Thunder Struck (5 page)

“Right. I had learned the trick on the previous week. It was still fresh in my mind when I needed to blow off steam without hurting anyone in this confined space.”

He drank his tea and gave her a strange look. “Did I hear you say that today is your birthday?”

“It is. I normally have a nice celebration with my family via hologram and then Halwis-Iskan and I share a glass of wine and we go for a flight. It has become a ritual that I would miss.”

“Do you get gifts?” He was focusing closely on her.

“Sort of. I get useful things like new robes and assembly simulations for my holo-projector.”

“No jewelry?” He was fixated on it.

“No. I am too young by her standards, though that is set to change today.”

“Today is your
twenty-third
birthday?”

Ked was surprised by the weight he gave to the number. “It is.”

He exhaled slowly and inclined his head. “Happy birthday. In Iskanoi culture, you would be a woman now and expected to begin selection of a mate.”

She laughed. “I am not going to have time. I have to populate a Guard base out of the available drifters who slip between bases. For the Citadel, I have to collect the best instructors. I think I am going to be cross pollinating them a lot.”

“So. You have a plan.”

“I have the beginnings of one. I have to stick to what I know and follow direction from those who have previous experience. It will be fine.”

“You seem confident.”

“I have to be. Dealing with a planet who wants both organizations represented is the largest stress. I have to keep them close to be practical but far enough away that training and landing ships do not become an issue. We might need flight control and a small spaceport. It will go on the list.”

He grinned. “You have a list?”

“Why not? I am doing something that I have never seen anyone do before. I have tons of lists. If you hang around for an evening, I can show them to you.”

Haedock’s expression softened. “I would like that very much.”

They made it down just in time for her twenty-third birthday. Surprisingly enough, her family was still there.

Halwis had pulled out several bottles of wine and they all toasted Ked before midnight. Lira raised her glass of juice with the rest of them.

Halwis let Iskan have the body for the moment. “
Ready for your flight? The moon is rising
.”

Kedna excused herself from her family and Haedock. With the wine buzzing in her veins, she propelled herself upward and Iskan was at her side.

Ked rode a column of air with her robes billowing to the gusts. The strange feeling of being moved by her own mind was a heady thing. She and Iskan moved in a slow ritual of twists and turns. Finally, she wobbled and looked around one last time as she shifted from dancing to gliding back to the ground.

Her family had shock on their faces, but Haedock had admiration. “That was lovely.”

She scrunched her shoulders in embarrassment. “Thank you. I am now officially an adult by Iskanoi standards, so as far as Halwis is concerned, her duty is done.”

“My ancestor has done a good job with your education.” Haedock took her by the arm and eased her into the gardens.

“She has. How were you educated?”

“There were colleges and the Sector Guard access to lectures and materials of interest.” He was walking slowly, his hand gentle on her arm.

“I see. It sounds interesting.”

“It should sound familiar. You have had access to the same materials.” He chuckled.

Silence fell between them and all around them. There were no bugs on Iskan, just grass and trees.

“Do you go on many missions?”

He slid his hand to the centre of her back. “I go on my fair share. It is a necessity to keep my standing as Guardsman, though Tend isn’t a very fearsome name.”

Ked laughed. “It suits your talent.”

“What about the name you mentioned? Thunder Struck?”

“Ah, when I was working on generating a contained storm, I roiled a thunder head into a column and lighting started to spark. It shot out and nailed me in the ass.”

He froze and a deep chuckle came out of him. “Really? You were shot in the ass by lightning?”

“Yes, but Halwis-Iskan says that Thunder Struck has a better ring to it.” Ked wrinkled her nose.

“It does. Zapped Ass has less of a formality to it.”

She chuckled. “Precisely.”

They kept going into the gardens, through the deep hedges and toward the maze. “Um, Haedock, where are you taking me?”

“How much did Halwis teach you about Iskanoi courtship?”

“It never came up.”

“I would like to gain your permission to court you.”

She stopped on the path that she had laid with Halwis. “I beg your pardon?”

He turned and gave her a quiet smile. “I would like your permission to court you. Iskanoi women of Halwis’s generation carried venom. Asking permission is important if you value your life. We have continued the tradition.”

“If I say no?”

“I have to wait a lunar cycle and I can ask again.” He touched her cheek.

“I am going to say no for now. I have to get the Iskan Citadel and the Sector Guard base set up. That will take up most of my focus; I don’t want romance lost in construction.”

Haedock smiled and stroked her skin again. “I will speak with you in thirty-one days then.”

“No hard feelings?”

He laughed. “No, I can’t say that. But I do not take offense.”

She cocked her head and then closed her eyes in embarrassment. “Ah, that. Apologies if I engendered any reaction.”

“Don’t apologise. It is as strange to me as it must seem to you. I am not even sure that we are a compatible species, which is why I asked for a courtship instead of your hand.”

She giggled. “That is very sensible. Shall we return to my family?”

“Are you sure they are all related to you? Your younger sister’s power signature is as wild as yours is but the others are all within the normal ranges.”

“We are the freaks in the family. Lira is the only pusher, the rest are Healers and Minders with a touch of horticultural talent thrown in.”

“They are all very strong, but you and your sister have the ability to grow in strength until you are unstoppable.”

She snorted indelicately. “I am already unstoppable. The only thing that holds me back is my conscience. I could pull energy from populations and use it to move the winds. I don’t, but I could destroy a species to keep a world stable.”

She saw his head turn toward her in surprise.

“Why are you mentioning that?”

“I want you to know what you are going to be courting if the timing is ever right.”

He put his arm around her back again, his palm warm through the fabric covering her. “I stand warned.”

He held her close and they returned to the gathering. Her family was waiting.

One month later, she was back to her normal schedule, Haedock was gone, as was her family. She was in daily communication with the supply department of the Sector Guard and the basic structures were designed and ready for delivery.

The Citadel was sending a completed base tower to start their construction, and it was due any day now. It was all starting to happen.

Iskan was drawing up a list of animals and insects to reintroduce to the planet. Barriers had already been put up to stop migration into testing areas. Everything was being allocated based on requirement and location. Iskan had divided up the continents for this specific purpose before Kedna’s great grandmother had even been born.

Iskan was a planet with a plan and it had waited until the political climate was right to enact them. Kedna was content with her position in the plan. It had kept her busy and given her an income after all.

Kedna heard the com chime and she flicked the screen on.

Haedock was smiling at her. “Hello, Thunder Struck.”

His use of her pseudonym keyed her in to his being on duty. She nodded. “Tend, how are you doing?”

“Good. I am once again extending my offer of courtship.” He winked.

“I am once again declining but everything is going along very well.” She grinned.

“Have I told you how lovely your eyes are? The markings on your face make them glow like dark, mysterious pools.”

She laughed. “That counts as courtship. There has to be some kind of penalty for it.”

“I will think of something suitable to chastise myself.”

“I will think something up on my end as well.”

He sighed. “I have to attend to my assignment, but we will talk again soon.”

Ked gave him a small wave. “Have fun.”

The com went dark. She sighed and turned away from it, going back to the virtual maps and placement of structures on the southwest continent.

The little messages from him brightened her day, but she had a job to do. She went to work with a smile as she absorbed the fact that he was interested in pursuing her. One month to the day and he had tried again. She wondered how long it would take to get things going because she was really interested in seeing what an actual courtship would be like.

The Citadel was up, the exterior buildings were coming along and a list of candidates was on her desk. Citadel Iskan was going to be different. There would be a Master Healer on hand and an administrator to keep supplies coming in and the students would use the environment to teach themselves and each other.

Once they had mastered their skills, they would graduate to the Sector Guard Iskan, and from there, they would be dispatched all across Alliance space.

It was a good plan, now it was time to select the rogue talents and funnel them through the system. With luck, they would have their first graduate in one year.

Kedna checked her chrono and got into her flitter. The crew working on the Citadel had their domed quarters for the night. She had a date with rejection and she would hate to miss it.

Flying under mechanical power felt like cheating, but it did save on the summer storms. She swooped from side to side, finally skidding to a halt on the parking pad that she had installed with her own hands. Humming happily, she scampered up the steps and perused the candidate list.

Another storm talent was a yes. That was a skill she could deal with. A Healer who could save injuries for future use was a yes.

The Healers who had applied were definitely an odd lot. There was an application she was waiting for and it hadn’t come through.

When the com chimed and she answered it, she scowled. “Why haven’t you applied to be the healer at Citadel Iskan?”

He blinked. “Good evening to you as well, Kedna.”

She crossed her arms. “Fine. If you want to stand on ceremony, good evening, Haedock.”

“Better. Now, what are you chastising me for?”

“There is a position open as Master Healer at Citadel Iskan.”

“I am not a member of the Citadel. I have applied to work with the Sector Guard posting there but not the Citadel.”

She scowled, and on the nearby terminal, she brought up the Sector Guard roster. “Fine. Your name is in. If you want the posting here in six months, you can have it.”

“Will it take that long?” He raised his eyebrows.

She nodded. “There is no sense in having the Guard base running if there are no talents to dispatch out of it.”

“Well, Guardsmen do operate in mated pairs in an ideal situation. Are you willing to come with me?”

“I will have to check and see if Halwis-Iskan is willing to take over while I am off on assignment. It shouldn’t be a problem, but since I am in charge, I can’t just take off.”

He nodded. “Please give it some thought. Now, may I begin courtship?”

She smiled. “I must decline. I am still being pulled in all directions.”

“I understand. I will ask you again in a month. Now, how are things going?”

Ked cheerfully told him about her day and how the Citadel was coming. She liked these moments when he was at a secure facility and their coms were being routed through relays. It was freeing to be able to babble on about the building, the new species that she was meeting, how Halwis-Iskan didn’t actually like fish and couldn’t pick the proper species, so they needed Ked’s older brother and sister to pick the proper animals to stock the ponds and the bugs to act as feed without swarming the nearby area.

Haedock grinned. “Have you contacted the Iskanoi colony on Reklad?”

“You mean your home town? Yes. They are not helpful. They are still adjusting to the realization that they have been kicked off Iskan and cannot return en masse.”

“They are still clumping into a colony. That is the problem, isn’t it? They were fanatic about maintaining purity and that is not what Iskan wants, is it? Iskan wants variety and life, not a slowly dwindling population.”

She gave him a thumbs-up in confirmation. “I have tried to explain it to the council members at the colony, but they won’t listen. Halwis-Iskan has told them. They still don’t care. They will die pure.”

Ked had a sudden realization. “I am not going to meet your family, am I?”

He closed his eyes slowly and then opened them with a grim expression. “I have told my parents about you, and they are getting used to the idea. Our species are compatible, by the way. I will change to match you. It comes from the days when we looked like Halwis. We shifted to match our mate.”

“Yes, she mentioned something about that. It let two people from across Iskan feel common ties. Their children were a blend of the two. It was a nice idea. I have seen images.”

They chatted about the evolution of his species and hers. It took them into the night until she had to call a halt to the conversation. “Good night, Haedock. Be well.”

“Good night, Kedna. Stay strong.”

She smiled softly and closed the link. Ked got to her feet and walked into her bedroom, enjoying the open space and the line of sight to the Citadel far off in the distance. It was a small spire jutting two hundred feet in the air, but it made for a lovely silhouette against the full moon.

It was a nice visual to go to sleep by, so she settled in her open canopy bed under a sheet and looked toward the Citadel as she nodded off. A call from Haedock worked better than a full body massage by a thunderstorm. Just the thing to help her into sleep.