Chapter Ten
Taking tea with the Thorn Queen and the Muse of Forethought was nerve wracking. There was no choice but to lower her shielding to sip at her tea, but when she did so, her alter ego surged to the fore.
The Muse smiled. “The Swan Queen has joined us.”
Erinii felt a touch on her mind and she knew Dravi was concerned, but the Swan Queen was interested in only one thing. “I have indeed joined you.”
The Thorn Queen cocked her head. “Why have you come?”
“I seek to free my people. The gas keeps the true talents at bay. I need to purge the gas and create a better atmosphere.”
The Thorn Queen lifted one hand and a male with eyes of crystalline grey came to her side. “Is she telling the truth?”
The man with the freaky eyes stared at her and nodded. “Both of them are speaking the truth.”
The Thorn Queen gave her a piercing look. “Both of them?”
“She is not alone within her mind. There is a male with her. Neither of them means us harm.”
The Thorn Queen waved him back and smiled. “Now that we are no longer under the thumb of the masked ones, I am eager to see my people flourish. What can you do to help, Your Majesty?”
“The gasses here are keeping those who would help you at bay. I need to purge them and replace them with the contents of this canister. Only then will those standing by to assist us be able to come to our aid.” The Swan Queen sat with her head high and waited for her host to answer.
“I will allow it, but there are some who are enjoying their new freedoms a little too vigorously. They may attempt to halt you. Neither me nor mine will be able to assist you.”
The Swan Queen bowed her head, “I understand. I take my leave of you then, Your Majesty.”
The Thorn Queen smiled softly. “Reefa. My name was Reefa.”
The Swan Queen touched the other woman’s needle-tipped fingers. “It will be again.”
Erinii, inside her own hallucination, saw the slight tremble in the Thorn Queen’s hands. She gripped the canister tightly and propelled herself across the room in seconds. Her shielding recognized the impact of the darts, but she kept moving, running for her life and for theirs.
What is going on?
The frantic energy in his mind was not lost on her. He was frustrated at being unable to help her.
Oh, the lunatics are running the asylum and they like it. I am about to end that.
Will you be all right? Pax is on her way.
I am not sure what that means, but I will be fine if I can just finish what I came to do.
Then do it quickly.
She tried not to chuckle as she ran through the halls toward the atmospheric systems. Having a snarky minder in her head was infinitely preferable to being plagued by her own hallucinations.
The control room was guarded by two hulking beasts and no matter what kind of blinking and rubbing her eyes she engaged in, they were still beasts.
“Stand aside.”
One lifted his muzzle and scented the air. “I know you.”
“You do. Stand aside or I will be forced to injure you.”
The one who had spoken to her bowed and moved away. The other grew even more fearsome before he lunged at her, his jaws snapping.
The Swan Queen braced for his impact on her shielding, but it never came. The other male lunged forward and took him down.
“Do what you came to do, Majesty. Do it. I will hold off those who come as long as I can.” He growled the words before he used his jaws on his opponent.
To ignore his sacrifice would have been rude, so she sprinted past the men gnashing and bleeding on the ground.
The door hissed open as she used her mind on the latch. She worked her way into the dim interior and found the rack of canisters rigged to the atmospheric systems. She used her mind to shut off their supply while she removed one of them, putting the sedative in its place.
She set the purge order in place and verified that there was enough air to replenish the station for the hours that would be required until help could arrive. The sounds of battle were getting closer and her time was up.
She threw the purge and pumped a neutral gas through the station, watching the levels of the green chemical recede until they were ineffective. Her breath grew shallow as there was less to breathe and a moment before she blacked out, she turned on the gas and replenished the atmosphere.
Erinii! Wake up.
I am awake. I am just horizontal.
Dravi lifted her into his arms and looked down at her, his breather mask distorting his features.
You did well.
You got in here fast.
It has been two hours since you filled the station with the sedative. Your mouth will be dry and you will be queasy, so just let me carry you.
There were medical officers treating a series of bloody men and she recognized the one sitting up and grimacing as her protector. She stared at him and suddenly she recognized him.
“Taffor!”
Dravi paused and turned so she could see the man more clearly.
“You know him?”
“Taffor Danyavic was in my class at college. He had a good career and an excellent family life and then one day, he disappeared. I am guessing that his talent emerged.” Her voice was a hoarse croak but she got her thought across.
“Did he have children?”
She nodded. “Three girls and two boys. They are probably on the talent watch list. It will destroy their chances of a good position in life, but if they don’t show signs of power, they should be fine. Will he be all right? He stood between me and the others when it was time.” She sighed and leaned back in his arms, fatigue overwhelming her.
“Flame is helping him now. I am getting you back to the shuttle. You are shaking.”
His tone was concerned and he lifted her and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head.
“I am fine. I think I just need some more natural sleep to restore me. That’s all, just a little sleep.” She yawned and covered her mouth as she snuggled in his embrace.
* * * *
Dravi smiled and watched his charge slowly slip into unconsciousness in his arms. Her hair cascaded over his arm and her features were almost pale enough to make his skin look Alliance normal.
He was glad that she didn’t have to witness the death and gore that was exposed by the disappearance of the green fog. The Raiders had not known what they were taking on when they stole the talents of Bassinor.
While many of the inmates had been innocent talents like Erinii, there were actual criminals and hostile persons within the facility who had dominance in mind. Bassinor had taken them all and locked them into hallucinations for the safety of their general population.
It was not the kindest method of dealing with those who merely won the genetic lottery and wanted nothing more than a normal life, but it was the only solution that they had been able to come up with.
At the debriefing, Erinii was going to learn the whole truth. She was the reason that the Raiders had made a run for the Bassinor facility. In his desperation to save his half-sister, Davio had sent messages everywhere he could think of to gain her freedom and one of those places had been a Raider stronghold.
While they had waited for Erinii’s progress through the station, Relay had filled in the gaps via the station’s record system. The head of Morganti base had rifled through the data streams until she had discovered the details of not only the compound used to sedate the Bassinor, but the reason for the
en masse
kidnapping.
The compound for the green gas had been taken with the talents. It was a derivative from a plant native to the planet where the talents lived and with the hallucinations, it also created a sub-network that allowed unrestrained minds to synch in the same fantasy worlds. The Bassinor talents were literally sharing a world that was theirs alone.
Chapter Eleven
She woke the moment that he let her go. Erinii immediately opened her eyes and sat up, despite her fatigue.
“Erinii, go back to sleep.”
She sighed. “I wish I could. I can’t seem to sleep unless you are touching me.”
Dravi smiled. “I will return in a moment.”
She blinked and noticed that the room she was in was not the one she had been assigned at the Citadel. He disappeared into what she was convinced was the lav and he returned in a matter of minutes.
Erinii lifted the covers and sighed in relief as she noted that she was wearing the light shift that she had been given for under her robes. She also was no longer scented with the green mist of Bassinor.
He grinned in the light of the bedside lamp. “We are in my rooms. They are bigger and it seems that my holding you is now part and parcel of your recovery.”
He flicked off the lamp and she heard a rustle of fabric. In a moment, the covers lifted and he curled around her, his longer limbs extending far past hers as he pulled her tight against him.
As her body relaxed at his touch, she smiled into the darkness until she realized that he may have a lover and he was forced to spend his night with her.
No one is forcing me. You need your rest to keep control of your talent. I can and will provide the means to get you your rest.
She blushed.
I don’t mean to keep you from your own life. I am sure that they can find someone else.
Her breath whooshed out of her as he tightened his arms. “I am your minder, Erinii. Get used to it.”
“Fine. I will get used to it, but you have every right to a normal life. As soon as I am better, I am sure that I will be able to sleep on my own.”
“Take it day by day, Erinii. For tonight, get some sleep. We are expected at the Guard base tomorrow morning.”
His breath was warm on her neck and she stroked the arm resting over her abdomen until she eventually slipped into dreams of stars and worlds she had never seen.
The next morning when she went to get dressed, an emerald green set of robes waited for her. “What are these?”
“You have mastered your own talent. While you may have more to learn, you are no longer a danger to yourself or others.” Dravi was shrugging into his soft grey robes.
“What do your robes mean?” She tried to show the same lack of concern for modesty that he had, but she had the sinking feeling that her skin was approaching her hair colour. She fought her way free of the fabric just in time to catch his amused smile.
“I am a Citadel representative who goes off world. This is the colour recognized by most worlds who have exposure to the Alliance.” He settled his hood.
“So, you travel often?” She shrugged on her outer robe and sighed as it fell into place with only a short flurry of tugging to get it properly arranged.
“Fairly often. Minders are usually in high demand.”
“I thought you were introduced to me as an instructor.”
“I am, I teach short seminars at the Citadel that help folk narrow down their courses of study. Your talent could have taken you any number of ways and yet you are now here with me and you are wearing the green after only four days.”
She wandered into the lav and checked her reflection in the only mirror he had. Her hair was brilliant and shining in a crimson wave down her back. The green of her robes made her eyes bright and skin creamy. Erinii knew that she looked pretty, but perhaps her Bassinor features were not to Dravi’s liking. After all, they had spent a night together and he hadn’t even let his hands stray once.
Perhaps she simply wasn’t his type.
She sighed heavily and returned to the main room. “Ready when you are.”
He offered her his arm and she took it, letting him lead her out of his room and down to the dining hall.
They obtained their foods and were seated and eating when Turnari appeared at their table.
She swallowed and looked up at the Dhemon warily. “Good morning.”
He inclined his head. “Good morning. May I join you?”
Dravi smiled while Erinii blinked. “Of course. Please, have a seat.”
He put down the tray that he was holding and slid into a seat next to her. “Thank you. Most folk freak out when I take a seat at their table, so this is rather refreshing.”
Erinii raised her brows. “I can’t imagine why.”
Turnari smirked, “Perhaps because they feel that I am about to send them off world into dangerous situations. As you know, it does happen.”
“So I have been learning.” She smiled wryly.
“When Dravi told me of your elevation to green, I was a little surprised. Then I saw the station recordings and I must say, you do have your talent well under your control. Is that normal for your people?”
She sighed and toyed with a piece of fruit on her plate. “I don’t know what is normal for my people. Few records of Bassinor talents exist and they are certainly not publicized.”
He nodded as if it were nothing less than he expected. “It is a common affliction of many races. Even my own has no urge to have true talents among them. It is politely suggested to many families that they send their talents to the Citadel for training the moment that they start to show.”
“Dravi, how did your people react to your skills?” Turnari was asking the question that she had never dare to ask.
Dravi sipped at his caf, “My mother was appalled and my father was perplexed, but they both supported me in my decision to pursue life as a minder.”
“What about your community?”
Dravi laughed, “It was difficult to get through school when I could read the answers in the teacher’s mind. It was only when a scout from the Citadel cruised through town that everything became completely clear.”
Erinii furrowed her brow. “The Citadel sends out scouts?”
Turnari nodded. “It is necessary with the ever-expanding demand for talents, negotiators and counsellors. Dravi was trained as a counsellor before he became a minder.”
Erinii asked, “What is the difference?”
Dravi answered, “Counsellors read their patients and give them nudges to the conclusion that will help them wrap up the problem, minders can reach into a patient’s mind and simply solve the problem for them by removing the offending memories or implanting new ones.”