Blazing Serious (4 page)

She grimaced. “His mind is plenty stable now. Mine is the one in danger.”

“I noticed you were burning hot. You don’t normally produce that kind of power.”

Jimra shrugged. “I do when I am angry; I just have a nice, normal mental balance on most days.”

“His Yaluthu should arrive tomorrow. That will take some of the heat off, so to speak.”

“Does he know you are my father?” She asked it blandly.

“I doubt it. It is not a matter for public consumption.”

“How do you think he will react?”

Yoris offered her his arm. “Let’s find out.”

She put her hand on his forearm, and they walked to the gathering that was watching them.

Yoris walked up to Huros, and he nodded. “Master Analyst Huros.”

“Citadel Master Yoris, I have to tell you of a recent development.”

Yoris smiled grimly, “My daughter has already given me the rough details of the situation.”

Huros looked confused. “Daughter? You are not old enough to have an adult daughter.”

“I am and I do. Her mother was an off-worlder with a penchant for helping those around her and an amazing smile.” His expression was wistful.

She filled in the obvious. “And my people mature faster than the Ypran.”

Huros suddenly came to a realisation. “So, there is a family to deal with.”

Yoris nodded. “Oh, yes. I may have shed my last name for duty, but I am still my parent’s child, and as she is my child, our families will now have to meet.”

Jimra pinched the bridge of her nose. “I am a full citizen of my own people. I do not need to be under the protection of your family.”

“
Our
family. I have just been working to introduce you. It is a delicate matter.”

“Is it because I am alien?”

“It is that, and also because, by and large, I prefer men. No one ever imagined that I would have a child, so the family structure must be altered with your arrival in it.”

She blinked slowly. “Oh. Well, that explains a bit.” It did explain why he had never thought of having a child. It simply had not occurred to him.

Yoris shrugged. “Does this disappoint you?”

“No, it just explains why you didn’t follow up with my mother. My people are not as hung up on sex as the Ypra seem to be.” She shrugged.

Huros blinked and laughed. “You have an open mind.”

“That is what has gotten me into this situation to begin with.”

Yoris sighed. “It isn’t that I prefer men, it is that we are allowed to choose only one. I was still inside my selection time when I met your mother, but after she was gone, I chose males as my companions.”

Jimra looked at Huros, “What did you pick?”

“I prefer females.”

She nodded. “Good. I don’t know how I would have dealt with being kissed by a man who didn’t have any physical interest in me.”

Yoris stiffened. “You kissed her?”

Huros’s golden skin darkened. “It seemed the fastest way to reinforce the link.”

Jimra looked from one of them to the other. “This is stupid. I am going in to get some food.”

Viika came with her and kept her company while she loaded her tray. “They mean well.”

Jimra looked at her trainer. “I know. I just hate it when men posture like that. It irritates me. It probably has something to do with being raised by a woman.”

“Do you prefer women?” Viika sounded a little hopeful.

Jimra walked to a table, chatting away. “No. I have always enjoyed looking at men. Touching as well, when the occasion called for it.”

The host brought tea over, and they sat in silence while Jimra anger-ate her way through a tower of pastry.

“You prefer women, don’t you, Viika?” Jimra sipped at her tea and brushed crumbs and sugar from fingers.

“I declared that way. Yes.”

“You look uncomfortable. Do the Ypran not talk about this?”

Viika looked surprised. “Oh, no. We discuss this frequently. I just have affection for you that goes beyond my position as your trainer. I fondly imagined that you might be inclined the same way.”

Jimra shook her head. “While I am flattered, I am sadly interested in the opposite sex. I sometimes think it would be easier to be with women, but the mind and body want what they want.”

“Tell me about it. I declared with my family when I was thirty. The day I turned forty, my mother held a party with all the wealthiest ladies in our city who had accepted the invitation with my image on it. I applied to the Citadel the next day.”

“How long has the Citadel been open?”

“Six years.”

“So, does your mom still try and set you up with eligible young ladies with money?”

Viika wrinkled her nose. “Now and then I am invited to a very formal brunch. I am considered a catch in our community. Talents are always popular partners.”

Jimra finished her cup and refilled it. “How about aliens?”

“To be frank, we avoid them. We are trying to keep our bloodlines pure so that Ypra seek out Ypra. No one knows what the result of crossbreeding would be, so we don’t do it.”

“But Yoris did.”

“He did it before he declared, and so, you will be allowed the full inheritance of his family through is line. If he had sired you after he had declared that he would be childless, he would have to give up his own wealth and family position.”

Jimra scowled. “That is very complicated.”

Viika snorted. “Tell me about it. What ever happened to falling in love?”

“Or getting blood on a guy while restraining him and binding him to your mind for life?” Jimra saluted her trainer with the cup of tea and swallowed more of the hot liquid.

Viika shrugged and completed her side of the toast with a raised cup and a long draught at the tea. They were both stuck at the mercy of the Ypran society, and they had to get used to it.

The middle of the night was Jimra’s favourite time. The silence around her was soothing and the bright lights of the city across the lake made for a lovely, twinkling view.

She finished her six hours of sleep and sat on her balcony with a cup of hot citrus tea. She could feel the connection to Huros, but he was asleep right now, so it was less of a pull than it had been.

Her mother had been aware of the old blood link, but shocked that Jimra had managed to execute it. It hadn’t been covered in her briefing because Orden didn’t believe it was possible. After their talk, Jimra felt better, but she was sure that Yoris was going to feel worse. Orden was making him her next call.

When the com chimed, Jimra headed in and answered. “Hello?”

The dispatcher on duty smiled at her. “I have a mission for you, Specialist Artu. It is urgent.”

“What is it?”

“A mining fire. The tricky portion is that you can’t set foot on the world. It is a closed colony. They asked the Citadel for help under the condition that any help offered would not need to walk on the soil. You fit that description. I believe you can go in, fly down, absorb and discharge the fire, and return to the shuttle without standing on the soil.”

“Why is it forbidden for me to walk there?”

“It is a plague world. Each continent contains and treats a different disease, but your touching their world would force them to take you on as a citizen. They don’t want it and neither do you. Will you go?”

“I will be at the spaceport in thirty minutes with my gear.”

“Excellent. Good luck.”

When the com blacked out, she was already shrugging out of her robe and pulling on her bodysuit. Her go bag was ready, and she grabbed it, walking to her balcony and simply falling toward the ground, using fire to propel her up and then out over the water in a matter of seconds.

The flight was now a matter of routine, and her identification was on file at the spaceport. She cruised through customs with her mission on their records and approached the shuttle used for intersystem transport.

She climbed into the ship and closed the hatch behind her. She stowed her gear and headed for the flight deck. “Do you know how much I hate the slingshot?”

The pilot turned and grinned at her as she settled into the navigator station.

“I have only known you two months, and yet, yes, I do know that you hate the slingshot, Specialist Artu. This mission requires some aerial manoeuvers, so it had to be this ship and it had to be me.”

“Thank you, Pilot Rorrom. I am blessed to be on this mission with you.” She buckled her harness and gave him a short nod.

With the darkness all around them, they took off, climbing straight up to clear the tarmac and then angling to pierce the sky.

“Where are we going?”

“Sixth planet in the system. Urmak. I have to bring you down, hold position and be ready to pick you up. They told you, you can’t touch down, right?”

“They did. I will drop, pull the heat and take off. I believe the best option is for me to release the power just before I return to the shuttle, if you don’t mind. It will cause some turbulence, but it will make the short flight easier for me.”

“No problem. It should be easy to catch you.” He approached the largest of the Ypra moons, and they increased in speed.

She felt queasy as they went around the edge of the moon before straightening suddenly and proceeding in a calculated, straight line that would take them to their target.

The ship’s stabilisers were good, but they weren’t up to fighting the gravity of a large moon.

She shook off her disorientation and spoke with Rorrom about how they were going to make this mission a success. Jimra had a slight headache as they went on their four-hour blast through the stars, but she was confident that she could do what she needed to the moment that Urmak was in sight.

The mine was damaged, and a sudden spark had caused a fire in a combustible mineral that they were excavating. The veins ran through the entire area, so she had to seek out and pull all the heat she could. The locals had been evacuated, and her work zone was free and clear of all living beings. It would make things easier.

“We are here. I am entering the upper atmosphere and aiming for the site. I will send your tracker a signal when we are in position.”

“Right, and I will signal you when I am on my way back.”

“Excellent. Good luck, Specialist.” Rorrom smiled and waved her off.

She unharnessed, got to her feet and did a check on her tracker. It was working and in good condition.

Jimra put on her specialized breather, adjusting it so that it wasn’t grabbing her hair. The headache was still there, but the moment that she got the signal, she jumped out of the drop door and spurred her fire into life.

* * * *

Huros woke with his head pounding. “Damn it.”

His bonding partner had made it clear that the casual connection was to remain just that. With her father looking ready to rip him apart, it had been the more sensible decision to just keep his mouth shut for a night.

At this particular moment, he wished he had spoken up.

A message was flashing on his com, and he took it. “Master Analyst Huros, there is a visitor here for you. Please come to the medical centre as soon as you are able.”

He blinked and grabbed a solar shower before dressing and heading down to the medical offices.

Something small and a vivid blend of lavender and purple was waiting for him with the healers surrounding it and cooing at it. The small creature perked up when Huros entered the room, and it pattered over to him with short, hopping steps.

He scooped the small creature up, and a woman who was leaning against the back wall stood up with a raptor on her shoulder. “Good. I wasn’t sure but the little guy was positive that he had to come here.”

Huros looked down and felt the soothing of Tremor’s mind wash over his. He breathed more easily the moment that he started stroking the soft fluff that covered the body.

The stranger beckoned him into an office, and she closed the door. “Where is your partner?”

Huros blinked. “What?”

“The other person. Your mate or whatever you call it here. He was certain that he was to bind to a couple.”

Huros’s brows knit together. “I don’t know. I assume she is in her quarters.”

“She needs to be introduced to him as soon as possible.”

“I will see to it.” He nodded. Jimra had to be housed somewhere in the Citadel. She should be easy to find.

The bird on her shoulder screamed.

The woman sighed. “Apparently,
we
will see to it. Thathan is a bit bossy when it comes to settling her children.”

They left the office, and Citadel Master Yoris was standing in the centre of the space.

“Citadel Master, I am Priatta of Citadel Balen. This is Thathan. We are here to see the settlement of her final offspring, and we are seeking Huros’s mind mate.”

Yoris scowled. “She should be down for breakfast. Just a moment.”

Huros was swamped with well-being as the bruised and damaged parts of his mind were soothed and the healing began from the edges inward. He couldn’t think about anything but how balanced he was feeling. He hadn’t felt this good in five years. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. He had felt whole when he was kissing Jimra, but it had been such a fleeting moment that he refused to dwell on it. He wanted her too much to focus on her. The moment he started, he would not stop.

Yoris finished his communication, and all colour had drained from his features. “It seems that dispatch was not updated as to the linking situation. They have sent her to Urmak to put out a mine fire.”

Huros winced. That explained the pain in his mind. They were now bound. They could not travel without each other or their minds would slowly bleed out. Their focus, energy and control would fade and pain would take over.

“What can we do?”

Yoris’s hands formed fists and flames wreathed them. “We can’t do anything. Right now, she is over the mines and pulling the fire. It is up to her to make it safely home, and then, she is grounded.”

Tremor chirped, and there was a note of concern in his thoughts. Huros stroked his fluffy head and soothed him.

The woman with the raptor sighed. “Well, I hope for your sake that she comes home all right, or Tremor will have his work cut out for him. I will take you through the steps of caring for him, and we will wait until your mind mate returns.”