Eyes in the Sky (4 page)

He chuckled. “Finish your hot cocoa and I will see you back to bed.”

“You will tell Might that I want to be there?”

“I will. He might allow it, he might not.”

She slurped down the last of the drink and licked her lips. “I have to try. If he won’t have me, at least have Reset work on him and set him back to birth standards. I can’t help seeing that he isn’t right.”

“I will be sure to mention it. Come on, you are dead on your feet.”

She chuckled and got up, swaying slightly. “It was a busy day.”

As they walked the halls, he said, “You impressed Esur to no end. He has never seen a woman jump into mud before, let alone do it wielding a shovel like a warrior queen.”

She smiled and walked with him to the barracks. “Am I the only one here?”

“Yes and no. I was assigned here, but my home came in while I was off world with you. It is ready for me to move into.”

“Well, I hope you get a good night’s sleep.” She returned to her bunk and settled down with her tablet.

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. “You are going to stay up doing research, aren’t you?”

She gave him a bland smile. “I am not keeping anyone awake, so why not?”

Natu snorted and went to the bunk next to her. He hauled it over until it was touching her bedframe, and he lay down on it, in his bodysuit. “Go to sleep, Riasa.”

She ordered the lights off and lay down. “Spoilsport.”

He laughed and drew her against him with them both fully clothed. “Good night, Riasa.”

She snuggled against him and pulled the bedding toward her to keep her front warm. With him breathing evenly behind her, she was asleep in minutes.

* * * *

Natu waited until Riasa was locked firmly into sleep, and he got up and exited the barracks.

A knock at Brodin’s door brought him out with a sheet wrapped around his waist.

“Riasa can see purple skin under Clovid’s flesh. She recommends that Gray be there to reset him into whatever he was originally. They have gone to great effort to get a spy in here, and they must want something more than the records of the Resicor Citadel members.”

Brodin nodded. “I will send Gray the message to greet the minder and their party, as well as details about what is suspected.”

“Riasa wants to be there.”

“I don’t think that would be wise, but I will ask Alara. If she sees no harm, I will send a courier for Riasa tomorrow.”

Natu nodded. “Excuse me. I have to return to her. Oh, she needs a heavier bodysuit. If she is to fly with me, she requires additional insulation.”

Brodin smiled. “You don’t have a problem with her coming with you?”

“She is amazing on several levels. I could not have asked for a better match if I had remained home.”

Alara called out, “This is fascinating and all, but Brodin rarely has time for me lately, so I would like to make the most of it. Get lost, Natu.”

Natu grinned and left Brodin to his mate. He looked forward to the day his own match demanded his attention, and then, he grinned. In her own way, Riasa had commanded him to remain with her. He was only too happy to comply.

Brodin faced them and nodded, “I know you want to watch the take down, but I believe you can see just as well from a distance. Stone will help you be our eyes in the sky.”

She blinked. “I would prefer you use another phrase.
Eyes in the sky
was my code word for watcher bots scanning an area when I did the broadcasts. I don’t want to be eyes in the sky.”

Stone picked her up, “And yet, when I hold you that is what you are. Are you warmer?”

She blushed. “Yes, the new suit is nice and much better at thermal maintenance.”

The Citadel ship was landing, and when they came out, the first person was a null. Riasa had seen them before. They had an almost dead aspect when it came to personal energy. They only animated while moving.

With the Citadel staff briefed on the situation, Natu took off with her in his arms. She faced forward, and his arms banded her just under her breasts and across her hips. They climbed higher, and Riasa watched.

He perched them on the roof of the base, and when Clovid came out of the Citadel, he had some of his thralls with him. He was bringing backup.

The null led the minders, and he reached out to shake Clovid’s hand.

Clovid complied before he thrashed for freedom.

Whoever had the grip on him knew what they were doing.

The thralls shook loose and a few threw up.

Riasa didn’t want to know what he had made those girls do.

With him nullified, the minder went in and ripped out all thoughts that could be useful. It was a painful process to watch, but when Reset came in with Mist and she touched him, the sub-vision came into glowing bright life. He was a Vorwing half breed. There was no doubt. The colour bred true but the wings didn’t.

By the time the gathering was done with him, the women were in therapy, Clovid was dazed and guilty, being hauled along for a complete wipe.

In a strange gesture, he raised his hand to his lips and bit down hard on his thumb.

Riasa could see a circuit in his thumb. “I think he tried to blow something up.”

From inside the base, a curl of fire broke out. She heard shouts as everyone ran for the barracks where the fire had started. “He tried to blow my suits.”

“Thank goodness for our flight last night. Getting a heavier, Guard-weight suit was not on the agenda, but it seemed like the right thing to do if we are flying you around.”

“And by we, you mean you.”

“Yes.” He held her tightly. “His last act before losing his mind was to try to destroy you. What secrets do you hold that can tip this situation?”

“I don’t think it is what I hold, it is what I can find out. I intend to study my butt off and work as much as I can.”

She had a mean thought. “Will you put me down where he can see me?”

Natu answered by carrying her to the ground, several meters away from Clovid.

The reaction she caused was far more violent than she anticipated. Clovid ran for her, screaming and gibbering. Natu extended his wings to stop him, and to her shock, Clovid impaled himself on what seemed to be feathers.

Her partner cursed, pulled his wings free and carried her to safety on the building once again.

Reset was healing Clovid, but he was fighting her.

“Well, that didn’t go as I expected. I am sorry. Did it hurt when he ran into you?”

Natu looked at her like she was soft in the head. “No. I didn’t feel it, but I did smear his blood all over the ground and on a few bystanders.”

She clung to him and watched as Clovid was hauled to the minder’s ship with the null keeping contact. When they left, everyone remaining separated into their duties. Counsellors headed for the women and the Citadel while the Guards got together and discussed what they had seen.

Natu flew down and they joined the conversation.

Riasa had been his target, and he had blown up the bodysuits she had been given to prove it.

Might wanted to keep her in the facility under guard, but Alara put her foot down. “If she isn’t out there seeing what needs to be seen, she won’t be pivotal to this whole situation. The best thing for her is to keep her with Natu, and he will keep her safe.”

Alara smiled at Riasa, “Through all the echoes, that one remains constant.”

Might’s mouth was tight but he nodded. “Right. I had better put her on the roster then. I thought she would be safe as the manager of the Citadel.”

Alara laughed at him. “She will be safe with Natu. If you want to transfer him to the Citadel, that is your business.”

Might held up his hands in surrender, and when Riasa looked up at Natu, he was grinning.

“I think we should check on the Citadel members. See what the fallout of Clovid’s tampering has wrought.”

The Sector Guard members turned and began the very long day that would provide insight into what had been perpetrated by the spy in charge.

Riasa rummaged through Clovid’s desk, taking stock. Fortunately, his lechery had been restricted to four women, and they were all in therapy to determine the long-term result. The women seemed more furious than victimized and that was a good thing.

The best part of the horrible situation was that none of the women were pregnant. The counsellors were working with them to find a way to deal with the betrayal of trust.

“Have you found anything?”

“He didn’t order any supplies from the Citadel depot. He didn’t do anything. How did Might not notice this?”

“The Sector Guard and Citadel do not share any financial resources. They are independent entities. You will have to work out what is necessary and fill out requests for personnel.”

Riasa sat down with a huff and reached under the desk. She found the crystal she was searching for. “Got it.”

“Got what?”

“He had to keep the data pack he sent yesterday. It wasn’t in his com unit, so it had to be on separate storage.” She held the crystal up. “Here it is.”

“You are very good at this.”

She looked over at Natu. He was sitting on a chair turned around to let his wings go unfettered. “At what?”

“Finding things.”

“I am good at seeing things. I saw the message last night; it was a data burst with my image in it. There was no way for him to send it if he didn’t have that file on the unit. It had to be somewhere.” She chuckled. “Just like looking for a toxic weed when the kids get colic. You know it has to be somewhere even if you can’t see it in front of you.”

Riasa cut off the signal to the satellite and slipped the crystal into place. The file opened and nine others with it. “He had a list of people from Resicor. Many of them were from a research station and the staff are now in the Sector Guard. He was unable to pursue their files due to that separation you mentioned.”

“But, he found you.”

“I dropped into his lap. Whomever he worked for was not expecting more of us to escape Resicor. I am a bonus talent.” She scowled. “I hate being a bonus talent.”

“It isn’t an insult, but was that why he was here?”

“Yes, he was here to find those talents.” She worked her fingers over the unit. “They tracked them to Teklan and then lost them. They want those talents back.”

“What is so special about them?”

“You will have to ask Reset. She was the last known contact with those talents.” She took her file and worked it over.

“What are you doing?”

“Giving them a little misinformation. I am going to send this as a final burst and tag it for tracking purposes. We might be able to see where it bounces to, or at least get the general direction going.”

Natu touched his suit. “Com, we are going to need a trace on this signal.”

“Understood.”

Riasa raised her eyebrow as a voice came out of his suit. “That is interesting.”

“Yours does the same.”

“Nice.”

He cocked his head. “How do you know where to send it?”

“Clovid is an idiot. He left the coordinates in the unit. He has sent seven reports to it, and it is not a Citadel outlet or facility. This is the route that he sent the message to and it has never been altered.”

She reconnected the com and sent the burst. “It is the wrong time of day and the signal is being sent to a fixed router. They might retaliate and they certainly will know that their mole is gone.”

“You seem to be good at this.”

She chuckled. “Farm girl. Finding moles is what I used to do.”

When the burst was sent, she shut down the terminal. “I am going to need a new terminal. Take a note.”

He blinked. “Am I your secretary?”

Riasa grinned. “No, you are my bodyguard and partner. Make yourself useful. I am going to do a floor-by-floor assessment. We need to lock all coms on this Citadel and re-encode them. No signal goes out that isn’t routed through a secure satellite to a preapproved location.”

To her amusement, he grabbed a tablet and made notes. She got to her feet and walked around the desk. “We are going to go floor by floor.”

The receptionists’ office got a once over, and she found nothing unusual. It was obvious that no business had been engaged in. Clovid had moved in and begun to craft a fiefdom under the nose of the Alliance.

The residue of the spy was everywhere. Riasa got madder with every level. The fifty occupants were confused and unsure of what to do next. Riasa calmed them and pointed out the counsellors on duty. They could speak to them while she talked to Might.

The new Citadel was coming down.

“I don’t understand. It was just put up.” Might sat at his desk and scowled.

“If you could see what I could see…every inch of that place is steeped in confusion and depression.” She was calm enough merely to snarl at him.

“So?”

“The psychics cannot function there. They need something clean and joyful to learn in. It isn’t a facility that can give them that as it stands, and I don’t know of any psychic scrub that can take away that much pain.”

“What do you want me to do with the members of the Citadel?”

Riasa sat back and looked at Natu. “Bring them to the base and blow the Citadel. I will talk to whoever is in charge of Citadel matters and explain the situation. Any way you slice it, the men and women of this Citadel need therapy and plenty of it. They were betrayed on the most basic level. They need to be somewhere where they can start over. Somewhere safe with those who can be trusted in power.”

Might cocked his head. “When I asked if you wanted to be in charge, you said only on an interim basis.”

“This isn’t what I meant, but it will do.”

“You are sure it has to come down?” He looked reluctant.

“Send in any sensitives that can pick up on residue. They will sense what I can see. Everyone was simply existing there. It was a place to sleep and pursue education; they didn’t live there. They took up as small an area as possible in their own quarters. That isn’t normal if they are planning to live in a place. It is natural to spread out. We can’t help it. We make our homes our own. None of the occupants from masters to janitors did more than eat, sleep and attend classes. We need to design a new Citadel Teklan built for function, not form. There is a designer in the Citadel’s ranks that would probably have some insight for the job. Taboth Quehanik. He was an architect and engineer before he woke to his talent of emitting light through his skin. It happened after a workplace accident.”