Tales of the Citadel # 32 - Core Charge (2 page)

Gwiette swallowed when he finally entered her chamber. She saw herself turn to the camera with agony in her eyes, and then, her expression froze and she was uncoupled from the harness and lowered to the ground. The recorder lifted her and carried her back through the halls, but the folk were now in different positions. They had moved while he was in the room with her.

She watched him tuck her carefully into an insulated tube, the life support was attached with care, and then, she heard a masculine voice say, “Retrieval complete. Morganti, have medical standing by.”

The camera went dark.

Relay turned the lights on again. “Do you have any questions?”

“Stop does something to time?”

Relay smiled. “He does. He fixes one moment and holds it. His span is about half a kilometre.”

Gwiette nodded. When her talent had manifested, she had imagined the different forms psychic energy could take in a living body. With time being an option, she had guessed that it was the manifestation of a type of telekinesis. The thought that a being could manipulate matter so small as to hold time in place had always been a pretty concept. Moving energy was easier as far as she was concerned.

“What do I do now?” The words rang between them.

Relay cocked her head, and there was a strange look in her eyes. “That is up to you. I can see dozens of instances where your skills would be of value, but they are your talents to use or not, as you see fit.”

Gwiette blinked. “I can’t control it.”

Relay smiled slowly. “I believe I know just the Guardsman to help you with that.”

“Who?”

“Stop. For a Guardsman, he has a surprisingly appropriate hero complex. He has attached to you. He worries about you.” Relay smiled.

There was the sense of time in that statement. “How long have I been here?”

“Three weeks. Stop has been here every day. He doesn’t take well to strangers, so there must be something about you.”

“No offense, but that is intensely creepy.”

“Stop is a little peculiar, but he did not have the benefit of social programming as he matured. Time is a fluid concept for him and patience is not a virtue, it is a necessity. The universe moves around him as he wills it and stops when he tells it to. That sort of power would tend to change one’s view of reality.”

Gwiette focused on the first portion of the speech. “Benefit of social programming?”

“Stop did not grow up in a standardized society. Basically, he was raised in the wild after his family’s transport crashed. It is estimated that he is ancient by our standards. He ages when he wants to. What he has adopted as his personal behaviours he has taken on as an adult. He did not grow into habits or manners. He figured it out as he went along.”

“Why are you telling me that?”

“I thought it might make it easier. He is on his way here from Fixer’s workshop. They have been designing a control suit for you so that you don’t have to worry about touching metal.”

Gwiette looked down, and she saw that she had pulled her limbs in tight, in her normal posture. “It would be nice not to worry about sending a charge through everything around me.”

Relay smiled. “We can help you with that. The suit will be removable. It is not a null suit or any form of confinement. If you find any part of it uncomfortable, tell Fixer and she will alter it to suit you.”

“You are saying that like I am getting the suit now.”

“You are. You will have temporary quarters here until you have full control over your talent, but after that, you will have rooms over at the Citadel where you can pursue your education.”

“Is that my only choice?” Gwiette rubbed her hands together.

“Of course not, but you have been born with this power in your body and you need to find a way to channel it or drain it. You can do nothing with your power, or you can do everything that matters.”

“You have given that speech before.”

Relay smiled and inclined her head. “I have, but it does not become less true with repetition. If you wish a quiet home, far away from others where you can do as you will and harm no one, it can be arranged. However, if you want to save lives and help to build something greater than was ever on a world you never imagined, we can offer you assistance in mastering what nature has given you and a place to practice what you have gained.”

“I will take your instruction and decide on purpose afterward.”

“A wise comment. I look forward to seeing you around the base, Gwiette. Keep me apprised of how you are doing.”

Relay rose to her feet. “Stop is on the other side of my office door. He will show you to your quarters.”

“May I ask how you know that, Relay?”

“Oh, I am able to see the data stream and that includes the security feeds within the building. It is annoying, but I am used to it now.” She laughed. “It is more annoying for Effin. If he can’t keep my attention during sex, I surf the data stream. It makes him try extra hard.”

Gwiette was startled into a laugh, but she stood up and nodded to the base commander. “I will keep you apprised.”

She turned and opened the door, stepping out and almost colliding with the man who was sent to bring her out of her hell. “Oh. Hello. I am told you are the man who rescued me. Thank you. My name is Gwiette.”

She extended her hand, and he blinked a moment before he reached out, and instead of shaking her hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed it. He licked her lightly before he put her hand down. She had the peculiar sense that he was tasting her through the glove on her hand.

“I am Guardsman Stop, but I ask that you call me Nyral.”

He was different from anyone she had met before. Folks on Resicor often had a wide spectrum of hair colours, but skin tone usually fell in the cream to rich brown pallet. Something in the red and blue range was outside her experience.

She had to lick her lips before she spoke. Meeting his gaze had wrecked her focus. “Pleased to meet you.”

“And I am glad to see you up and well. The last time I saw you conscious, you were not looking good.”

She remembered the image displayed in Relay’s office. “You are correct. I was not.”

“Would you care to accompany me so that you can be fitted for your control suit?”

“This isn’t it?”

“No.”

“Thank goodness. This is a little flamboyant even for me.”

A smile filled his eyes, and his robes flared and calmed as quickly as they shifted. “You will love the next suit then. It is understated until you turn it on.”

“Turn it on?”

“Activate it. The suit has two modes, passive and active.” He gestured down the hallway. “Fixer’s workshop is this way. If you would come with me?”

Gwiette nodded and walked at his side down the corridor. She took in the clean halls, the smiling and purposeful faces of those she passed on the way, as well as the peculiar glances that Stop received as they paced along.

The base might respect him, but he did not appear to be liked. No one had a comfortable or welcoming expression when they saw him.

“No one trusts a man who can stop time.”

He answered her before she could ask the question.

A moment later, they were in Fixer’s workshop and she was meeting the woman who had designed a suit with her in mind.

Chapter Three

Gwiette sealed the suit behind the changing screen and smiled at the delightfully comfortable fit.

Fixer called out, “For comfort I would normally suggest Masuo, but with your biological energy, it wouldn’t be safe for you or the suit. This was the best I could do.”

Gwiette stretched her hands and twisted a little. “The fit is quite nice.”

“Come out and I will try to get it perfect.”

Gwiette stepped out from behind the screen and turned in front of Fixer’s calculating gaze.

“Let me just put some final touches into the suit and you will be ready to try channeling your talent.” Fixer came toward her and stroked the black, dark red and deep purple exterior with care.

“Did you design the suit?” It seemed the best plan of action to keep talking while the stranger touched her with delicate fingers from neck to toes.

“I designed the inner mechanisms, but the exterior was designed by Kharial Designs. They have a contract with the Sector Guard for just this kind of event.” Fixer chuckled.

With a few slight modifications, the woman stood back. “Right. Now, off to the testing zone. It has taken more time to prepare that than it has to set up your suit.”

Stop chuckled on the other side of the room and shifted to join them as they walked toward the large open door.

Fixer grinned. “Stop isn’t that chatty, but he means well. He is our standby in case your first few attempts defy control.”

“Do you think that is likely?” Gwiette felt peculiar being outlined in snug fabric that fit like a second skin. Having her body outlined was a new experience. She favoured layers that numbed the effect of her touch.

She flexed her fingers and touched forefinger to thumb. She could feel through it like the coating wasn’t there, but it was comforting in contrast to her skin tone. She could physically see the protection.

The next hangar had been emptied and a series of towers had been set up. A cage had been created for the protection of her audience, and Gwiette looked to her hostess. “So, I stand on the large dot in the middle?”

Fixer smiled. “Correct. You stand there, and when I have set up the measuring equipment, I will give you the all clear and you can begin to exude whatever you can with free rein. The hangar is shielded, and it is a secure hangar. No one will come in and we will be perfectly safe in the cage. This is to let your body know that it can do what it wants to, what your genes want.”

“I can let loose and not worry about anything?”

Fixer nodded and Stop glided into the cage. “Do as your instinct wills. Let the power flow, let it know it is welcome. It sounds silly, but it has been dormant for the most part. When you wake it, it will run free. That is what this exercise is for. You need to know what you can do.”

Gwiette nodded and headed for the dot. Her skin was humming with excitement, but she still didn’t know how her body was going to give off the charge through the suit.

When Fixer locked them in, Gwiette stepped onto the dot and watched the hangar doors close. Bands marked the outer walls, and she knew that they would take any spinning energy and ground it safely.

Phosphorescent paint lit the room and the towers. The cage lit up, and Fixer gave her a thumbs up. “We are ready when you are.”

Stop was watching her, his irises swirling slowly. He gave her a nod and a slight smile.

Gwiette stood with her shoulders back and her arms at her sides. Her body quivered and the power built in her system.

She had not been able to let her talent go if there wasn’t a thunderstorm. It had been the shield she had used to hide the fact that electricity was coming from her and not the ground and sky.

She closed her eyes and replayed the roll of thunder in her mind. Energy built on her skin, and there was a slight flick along her body. Gwiette held the thunder in her thoughts and opened her eyes.

Her suit revealed a set of thin lines that ran along the colour blocks in chevrons resembling an armoured plate. She smiled and watched the lines glow as she relaxed into the rising power.

When the first arc separated from her body and streaked toward the nearest tower with a crack, a grin split her features and she stretched her arms wide.

She let the power roar through her and saw it tear through the air in bright streaks. As she let it run and ripple, the power lifted her off her feet.

She felt her hair lift up and crackle outward as years of pent-up frustration blew out of her in a rippling blast of rioting static.

As her talent ran its course, she settled back to her feet and resumed a standing posture with her arms at her sides. When the final crackle of power came from her skin, she smiled tiredly and swayed slightly. The suit closed the silver streaks on her arms and body, and she was once again covered in shadowed colours.

Fixer and Stop were at her side in seconds. They helped her to a seat against the wall and a glass of water was pressed into her hand. Once she had gulped down the water, Stop handed her a wide cup with a heavy broth in it.

“Drink.”

She slugged down the rich broth and shuddered when she finished it. “That was not great.”

Fixer chuckled. “Your Resicor food requirements mean they have to improvise many of the recipes. I will make a note that this was not a roaring success.”

Gwiette leaned back and exhaled. “That felt really good.”

Fixer smiled. “It is at your disposal until you have control over it, so you can call it when you need to and be safe otherwise.”

“You think I will be able to be safe? To touch and be touched without injury?”

Fixer nodded. “I believe that most talents merely need the time to get control over what rages within them. The stars and planets we are birthed on offer up the building blocks that make us what we are. We do not choose, we are chosen.”

Stop stood straight. “It is true. None of us chose this, but here we are, doing what we can for those who cannot act for themselves.”

Fixer nodded. “I did not ask for this, but it has saved my life and the lives of several Guardsmen as well as innocent bystanders. The suits, ships and machines that I create help, heal and protect those around them. Without the Sector Guard, I would still be repairing ships on Nodak Station and my babies would never have been born. Poor Shade would have been dead and gone without me.”

Stop chuckled. “I am sure he would have been. He is helpless without you and the little ones to back him up.”

Fixer grinned. “Probably. I have noticed that he is staying closer to home lately. I am guessing that he is trying to convince me that a fourth child is a good idea. He is extremely persuasive.”

Stop snorted and Gwiette got the distinct idea that there was something she was missing.

Fixer turned to her and grinned, “Shade is a Selna. We gave you Alliance Common and a few other languages while you were recovering, as well as a basic understanding of common species. If you think about it, you will find it. My husband’s species are famous for their amorous activities.”