They sat around the table and looked at a map of the Miikor capitol and the surrounding area.
Worvin pointed at the outpost two miles from Nat’s home. “That is where I landed.”
Kaylee grinned, and she would have flashed fangs if she could. “Good. We own that area. In the old days, planets like Miikor would give the Alliance rights to a specific patch of soil for a protective outpost to be manned in times of crisis. We still own it, and I think that Miikor needs a Citadel.”
Dirven nodded. “Agreed. Worvin has the structure pack. Will you travel with her to set it up?”
Worvin sat up. “Really? You know it requires maintenance.”
“And you will need to requisition supplies. Who better to start a new Citadel than our finest quartermaster?” Dirven clapped him on the shoulder.
Nat blinked. “Wait, what?”
Kaylee chuckled. “We are starting a new Citadel on Miikor, and we have the proof of ownership of the property. They can’t deny us or threaten us.”
Dirven asked, “Are there other talents on Miikor?”
Nat shrugged. “I have heard of a few. If they have somewhere to go, they will come just to feel like they belong. Miikor is pretty peaceful, but if someone doesn’t act, that is going to change soon.”
Dirven pitched in, “Change is good for most worlds.”
Nat took in a calming breath before exhaling. “Yes, but not when they are on the verge of having their government take over all their citizens. This is not good. We need to stop it.”
Those around the table stared at her.
Kaylee cleared her throat. “What if it is the will of the people?”
“We live in an oligarchy. There is no will of the people. There is the ruling class and everyone else.” Nat sighed.
Dirven smiled. “Which is how we were able to gain the control over those few acres. They were an offer from a previous regime.”
Nathaly watched the schematic grow in front of her, the digital display rooted a Citadel and it spiralled upward.
“How does that work?”
“Avari nanites. They use the local materials to build a predetermined design, and then, they simply become part of the self-healing structure.”
Nat cocked her head. “So, it grows a building?”
Worvin smiled. “It does. I have only seen it used once, but it was very impressive.”
Kaylee grinned. “Now, we just have to finish fitting you with appropriate clothing. Your dress is great, but you need the robes of a Citadel head.”
Worvin smiled. “I have made the arrangements, and the robes should have finished with their generation by now.”
“Just like that?” Nat was surprised at how fast things were moving.
Kaylee put her hand on Nat’s shoulder. “We started things in motion when Lupik sent the first message for help. The Citadel is wanting to seed as many planets with outposts as they can. Even if you don’t have enough experience to train them, you keep them safe and summon the training that they need.”
Worvin nodded. “We have all the monitors and terminals we need; the design of the tower is full of them. All we need is a basic connection and a link to a relay and we will be in full communication. It should only be a few days without links to the Alliance, but we can manage it if you are willing to keep us safe.”
She stood straight. “If I am given a code name so my parents aren’t in danger, yes.”
Dirven smiled. “Shiver. It is a solid name and only hints at what you can actually do. Strobe will be with you.”
Nat made a face. “I am not a fan of the name Strobe. I think Bright would suit him better.”
Worvin smiled slowly. “I wouldn’t mind a change. Being Strobe has not brought me luck, so perhaps Bright would be a better choice for my future.”
Kaylee shrugged. “Bright it is then. Shiver and Bright will be the administration of the new Citadel Miikor until the building is up and more instructors can be brought in.”
Dirven nodded. “So, Nathaly, are you sure of how you are going in?”
She inclined her head. “We are there to reclaim what belongs to the Alliance. We will have the treaties, the witness statements and the declarations of the rest of the planets in the system that an outpost once was stationed on Miikor.”
Worvin smiled. “We are merely reclaiming the outpost and building a new base. Once it is built, we will transfer the ownership to the Citadel.”
Kaylee nodded. “And as the Citadel works with the local classes, you can demand representatives from the government and the local population for your liaisons. That is how you will get your parents out of their situation, Nathaly.”
Nat nodded and smiled. “Do we really think this will work?”
Dirven chuckled. “She has had stranger ideas that were harder to execute. Just remember that as a member of the Citadel, Shiver can use her talent to defend herself at any time.”
“It will seem strange to use it on Miikor. I am not sure that I am ready for it. I have spent my life not drawing attention to myself.”
Dirven nodded. “That is over. You are going to stand with head high and order your people around.”
“So, no one will notice who I am if I call attention to myself?”
Kaylee tried to smack her on the shoulder but her arm went right through Nathaly’s body. “That is the spirit. No one realizes I am just a researcher with her head up her own butt most of the time because I can walk through walls. It is a fair trade.”
Dirven sighed. “Go and rest, Kaylee. I will manage the rest of this. The shuttle is already loaded.”
Kaylee kissed him, or that is what it looked like as she passed through him face to face and Dirven shivered.
When Dirven collected himself, he raised his eyebrows and looked at the map as if seeing it again for the first time. “Right. So...”
They went through the briefing a second time, and when everyone knew what was planned, Nathaly and Worvin were dismissed to retrieve her Citadel robes and board the ship.
Worvin managed the controls and Nathaly sat stiffly in the seat next to him. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes. I don’t know what I thought would happen, but this wasn’t it.”
He chuckled. “Life rarely turns out the way you expect it. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. That is my motto.”
“I had no frame of reference to prepare for this.”
“No, but you are adapting wonderfully.”
She looked over at him, and he glanced back at her and smiled.
“You really think I can do this?”
Worvin nodded. “I know you can. Your parents raised you with as much unity and education as they could manage. That much love carries an obligation to do the best you can with whatever situation you find yourself in. They prepared you for greatness, now take it.”
Nathaly blinked at the firm tone in his voice. “Um. All right. I will do what I can.”
“Good. Lady Lupik is breaking the news of the treaty to the government, and I am preparing to meet with resistance when we drop through the atmosphere.”
“Right. What should I do?”
“Have a meal and take a nap. We will arrive in two hours and you might want to be as fresh as you can.”
She nodded. “Can I get you anything?”
“Some caf. I have to remain here to monitor the chatter on their com systems.”
Nat got to her feet and moved through the shuttle with her robes swaying heavily around her. The fabric was lightweight but had a solid feel. Worvin had told her it was armoured, but she didn’t want to test it. It also hid her obvious similarities to the Miikor. The mask across her eyes and down her cheeks was comfortable but would take getting used to.
She was swathed and hidden. Nathaly Welling was gone and Shiver was standing where she had been.
A nap was impossible, so she grabbed a snack bar and two cups of caf, returning to the cockpit and her seat next to Bright.
She kept her breathing calm as her world filled the forward screen. They were taking direct action. They were going to begin the construction of the Citadel before meeting with the local government.
It was a bold move and probably a stupid one, but it was the best way to get them into position so that the chancellor could not remove them.
When they entered the atmosphere, she held her breath and Worvin’s eyes glowed bright. It was time to make their move, and it was going to be a big one.
The aircraft that flanked them through the atmosphere had peeled off when they were over their official grounds.
The moment they were down, Shiver got up, headed to the hold and grabbed the unit containing the pop-up Citadel.
By vibrating the unit, she could drag it onto the bedrock half a kilometer from the ship. She dropped the unit to one side with the very large button facing upward. A quick glance showed that Bright was waiting next to the ship, so she pressed the button, waited for the light to begin its count down and she ran for it.
Bright caught her in his arms as they waited for the thirty seconds to elapse. The light grew more intense and flared as the unit sent a beacon skyward and a matching anchor into the rock under it.
“I can’t believe that we are growing a Citadel.” She stood with her arms around him, and he didn’t seem to mind.
“Keep watching, it is starting.” His arm around her back moved in a soothing motion.
She smiled. Hugging him had been an impulse, but continuing the embrace was taking a lot of nerve. His hand on her back told her that the contact was not unwanted.
With her family structure the way it was, she had no prospects as far as gentlemen were concerned. Bright was smart, handsome and had a flare for keeping track of her that she was beginning to appreciate.
As she watched, the nanites did their job and the tower spiralled upward. “Oh, my.”
They sat and watched as hours passed and the stone beneath the new base was turned into the extruded grid of the towers and eventually thin but tough films of windows.
“Wow. I didn’t think it would actually work.” Shiver chuckled and watched the outbuildings rise from the ground in a spiralling wave.
Bright smiled. “Frankly, neither did I. I had heard of the Teklan experiment, but the Avari’s technology is so powerful, it is nearly mythological. That they are willing to part with any of it is entirely due to the new Alliance Ambassador. She has married one of their elders, and now, as long as the tech disables itself after its programmed duty, they are willing to sell us instant bases.”
“I am not going to ask what she does to get that agreement.”
He chuckled. “Neither am I, but I am guessing she does it very well.”
A chime rang out, and Shiver moved out of the very comfortable embrace, returning to the shuttle and grabbing rolls of endless, fine cable.
Bright followed her and carried his own burden. The spindles projected from the front of the building, and when the cable was threaded in place, they activated the sensors and the spools began to unravel.
Wires moved into the structure and were connected to each floor, each room and each terminal.
The Avari had been very precise with their instructions for building the structure. The plumbing was worked out via a complex ground water and filtration system. The gardens growing behind the tower would use up the water after the tower had its way with it.
After another hour of watching, Bright brought out meals for them as the sun went down.
He smiled. “So, when do you think the Miikor will arrive?”
“They are ten minutes out. I can feel their vehicles. The local area is too rocky for most aircraft. The vertical takeoff is a necessity.” Shiver ate her sandwich and sipped her soup from a cup.
“You can feel them coming?”
“Of course. I don’t just cause the tremors, I can feel them. I can tell how many, what sort of vehicles and how fast. I also know all the roads around here. They are now nine minutes out.”
“Then, finish up and we will get ready to entertain.” Bright’s shoulders straightened and his eyes gleamed. He wanted the welcoming committee to know that they were not dealing with locals. The glowing eyes were a pretty good clue.
Shiver stood next to her partner with the glowing Citadel still sprouting behind them.
Military police were next to the chancellor himself. He walked toward them, and to Shiver’s shock, he extended his hand.
She had pulled on the gloves that completed her clothing, and it was when she lifted her hand to his that he saw that she was completely covered. The flicker of expression made her suspicious, and as she shook his hand and introduced herself, she felt something crunch against her palm.
The light waft of krisk sap made her chuckle. “Chancellor, I am so happy to meet you at long last.”
She gripped his hand in both of hers and gave a sharp twist. The chancellor winced.
“Shiver; what an interesting name.”
She rattled his body with her talent and smiled tightly. “Not as interesting as chancellor, but it helps me find my locker.”
He pulled back and she smelled blood. She had pierced his skin, and the shaking would move the sap through his system faster than he counted on.
“This is my partner, Bright. We are the Citadel advance team.”
The chancellor blinked. “Right. About that. The outpost property reverted to the Miikor government four years ago.”
“I am afraid that it didn’t. Reversion was not in the original contract. This piece of rocky territory was handed over as unusable and unstrategic. There are warships two systems over that can enforce our claim if need be.”
The chancellor’s pupils dilated.
Shiver smiled politely. “Now, why don’t you want us here?”
“You are a threat to my position.”
She didn’t grin. The krisk sap worked as a truth agent. It simply convinced the infected person that they had no reason to lie. Everything they said was golden.
The guards looked at each other but didn’t speak.
“Why am I a threat to your position?”
“The locals are fools. The government has managed to keep them pacified, but charismatic individuals make them look elsewhere for leadership.”
Shiver nodded wisely. “We will help you. We will take two of yours in an effort to ease your burden. They will join the Citadel and offer assistance to members of the population with talents. Your support will make you look wise and benevolent.”