Avoid (3 page)

The others murmured, and Gwetho scowled, “Shall we make room in the tower?”

Ravikka shook her head. “Not necessary. She is here to put things right. No timeline will be altered, but ones that have been skewed will be corrected.”

He scowled. “This is far more fancy than our lives as observers. What is the Orb doing?”

“It is carrying out its plan, and we are simply the tools that it uses. You know that, Gwetho. Perhaps you need to be called out of Home more often. It seems to be something that you are forgetting frequently.”

Gwetho’s frown intensified. “And you seem to be forgetting the regulations that we put in place centuries ago. They are there for a reason, Ravikka.”

Ravikka felt a surge of heat from the base of her soul and light streamed from her mouth and eyes, bathing Gwetho.

When the wave completed, Ravikka closed her mouth and licked her lips. “I believe that that answers your comments, Gwetho.”

He blinked, and his eyes had gone from Nameless black to blazing white.

Ravikka gestured to the two nearest councillors, “Help him to medical. He has been blinded until he can see things the way they are. If the Orb wants to give these new recruits a purpose, it is not for us to deny them.”

Gwetho gave her a shaky bow, and the councillors helped him walk from the council hall and into the daylight.

Ravikka sighed as the other members of the seven dispersed, leaving her alone with the heartburn aftershock of the Orb’s emanation.

The newcomers were satisfying something that the Orb had been waiting for, but instead of having them snatched from their times, they had been given a chance to learn what they were. It was a gift, whether they knew it or not.

Chapter Five

Idara stood on her balcony and watched the slow turning of the stars above her.

“This is really my home?”

“It is. My room is just across the hall, so feel free to knock any time.” Harken was watching her from the doorway.

She turned and smiled. “When does the whole tutoring thing begin?”

“Whenever you like. What would you like to know?”

She turned and placed her hands on the waist-high edge of stone. “Why me? There are other women far better suited to this sort of action.”

“But none that have the destiny looming before them that you do. Out of all the descendants of your originally selected parent, you are the only one that the Orb chose. It sets us on our path, and while we don’t know it at the time, it shapes us. It is very humbling to know that some of my best choices in life were nudged there.”

He joined her looking out over the expanse of the city.

“It explains why my first memories after it entered were all the crossroads moments in my life. It was there every time I wanted to back away and run, whispering that I needed to try harder, do what was necessary.”

“It tends to do that. It drives us to put ourselves in the position where we become what it wills us to be. The best our genes can make us, I suppose.”

“This happened to you?”

“Far away and long ago, but yes. I was standing between a village and a drunken Admaryn. He had a long knife that sliced through my torso. It was not pleasant, but my death was quick.”

“Who retrieved you?”

“An Enjel named Krassion. He passed away a century ago. He was the first Nameless I had ever seen. The Admaryn called us the Hooded Ones and that was what came to take me Home.” He sighed, and she could see the shift in his shoulders as he remembered his rescuer.

“Was he your tutor?”

“No. That was Veviki. He was a Kreedan with a bad temper, but he taught me what I needed to know to serve the Orb of Time.”

She chuckled. “The Kreedans are born bad tempered.” The race was thousands of years old in the Alliance and yet, the insectoid population was constantly harping and nit picking on other species.

“That they are. He was an informative tutor though. The Orb sent him to worlds where his body would not cause comment.”

She smiled, “When do I pick a cowl?”

“Whenever you like. We can go to the repository now if you like. You can get a better feel for what is available.”

She nodded. “I am not tired, so we may as well go. When is sunset?”

“It depends. Your perceptions will colour the amount of light that comes into your rooms. When you are tired, the light will fade and trigger your sleep cycle.” His voice was matter of fact.

They walked across the bridges, and when she heard the only sounds of mechanical movement on the whole way, she knew that they had reached their destination.

Inside the building, she noted a line up and a large display where one of the Nameless was making selections. “What is this place, exactly?”

“It is the Acquisitions repository. Anything you can imagine can be provided and all clothing that we use is obtained and stored here.” His arm waved out to cover the entire warehouse.

The whirring that was audible belonged to the mechanical arms that swivelled on bases and visited all portions of the warehouse. The arms not only delivered objects to the waiting Nameless, but they were putting objects away and dropping some into slots connected to long tubes that disappeared into the floor.

“They deliver too?”

He laughed, “Once you know what you have in mind, you can request clothing to be sent to your rooms. It isn’t something to do lightly though, you can order far more than you think if you are not careful.”

She smiled, “So, I simply get in line?”

“That is the way it works. You see that man who just started to glow?”

“Yes.”

“The others will let him pass. That glow is the sign of the Orb calling him to duty.”

He was right. As soon as the others noted the glow, they parted and gave the illuminated one first crack at the selector.

“Well, that is polite.” She smiled and walked toward the line of folks waiting to take their turn at the selector.

The process went pretty fast. She kept an eye on the glowing man as he returned from a change room, and when he flared brightly and disappeared, she closed her mouth with a snap.

“Wow. I thought I was imagining the flash of light.”

Harken was surprised. “You remember that?”

“Well, more like it was printed on my memories. I can see myself falling out a window. Wait, did that Geenari toss me out a window?”

He looked abashed, “He did. That is where I caught you. The Orb must have given you my point of view of the event. If you want to see it from another perspective, we can go to the library after you have obtained your cowl.”

“Library?”

“Key moments in time are stored and recorded in the library. You can view any moment from countless worlds.” He grinned, “It is both educational and entertaining.”

They moved forward in line, and she peeked over the shoulder of the woman in front of her as she made her selections. The process seemed straightforward.

Idara moved up and started by selecting the scan-for-measurements feature. The beam shot out and covered her from head to toe. From there, she was free to pick the style that best suited her.

She selected a cowl that would look like a loose collar until she lifted the hood. Once she had made her selections, she stepped to the side and waited.

The box was narrow, but once she had put the cowl into place, the robot arms removed the empty box, and she turned to Harken with a happy smile. “There, all…uh oh.”

He was glowing. It was a strange look. It lit all of his musculature from within.

Idara’s fingers curled into fists to stop the urge to touch.

“You are glowing, Harken.”

He laughed, “It happens, Idara. Would you care to accompany me to witness?”

She cocked her head as thoughts began to stream into her mind. Images of another world, a procession and an explosion rippled through her consciousness.

There was a woman outlined in black light, and to Idara, she glowed more brightly than any other being at the procession. With her skin matching her target, she looked to Harken helplessly.

“Idara, I have never seen one of our kind glow with a black light before. I am guessing that you are getting thoughts that are not your own?”

She nodded and swallowed.

Harken lifted his cowl and settled it so that it shadowed his eyes.

Idara did the same. She took the hand he extended, and his light flared and engulfed her as they stepped onto the world where all hell was about to break loose.

“Why is it that no one notices our clothing?”

“They are busy watching the royals. I am here to watch the event. Why are you still glowing black?”

Idara looked around her as casually as she could manage. The woman that she had been sent for was standing in the crowd, close to the path that the royals were about to take.

As smoothly as she could, Idara worked her way through the crowd and picked up a beverage off the edge of a cart. Wincing at what she had to do, she moved forward, tripped and dumped the beverage all over the woman who glowed black with the mark of the Orb.

The young woman cried out, “Oh, what in the name of the living gods?”

Idara apologized. “I am so sorry. Come here, there is some water, and we can try and get the stains out before the promenade starts. If they won’t come out, I will buy you a new outfit.”

The woman was brushing frantically at her clothing and had tears in her eyes. “I will lose my place.”

“Better to lose your place and look presentable when the royals come by.”

Idara ushered her into an archway and made a show of getting some water from a nearby shop to dab at the stain that reached from her shoulder to her thigh. “I don’t even know what I spilled on you.”

“Fermented makkaki juice. Where are you from, stranger?” The woman inclined her head and tried to make eye contact.

“Far away. I did so want to see the festivities.” Idara was going to say something else, but a tremendous thunderclap shook the ground.

Screams sounded and people ran in every direction. The young woman’s black aura faded and Idara breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked around and spotted Harken walking toward her. The moment he was close enough for speech, she asked, “Did you see what you needed?”

“I did. It is time for us to go.”

The young woman was stunned and staring into the crevice a few feet from where she had been standing. “You saved me.”

Idara coughed. “I did nothing of the sort. I simply spilled a drink on you and tried to make it right. The rest was coincidence.”

Her mission was over. Idara turned and took Harken’s hand. He led her back Home without a backward glance, but she knew that his silence meant something else. She hadn’t avoided trouble. She had run right to it.

Chapter Six

He pulled them to her rooms and immediately questioned her.

“What was that?”

“She wasn’t supposed to be there. She has a life to live, and she needs to live it.” Idara dropped her cowl and looked up at him.

The stars in his eyes flared and swirled as he dropped his cowl. “That is not what we were there for.”

She crossed her arms and went up on her toes. “It is not what
you
were there for, but for me, she glowed black, and my instincts told me that she was not supposed to be there.”

He lifted her by her arms, “Do you know what they can do to you?”

She kicked him in the groin and spun away from him. “Strangle me and throw me out a window?”

She looked for a weapon and lifted one of the clothing boxes. “Try that again and you will be feeling it for a week.”

He slowly stood straight, and she could feel him taking in her posture.

Calmly, he crossed the room and sat at the table. “I will be ready to talk about what just happened when you are.”

She blinked and stood from her defensive posture. With deliberation, she put her weapon down on the couch and joined him at the table.

“What was that, Idara?”

“It was a reflex. One I thought I had outgrown.”

“I cornered a cat that had that look in its eyes once. It had been burned and beaten. Do you want me to look in your past via the library, or do you want to tell me?”

She sighed and ran her hands through her golden locks. “I will show you, but I am not going to look.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. Around Home, you need to visit each place once so that you can picture it in your mind. We will walk to the library, and you can explain to me what you saw when you looked at that young woman.”

She nodded and smiled weakly. “I can use the walk. I am not used to having someone near me who isn’t plotting my destruction.”

“Since you came into Alliance space?”

“Since I was born. Come along.” She got to her feet and left her apartment. She waited for him after he closed the door. “Which way are we going?”

He gestured to the left, and they walked together.

She felt bad for kicking him in the groin, so she reached out and took his hand. He turned his hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “I accept your apology.”

She blushed at her transparency. “Thank you. It was a reaction that I could not control.”

He nodded. “It was sensible considering that hours ago you were strangled to death.”

She shrugged. “Well, when you put it that way, what were you thinking?”

Harken laughed. “Point taken, Idara. I behaved foolishly.”

She smirked, and they bantered on as they walked to a stately building with ornate designs carved into it. Idara started to tense as they walked onto the ramp inside and started winding their way up the slope.

Harken paused and waved at one of the open frames that was taller than he was. “This contains the records of your life. When you became one of the Nameless, your memories were uploaded.”

She walked to the frame and put her hand on the flat plate. “I will not watch what is happening. Tell me when you have seen enough.”

With her eyes closed, she took the images back to her first memory of being struck. Her mother had hit her while her father watched.

She started to move the memories faster, stepping between her sister and an incoming fist, talking to people at the hospital while she explained what had happened, and after her lungs had been pierced by broken ribs, they finally found a relative far enough away to take her and her sister.