Hyde and Seek (4 page)

“I never got a chance to thank you. I never even knew your name.” Wekiat mumbled it into her shoulder.

“Amly. Amly Hyde.” She hugged the woman back. “How are you enjoying time off world?”

“It is wonderful. I am normally based on Balen, but with this project in action, they loaned me out to Morganti.”

“Loaned you out? Like a possession?” Amly was getting irritated.

Wekiat calmed her. “No, no. Like a specialist. My expertise was needed here. I also have attended a number of ornamental gardens on worlds I had not dreamed of. The soil of Morganti isn’t suited for the original plants, so we are having to alter the structure of the plant without changing the taste of the fruit. It is quite the challenge.”

Amly absorbed the delight and pride that Wekiat was taking in being able to use her talent. She was fulfilled. It was obvious.

Keezik touched her arm. “It is time for your appointment. We cannot be late.”

She nodded and asked Wekiat, “Would you explain it all to me later?”

Wekiat nodded. “I would be delighted to. Dinner in the common room?”

Amly nodded. “I will see you there.”

With her heart a little lighter, she followed Keezik up and into the Citadel for her appointment with the spymaster.

Keezik led her to the door and nodded. “I leave you here. Whether you do or do not impress Equilar will be entirely up to you.”

Amly nodded and knocked on the door. When a voice called for her to enter, she opened the door and stepped into the only interview that could have an effect on her life. All the other interviews had been taken to save others. This was the first one for her alone.

She kept her hands at her sides as she approached the woman, and she paused a few feet away from the straight back until a hand lifted and the fingers snapped, pointing at the seat across from her.

The dark rainbow hair was teased with grey, but it was still ornately drawn up in a hairstyle that gave the wearer dignity and presence.

“I generally do not answer to snaps, Lady Deeha.” Amly sat primly with her hands folded loosely in her lap.

“I no longer answer to that name. Equilar is all that I wear as my title, that and Grandma.”

“As I do not qualify to call you the second, I shall address you as the first.”

Equilar pointed at the tablet she was scrolling through. “You have an impressive record, Miss Hyde.”

That comment did not call for an answer. It was an observation, not a compliment.

The older woman slowly smiled. “You are the first candidate I have met recently who didn’t try to fill the silences.”

“Danger lies in loose tongues.”

Equilar’s smile widened. “It does indeed. Now, show me what you can do.”

“What would you like to see?”

“Dazzle me.”

Shrugging, Amly turned into Fixer.

Equilar had been lifting her tea to her lips. She put it down with a clatter. “Stand up.”

Amly stood while the older woman circled her, examining her bodysuit and the fall of her hair.

“That is incredible. You even have the same twist to her lips.” Equilar blinked. “Do me.”

“May I touch your skin?”

“Is it necessary?”

“It helps. I can match your physical appearance without it, but I will be lacking your mannerisms and the mental shield of your surface thoughts.”

Curious, Equilar extended her hand for her relative to take. Fixer gripped Equilar’s hand and seconds later, two women were facing each other staring into the matching eyes and copied features.

“Please have a seat and pour tea.” Equilar was fighting her astonishment, and she sat carefully while watching Amly intently.

Amly drew on Equilar’s reflexes, and she settled the cups just so before adding the whitener and then checking the pot temperature with a subtle touch of her hand. She poured two thirds of the cup full, and then, she sat back, putting sweetening into her tea with a deft twist of her wrist.

Three precise twists of the spoon and she set it down on the edge of her saucer, gesturing with her fingers for the true Equilar to do the same.

Equilar was stunned and she smiled slightly. “I have to say, I am very impressed and I now realize that I have many more mannerisms than I would gladly admit to myself.”

“May I resume my original form? I can see that this one is upsetting you.”

Equilar nodded. “Of course. Is it difficult to hold a shape?”

“I would revert after four hours in that form. That is when the contact would wear off. I could still wear your form with effort, but it would only be the physical shell, not the psychic imprint.”

“Is the imprint so important?”

“When you are walking through a room full of psychics, yes.”

“Tell me about what you did and how you did it. I need to know what you require to become a truly effective specialist, though for my opinion, you could do it right now and probably do amazing work.”

Amly resumed her normal features. “I want to do outstanding work. I want to be the best that I can be, and for that, I need training. Will you help me to find ways to obtain the information I need to be the best I can be?”

Equilar raised her teacup in a salute. “I can help you there. Be here tomorrow morning at ten and the species etiquette will commence. I will arrange the tech training.”

Amly perked up, “Really?”

“Really. I even have a few tests in mind to work on your precision and adaptation skills.” Equilar inclined her head. “Tomorrow morning, Miss Hyde.”

“Thank you, Equilar. Tomorrow morning it is.”

Amly got to her feet and left the room with her heart tripping with excitement. She walked down to the common room and got herself a cup of tea. She sat and looked out at the gardens, letting the joy she felt leak out of her soul and into the world around her.

It was a very solid start to her new life with the Citadel.

When Keezik came to retrieve her, she had finished her tea and was eager for action. He caught on to her mood and took her to the gym.

“Come on, you need to learn to burn off your extra energy. If you are not going into battle, you are going to need an outlet. The combat trainer is the best bet for a partner. It will increase difficulty as you increase your capabilities.”

Amly watched dutifully as he showed her how to set up the program, and then, she shifted her clothing into a booted bodysuit and stepped into the ring.

A woman appeared across from her, and she blinked as she recognized herself, blue hair and all. The other woman came toward her, and to her surprise, she struck her in the jaw.

Amly staggered back and blinked. “Right. Well, at least this is a fair fight.”

She struck out at her opponent and the fight was on.

The flailing punches tired her out, but she wasn’t done. She continued until she had beaten the projection to the ground.

When she knelt on her own chest and slammed her fist into her own face one final time, the projection disappeared.

A group of watchers had gathered around the fighting platform, and she inclined her head toward them with her eye swollen and her knuckles covered with blood.

The expression on Keezik’s face could only be described as appalled. “Are you all right?”

“I think I need to fix a few things, but otherwise, I am fine.” She inhaled, fixed the damage to her body and exhaled slowly as she resumed her normal appearance.

She smiled brightly. “There, all fixed. Is it dinner time yet?”

He nodded weakly. “It is.”

“Good. Wekiat will be waiting for me. I look forward to hearing about her adventures.”

“Yes, and I am looking forward to asking you a few questions.”

There was an undercurrent of tension in his voice that concerned her, but she was unable to ask him what he wanted to know until they were on the main floor and in the common room with trays of food.

Wekiat waved them over and she grinned at them as they settled in.

“I was afraid you weren’t coming.”

Amly smiled, “I got sidetracked with a fight simulation.”

Keezik blinked. “You could say that. You fought for three hours, and in the end, your punching force was close to two tons of pressure, as was that of the simulator.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

Wekiat blinked and filled her in. “It means you can punch at stone and eventually make it through. If you could repair your body with every strike, there would be no end to the strength you could pile into your limbs.”

Amly blushed. “Ah. Yes, that would be bizarre.” She bent her head and prodded at her dinner.

Keezik rubbed her shoulder, and she took the consolation for what it was. A friend trying to let her know she wasn’t a freak.

“So, Wekiat, what plant are you working on?”

“I am working on something called coffee. It is a plant that many of the incoming Terrans are mildly addicted to. Apparently, it helps them wake up in the mornings. They must be an odd species to only rise for a sharp dose of a strong stimulant.”

Amly narrowed her eyes and went through the Terrans on the Sector Guard roster. There were quite a few, and they didn’t seem to be lacking performance due to an unfulfilled addiction.

“Maybe they just like the taste? Star Breaker is a Terran, as is Pilot, and even Relay. None of them seem to be having a problem with the lack of a substitute.”

Wekiat blinked. “They are?”

“Yes. It is in the Sector Guard Morganti roster. There are also more at the other Citadels and Guard bases, not to mention those who are in the Guardian program in the Nyal Imperium.” Amly couldn’t stop herself. The endorphin rush that was hitting after the fight was running her mouth.

Wekiat looked at her with wide eyes. “How do you know all that? How long have you been off Resicor?”

She bit her lip. “Less than a week. I got a full update for my estimated work areas.”

Wekiat chuckled. “I suppose that makes sense. I can get by with just a trowel and seeds. I don’t really need to know anything else.”

Amly sighed, as it seemed that Wekiat wasn’t going to pursue the difference in their programs. They settled in to talk about home and the tension that was increasing with every passing day. The grip that the psychics had on the population of Resicor was tightening, but more and more talents were slipping free.

It was so nice to see one of those who had escaped that time got away from them, and Keezik finally tapped her shoulder. “You will have to rise early for your appointment with Dr. Effin.”

She looked at the darkness outside the window and the relatively unoccupied common room. “Oops. We will have to continue this chat later, Wekiat.”

Wekiat grinned. “I look forward to it. I am here for a week and then I am off to parts unknown.”

Amly got up and came around for a hug. “It was good to talk with you. It means a lot.”

“For me, too. I know that others have escaped, but I haven’t run into any of them yet.”

Keezik escorted her to her quarters. “You have to make sure you don’t blow your status as part of the espionage corps.”

“I tried to recover, but I am not sure that she caught on.”

“She caught on.” He was grim about it. “A minder will bump into her in a hallway and she will forget that little blip, as well as your physical abilities.”

She rounded on him in her doorway, “What?”

He pushed her into her room and closed the door. “Not all those who sought help off Resicor were legitimate. We have found three sleeper agents waiting for a signal. Wekiat is one of them. She is not to expand her clearances, and yet, she still turns up in highly secure areas. We believe that she is being ridden. The minder will remove a good portion of your conversation, but she will still know you.”

Amly staggered back. “She isn’t…what does ridden mean?”

“She is on a frequency that can be accessed by a telepath over a long range, and he or she can move Wekiat around.”

Amly sat heavily on her bed. “Wekiat’s sister is in the government. She is a security scanner. It could be her. Does she know?”

He shook his head. “No. We have sent minders into her vicinity, and she does not register anything untoward. She is just a good-hearted gardener and you need to treat her as such, but watch what you say. Someone is listening through her eyes and ears.”

Amly felt tears well in her eyes. She fought them back, but they came anyway. “I thought that worrying about betrayal was a thing of the past.”

“No. It has just changed direction. I wish I could give you better news, but it is wiser to make sure you are aware and ready for what will come to pass.”

She let herself cry for a moment before rallying, sucking in air and wiping her cheeks. “Right. You said I had to go and see Effin?”

“Yes, he was a little perplexed by your readings, so he is going to ask if you will be willing to be fitted with longer-term monitor pods. You will be able to download their results, but they will be subcutaneous.”

“Under my skin.”

“If you allow it. The information you are providing has healers buzzing all over the Sector. They don’t know who you are, but they are watching the means by which your body shifts.”

“What can they gain from it?”

“They can learn how to regenerate tissue, how to remove scarring without injuring the patient and much, much more.”

Amly laughed helplessly. “All that and I didn’t feel a thing.”

“Being able to see the change and transformation in action, so to speak, has made quite a difference. You are copying other bipeds. There are a few other shifters, but they take on one specific aspect. You pull them all in. I am just surprised that you don’t copy talents as well.”

Amly looked at Keezik and blinked slowly. “Who says that I don’t?”

She had dismissed Keezik after her disclosure and closed the door behind him. Amly paced, wondering if she should have told him everything.

Her first transformation had been a trauma for her. She had been on a school trip to the capitol and she had wandered down the wrong hall. Someone had called out to her and she had taken his hand. His talent for empathy was her first copy. She sent him her confusion, and the man had smiled and led her back to her group saying, “I expect she will be getting a job here one day.”