Eyes in the Sky (3 page)

The flight back to Teklan was filled with easy chatter as Finder asked for details on what her sight could actually do.

Riasa noted the open com, but she chose to ignore it. If Might wanted to know what she could do, he could listen in so she wouldn’t have to repeat herself.

Finder and Frost kept her talking all the way back to the base. Apparently, they had only been one system away from home. Riasa had a little trouble with spatial orientation, but she was working on it.

Finder landed the ship on Teklan, and Frost was tense throughout the whole process. Finder smacked him again when she unbuckled. “I could do without the tension, Esur.”

He grinned and got to his feet. “Well, Roxanne, you have been doing this for years and still haven’t managed not to skid on landing.”

Riasa unbuckled and skittered out ahead of them, not wanting to get stuck behind Frost’s wings.

She opened the door, and when she stepped to the ground, she paused. “Should I have waited for decontamination?”

“No. That is what the showers were about. Our ships are designed for that.” Finder patted her on the shoulder. “Come on in. Might has a proposal to make.”

She went with her two companions to the commander’s office and took a seat.

Might sealed the door with the press of a button on his desk. “What do you think of Clovid?”

“I think he isn’t what he says he is. I looked up his species and the marks on his face. He did half of them himself and not that well. He’s not a Jurkad warrior. He is a student, not yet out of their higher education.”

Might rubbed his temples. “I thought not. The Citadel sent him here and assured us that he had been thoroughly vetted.”

“He’s a convincer. They are notoriously hard to pin down.” Riasa shrugged.

“How do you know that?”

“I could feel him pushing on my mind. He wanted to seduce me, but he got a little off-put when I refused him. At that point, he left me alone. Do you have a minder on hand?”

He shook his head. “But we can get one here in a day. The question is do you wish to take over the management of the Citadel Teklan? Clovid was only inviting available females.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I had noticed a lack of variety in the type of persons who occupied the facility.”

Might sighed. “How is it that you are resistant to his talent?”

“Oh, most talents on Resicor are. Well, most of the physical talents. The psychic talents don’t need to be. They are in charge.” She shrugged.

“I believe that you will be safer here at the base than over at the Citadel until we can get him captured.”

Riasa blinked, “So, where will I stay?”

“There are barracks in the facility. Roxy can show you where you can stay. I promise that I will get this sorted.” He looked at her and narrowed his eyes. “Did you say, yes, you would take over the Citadel?”

Riasa nodded. “I will, but only on an interim basis until someone appropriate can be found.”

Might nodded. “I will take it. You look a little hungry; I should have an idea of what is going on by the time you finish a meal.”

It wasn’t a graceful dismissal, but Riasa took the hint. She rose to her feet, and with Frost and Finder, she headed to the dining hall. “I have never been ordered to have a meal before.”

Finder laughed. “It is a first for me as well, but I don’t mind. The cooks here are excellent.”

Frost sighed. “The way she is talking, you would think she has never had a good meal at home.”

“Where do you live?” Riasa asked it politely. She was guessing that it was one of the large structures she had seen on the way in.

Finder smiled, “The crystal palace in the valley to the east. Esur made it himself.”

Frost ducked his head. “It is more ice than crystal, but I thought it would impress her.”

Riasa finally asked, “So, Frost is Esur and Finder is…Roxy?”

Finder slapped herself in the forehead. “Of course. Sorry. Yes. We use our Guardian names once we get into the ship, but at home, we are known by our actual names. Might is always working, but if you see him with Alara, he is off duty and you can call him Brodin.”

“Alara?”

“His wife. Also known as Echo in Time. I think, yes, there she is.” Roxy raised her arm and another woman waved back.

The woman waved them over to her table, her green hair making her an easy beacon.

Frost headed for the food and Roxy led Riasa to the table.

“Alara, this is Riasa. Riasa, this is Alara, General Brodin’s wife and Echo in Time, Master Seer.”

Alara extended her hand, and when Riasa touched her, she jerked in place. Her breath rushed out and sucked back in in short gasps.

Riasa tried to let go, but Alara held on. Their contact was starting to draw attention.

When Alara let her go, Riasa took a seat across from her, afraid to touch her again. “Are you all right?”

Alara smiled, “You have quite the future in store for you. I knew it was coming; I just didn’t expect it this soon.”

“Expecting what?”

“Resicor is getting to a critical point. They are the centre of all that will occur around the occupied worlds that we know the names of and several hundred worlds yet to be seen.”

Riasa’s eyes went wide. “Do you know when?”

“It is a matter of months. Spend as much time as you can in training and practicing your sight. It will be needed when the time comes. You can see through the most detailed of ruses and disguises. It is a valuable skill.”

Roxy cleared her throat. “Perhaps you should get something to eat, Riasa.”

Riasa caught the hint and headed for the buffet, selecting food with her colour code on their platters. When she returned to the table, she brought along an extra cup of tea with sweetener. She gave it to Alara. “You seem a little shaken.”

Alara cupped her hands around the mug and smiled. “Thank you. I have been reaching further into some futures, and it always stuns me. There are options, each person has a chance to make their mind and change their direction. Yours is set until the event occurs, and then, it shatters into the normal options that I usually see.”

“What do I do until then?”

“You live and act as your conscience dictates. You have been given a gift and you can see into anything you direct your gaze toward. Use that to prepare for your future. It isn’t going to be an easy one.”

Riasa nodded. “Resicor was getting worse. Suspected talents are being snatched in plain sight. Even the untalented can see that something is going very, very wrong.”

Their quartet was quiet as three of them ate and Alara drank her sweet tea. The day had taken a very strange turn and being given a bunk in the barracks came as a relief.

Might and Stone came into the empty barracks, and they stood at the edge of her bunk.

She gave them an arch look over the edge of her tablet. “Yes?”

“The minder is arriving in seven hours. By dawn, Clovid should be gone.” Might smiled.

“Good. I will go over and try to sort the remaining Citadel members after that. Some might need counselling. Will the minder return?” She sat up and looked at both of them.

“They are sending an assessment team with the subduer.”

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. “Are they sending a null? That would be most effective.”

Stone smiled. “They are. You seem to have grasped the necessary details.”

She shrugged. “I did some reading.”

Might looked at Stone. “I see what you meant. She does have a facility for learning.”

“It is alarming if she is able to access everything her eyes seek out. She can see the data streams.”

Riasa held up a hand. “Only if there is visible data being transmitted. My mind needs to know it is an image to process it.”

Might chuckled. “You might want to take a walk with Stone and see what you can see.”

Natu held out his hand and raised his eyebrows. “Shall we?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What is going on?”

“You and I are taking a walk in the moonlight.”

She placed her hand in his, and his skin warmed and softened against hers.

Might watched them for a moment before he left.

“What is he up to, Natu?”

He started to walk, and he kept his hand around hers. “He is following Alara’s vision. She can see possibilities, but according to Alara,
we
are a certainty.”

“I thought your folk didn’t mix with others.”

“We don’t, but since I am the exception to my folk, you can be the exception for me.”

To her surprise, he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Again, the moment that his skin touched hers, it changed texture.

She stared at his lips as he pulled away. “So, stars?”

He chuckled and they walked through the facility and out into the night. Instead of walking, he gathered her in his arms and launched from the ground into the air.

She squeaked and held tight to his shoulders. She was high enough on his chest to see his wings working against the wind. She could also see the base and Citadel. There was something very wrong with the Citadel.

She continued to stare toward the Citadel, and she could see what it was sending. “Son of the ugliest goat in the herd. He is telling them about
me!
”

“I am sorry, but it was going to happen.”

“Take me back there; I will drown him in his own drool.” She snarled and tensed in Natu’s arms.

“They know about him now. You are the last person he will tell on. If it makes you feel better, he doesn’t know all that you can do. He thinks you are just a keen-eyed vision talent.”

She still wanted to pound his smarmy face into the floor. “Fine, but I get to be there with the minder when they confront him.”

“That is up to Might and the minder.”

He landed and set her on her feet.

She glared up at him. “Clovid is the wrong colour. He should be purple.”

Natu blinked. “Are you sure?”

“I am sure. He has been tampered with. Everything about him is wrong.”

“Are the scars on half his face not genuine?”

“They are, but he isn’t. He shouldn’t look like he does. I can see turmoil under his skin. It is repulsive.”

“What do you see when you look at me?” His crystal grey eyes were bright points in his shadowed features.

“I just see you, Natu. No more, no less.” It was strange to say it to someone who was so focussed on her, so she looked past him at the stars. “Oh, my.”

He sighed. “I know I cannot compete with that.”

He stepped to one side and let her look off the plateau that they were standing on and into the sky with no other light to confuse the sight of the eternal dance above her.

She could see the path of ships, signals being sent via a satellite and so very many stars. Riasa sat and wrapped her arms around her knees.

Natu knelt next to her, and together, they stared at the stars. She learned the constellations, the asteroid belts and spotted two ships far off in what seemed to be a shipping lane. She stayed out and stared at the stars until shivers distracted her.

Natu whispered, “Time to get you inside.”

She nodded and turned against his chest when he reached for her. Her face pressed against his neck, and instead of boosting her up, he held her tight and opened his wings, pulling them off the plateau and gliding back to the base in the distance.

With her arms around his neck and his around her waist and back, she felt perfectly secure as they silently dropped through the sky.

She shivered with cold and missed her robes. His body was warm but a lot of her was exposed to the rush of air and the bodysuit just wasn’t up for it.

When he landed, he wrapped his wings around her and he tucked her legs up with one arm. He walked her into the base, and to her surprise, he took her into the dining hall.

Natu deposited her in a curved booth and went to the beverage centre. He came back with some a cup, and he blew on it for a moment before handing it to her.

“Drink up. It should be fine for you. It will replace the lost calories from the cold.”

She shivered and wrapped her hands around the cup. “Thank you. I was an idiot to go out without my robes.”

“I should have thought about it. I have a certain inborn resistance to weather. I forget about it.”

She chuckled and sipped at the hot drink. It was sweet, creamy and rich. “What is this?”

“Roxy has it brought from her home. It is called hot chocolate.”

“It’s good.”

He smiled and prodded at the surface of his cup. “When she gets a new shipment, there are small, white, sugary pieces called marshmallows. I think you will like them.”

“You think I will still be here when that happens?”

He smiled. “Alara foresaw it, so it is going to happen.”

As she warmed up, Riasa sat back. “How does that work? Does she tell you exactly what to do?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “No, she gives only the broad strokes, because everything else is likely to change if you act on orders. With her whispers of the echoes she sees, she is more accurate than any other seer I have met.”

She cocked her head. “Has she made predictions for you before?”

His grin was boyish, a disturbing expression in such a harshly hewn face. “Only once. She told me that my life depended on going to Resicor during the extraction. I have to say that the way things are turning out, she was probably correct.”

Riasa smiled shyly. “I am not complaining, but I will need to do more research.”

“You can ask me anything when we are alone.”

She had a question flicker in her mind, but then, she bit her lip when she would have asked him about anatomy. She was pretty sure that Alara wouldn’t have set her up with someone who was incompatible, but there was always a chance that their partnership would be platonic.

Riasa wasn’t going to relax until she found out whether the flirting could go somewhere.

“You have the most peculiar expression on your face.” He sipped at his cup and drained it.

She blushed. “You really wouldn’t like to know what I am thinking. It falls under the heading of personal conversations.”