Hyde and Seek (7 page)

“I am not so shallow. I also spent time as D’kan and therefore know about how you escaped and how many you took with you. It was very brave and exceptionally dangerous.”

“That will take some getting used to, that you can take on the experiences of others.”

“They gave me more understanding for you, so don’t knock it.” She laughed and whispered, “Hit the jump drive.”

He leaned forward and activated the drive, pulling them into Alliance space and the path of the warship.

When he leaned back, she took his cheek and kissed him. “Sorry that I freaked out. I trust you and I trust what you choose to tell me.”

“I am so glad. Now, go warn the warship that we are on the way and pursuit is three minutes behind.”

“Yes, sir. Too bad. The lap thing was working for me.” She grinned and returned to the com side of the ship.

The Alliance officer got excited when the call came in but assured her that they were scrambling for engagement with the Raiders while protecting the victims’ transport.

It was important that they made that distinction, because Amly had no inclination to be blown out of space because someone got a little overly enthusiastic.

The battle raged behind them, and their ship docked with the warship, getting the Resicoran survivors off and to safety before they cut the transport loose and blew it up in case it was tracked or rigged to blow anyway.

The Resicorans were given the language basics the same way that Amly had been, and when she looked at the assistance they were getting from the Alliance staff, she felt that she had done the right thing in not fighting to bring them home.

They didn’t need to be on a world where their lives and freedom were forfeit just for existing.

Keezik stayed near her while she helped the Resicorans settle into the ship, but when she stepped back for a moment, he whispered, “We need to leave now. They will be assessed and sent to the Citadel that best matches their skills and personality. There is nothing more you can do, and you need to send a biological update to Effin.”

Amly made a face. Based on his concerned tone, he had noticed the tremor in her hands. “Fine. I have already said goodbye to those who needed it. Let’s go before I refuse to.”

He nodded and put his arm around her waist, walking her back to the Citadel shuttle that they had arrived in.

The moment she was back in the familiar surroundings, the energy that she had been forcing through her to keep her awake began to dwindle.

Keezik cursed and carried her to the medical foldout bed, strapping her in and putting oxygen and a drip on her.

She pointed at the belt he was holding in one hand and weakly pawed at the pouch holding the monitor relay.

He pressed it to her hip, absorbed the information in the relay and he read the display. With the care of a man assembling a detailed recipe, he opened and measured out supplement after supplement, adding them to her drip.

The resulting cocktail was an eerie neon green, but he settled everything securely and nodded. “I will get us underway so that Effin can look you over.”

She nodded from behind the oxygen mask and closed her eyes. He would take care of her; his mind was glowing with it.

Amly woke when Effin was moving a floating gurney through the halls.

She touched his arm, and he looked down in surprise.

His smile was warm. “You did well, Amly. It was the Cressex form that drained you this time. Their skin has a different mineral base, and it unbalanced your system. Oddly enough, the Drai shift was the easier of the two.”

She chuckled weakly and let herself doze off. When she woke, there were flowers all around her.

“What?”

Wekiat was sitting next to her bed. A shadow moved along the wall, so Amly knew that Keezik was nearby.

“I made some flowers for you to remind you of home. I don’t know what you did there, but I am free. Something had been lurking in my mind, and it suddenly stopped three days ago. When it disconnected, I told the minders at the Citadel, and they helped me build a barrier against further invasion. I am free and I think I have you to thank.”

Wekiat’s features glowed with happiness, and she took Amly’s hand. There was no subterfuge in her mind. She was simply happy and delighted to feel like herself again.

The shadow circled around her bed, and she felt a hand on her arm. Keezik had been worried, but he was willing to wait until she had had her visit with Wekiat.

Looking around at the blossoms, she saw a familiar orange and yellow flower. “Kirheeli roses.”

Wekiat turned and brought the flowers closer. “These were the flowers that got the attention of the agents. I designed them for my sister’s wedding, and she had a lot of the government representatives at her ceremony. They are trained to notice the unusual and beautiful.”

“And to report it. Yes, that much is seared in my mind.”

They both chuckled at that and Wekiat sat happily for another hour before she had to leave to attend her coffee plants.

When she was gone, Keezik sat in the chair she had abandoned and took Amly’s hand as he resumed his normal appearance.

“You did well, and you are nearly back to normal. Effin will be here in an hour to check you one final time before releasing you back to the Citadel.”

She chuckled. “You make it sound like I am being sent back into the wild.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “You rather are. There is a list of assignments an arm’s length long waiting for you once you are ready for them.”

“You are serious?”

“There are worlds we cannot walk and places we cannot be seen. You and I are uniquely suited to walking those forbidden worlds.”

The excitement in his eyes was contagious. Her mind began to do a self-assessment, and she shifted restlessly. “When can we leave?”

He laughed. “I thought you weren’t a huge fan of space.”

“I am not, but walking an alien world is a wonderful draw for me. Getting there is just another commute.” She grinned and looked at his peculiarly attractive features. “Tell me why you joined the Raiders.”

He sat back and explained that his mother had been a servant in a noble house on Pregyr. When she had been pregnant, scans had been done, and it had been determined that her child was carrying additional energy. She had been taken to a home for pregnant women, and when her child was born, she was given the best possible care and environment to raise her son.

When he grew to adulthood, he was recruited into the Raiders and his mother’s safety had been his price. Later, he negotiated for her freedom, and she had gone in search of her family. That was when his life had changed.

He had a cousin, he had an aunt and there was life beyond the endless skulking for the Raiders. Through his mother, he got an offer from the Citadel for protection and he jumped at the opportunity. Helping those he had once victimized was a chance he wanted to make full use of.

He had gone through an intensive training system, endlessly invasive rounds with minders, and finally, he had been pronounced fit for duty. It was at that point that he had met his cousin and her family and his new life had started.

He smiled. “Even Equilar considers me family, of a sort. It is strange to go from nothing to everything just by letting yourself be open to the possibilities.”

“How is your mother?”

“She is content to live near her sister and is safe from the Raiders. That is all I wanted, and so it is still a good bargain.”

She smiled and understood that there was a lot of information he had left out. She would learn more about his time with the Raiders, but she knew enough for now. He had grown up and been groomed for service to the Raiders.

She had grown up knowing that her world didn’t want her.

They both had their issues and they would work through them. One thing she knew, they were going to do it side-by-side.

Dr. Effin walked in. “So, Amly, ready to get out of here?”

She looked toward Keezik and grinned. “I am definitely ready. Do you have that new list of supplements?”

He blinked. “Yes. We have worked out a series of supplements for the shapes we have on record for you. The more alien the form, the more imbalance occurs. These should help, and you can load them into thigh injectors and administer them as you resume your natural form so that shock will not take hold. It will make you more effective in the field and keep Keezik from panicking.” Effin winked.

“Can Fixer work out a colour-coding system?”

The doctor laughed. “She already has a six cartridge injector in her workshop. She is just waiting until you are well enough to zap with it.”

“Well, give me a clean bill of health and we can get zapping.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

* * * *

Amly breathed heavily and looked toward Keezik and his small burden. The child had survived a crash but its pod had been lost, and when the parents were retrieved the child had been left behind.

One year later, the little Vimpyr was worshiped as a god. Stealing a god was not easy.

Amly pressed the scanner to her, loaded up her gun and jabbed her inner thigh with the missing mineral compounds. The burning spread through her system but she felt stronger.

She pulled the thick skin and pugnacious nose into position and stomped out toward the mountain pathway where she could see the gleam of their ship.

Weapon’s fire burned the air between her and the ship.

She retreated to the crevice in the rock. “Right. They aren’t going to let me do this the easy way.”

“We can’t show them a sentient form.”

She grinned. “Take my belt and load up green, blue, black and gold. I am going to need it.”

He grimaced. “Not that.”

“It will do the job and protect you. Get that baby to safety. I am putting on some wings.”

She stepped out of the crevice and took the Drai form that came in so handy. She exhaled fire near the attackers and shook out her wings as the attackers screamed and ran.

Amly kept her senses alert and watched as the shadow reached the ship. She moved in next to it and took her normal form back. She ducked into the ship and sealed the hatch. The moment that the seal was solid, the shuttle lifted.

Amly took the belt from a hook, double checked the supplements and jabbed her other thigh. She felt better and nearly normal. The child was sitting on the medical bed with a strap holding it in place.

“Soon now, little one. Almost back to Mommy and Daddy.”

The baby squealed and clapped, showing tiny fangs.

Amly thumped into the navigator seat. She grinned at her partner. “That was fun and no one saw me. Well, not the real me. They will now have the story of the god stealer. I think it will be interesting to monitor them and find out how that story goes.”

“This is not about your ego.”

She laughed. “I know, but it still is fun to be part of a history when no one knows the truth.”

“We know the truth. The baby’s parents know the truth, and the Citadel knows the truth.”

She grinned and sat back while they left the world and went to meet the rescue ship that had pulled the parents from that same world.

The baby squealed to see its mother, and all was right with the world.

Amly watched the reunion and smiled softly until Keezik came to her side. “We have another one.”

She looped arms with him and walked him back to their ship. “Then, let’s get on our way. I have mineral replacements I haven’t even tried yet.”

They laughed as they set off to pull a lost satellite from an industrial civilization that wanted to research it. Just another day with the Citadel.

And so, a little more of the mystery of Resicor is unraveled. We are getting closer to the big moment, and I have to say, I am rather excited. I have set up all the pieces, now can I pull them together.

Join me August 1 for
Mind Strike
. We get into the psychic corps of Resicor and deal with the darker side of controlling an entire population.

Thanks for reading,

Viola Grace

http://www.violagrace.com

[email protected]

Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.