Tales of the Citadel # 32 - Core Charge (4 page)

With his child tucked in his arms, he walked out of the dining hall.

She looked to Stop. “There are two minds in that one body?”

“There is the mind of Kale and the touch of Gant. A body can only hold a fraction of a world, but they can be a voice when it is necessary. A thinking world without an Avatar is helpless. They can and do steal a body to speak, but the result is rarely favourable.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because my parents were Avatar candidates who fled their positions. They ran from their worlds, and it cost them their lives.” He finished his tea and raised his eyebrows. “Care to practice again? I have another exercise for you.”

“Lead on. I am curious to see what you think I can do.” She smiled, and he grew flustered for a moment before he offered her his hand.

He didn’t stop anyone in the room; he simply held her hand as they returned to the hangar designed with her talent in mind.

Chapter Five

Stop smiled and wheeled out a peculiar device. It had four sides sloping upward to a large globe at chest height.

She walked around it and poked at it a little. “What is it?”

“It is a transformer. It will turn your biological energy into useable power. You can recharge a transport battery, light a hospital in a blackout, whatever you like.”

“Will it hold me in place?”

“No. You can supply as much or as little power as you wish. I will stand back, but do whatever you wish.”

He took a few steps back and left her alone with the ball.

Flares of aggression had driven the bolts. What would it take to bring static to her hands and use the touch to tap into more?

She touched the cool metal and scowled. Direct contact wasn’t going to work. She needed to see the power.

She stroked the surface and felt the cold radiating up into her skin. That was what she needed, the air in between. The suit shifted, and she heard the light crackling as power exited her palms and entered the small obelisk.

The globe under her grip began to glow softly, increasing in brightness as she worked the charge into something useable.

Stop watched her the entire time. “How are you feeling?”

Gwiette looked at him and kept the power flowing. “Fine. I could increase the charge, but it seems to be doing well as it is.”

She began to pass her hands over each other, enjoying the crackle of energy over her skin. The suit was lined with the silver streaks, the sub-webbing that let her energy go from soul to skin without hesitation. Fixer had done an amazing job.

When the orb glowed bright white, she pulled her hands away. “I am guessing it is fully charged.”

He chuckled. “Yes, it is. Would you care to continue?”

She rubbed her hands on her thighs. “Sure. What is next?”

“Take the power back and hold it.”

Gwiette blinked. “What?”

“Your body is designed to work with energy. You can exude it, now take it in.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.” She bit her lip.

“Try. Put your hands back on the orb, recognise your power and pull it back inside.”

She swallowed and flexed her hands. “Are you sure I can do this?”

“I am. Look for your power and your power only. You will know how to pull it when you find it.”

She placed her hands on the orb with the same hovering touch, and she tried to seek out her energy. Gwiette jerked as power seared her skin through the suit. “That isn’t me.”

She settled her shoulders and tried again.

Her touch was lighter as it skated over the surface. She put a light charge into her hand and smiled when it attracted like for like. Once she had located the feeling, she reversed the charge and began to draw it inward, filling her body with the energy it had spun away.

Once she had the flow coming inward, she pulled on it and drained the orb, unravelling the power into her. That was the point, her energy coiled into a ball for use. Strands of power needed to be unravelled in the opposite direction from their holding pattern.

When she had pulled all the carefully extruded power back, she stumbled away from the orb, stretched out her arms and vented the energy into the towers.

As the last bit of power drained from her, she staggered.

Stop was at her side in a moment. “Are you all right?”

“Sure. Just a little drained. Heh. Get it? Drained?”

She swayed alarmingly and he caught her, lifting her and carrying her to the bench set against the wall.

“I apologize for asking you to over-do it.” He left and brought a glass of water back for her. “Here you go.”

She drank greedily and sighed when the water was gone.

He was looking at her with a serious gaze. “Do you think you could try again and hold it for more than a few seconds?”

Gwiette gave him a serious gaze in return. “Why?”

“If you take back your energy, you might not want to put it back in the system again.” He grinned and pointed to the orb that was glowing brightly once again.

“Well, hell.” She sighed. “Where can I put it?”

“That is for you to find. If I were you, I would use small bits of power to find the exit spot.”

“Thanks for the hint.” She groaned, got to her feet and stretched.

Stop stood next to her and frowned. “I didn’t mean right away.”

“It’s all right. I had a good breakfast.” She patted his shoulder, and he jumped in surprise.

His robes flared out and then settled.

“How do they do that?”

He chuckled. “I can wear Masuo, but it is affected by my talent, so it moves more slowly than it would otherwise.”

“So, your clothing is alive?”

“Yes, and temporally out of sync.” He smiled. “Now, would you care to try again?”

She laughed. “I believe I would.”

She straightened her posture and walked to the obelisk once again. She flexed her fingers and tried again. She jerked back when she grabbed the energy from the wrong end and sighed. It was going to be a very long day.

It took her three hours to find the exit point for the energy. It was the bench where Stop sat her down after every wobbling episode.

Once she was able to leech the power off through the ground, she knelt and yelled in triumph.

Stop came up to her and offered her his hand. “Well done. Time for food.”

She grinned and got to her feet with his help. “You could have told me.”

“I will not always be there to guide you. You need to work it out for yourself. I have faith in your ability to find the outlet with greater speed or to hold in the power until you can find a safe place to release it.”

She shivered. Holding the power was not her favourite part. “When do we work on that?”

“That can wait for the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, you will work on self-defence. We have volunteers from the Citadel coming over to sacrifice their bodies for your practice.”

She walked with him to the exit. “I beg your pardon?”

“You are going to work at stunning them or knocking them out with a sharp charge. Healer students and masters will be standing by.”

“Great. I can’t wait.”

“Well, Relay is expecting a visit from you today to discuss your message to your family.”

She laughed, “Now I really can’t wait. Can we go now?”

“We can.” He grinned and offered her his hand.

She wove her fingers with his and walked through Fixer’s workshop, waving to the woman who was wearing her hair in a braid today, the dark rainbow maintained its clarity through the weaving.

“How did it go today, Gwiette?”

“Pretty well. I only shocked myself six times.”

Stop snorted and Fixer’s laugh followed them into the hall.

They got to Relay’s office and he whispered, “I will meet you here once you are done. Have Relay send for me.”

She nodded and knocked on the door, entering when it opened without her touching it.

Relay smiled and waved her in. “I hear that you want to send a message to your family.”

Gwiette nodded. “I do. I want them to know that I am alive and well. And that I am safe.”

Relay inclined her head. “I can send a message to the resistance, but there is an issue.”

“What?”

“Your sister has been protesting fervently since you disappeared.”

“I know.”

“If she stops suddenly, there will be suspicions. We can tell the resistance, but if your sister stops the protests, she will be questioned in a way that will be far worse than her worry.”

Gwiette leaned back and rubbed her forehead. “Damn. Do I have an option?”

“We can protect your family. There are agents on Resicor that can keep them safe. We almost have all the pieces in place to help you return and take back your world.”

Gwiette opened her eyes. “What?”

“We are gathering and organizing to free Resicor. Your population has an amazing rate of talents per capita, and they are disappearing. We have an idea of where they are going, some are being sent to work in facilities like you were, others are being experimented on, their talents turned into weapons.”

It was repetitive, but she couldn’t help it. “What?”

“Resicor will no longer hunt their talents. The general population does not want the hunt and stigmatism given to those with physical talents on your world. If they vote and do not want the talents, we will take them to another world where they are welcomed.”

“Why is that offer only being made now?”

Relay grimaced. “It has been made for the last decade. Resicor has refused to part with their people. We are going to do what the Alliance cannot. We are going to offer the talented population, and their families, a place to go.”

“What if we outnumber the population that doesn’t want us?”

“Then, we will round them up and evict them. It is your world, too.”

Gwiette sat back and sighed. “When does this happen?”

“It has already started. Bringing strategic talents off world before they were identified completely was the first part. Arranging the thousands of pieces in the correct order is the other. That part is being worked on right now. The plan is taking shape.”

“When it begins, I want to be there.” Gwiette was certain of that.

“Then, you had better work on getting control over your power. You aren’t going on any team until you have yourself under control and you have been tested in the field.”

Gwiette found what she had been missing. She now had a purpose, a goal, and she would run toward it with everything in her.

Chapter Six

After a meal, she sat with her head down, her mind spinning.

“She told you everything, didn’t she?” Stop’s tone was grim.

“She told me enough. I need to do more. I need to be more.”

“It will come in time.”

She looked up and said, “Time is running out. I need to be better now.”

He looked around and nodded. “I can help you with that, but it will come with a price.”

Gwiette blinked. “What kind of price?”

“It is not something to be discussed over a meal.”

She looked down. “My meal is gone.”

He got up. “Then, come with me and I will explain.”

She followed him out of the dining room, down the hall to his quarters. She stepped inside after him and entered his masculine domain.

He led her to his casual area and gestured for her to sit on the couch.

“I can provide you with the means to tap into my talent and slow the world around you. It will enable you to move rapidly in the training centre and get additional training in. It will not be comfortable, but it will work.”

“You still haven’t told me what it is.” She bit her lip.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “It is permanent; it could alter your talent.”

“What is
it
?”

He winced. “My bone marrow. A transplant would provide you with the power you needed.”

Gwiette blinked. “How do you know it works?”

“I have done it before. My first wife was given a transplant to extend her life. We had decades more than she was initially given, but when she died, the power returned to me.”

“You were married?”

He grinned slightly and settled down. “I think this is the portion of our relationship where I tell you what I am and how I came to be.”

“Good idea.”

“Can I get you some tea? It is a fairly involved story.”

“No. I am fine. You can proceed.”

He sighed and rubbed his hands along his thighs. “I suppose I will begin with my parents. They were each Avatar candidates, and they were being trained together so that when the old Avatar passed, they would be good, strong bodies and minds to offer. Dolothun was a world accustomed to having his own way. He designed his people to be perfect Avatars for him. Well, my parents fell in love; it was forbidden. When my mother was pregnant, they had to run.

“They snuck on board a shuttle, and from what I have learned, they remained on it for several weeks before it came under fire. They crashed on an ancient world and made it their home. There was an old, dying mind in that world, and it gave them power to heal themselves.”

“What effect did that have on the pregnancy?”

He winked. “Here I am, so she came through the pregnancy fine, but the world was indeed dying, and its atmosphere could not support them. They chose to die together, leaving me in the custody of Marsu. He used his waning power to keep me alive until a ship could be hailed. By that point, I was an adult and had discovered my talent, as well as gotten a grip on it.

“The ship landed and I met Mirin. She was a medical officer with the Tival fleet, and she was wonderful. She taught me Alliance Common, etiquette and how to dance. We made a home together on Jeeko, and we lived together happily as she aged and I did not. What became apparent was that I do not move in standard time when it comes to aging. It is either because of my birth to two Avatar candidates of Dolothun or because of my time with Marsu. He could have put power within me that carries me beyond normal lifespans.”

“Don’t you know?”

“No. The Dolothun will not speak to me because my parents abandoned their duties. Marsu gave himself to the universe after I married Mirin. I cannot ask him.”