Looking at Trouble (4 page)

“Interesting. I was wondering about the training effectiveness of the Citadel.” He extended his hand again. “Care to try it again?”

She twisted her lips. “Sure.”

She touched his skin and reached into him, rifling through his emotions and his conscious thought in a second. She released his hand with a smile. “Flying and fire? Interesting combination.”

Bilro smiled slowly. “You really did see that. Well done.”

“Thank you. It is what I have been training for.”

“If your friends are inside, why are you out here?”

She winced. “I think they were trying to flirt their way into the bed of a Guard. That isn’t my idea of a good afternoon.”

“Which one?”

“I don’t think they care. They are after a night in the arms of a hero.”

Bilro looked at her with amusement. “You are not?”

“I have met heroes, I have met Avatars and I have met strangers from a thousand worlds. None impress me as much as my mother does.”

“She sounds like a special woman.”

“She is.” Reeda chuckled. “She is one of a kind.”

“Were you allowed to use your talent on your world?”

She grinned. “Of course. I mean, we had to report it if we used our skills against another being, but we were allowed to use it as long as we were registered.”

“Did that happen a lot?”

She cocked her head and did a mental count. “Often enough. I just had to go and make a statement. It was easy once everyone knew who I was.”

“Did your mother help you there as well?”

Reeda giggled. “Oh, yeah.”

The peacekeeper offices had frozen as Rrkra made her way to the desk in defense of her daughter. Reeda had had to calm her down, and it was not her easiest day. She did get to ride her mother home though. That had been fun.

“She sounds very loving.”

“She is. She negotiated for me to go home every eighteen months. It was quite fun to watch the debate over when and how long I would get to go home.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that the Citadel would flex the contracts.”

Reeda smiled. “They had no choice. No one could make my mother part with me, and I would never leave without her blessing.”

Bilro moved closer to her. “She sounds like a paragon.”

“She is. What of your family?”

He sighed. “My father was a Guardian and peacekeeper at home. He came and went at odd hours, but we knew he was saving lives. He has retired now but delighted that I am following in his footsteps. If I am lucky, I will be posted on Ryamash III.”

“You are Abrukan, are you not?”

He was surprised. “Yes, how did you know?”

“I have seen and spoken to many species. I recognised the dark highlighting around your eyes.”

“I wish I could say the same, but your features are strangely exotic. Is short hair traditional?”

She snickered. “No. I did that to irritate my mother when I was a teenager and simply stuck with the haircut. It was easier to manage, and she eventually got used to it.”

“I am curious. Do you have a picture of your mother?”

Reeda shook her head. “Not with me. I have some back at the Citadel, but they are in my room, and I am not inviting you to come and look.”

He blinked. “Why not?”

“I was raised to avoid bringing a male to my bedroom unless I wanted him to end up missing a limb.” A limb would have been conservative.

He chuckled. “My mother kept an eye on all my interactions with the girls in my classes. Just because I was going to be a Guardian didn’t mean she wanted to become a grandparent.”

Reeda snorted. “My mother negotiated for possession of any children I have while under contract to the Citadel. If I do suffer from a lapse in judgment, she will take the child so I can continue to work.”

“That is a very detailed contract.”

Reeda laughed. “You are telling me. All I did was sit there and let my mother and the recruiter chatter back and forth. On my world, a parent has to agree to a child leaving the surface. More come to us than ever leave.”

“Where do you call home?”

“Amdor. A living world that invites any to it as long as they are willing to live by his rules.”

“I see.”

She grinned. “It is claimed by both the Alliance and the Imperium, but it likes to think of itself as independent.”

“I have heard of it. It is a trading hub.”

“Yup. Every city has a speciality and each administrator answers to the Avatar.”

He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.

She watched his deep-green hair tumble across his wrist.

Reeda smiled. “You might want to join your friends. We seem to have run to an end of this conversational vector.”

He tilted his head. “Do you think so?”

“Pretty sure.”

“May I call on you at the Citadel if I think of another conversational vector?” He quirked his lips.

“You may, but you will have to check in with the administration and find out where I am. I am trying to get the most out of my education.”

He grinned. “I will do so, Reeda Rrkra.”

He bowed gracefully before he turned and left her leaning against the skimmer.

Smiling to herself, Reeda resumed her reading, occasionally pausing to think about the man who had stopped to talk. She was used to the men she dealt with being aware of her mother and treating her with a dose of fear. To simply have a male come up and talk to her casually was a novelty. Bilro had set himself apart in five minutes from all the other men she had met.

It took half an hour for her friends to emerge, and they were giggling and whispering about the Guards and Guardians.

Reeda got behind the controls and waited for them to get in the vehicle. “Did you actually talk to any of them?”

Camya sighed, “No, but they were all busy talking to one of the men who came in late. The Guardians are here from an Imperium world.”

Reeda checked her passengers and lifted off, heading back across the valley with a small smile playing around her lips.

Reeda finished her hour in the simulator and exited the arena. Bilro was standing next to one of the administrators, waiting for her.

“Impressive combat display, Reeda.” Bilro smiled.

“Uh, thank you. I didn’t realise I had an audience.” Sweat curled down her neck and ran under her suit.

The administrator smiled and inclined his head, leaving them alone.

“I apologise for my sudden appearance, but I thought of another conversational vector.” He reached out for her hand, and she placed her palm on top of his.

“And I apologise for being all sweaty. If you wait a moment, I will take a solar shower and we can get something to drink in the dining hall.”

“I will wait right here.”

She nodded and stepped past him and into the female’s changing room. The shower was quick, and she was clean and dry when she returned to the gym where female novices were surrounding Bilro.

He made eye contact the moment that she came into view. He nodded, “Excuse me, ladies. I have a lunch date.”

She adjusted the setting of her robes and waved her arm toward the door. “Shall we?”

He nodded to the ladies again and followed Reeda on her way out of the gym.

Outside, he breathed a sigh of relief. “I have no idea why they do that.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“Yes. It has been happening a lot.”

“Pheromones. Abrukan males put out enticing pheromones that draw in a surprisingly large variety of females and even males of different species.” She smirked.

“No one told us.”

She cackled. “You are supposed to know. They are supposed to inform you when you leave your worlds.”

His features were grim. “They did not. How do you know about it?”

“Amdor is a trading hub. I have met Abrukan before.” The males that she had met were definitely fascinating, but she was lucky enough not to be a susceptible species. They had purchased scarves for their wives and daughters and enjoyed speaking to her for a moment without the social pressure that came with fending off unwanted feminine advances.

She led him through the halls to the dining area and paused. “What would you prefer for refreshment?”

He smiled and led her to the tea station. He got a tray and set up a pot of tea. She slipped over to the caf station for a cup, put it on the tray and, then, she whisked herself over to the iced water and grabbed a pitcher and two glasses.

She grinned. “Follow me.”

Reeda moved through the crowd with grace and dodged the small Yaluthu who were hopping from here to there at ground level. The children that were present chased the empathic avian, and Reeda completed her way to the quiet corner she preferred.

Bilro arrived a moment behind her. “You navigate like a professional.”

“I worked in a market. This is nothing.”

He sat down and looked out over the gardens. “This is quite lovely. There are more children here than I imagined.”

She sipped at her caf and poured water for them both. “I asked about that on my first day. Their mothers were brought here before they were born, rescued from a Raider research station. Balen offered them a home.”

He nodded. “That would explain it. They seem happy but unattended.”

“All of the Citadel watches out for them. They are taken care of, and the Yaluthu are good at sounding alarms.”

“The small creatures?”

Reeda nodded. “Yes. The small creatures.”

He sat and sipped at his tea.

She sipped at her caf and sat back. “So, what is your new conversational vector?”

“What did you want to be when you grew up?”

She paused and chuckled. “A weaver. I wanted it more than anything I had ever conceived of, but it wasn’t to be.”

“Why not?”

Reeda grinned. “I don’t have enough hands to do it properly.”

She finished her caf with a happy sigh. “Now, what did you want to be when you grew up?”

His cheeks coloured. “I wanted to be a hero, like my father.”

It was a fair answer. “Tell me about growing up with a hero in the family.”

He sat back and told her tales of being swept up and flown across the continents for research in a school project.

Reeda sat back, and they talked about his family and his past until the sun dimmed and another one of the Guardians tapped him on the shoulder.

Bilro blinked. “Oh, Kimda, this is the woman I was talking about. Reeda, this is Kimda of Ryamash III.”

Kimda gave her a tight smile. “Pleased to meet you. Bilro, we are scheduled for dinner at the base in twenty minutes.”

Bilro sighed. “Fine. Reeda, please, excuse me. It was wonderful speaking with you again.”

She stood and extended her hand, palm up. “It was fun. Think of another topic if you come back again.”

“I shall come back daily as long as I am here.” He pressed his palm to hers and inclined his head.

“I look forward to it; you know how to find me.”

Kimda sighed and pulled her companion away.

Reeda chuckled and tidied up the tea and the cups. Her pitcher was empty, and she brought it all back to the washing station. It was time for dinner, and she was still smiling from the fun of the afternoon.

Camya found her when she was loading up her dinner tray, and for the rest of her meal, Reeda had to answer her questions about the Guardian. Other women who had been mooning after Bilro came by and asked questions about how Reeda had managed to get his attention.

They didn’t like to hear that she had just been reading and he had approached her.

After the meal, she retreated to her room and composed a letter to Mother, telling her about her day and that she had made a friend outside her own gender.

When she finished it, she sent it off with a smile. Mother had sent her two messages since she had been at the Citadel, and the tone of both had been clear... keep writing.

Reeda stretched and went to her living space, checking out vids on Ryamash III.

When she next spoke with Bilro, she would have a mental image of the cities and countryside he described.

It seemed that Bilro was determined to upset his companions. He was at the Citadel every chance he had, and some of the younger members would come screeching up to Reeda to tell her that they had seen the fiery streak approaching the Citadel.

A week of fascinating conversations passed before the inevitable day arrived. Bilro showed up in a skimmer with the other Guardians and asked for the occupants of the Citadel to bring Reeda out.

Reeda learned this in her morning etiquette class, and she smiled at the young woman who was whispering in her ear. Reeda inclined her head to her instructor. “Please, excuse me.”

“Of course. Well done, by the way. You asked before you stood. You are learning.”

Reeda stood, bowed and followed the child out of the classroom, through the hall and into the courtyard.

Bilro smiled tightly. The other Guardians were waiting in the background. “I just wanted to come by and say goodbye before I leave.”

She nodded in a short jerk. “I understand. Do you know where you are posted?”

His smile relaxed. “They are sending me home. With retirements imminent, the senior Guardians have all decided to leave and pursue instructor positions on other worlds.”

“So you will be a complete team?”

He nodded. “We will. It will be nice to be amongst my peers.”

Reeda glanced over at the skimmer full of green men. “Do you know who your commander will be?”

He shrugged. “I suppose we will work it out for ourselves. If the Imperium doesn’t assign one of us as in charge, we will have to fight for it.”

Reeda made a heroic effort not to smack herself in the forehead. “Perhaps they won’t want you fighting; it isn’t really in keeping with the idea of Guardians.”

He shrugged again. “I suppose, but it will be one of us. There are usually only four Guardians assigned per world.”

She nodded. “Well, enjoy yourself and I wish you success.”

He stepped toward her and kissed her quickly. “I wish you success in your life, and thank you for the week you have given me.”

She nodded and looked past him. “You may regret doing that, but enjoy your trip home. It will be good for you to work at defending your own people.”