The water rose rapidly, and she saw the world magnified as the pressure was felt but not painful. Tyvor was her focus. He was the lodestone she stared at as their chamber filled and the pressure increased. She could make out sparkly silver freckles now that the water was between them, and for some reason that amused her.
When they were floating gently, the outer door opened to set them free. Tyvor flexed his forearms and fins opened in a fan fold. She could see his gills fluttering slowly as he breathed, and he released one hand and kept the other with him as they floated out into the contingent of guards waiting for them.
Tyvor did not feel alarmed; he felt like this is what he had been expecting. His mind was incredibly calm.
Being towed through the water was strange, but she was able to concentrate on breathing and staying calm, trusting in her new suit. Seven armed men swam around them in escort and each had the same arm fins as well as fins on their bare legs that aided in propulsion.
She was brought to an open-walled chamber where archways gave the idea of a room without actually blocking the flow of current. To her amazement, a shoal of tiny fish skittered around her before darting for the far end of the space.
A woman with a stern expression rose and inclined her head.
I have been told that you have the ability to mind speak, so I will be plain; we did not wish to host you but the Avatar of Salass insisted. They are unable to be here today, and so, I greet you on their behalf. Welcome to Salass.
Skiria inclined her head.
Thank you for the less than enthusiastic welcome. I am honoured that you allow me on your world.
The woman’s face scowled.
Well, that is as may be. My son, Tyvor, will be your go-between, and if you have any questions, you may ask him. He and the guard will escort you to your home above. I am sure you will find it more to your liking.
Skiria blinked.
I am sure it will be suitable if you give it such a ringing endorsement.
Tyvor grabbed her arm and hauled her away before his mother could express her irritation further.
That wasn’t wise.
His tone was wry in her mind.
Your mother is too much like a manager I used to have. I worked on polite sarcasm with her until it was perfected. I would apologize, but with thought transmission, she would know I was not sincere.
Valid point but still not wise.
Why didn’t you tell me that your mother was in charge here?
Is it important? Don’t women hold office on your world?
They do, but generally, if one is bringing someone to meet a familial relation, there is a moment where they inform the person they are introducing to reduce tensions. Mothers are protective of sons when strange women are around. The stranger the woman, the more hostile a mother is to her.
Two of the guards laughed against her shields, and Tyvor went silent as they swam out of the meeting place and up toward a mountain rising from the deep. They followed the slope upward until the sunlight showed the surface, and still, they continued to rise.
Breaking the surface was a shock. One moment they were underwater, and the next, they had shattered the surface and were heading toward a floating dock that had merely been a line in the water a minute earlier.
The Salassians launched easily out of the water, but Skiria had to haul herself upward one inch at a time until Tyvor reached down to lift her out of the sea.
The dock was shifting and rocking under her feet. A guard reached out to steady her, and she smiled briefly at him.
His helping hand to her elbow shifted to a supporting hand at her back, and Tyvor jerked her toward him. He drained his gills and said, “Enough, Rasko. She has just arrived.”
The guard drained his own gills. “She started it.”
Skiria blinked. “What did I start?”
Tyvor looked smug. “See? She doesn’t even know our ways yet. You could have made an incredible gaffe.”
The guard darkened dramatically, a deep purple rush through the paler sections of skin.
Tyvor kept his hand on hers and tugged her along the dock toward a small house built into the hillside of a very pretty island. Flowers bloomed and a small waterwheel churned tirelessly on the side of the building.
“The waterwheel is your power supply and it runs all the equipment in the study. You will be able to contact anyone you wish as well as receive the basics in Citadel training.”
Her group eased down the dock and walked up the pathway to the house. The guards remained outside while Tyvor showed her her new home.
Skiria looked around the cottage with its neat bed, small kitchen filled with a food dispenser that Tyvor showed her how to use, and the study with the com systems that could call anywhere she could think of. If only she had someone to call.
The first two days she was on Salass, Tyvor checked in on her for an hour. After he had assured himself she was doing well, he started to skip to every three days.
Skiria enjoyed being by herself with no other minds in the area. She could expand her thoughts as much as she wanted and nothing got in her way. It was on the seventh day on Salass when she got her first call. The origin point was hidden, but the woman floating in the tank on the screen was definitely Resicorian.
Skiria sat and stared at the woman in the screen. “Um, hello?”
“Hello, Skiria Linz. I am the Archive. I am just calling to check on you.”
“Archive?”
The woman bobbed in the liquid that held her and she smiled. “Indeed. When you have been filing requests for information, they have been going through me.”
“You are from Resicor.”
“Good eye. Yes, I am. I was removed quite some time ago and have made a place in the Alliance and have been assisting my home with its new phase of life.”
“You are in touch?”
The woman inclined her head. “I am. She has never left me.”
It was when she tilted her head that Skiria saw the ports and cables implanted in the woman’s skull.
“What did they do to you?”
“Nothing that I did not ask for. I requested these links so that I could be of use to my people. This is my destiny and I have enjoyed watching the men and women of Resicor come out to play with the other species.”
Skiria blinked in surprise. “You have been watching?”
The Archive shrugged and raised her hands. “It is what I do. All the information regarding the children of Resicor runs through my mind. Several of those removed are my descendants, so I have a vested interest in remaining as the main conduit of their activities.”
“How are you speaking?”
“My thoughts are being transmitted to your com unit and it is translating the impulses into something you can hear. You will get used to the technology soon enough. I have noticed the speed with which you are absorbing your information and you will soon be ready for assignments with the Citadel.”
That got Skiria’s attention. “Assignments?”
“We got you out, now you are going to continue your work for the freedom of others. You have been given a task, and you will soon know what is being asked of you.”
Skiria sat back and looked at the other woman. “This is my warning.”
Archive smiled. “You are very bright. Yes, this is your warning. You will soon meet the Salass Avatar and everything is going to go a little wild before it gets better.”
“Why?”
The woman grinned. “You now have my direct information in your system. Call me anytime. I am always available.”
With no more information than that, the screen went dark.
She sat back and exhaled heavily. She hated surprises when they involved the word
wild
.
Skiria ran her hands through her hair and headed out to stand on the dock and listen to the waves. In the distance, she could see large creatures rising and falling in the light of the setting sun. Salass was a lovely world; the water had a purple tint that made the depths of the colour strange and wonderful every time she stood out on her long dock.
She stood out in the fading light until the cooling air made her shiver. The touch of the wind on her cheek was her only indication of ambient temperature.
Bubbles warned her that she was about to have guests, and she stepped toward the shore quickly to give them plenty of room to land.
Tyvor and the guard chorus shot out of the water and landed on the dock, sending it swaying. They looked a little surprised to see her, and Tyvor started talking before he cleared his gills. The gurgling was a little peculiar.
Skiria smiled and waited. Water squirted out of his neck in foamy jets, and he flexed his head a little.
“Pardon me. The Avatar has arrived and your presence is requested in the meeting hall once again.” There was amusement in Tyvor’s expression.
“Now?” She touched her hair. She wasn’t sure how the suit would deal with her loose locks.
“Now. Your hair looks fine.”
She sighed. “Fine.” Without hesitating, she turned to the side of the dock and jumped feet first into the water.
She was breathing easily before her head had cleared the surface and her hair floated around her in a ghostly blue cloud.
Seven minute splashes sounded, and Tyvor wrapped an arm around her waist to help propel her through the water. Without a psychic word, they were off.
A crowd formed around the meeting hall. Folk stood or floated as they chose, all gazes aimed inward toward the hall itself.
Skiria felt a powerful mind up ahead of them and that appeared to be their target. She relaxed and let Tyvor move her around the members of the crowd oblivious to their approach. Her guards also took care of some of the others, creating a corridor through the curious dark gazes and into the meeting hall itself.
The guards paused and Tyvor continued toward the man leaning against the podium who was speaking with Tyvor’s mother.
He pulled up short and helped Skiria regain her upright posture.
Avatar Raygar-Salass, this is Skiria Linz of Resicor. Skiria, this is my great-grandfather, Raygar, Avatar of Salass.
She felt her cheeks heat as he followed her earlier instructions to the letter. She bowed her head.
It is delightful to meet you, Skiria. I have looked forward to this moment.
Skiria looked at the hand that Raygar extended to her. It was strange, as the Salass did not shake hands.
It is an honour to meet you, Avatar. Tyvor has spoken highly of you.
Take my hand, child, there is nothing to fear here.
She blinked and extended her hand to his. His kind, smiling features went blank for a moment when she made contact. The electric pulse that ran between them was a surprise, as was the sudden discharge of mental energy that pushed the Avatar away from her.
Skiria floated back and flipped end over end while the councilwoman ran to her grandfather. To Skiria’s shock two of her own guards grabbed her and swam with her, deep into the city.
When they pulled up in a dark hallway, she heard one whisper in her thoughts,
You are under arrest for attacking our Avatar. I hope for your sake that he recovers.
What? I didn’t…
It doesn’t matter if you meant to; you injured our Avatar. That carries a death sentence.
She looked frantically from one to the other as they stuffed her into a cell and sealed it as they exited. Tyvor was nowhere to be seen.
Skiria looked around at the smooth walls, and her knees buckled when the water left the sealed cell. The suit didn’t drop her shield when the water departed, so she guessed that the pressure was still intense. Unsure of what else to do, she sat in the corner of the cell, pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and tried to find out what was going on with as much range as she could muster.
The results were not good.
Twelve hours of waiting confirmed that the Avatar was dead as far as the citizens were concerned. The immediate response was to provide a formal Avatar burial and that meant that Skiria’s sentence was going to be carried out at the same time.
The guards that came for her didn’t speak. They weren’t from her original contingent, and they were bristling with fury at having to touch a murderer.
To her surprise, they hauled her toward the surface where a large structure was floating in shadow. The guards sped up as they approached the surface, and they pulled her out of the water and through the air to land on the flat barge with the bier in the centre. The manacles at the edge of the bier didn’t bode well, nor did the careful application of a thick oil into a trench on the sides of the barge.
With no ceremony, Skiria was cuffed in place at the feet of the Avatar.
The councilwoman came out of the sea with a smooth motion. She cleared her gills and hissed, “Skiria Linz, you have killed a good and true man, and in return, you will watch his body burn while your own death is assured under the sun. Make peace with your gods; you are about to meet them.”
The woman turned to jump, and Skiria asked, “Where is Tyvor?”
The councilwoman’s shoulders tensed. “You have contaminated him with your presence. He is being restrained until after your sentence has been carried out.”
Skiria read the truth in the woman’s mind and curled her hands into fists while the small splashes told her she was now alone.
Breathing in, the oil filled the air. All that she needed was an ignition source and she would be on fire.
The Avatar was moving slightly as the barge rocked. There was no colour in his face aside from the standard blue and green with cream accents. Skiria felt the heat of the new sun on her back, and she looked around to see the heat waves rising from the oil in the two troughs. Apparently, it had a low ignition point.
Skiria breathed in and out with as much calm as she could muster. Sure, she could have lashed out in panic, she could have screamed and fought with the guards, she could even have knocked them out and tried to swim away, but then, where would she be? On a world where she was wanted for murder with no way of getting to safety, that is where she would be.