She was puzzled. “How did you treat me this time?”
“Ah, we have Fixer in the building. She read what your genes needed and provided you with it, purging the extra adrenaline and the acid build up in your bloodstream. When she was done, I built up your nutrients and Minder Nemilin made contact with you to allow your mind to relax and therefore, your body followed.”
She stiffened at the thought of someone rooting around in her mind, but she remembered sitting in her rainbow garden and having a visitor, but the details were sketchy.
“Where do you need me for the scan?”
He laughed. “Thanks to Fixer, you need to only stand on those foot prints over here and the light will do all the work.”
“No clamps?”
“No clamps.”
She got to her feet and took the few steps necessary to stand on the scanner.
Effin looked down at her feet and then around the medical bay.
“Doctor, what are you looking for?”
“Did we misplace your shoes?”
She started to laugh and as the mirth rolled through her, she cackled until she was doubled over with hilarity, the stresses of the last few days breaking her self-control in a way nothing else could.
She straightened and ran her hands down her robes, tugging them into straight lines. “I don’t like to wear shoes unless I have to.”
Effin gave her a strange look. “Why not?”
“In the facility, we had to wear the same clothing day in and day out, including shoes. Have you ever tried to sleep in shoes? Or bathe wearing shoes? It is horrible.” She looked down and wiggled her toes, smiling brightly.
“Face forward for the scan please.” Effin was shaking his head and Dravi was laughing.
She stood facing the doctor and a column of light sparked as it illuminated her through her robes and as she watched, a detailed 3D image of her took shape. Veins, muscles, skin and organs all layered on the image. “That is creepy.”
“Your brain was scanned while you slept, so we won’t need to do a scan of that nature.” He nodded and verified the new readout. “Excellent. You are free to go, Erinii. Please consider us for all your emergency medical needs.”
She gave him a quizzical glance. “I don’t get it.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t either. It is one of Relay’s jokes.”
Dravi wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her out of the medical facility. “Come along. We are late for dinner.”
She laughed and went with him easily, his arm around her waist felt so familiar, it created a level of comfort within her and something deep inside her relaxed for the first time in years.
A member of the base staff flew the skimmer back to the Citadel.
Another apprentice met them at the skimmer pad. “Turnari needs to speak to you.”
“Can it wait until we have a meal, Kalo?” Dravi tried to get past the apprentice, but he stepped to block them.
“It can, but we will see if he will wait. You head to the dining hall and I will run the message.”
“Good. Come on, Erinii. We have to race the fastest mouth in the Citadel.” Dravi kept his arm around her and moved them swiftly through the halls.
They made good time. They were halfway through their plates when Turnari appeared at their table, clearing his throat and looking all official. “Come with me. We have a matter of urgency.”
Curious, Erinii gulped her water and got to her feet. Dravi was right behind her as she followed Turnari to his offices.
Erinii could feel Dravi pause as they walked in to see two Guardsmen who were wearing the iconography of Udell base. The Kozue male grimaced when Dravi walked in, but his companion scowled at him and punched him in the ribs. “Behave, Razer.”
“Erinii, this is Razer and Tech. They have something they need your help with.” Turnari took his seat behind his desk, giving her the impression that he was simply an observer.
She took the roll of hostess. “Razer, Tech, this is my minder, Instructor Nemilin.”
Razer’s lip lifted again.
Erinii held up her hands. “If his origin is a problem, we can leave.”
Tech elbowed her partner and smiled. “It isn’t a problem. Razer was kicked out of the Kozue as well, so he has no right to claim superiority. We need your help with the Bassinor.”
Erinii blinked and jerked her head back. “What? In case you were not aware, I am not exactly a citizen in good standing.”
Razer growled, “It isn’t Bassinor the people, it is the Bassinor talents. The day after your escape, a Raider ship stole the entire complement of the holding facility.”
Erinii was in shock. She stumbled to a chair and sat with a thud. “What?”
Tech hastily filled in the sudden silence. “Apparently, they infiltrated the information streams when the Sector Guard was arranging your escort. It was not considered a high-secrecy event, so it was a bit of a surprise to get the call a day after your extraction.”
Erinii ran her hand through her hair. “Where did they take them?”
“A space station about a day’s travel from here.” Tech twitched her lips. “The Raiders escaped the station as quickly as they could. Apparently, your folk frightened them away.”
Erinii cocked her head. Dravi stood behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.
“Why do you need my help?” It was a genuine question.
Razer scowled. “There is a problem with the atmosphere in the station. Apparently, to control the Bassinor, they pumped it full of the same chemical compounds that were used at the facility. The mix is so toxic to other species that they had to evacuate the station as far as we can tell.”
“As far as you can…oh. Because you can’t run around on the station.” It finally made sense why they were choosing
her
as their consultant. “How can I help?”
Tech smiled. “We need you to come with us to purge the gas and substitute a sedative in the atmospheric systems.”
Horror ran up her spine. “Through the green gas? I can’t go through that vapor again. It changes everything and I think I just found reality.”
Razer and Tech exchanged a worried look.
Erinii sighed, “Yes, I really do need a minder with me at all times. He is the only thing that I believe is real at this moment.”
Tech was silent for a few seconds before she nodded. “Then I guess you are both coming with us. Razer, get the shuttle ready.”
Chapter Nine
Sitting next to Dravi in the shuttle, Erinii knotted her fingers together and tried not to think about entering the madness once again. She shivered every time they went through a jump and held her breath as they approached the Raider station.
Four other Sector Guard ships were on watch. They kept a watch out for Raiders and anyone who tried to escape the station. To Erinii’s mind, it was the facility on Bassinor all over again.
Dravi reached out and squeezed her hand. “It will all be fine. You just go and do what you feel is right. Follow your instincts, they have gotten you this far.”
She shuddered. “My instincts have gotten me into trouble at random intervals. I don’t know that this is such a good idea.”
“Trust me, I won’t leave you. Anytime you need to, think of me and I will be there.” He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and she enjoyed the burst of warmth that it provided.
Can you hear me?
I can. You won’t leave me?
I will stay with you. I will anchor you and see what you see.
Then, I suppose I should be on my way.
He grinned and winked at her, his brilliant eyes sparkling with amusement.
Razer turned his head, “I am going in for a docking position. We have to use the one with the air corridor instead of the direct seal, so it will involve a little bit of a jump. Tech, are you ready with the column?”
Tech nodded with a grin. “Ready when she is.”
Erinii smoothed her hands down her robes. “I guess now is the time. Where is the canister?”
Dravi accompanied her to the back of the ship and handed her the tank with the compressed sedative. “Go in, shut off the hallucinogen, load in the sedative and get back here without injuring yourself. Keep yourself safe at all costs, Erinii. Are we clear on that?”
She nodded and timidly took a deep breath. “Just keep in contact with me, Dravi. I don’t want to go into it alone.”
“I will stay with you. You won’t be alone in that station or anywhere else.” His smile should have been frightening with the points of his teeth exposed, but she found the expression endearing.
“Thank you. Now, let’s get me back into the green hell so that I can get back to discussing how often I need you to tell me that I am not alone.”
It was a weakness in her character that she despised, but she had a mission to get through and she would deal with it later. There was always time for therapy after she ran into a station full of insanity.
She clutched the canister of sedative and faced the doors as the shuttle eased closer to the station. The slight thud of the contact made her queasy, but she stiffened her backbone and waited to make her jump.
Dravi fed her the information she needed for physical position and the lunge she needed to make to land in the station.
Her ears popped as they increased the pressure of the shuttle. They were about to vent their atmosphere out to propel her into the station and if everything worked out well, there would be no blowback of toxic gasses into the shuttle.
Tech’s voice came to her through the com next to the door. “Everyone, masks on.”
She shook with fear. “I wish I had one.”
“It would restrict your movement. Shield yourself as best you can. They will need to see you as one of them, not as a squid face.”
She nodded and sucked in a ragged breath. “Right. Well, Tech, ready when you are.”
Erinii watched the tube extend to seal the station to the ship. There was a soft count down and then she was blasted out of the shuttle and into the station, skidding to a halt on her bare feet.
The station door slid closed on the column of air from the ship and the green mist came in to swirl around her knees. A shield of power kept the green mist from touching her, but panic was fighting for dominance.
I am with you, Erinii. Now, let’s get you through this, so we can get back where we belong.
Stay with me, Dravi, I can hear them moving nearby.
She walked through the halls as quickly as she could. Shock lanced through her when the dead bodies of Raiders started appearing in the mist.
They didn’t get out of here. The Raiders are dead.
I hate to ask this, but what killed them?
She took a few steps toward one of them and turned it over with her foot. The corpse had a series of spikes buried in its forehead and to Erinii’s surprise, she recognized the spikes.
The talents have gotten control over their abilities. A woman who flings spikes from her fingertips killed this Raider.
Are you sure?
I have the scars from her first day at the facility. She spiked a number of us before the sedative took hold.
Did she kill them all?
Swallowing nausea at having to examine multiple bodies, Erinii made her way from one to the next.
Several have spikes, others look like they succumbed to the gas. Some are burned.
Why would the talents attack here when they were confined back on Bassinor?
Either the mix in the gas is off, or the lack of the restrictor field created by the walls of the facility was a factor. All I know is I can hear them but cannot see them yet.
Keep yourself safe and defend yourself by any means necessary.
I will. Stay close.
He sent her a hug through their connection and she steeled herself for whatever was going to happen next.
The canister was heavy, but it gave her the sense of security she needed as she padded through the station on bare feet. She hefted it when she heard footsteps approaching and braced for whatever was coming toward her.
“Identify yourself, creature.”
A woman came out of the green fog and raised her hands in a defensive manner. Two men were behind her and there was a manic gleam to her eyes.
“I am Erinii Zakkata. Who are you?”
The woman blinked frantically, her blue eyes confused. “I am the Thorn Queen. These are my servants, Fire and Ice.”
In reflex, Erinii’s body executed a deep curtsy, sweeping her robes to the side while shifting the canister to her left arm. “I am pleased to meet you, Your Majesty.”
The Thorn Queen smiled and inclined her head. “I have been waiting for you, Erinii Zakkata. The Muse of Forethought told me you were coming.”
They knew I was coming.
How?
My guess is a precognitive talent. Did Bassinor give any records of those stolen from the facility?
Relay is trying to get them as we speak.
“You are talking to someone. That is rude.” The Thorn Queen raised her spikes.
“I was speaking to my…mate. He is in constant contact with me and was checking on my status.”
The Thorn Queen sniffed the air and smiled. “You must be worried sick to be parted from him. Why did he not come with you?”
“He is not of our people. The mist would kill him.”
“Unfortunate. Please, come with me. The others are eager to meet you.”
Fire and Ice flanked her and she had no choice but to follow the Thorn Queen down the halls, past more dead folk, until they were in a wide promenade that was cleared of bodies and was filled with the stolen talents.
They milled around, eating, drinking and talking softly as they adopted the personas that their minds had created. Every now and then, someone shrieked and let off a burst of power, but those outbursts were few and far between.
An elderly woman approached and gave her a worried frown. “You are the reason we are here.”
Erinii reared back in shock. “Pardon?”
“They came for you and took us instead. We are the second choice and they thought they could use us.” The woman cackled. “They were wrong.”