesh Nevic, your grandmother.”

Shock ripped a hole in Syrella’s heart as she stared at the woman who had given birth to her father via contract and waltzed out of his life as soon as another offer presented, rarely seeing her son from that moment on.

“What can I do for you, Lady Nevic?” Syrella wanted to get off the com as quickly as she could.

Lady Nevic frowned as if the conversation was not going as she had planned. “Oh, well, I have been asked to tell you that you have to return to Vexa. The entire line of succession is dead, and you are all that is left.”

“What?”

“You are the new Empress of the Vexar Empire.”

Lady Nevic’s bright smile had an effect she wasn’t counting on. Syrella cut the communication and lost her lunch in the wastebasket. Not a good move for the new empress.

Andra Nickles fired up her engines with a wave at the Guardsman watching her leave Morganti. The babies in Fixer's arms waved back on their momma's behalf. A fresh batch of suits and armour boxes for Udell base were stowed in the hold and she was on her way.

"This is the Guarding Flight, Alliance courier, clearing the Morganti base with a flight path for Udell base. Please confirm."

It was second nature to check in with the ground crew when she left. The tech she was carrying was highly confidential and experimental to the point of dangerous.

"Acknowledged, Andra. Keep it in a straight line this time."

"Yeesh, play chicken in a meteor storm once and I never hear the end of it." She was smiling as she lifted off and went through the pre-jump checks on the way out of Morganti's atmosphere.

Her halo was implanted in her skull and her controls responded to her thoughts. Working on the Sector Guard support staff allowed her to experience and experiment with tech she had never dreamed of back on Earth.

It still struck her as amazing that she had been one of the chosen Volunteers to leave her world and family behind. She had been a courier back on Earth as well. Her shining skill was her inability to get lost. It was so much a part of her that she had never even considered that it could be a talent until the assessors threw her into situations, mazes and even blindfolded her in the trials to prove it to her.

Once out of the atmosphere, she laid on the thrusters while she did final checks on her jump systems. The jump markers loomed and she cubed her position between them. Orientation in three-dimensional space was a skill that came as naturally as her navigational talent.

Andra leaned back in her seat, relaxed her palms on the sensors at the edge of her seat and took a few deep breaths. She opened the gateway in her mind and pictured her destination. She sent a pulse through the jump beacons via her halo and they synched with those near Udell. A sliding wrench and she was in two places at the same time.

The Guarding Flight settled into the Udell beacon space a moment before alarms started blaring and the ship started shaking. "What in hell?"

She was still weak from the jump when air began to hiss out of the seals on the ship. Outer displays showed a brilliant collection of lights and particles writhing around the ship. "Udell base, this is the Guardian Flight, courier Andra. My ship is under attack by a particulate storm and engines are unresponsive. I am in distress. Life support is failing and I have no ability to eject and run."

"Andra, stay put. We are coming to get you." Guardian's voice was calming, but Andra knew that with her seals failing, her life support would soon be useless. She would soon be cold and lifeless in the vastness of space.

"I will wait with bated breath."

"Funny stuff. Do what you can to stay alive."

"Will do." Releasing her restraint harness, she moved as rapidly as she could as her ship lost gravity.

Particulates flowed into her shuttle and danced around in a light and flowing pattern. Andra batted them out of the way as the grips of the emergency breather fought her.

Breathable air was becoming scarce, small particulates made their way into her lungs as she fought to free the breather.

More particles made it into her body. She was faint from the lack of oxygen and ice was starting to pool in her limbs. Her knees gave way and she slumped to the deck with the certainty that death was coming.

The particulates swirled, becoming thick tentacles that lifted her gently before surging into her mouth and nose. There was no pain, only the feeling of being bathed in warmth as the particles danced outside and within. A curiosity and joy that she knew were not her own filled her from the inside out as the world went dark.

The wild sounds and sights of the nightclub were lost to Max as she followed Tabby and the stranger out of the rear fire door. The darkness of the alley blinded her for a moment until her rapidly blinking eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

There. In the shadows behind a dumpster, she heard a breathy giggle from Tabby followed by a harsh squeak. It was the squeak that demanded action.

Max looked around and grabbed a chunk of wood from the alleyway. "Oy, jackass, get your face off my cousin!"

The stranger had his mouth on Tabby's neck and the whites of her eyes were showing with pain. He didn't move and Tabby whined softly.

With her hands clenched on the wood, she swung at his shoulder and knocked him three feet away from Tabby.

"What do you think you are doing, cow?" His snarl displayed bloody lips and teeth that glowed eerily in the darkness.

"Getting you away from her, ass hat." She was holding the wood like a broadsword.

"You don't want to do that." His eyes glowed a creepy green and she felt a tugging, like she didn't actually want to do whatever she was thinking about.

Before she could track his movement, he grabbed her and shoved her up against the wall, his fangs gleaming in the darkness. Fangs? What the hell? His hand covered her mouth as he swooped in to bite her neck and she did what came naturally.

With all her power, she closed her teeth on his hand and tore a chunk of skin off his palm. Blood spilled into Max's mouth and her jaw was held so tightly she couldn't spit. He was gnawing at her neck, but he couldn't do more than scratch the surface, her choker prevented him from getting a solid grip.

Strength born from fear and fury helped her push him off, but the damage was done. He had tasted her blood and she had gulped his. With a snarl, he ran down the alley, leaving Max bent over trying to wretch, her cousin sitting nearby with her hand pressed to her neck.

"Tabby, are you all right?"

"He bit me. He really bit me."

Max groaned and helped her cousin to her feet. The club exit was not accessible from the alley, so Max walked them to her car. Tucking her cousin into the passenger seat, she winced at the mess of blood and torn flesh that was her neck.

With her mouth tight, she got behind the wheel and started her car.

Tabby's voice was soft, helpless. "He bit me, Max."

She gunned the engine and announced grimly, "Don't worry, Tabby. I bit him back."

With the seaweed gathered into her sample bag, Emharo looked at the tempting waves and debated continuing her search for vegetation with antiseptic properties versus taking a nice dip in the waves.

Emharo looked up at the bright ball of the sun and smiled. It made her mind up for her. She carefully put her sample bag up where the shifting surf could not reach it and was slipping out of her shirt when a transport skimmed around the headland and came toward her.

It must be the specialists from the mother ship of the Nine.

The transport flew past her and up the beach. Its air cushion spewed sand left and right until it moved up to the ridge and approached the lab.

“Well, if everyone is over there, I think it is time for me to cool down.” Her parents wouldn’t begrudge her a short swim, and she might find another sample to take back to them.

She wore undergarments made of cured fish skin, and the leather made supportive and waterproof underwear. Em removed her outerwear and folded it neatly, tucking it up where it would remain dry. With a knife strapped to her thigh and a fishing spear in one hand, she went into the water to do some collecting.

She shuffled forward with the others in minute increments until she was finally facing the registration officer.

“Hello, miss. May I have your name?” The woman’s skin was a soft pale pink and her baby blue eyes were soothing.

Dev cleared her throat. “Devani Jarix.”

“Devani, what do you believe your talent to be?” The woman’s fingers were poised over the icons on her data pad.

Dev looked around and relaxed when there was no one near the kiosk. “Um. I am bullet proof and I can lift large weights.”

The woman raised her brows. “How large?”

“Two tons is my current limit.” Dev shifted from foot to foot.

“Are you willing to prove your talent?”

Dev nodded. “Yes. There are also local news reports that should be easily accessible.”

“You have been in the news?”

“Not willingly, but yes. I seem to stumble into trouble.”

“Just a moment.” The woman’s fingers moved rapidly and she raised her brows with an impressed expression on her features. “I see. You will be meeting with a recruiter immediately. Please take this locator and have a seat through those lavender doors.”

Dev took the palm sized disk and walked past the other kiosks, smiling when she realized that she couldn’t hear anything as she passed. The kiosks were sound proofed.

She pushed open the lavender doors and walked into the waiting room with the small disk in her hand.

There were some chairs set along one wall but no one else in the room. Dev took her seat and waited. A door on the other side of the room opened, causing Dev to raise her head.

It was male, tall, and was wearing an armoured body suit in black and gold. “Devani Jarix?”

“Yes.” She got to her feet and noted the width of his shoulders. Two of her could stand side by side and might just be the same width.

He smiled and his scarlet skin darkened against the white of his teeth. “I am Helsin, please come with me.”

He gestured for her to walk with him and she paced at his side as they entered the door he had come through. He spoke again. “While ostensibly this is a recruitment drive for the Citadel, we are looking for those who can work in concert with Udell base. The nearest moon has a new Citadel outpost and having additional members available to help in a pinch is always useful.”

She nodded as if his words made sense to her. They didn’t.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I am taking you for some medical testing to determine the extent of your talent. Most of those applying today are weak talents, at best. To find someone who has your skills is remarkable.”

She spoke, “Don’t be too impressed. The press put it all out of proportion.”

He smiled and his bright yellow eyes sparkled. “And yet you mentioned being impervious to projectile weapons in your initial statement. That shows some pride.”

“It shows desperation. I have no social life here, my friends keep their distance, the requests for interviews are constant and I have no inclination to live my life as a law giver when it has to be a life alone.”

“Why must it be alone?”

“No male of my acquaintance was comfortable with me after I moved the bus to free the passengers. I am regarded as a freak in my daily life and I am tired of the stares and whispers.”

He paused, “So what is it that you seek at the Citadel?”

“I seek to be with exceptional beings who know what it means to be alone in a room full of their own kind. That’s all. Just the company of equals instead of being looked down on.”