Baffle (2 page)

Jeroka was a problem of a different kind. He was struggling through the plummeting endorphins and wouldn’t leave her side.

“I am impressed with your recovery, Jeroka, but I am going to grab a meal and be on my way.”

Now that his blissful expression was gone, she could see traces of the handsome Hunter that he truly was. His face was a blend of the most attractive races, at least in her opinion, but she was not in the market for someone dumb enough to take on the Nalu without precautions.

“May I come with you? My ship will not be here until tomorrow.” He caressed her arm gently.

Sinder moved out of his reach and smiled tightly. “Yes, we can share a meal, but I will be leaving shortly thereafter.”

He frowned as if perplexed by her resistance to him. “I thought we Hunters shared a special bond.”

Understanding dawned. “That is where you are mistaken. I am not a Hunter. I am a Retrieval Specialist.”

“Oh. I see. I was unaware that the situation was as dire as that.” His shoulders stiffened. He seemed offended by the idea of being wrangled in by a space nanny.

She fought her smile and simply told him. “I extracted you while you were walking her down the aisle to her groom. You were very happy to be the man of honour.”

He shuddered. “I did…I mean…I was unaware of my actions.”

Sinder’s heart eased a little. “I know. The Nalu are very persuasive and easily catch those who are unaware.”

He was embarrassed. “I honestly thought I would be immune to their talents.”

She patted him on the shoulder, wistfully taking in the tense muscle under her hand. “Many have thought the same. I have met several Hunters who thought that the Nalu’s talents only worked on women.”

Jeroka nodded. “I was one of those. I know better now. May I compliment you on your lovely choice in gown?”

“It is a Nalu traditional colouration for a guest at a wedding. I had no idea that it was so similar to the gown that Seekua would be wearing as the bride.” She brushed at the folds of her gown.

“It seems rather fetching on you.” He inclined his head.

She snickered and stopped at an information carousel, seeking the sort of food stall she was craving. When she found one that looked like it would fit her needs, she got the directions and led Jeroka down the promenade toward the food courts.

“How long have you been a Specialist?”

“Just over four years.” She was going to continue when the ground in front of them exploded in mist.

Sinder shouted and backed away from the gas ball, stumbling and flailing as the ground tilted under her. Her head spun as she tried to get her balance. She heard low voices, and in seconds, hands gripped her arms.

She looked up into dark cowls filled with shadow and eyes that burned like coals. The mysterious guests from the wedding were here, and they were carrying her away.

Sinder attempted to inform her captors that she was the wrong woman, they were looking for Lady Seekua, but all that came out was a low moan.

She saw the sleek shuttle a moment before darkness claimed her and couldn’t help but think,
Their ship is bigger than mine. I wonder if they are compensating for something.

Chapter Three

The taste in her mouth was not minty fresh. Sinder rolled out of the comfortable bed she was in and stumbled to the open door on the far side of the room.

She scrubbed her teeth, gargled and used the facilities before tidying her dark locks and returning to the bedroom. There was nothing in the room aside from the comfortable bed.

Sinder was still wearing the gown that had been on her for two days now, her shoes where tucked near the head of the bed. Idly, she sat on the edge of the bed and slipped the shoes on.

In addition to the lav, there was one other door, and the mechanism moved slowly as she gently eased it open. Another bedroom lay on the other side of her door and beyond it, another door.

She crossed the room as quietly as she could, unsure of whether or not there was an occupant in the deeply shadowed bed. The other door was tempting, and she crept up on it as silently as she could manage with her skirt rustling.

Voices spoke softly on the other side of the door, so she eased it open. The group of men wearing cowls were standing and having a soft conversation. One of the men was seated behind a desk and the others were ranged and speaking urgently to him.

“She is the one, my lord. I am sure of it.” One man bowed low.

Another whispered, “Exactly as she was described, my lord.”

The male leaned back in his chair and the shadows in his hood showed gleaming red eyes in the darkness. “Why don’t we just ask her if she is the one? She is standing behind you, Alif.”

The inhabitants of the room pivoted together. “Lady, we did not expect you to wake.”

She sighed and stepped forward. “I am not Lady Seekua.”

They turned to each other and shrugged, the man named Alif chuckled. “We did not think you were, Lady. You were the one that we were sent for. Our lord was very precise, and you have all of the requirements for the lady he requested.”

Sinder raised a brow. “Your lord requested a woman?”

The man in the chair waved off the men grouped around him. “Wait outside.”

The group of six men filed out, leaving her alone with the figure behind the desk. “Lady, I regret the method of your arrival here, but it was a necessary evil. Please, have a seat.”

Sinder slipped into the chair in front of the desk, settling the gown around her. “May I have some tea or water?”

He leaned forward, “Of course.” He ran his fingers over a portion of his desk and nodded. “It will be here shortly. Now, would you like to know why you are here?”

She fought a giggle and breathed deeply. “Yes, please.”

He lifted the edges of his hood and slowly pushed the fabric off his head.

Sinder blinked in surprise as she faced a creature with whispers of similarity to the Nalu, but only hints. Elegant horns swept back from above his temples, arcing around and down to end at the midpoint of his neck. Pointed ears were just below those horns, and a second set of horns emerged to sweep back along the skull, ending at the base of his neck. His nose was slightly flattened, his eyes deep red with square pupils and framed by sooty lashes.

His skin was a soft, smooth midnight blue, his lips a darker black and his hair a peculiar royal blue woven with black strands. He had massive shoulders and wore silver jewellery on his wrists and biceps as well as several piercings in his pointed ears.

“What are you?” She cocked her head.

He smiled, “One of the last of the High Nalu, as are my court.”

“High Nalu?”

“My race divided into the High and Low Nalu. The Low Nalu are thriving because they will breed with anything. Unfortunately, we are slightly more selective, and as such, have retired to our own world to separate away from their activities.”

“So, I am a breeding option?” Sinder blinked in surprise.

“No. Not precisely. In addition to being the lord of the High Nalu, I am also the Avatar from this world, and as such, I was presented with a rather unusual situation.”

He leaned back and tented his fingers. “Crixox is a good world, a sound planet who enjoys us as occupants. However, that being said, Crixox is not the only mind on this world who needed a body to make herself heard.”

“A she?”

“Indeed. A portion of a dying world rippled through space and landed here with one request, that she be found a suitable body so that she can walk Crixox as the other inhabitants do. She laid out the description of the body, what she needed you to do, and what you had to be capable of on your own. The Nalu wedding was the best place to start, because the initial demand was that the body was not susceptible to the vocal seduction of our kind.”

“Handy thing in an Avatar.” It was not lost on her that he referred to her in all of his descriptions of qualifications. Apparently, she was the chosen one.

“Very much so. The meteor also demanded that you be strong, elegant, fertile and have a good grounding in your own mind so that she would not run you over.” He tented his fingers together.

One of the qualifiers made her raise her brows. “Fertile?”

“She wants a child to carry on her power. Transferring her energy via pregnancy is the best option for her. Of course, it need not be immediate. She will extend your life by centuries.”

Sinder had an intense headache. She was about to blast him with a shriek of fury when one of the cowled men arrived with a tea tray. Her outrage got stuck in her throat as her host poured her a cup and handed it to her. She sipped and tried to calm her seething thoughts.

“Sir, I believe that you have forgotten one very important thing.”

Her host blinked in inquiry. “Yes?”

“It is illegal to kidnap Terrans.”

His lips curved in a grin, and she saw his teeth, startlingly white and sharp. “You will soon not be a Terran, so I fail to see the problem.”

That was it. She pulled her talent together and struck him with a ball of power. He rocked back, blinked and the red in his eyes faded until a pure blue was in its place. His posture changed, and she winced as she realised that she had triggered the planet into the forefront of his Avatar.

“You have much power, Lady. Geor is stumbling around his own thoughts right now. What precisely is your talent?” Crixox’s voice was deeper with a particular inflection that she couldn’t place.

“Confusion. I can baffle the most intelligent of beings. It has been useful in my line of work.”

“Ah, as a Hunter?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No, I am a Retrieval Specialist. I would beg of you to allow me to return to my work and my assignments, Crixox.”

He shook his head. “I have been looking for a companion for my Avatar for centuries, and your people are known to be excellent hosts. Kema will easily slip into you and take up residence.”

Sinder got angry all over again. “I am not going to just be handed over to a strange planet and let it invade my mind.”

He sat back. “You will have no choice. Meet Kema and speak to her. See if she is not worthy of an Avatar considering all she has been through.”

“I want to file my location with the Alliance at the very least. They will send folk in search of me.” She cleared her throat. “After that, I will meet with Kema.”

Crixox smiled. “I can accept that as a fair compromise.”

The ease at which he agreed confirmed that it was not a compromise at all.

He stood up, causing her to crane her neck as he approached her height and surpassed it by a foot and a half.

She took his hand and swallowed her sarcastic comment about him truly being the High Nalu.

Her fingers fluttered in his. She tried to keep herself calm as they left his office and were immediately surrounded by the guard of hooded males.

“Your honour guard?”

“And my hands off world. It is Geor’s duty to stay here to be my presence on the surface.”

Sinder watched the backs of the men marching down the hall around them. “How is he doing?”

“He is regaining his equilibrium and will join you soon. He is not happy with you, by the way.”

“Why would that be?”

“He feels you impinged on his dignity.” The subtle tone of his voice shifted, and she knew she was listening to Geor.

“I was expressing my irritation in the most effective way possible under the conditions. I underestimated the speed at which Crixox could take over your body, Geor.”

He chuckled. “You would have run?”

“I would have walked cautiously to the first sign of daylight I could manage.” She laughed. “And then I would run.”

“I do hope that will not be necessary. The com centre will be open to you at all hours.” Geor’s voice was enthusiastic in a bass-gravel sort of way.

“That is nice, but I have no idea how long I will remain here.”

“Fair enough. Crixox has filled me in on the details of your agreement. First, you will speak to your people and then, we will walk to Kema.”

“Where is she?”

Geor smiled as they entered an archway leading to daylight. “She is right where she landed on the edge of a volcano.”

Sinder blinked as her eyes adjusted to the daylight. “You folks aren’t big on windows, are you?”

He chuckled and helped her down the stone steps leading from the archway in a widening fan.

Everything around her was made of white stone with glistening quartz veining. Buildings, walkways, towers, bridges, all made of the same stone. “It’s very…bright.”

“The stone is the blood of Crixox, all of our structures are made from it.” Geor had pride in his tone.

“It is very pretty. I suppose I was inside longer than I thought.”

He nodded. “The gas did strike you harder than my men thought it would. You were out for quite a long time.”

Sinder twisted her lips in a frown. “That explains why I was so thirsty, but I should be starving as well, and I don’t feel anything.”

“Ah, that. Well, Crixox put a bit of his energy into you to sustain your body while you were out. It seemed the least we could do under the circumstances.”

She snorted. They had knocked her out and dragged her to a place where three moons waltzed in the sky during the brightest day. Crixox seemed like a pleasant-enough place, but the taste in the air and the hum of the energy around her gave her a creepy feeling of unfamiliarity.

Geor and the guards were moving at a pace suitable to her shorter legs, but as they passed curious onlookers, she found she was still short of breath.

When he asked her a question that she had been waiting for, a harsh cough substituted for a laugh.

“What is your name, Lady?”

She debated giving him a false name, but instead, she said, “Retrieval Specialist, Agent Sinderella Baroque of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra. I prefer to be addressed as Sinder.”

He nodded. “I think Baroque is a lovely name.”

She coughed again. “It is my surname, my family name. My family is in a patriarchal society, so I wear the name of my father’s family.”

Her throat was raw. The air was not sitting well with her. She inhaled sharply and coughing resulted.