Avenge (2 page)

It was the curse of the Nameless that they died so easily before they underwent transformation, but they had gathered around the newest of their number to bring her into their midst.

He had almost been too late. Seeing her staggering with the knife piercing her lung and internal organs had almost caused him to lose his concentration. The trip from her space and time to his had taken seconds, but it was seconds that she did not have.

Randr caught a glimpse of a sleeve near the door and he walked out into the hall.

“What is it, Tavik?”

Tavik grimaced. “The council wants to meet the new arrival. When do you think she will be up and about?”

Randr sighed. “As soon as I accelerate her wound. Give me an hour and remember that she hasn’t seen one of us before. A little concealment will probably go over very well.”

Tavik blushed and drew up his hood to conceal the eyes that marked all of the Nameless. Dark orbs that held the swirling of stars within them were a little unusual for even the races of the Alliance. No matter what species the member of the Nameless had been born, their eyes shifted to the stellar pattern after they embraced their genetic heritage.

“Are you going to heal her now, Randr?”

“I am. Have you seen the procedure before?”

Tavik shook his head.

“She is in a natural sleep, so I will not be able to speak for fear of waking her, but if you watch carefully, I will answer whatever questions you have afterward.”

Tavik nodded and followed Randr into the room.

Randr removed the knife from his belt that all Nameless were given at their activation and quietly slit the fabric of the sheet that covered Aura’s wound. The wound was angry and red against the pale alabaster of her skin.

With a quick look to Tavik, Randr gathered temporal energy between his palms and pressed the shift in time into Aura’s flesh.

The skin began to pale rapidly and when the mark had almost faded, he withdrew the orb of accelerated time and reabsorbed it into his hands.

When Randr looked up, Tavik was staring at his hands, his lips moving silently as he formulated questions. He got Tavik’s attention and they left the room where Aura was recuperating.

Once the door was closed, Tavik asked, “How do you control it like that? I am never able to get the orbs that small.”

Randr walked down the hall with the younger Nameless. “You just have to remember one very important thing when you heal with an orb.”

Tavik looked at him with attention. “What is that?”

“If the orb is too large, it will age and kill the person you are trying to heal. If you don’t think you can keep your concentration in check, you had best not attempt the healing. I did not even try to heal her until the physicians here had stitched her up. If I had aged her wound without treatment, she would have either died of septic infection or bled to death. We are not healers. We can only move the process along once everything is in its proper place. So, when you try and heal someone, keep that in mind and keep the power tight. Also, withdraw the orb before they are completely healed as their body is going to continue to move at an accelerated pace until the energy dissipates.”

Tavik nodded. “Thank you. Where are you off to now?”

Randr grimaced, “Her clothing was soaked in blood with a large hole in the torso. She will need something to wear to meet the council. I am going to clothing storage.”

Randr strode along and Tavik came with him.

He sighed at the enthusiasm of the younger man, but he was not in the mood to act as tutor. Ravikka was Tavik’s tutor and he needed to address his questions to her. Tavik’s people did not consider women to be equals to men and that could be part of the problem. He was only one year into his time as a Nameless and he would learn.

At storage, Randr entered Aura’s measurements into the computer and ran through the available selections. He selected three outfits all the way to the shoes and undergarments and waited for the machine to remove them from their cubicles to deliver them.

“Why that clothing?” Tavik was looking at the selections on the screen.

Randr stifled a sigh. “Aura is capable of a fairly active lifestyle, but she also needs a casual outfit and a dress. Most women who have worn trousers prefer them for a relaxing day.”

“They are not appropriate for a lady.”

Randr laughed out loud. “You don’t know much about women. Give them an option and they will pick clothing to impress you. Tell them what they have to wear and they will find ways to thwart you. Aura is an independent agent, much like your tutor Ravikka. She does what she pleases but adheres to protocols.”

Tavik looked a little abashed. “But Aura was a servant. She is subservient.”

Randr collected the boxes that the storage device had obtained. “I don’t think you read the full report. Aura was stabbed while murdering the assassin who was responsible for the murder of nine ambassadors of the Alliance. She went after him with nothing more than a stunner and a need for revenge.”

“Women are not capable of that sort of action.”

Randr shook his head and started back toward the medical centre. “You will address all of your questions to Ravikka from now on. Your attitude is unacceptable for one of the Nameless. I have humoured you for too long. Goodbye, Tavik.”

Tavik stopped in place and stared at him. “You are serious?”

“By discounting women, you are ignoring half and occasionally more than half of all the living beings out there. Anyone, and I mean
anyone,
is capable of shaping the future for their race and the sooner you learn that, the better off you will be. Ask Ravikka to take you of a tour of the women in your species’ history. You need an education, my friend.”

Tavik was left behind as Randr brought the clothing packs to Aura. This woman was capable of so much more than most would think looking at her golden hair and soft hands.

While he gritted his teeth at the thought of those hands against him, he accepted that as one of the Nameless, she would be able to choose her own mate and partner. Though he had known her the moment he saw her, she might not share the awareness of a true mate as his people did.

He really hoped that it was not the case. Having her at his side throughout the eons stretching around them in all directions had an appeal he could not deny, even if he had wanted to.

Chapter Three

The pain was gone. That was the first thing that Aura noticed as she sat up. The second was that Randr was sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed with a pile of boxes beside him on a low table.

“What happened? How long was I asleep?” The sheet across her breasts skidded and she clutched at it frantically.

“Only thirty minutes or so. I had to wait until the healers were finished before I completed your treatment.”

He stood and she blinked at how very tall he really was. “Thank you?”

He chuckled. “You are welcome. These boxes contain several options of clothing for you. The council here is eager to speak with you, so the sooner you can get dressed, the better. I will remain outside.”

She watched him leave and the moment he was out the door, she flipped back the sheet and looked at the mark where the knife had slid between her ribs. It was an old scar now, which she would have imagined to be impossible.

The rest of her was clean and blood-free, so she guessed that the medical team had run her through a cleanser.

She got to her feet and after she swayed for a moment, she took a few steps and reached the boxes. The first one yielded a set of wide trousers and a kimono-style jacket. There was matching underwear and sandals and she grinned as she put the first box aside, looking into the next one with glee.

An evening gown in red with matching slippers was tempting, but she felt it necessary to look in the final box.

Her heart stuttered in her chest. Jeans and a t-shirt with sneakers stared up from the confines of the box. A matching set of lingerie in her size was in the box.

This was not the clothing to wear to meet a council, but she definitely wanted to keep it for later.

She opted for the red gown and matching slippers. It seemed appropriate somehow.

The breast band and panties were the same crimson and were exactly her size. She was dressed in under three minutes and when her explorations turned up a lav, Aura checked her hair.

Someone had piled it into an ornate tumble of curls on her head while she was sleeping and aside from the creepy factor, she had to admit that they had done a good job.

When she was confident that everything was in its proper place, she opened the door.

Randr was standing there, but his hood was thrown back.

“Oh, wow.” Not only did he have cheekbones that gave him the appeal of an ancient statue, but his eyes also were a swirling vortex of stars.

Her hand was on his cheek before she could stop herself. The pleased surprise on his face was enough to let her continue the slow stroke that examined the texture of his skin.

Hot steel under velvet was a trite thought, but it was the best description of his face where her hand made contact. She curled her fingers and lightly dragged her knuckles down his jaw line before putting her hand back at her side.

“So, the eyes must be the reason that you wear the hood.”

“It is best that we keep ourselves in shadow. The eyes are an indicator that we are not local in most places.” His grin had a touch of masculine arrogance. He had obviously enjoyed her admiration.

“I can see how that would be likely, but what are you?”

Randr held out his arm and Aura took it. “I am one of a peculiar subspecies that pops up randomly around the universe. The council will explain everything. Will you come with me?”

“Of course. I have to know what is going on. This day has been far too weird for me to stop it now.” Her grin answered his and before she knew it, they were walking on a high bridge leading to a tower in the centre of the…whatever it was.

The bridges linked all buildings together, some cracks in the ground beneath them showed the same swirl of stars that were in his eyes.

“Is that a danger? All those cracks?”

“No. They have been there since Home separated into its own alternate space during the great beginning. The buildings came later.”

She filed that information away for when she was capable of imagining that the piece of turf she was standing on was part of the universe before the universe.

Aura held onto Randr’s arm a little tighter as they entered a room with seven other beings sitting in it.

Randr walked with her to the centre of the room, detached her arm and stood beside her as she faced the arch of the star-eyed grouping.

A woman with a kind face smiled and leaned forward. “Do you know where you are?”

“On a floating chunk of rock?”

The woman sighed, her amber skin glowing against her midnight hair. “Randr, what did you tell her?”

He chuckled. “I followed protocol for once. All initial information will be given in the presence of the council.”

The woman grinned. “Well done.” She straightened, “Aura Athena Arkan of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra, welcome to Home.”

Aura tilted her head. “This isn’t my home.”

“We simply call this place Home. It has no other name. We are called the Nameless and our kind appears at random throughout the universe. Sometimes alone, sometimes in clusters, there is no way of knowing when one of ours will make themselves known.”

“Okay. But I am not one of you. You have those fascinating eyes and I do not.”

“None of us are born with these eyes, merely the potential for them. I will need to explain, but first, introductions. I am Ravikka. These are Toril, Mavish, Rehnara, Elorak, Nir and Gwetho. We are the current council of seven.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Aura gave a graceful curtsey.

One of the men leaned forward and grinned, “And we are pleased to meet you.”

Ravikka waved him back. “Stop flirting, Gwetho. She is not for you. Now, Aura, the Nameless have been occurring randomly throughout the universe since our minds could comprehend time. We travel here at the moment of our death and then begin a new life as one of the Nameless.

“We are observers and guardians of time. We open doorways into history and the future, changing nothing but learning details that no one else has ever seen. Our minds and memories stretch before and behind us. The Nameless are guardians of the future, we do not alter the past, but we make sure that it happens the way we remember it.”

Aura furrowed her brow. “How can you guard the future if you already know what happens? How can you observe the past without affecting it?”

Ravikka grinned and leaned back. “Good questions. We don’t know our actual purpose. We simply try and find meaning in what we are and how we can help and maintain the timelines.”

Aura nodded. “Fair enough. What is the deal with your eyes?”

Gwetho stood. “When a new recruit is located, we expose them to the Orb of Time. If they are truly a Nameless, they transform and take the power of time itself into them. We give them a knife, training and a tutor and they learn our ways.”

“What happens if they are not truly a Nameless?” Aura had to ask even if she didn’t want to know.

“They burn up immediately.” Gwetho shrugged. “We have created blood tests to find the dormant gene to confirm identification. It has dramatically reduced the number of misidentifications.”

“I see. So, you think I am a dormant Nameless.”

Randr answered her. “I know you are a dormant Nameless.”

She turned and looked up into his swirling gaze. “How can you be sure?”

He reached for her cheek and mimicked her caress from earlier, stroking her skin before rubbing his knuckles along her jaw line. “Because I have seen my future and you are in it.”

She blinked rapidly and turned back to the council, her cheek throbbing with the energy of the small caress. “Why aren’t you overrunning this chunk of rock if your kind have been running around for millennia?”

Ravikka grimaced. “It is difficult, but we can be killed. When the energy of our lives leaves us, it resets us to our original genome. When we are away from Home, we are just as vulnerable as any regular being in the standard temporal stream. Recently, nine of our number have passed on, but new Nameless are being found every day.”