by Viola Grace
“Can’t any healer help you?” Quuro’s voice was simply curious.
“No. Salugh syndrome takes the body and makes one part of it eat another. The healers who have tried to treat it cure one area and it attacks another. It is rare, but when it does strike, it is incurable.” The duke shrugged.
Alda used the distraction of the conversation to finish her meal. She fidgeted with the chains in her lap.
Terlio looked at her, his dark eyes concerned. “How are your wrists?”
She blushed, but they couldn’t see it under the heavy makeup. “I will be scarred, but it isn’t too bad. My ankles are worse.”
The duke sat upright and grabbed her arm. “Show me.”
Sighing, she tugged the cuff away from her skin and showed him the discoloured and abraded skin.
The duke asked the men around the table, “Can one of you take them off?”
Terlio nodded and came around to kneel in front of her. She held out her wrists, and he took the left cuff between his hands. He concentrated and the cuff opened like a flower. The same treatment on the right cuff, and her arms were lighter than they had been in five months.
The skin was scarred, as she had stated, but she was so busy staring at her wrists that she didn’t notice him flipping up her skirt. When his hands cupped her ankle, she gasped and stared into those dark eyes while he melted the metal away from her skin. Her right leg was released in seconds, and as his hands caressed her skin, she winced at the extreme sensitivity she was experiencing.
He kept his gaze on hers, and his fingers continued to stroke the flesh of her calf. “Better?”
She bit her lip and held her breath as she nodded. “Better. Thank you.”
The duke touched her shoulder with a shaking hand. “I had no idea, Alda.”
“I know, your Grace. I do not hold you responsible.”
He took her right hand in his left and brought the scabbed and scarred skin to his lips. “I hold myself responsible. Now, gentlemen, how quickly can you get Alda off our world?”
Chapter Three
Alda-Xeri walked proudly in the cloak borrowed from Quuro. The masks that they wore hid her whitened skin from the eyes of the guards.
Quuro was making his own way to the shuttle. He had a talent for invisibility that enabled him to leave before their party had even reached the gates.
Once cleared, they walked swiftly to the monorail that would take them to the spaceport.
Alda didn’t dare breathe a word.
The moment that they exited the monorail, the soft thud of Quuro’s feet landed next to them.
As the quiet party of four plus one, they passed through customs unmolested and settled into the shuttle as quickly as they could. Larsilk took the helm, Bukel the navigator station and Terlio sat next to Alda while Quuro regained his visibility.
They soared up and away in seconds. The moment that they lifted away from the capital, Alda began to sob.
“You are free, Alda-Xeri. No reason for tears.”
Between her sobs, she whispered, “He will die within the week without me. He was so kind, did so much good while I was treating him.”
“What did you do for him? What is a Pain Taker?”
She looked at the stranger and pulled the mask away from her face. “I numb the brain’s registration of pain—emotional and physical. It can be temporary or permanent, but it depends on the source of the pain.” She looked one last time at the white cliffs that seemed so tiny down below.
“Why did the duke want you to leave so abruptly?”
“The high chancellor was looking at me as a possible source of income or even a bargaining chip with the Raiders. They had someone sniffing around on Olsted for me years ago, but my family ceased using my talents, and I went dormant until they left.”
He kept his questions low and quiet, “What did you do for your family?”
“I administered anaesthetic to patients who were undergoing surgery. I blocked the pain and helped them through their recovery. My family has been in the medical trade for years, so it is no wonder that my talent surfaced where it was needed.”
“How did you enjoy your job?”
“I liked helping others. My life had a good rhythm before the high chancellor sent out his demand for assistance. Don’t get me wrong, I liked helping the duke get his affairs in order, but the high chancellor has been looking at me and trying to come up with an alternate use for my talent, and it was not a pleasant look. The duke knew what was happening, and he has been hanging on for two reasons. One was that he needed to wait until his heir was on the way, the other was that he wanted me gone.”
Terlio nodded. “He said as much when we disguised you. What did you do before we left?”
She sighed. “I kissed him. My saliva can be an analgesic if I am motivated. I licked my lips and kissed his cheek. He should have forty-eight hours of pain-free movement.”
“So, your talent is exclusively pain related?”
Alda looked at him with a frown. “Yes, why do you ask?”
“We had a notification that we needed to pick you up as quickly as possible. Udell base received a notice from Relay, and I was dispatched immediately.”
Blinking, she looked around the shuttle at the other three men. “You were dispatched? What about the others?”
He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Ah, that. Well, it will be explained when we arrive on Udell. Yes, we were all dispatched to come here.”
There was a round of throat clearing from the other three, and Alda watched the stars in the view screen. Her vision blurred as fatigue rippled through her. “May I sleep?”
“Of course. You have had a trying day. Take the rest you need. We will have a meal ready when you wake up.”
She waved at him to shut up and leaned back in her seat. A day’s worth of pain killing exhausted her, and she hoped that there was something new to see when she woke. The dream she was in now had run its course.
A hand on her shoulder was shaking her gently. “Alda-Xeri, you have been asleep for twelve hours. Time for a meal.”
She opened her eyes, and the blurry shape of Bukel was standing next to her. Alda grunted and got to her feet, shedding the robes and mask while she stumbled to the lav.
It took her ten minutes to get the makeup off her skin, but when she looked at her own face in the mirror, it showed her sallow cheeks, hollow eyes and pale lips. She looked like hammered hell.
Shivering, she had to admit she probably needed a meal. She looked at the ashy skin of her hands and the scars left by the cuffs. The marks might fade in time, but her body had been so busy replacing the energy she was using that healing itself had come in last place.
She left the lav and went in search of the galley. The smell of food was easy to follow, and Bukel had a plate ready for her when she arrived.
He stared at her and blinked. “You changed colour.”
She chortled softly. “I took off the court makeup.”
“Why did you wear it?”
“It is a uniform. We wear it to hide facial expressions and give us a unified appearance. Why do you wear the robes?”
He chuckled. “Because it was required by the Olsted court. It was the same reason that we wore the masks.”
He wasn’t wearing a mask now, and the clean-cut line of his jaw was definitely worth looking at. He had pointed ears, his eyes were more slanted than they had appeared in the fabric mask and his nose was straight and well-shaped.
She took a seat at the table, and he put the plate in front of her. She reached for the glass of water first.
Alda engaged in the same behaviour that she had in the Olsted court. She shoved the food into her mouth and washed it down with the contents of the glass.
“You really enjoy your food.” Bukel sat across from her.
“Not really, it is fuel. I eat until I am full and then stop.” Alda put the eating prong down and set the plate aside.
He smiled, and he was about to speak when
Larsilk came in, his pale green eyes showed his good humour, but it was his face that got Alda’s complete attention.
“You have the same face.” It was identical. It was not the similarity one saw in twins, but a completely identical face right down to the small scar in his left eyebrow.
Larsilk got a meal into the heater and sat down with it next to Bukel.
“Why do you have the same face?”
Larsilk smiled, his lips quirking up at the corners. “Terlio didn’t tell you?”
Bukel elbowed him in the ribs. “Quiet.”
“Terlio said that I would find out on Udell.”
Larsilk sighed, “That would be safer.”
Alda rubbed at her forehead. “This is immaterial. I will find out soon enough. What am I going to be doing at Sector Guard Base Udell?”
Bukel spoke quietly, his deep voice slow and deliberate. “You will train for combat situations as well as espionage. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to contact loved ones and keep them apprised of your progress and location.”
“I can just call my family?” She hadn’t had contact with them since the court guard had come to collect her.
“You can. We have a secure network that sends a completely masked signal. You can contact anyone who is within range of a com device.” Larsilk mumbled the words around his food.
Bukel sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Ignore him, Alda-Xeri.”
She stood and got another glass of water. “You may call me Alda. Alda-Xeri is my formal name. We are now beyond formality.”
Bukel raised his eyebrows and Larsilk did the same, the only difference in their faces was their eye colour. “How is it that we are beyond formality?”
She crossed her arms and sipped at her water. “Gentlemen, when a lady lets you see her without makeup, the formality has gone out the window.”
Chapter Four
Udell was an enclosed base. Their shuttle snugged up against an umbilicus while the seal settled against it.
“All right, we are home.” Quuro unbuckled his harness and stood. Terlio left the navigation station while Bukel and Larsilk escorted her to the exit.
She was coming to grips with the fact that all of the men around her were the same except for their eye colours and voices. Their bodies were identical, but their mannerisms showed different aspects of personality.
They took her through the halls of Udell, past several people of different races, all wearing a military-style bodysuit.
“Are all the suits that formfitting?” Alda was concerned. She was used to the looser clothing of Olsted.
“I am sure that something looser can be arranged. The bodysuits are designed for ease of movement and fitting into bulky battle armour.” Quuro was at her side.
“So, this is a battle facility?” Alda frowned. “I am not sure what I can do in this situation.”
They stopped and escorted her into a room marked Medical.
A brightly coloured male was kissing a female with long brown hair and a tight-fitting red and gold bodysuit. The woman stood and smiled. “Please excuse us. We just passed my third-month anniversary. This is Helsin, he’s a very good doctor.”
Alda chuckled. “He seems good with his hands.”
The male closed his eyes briefly before he regrouped. “You must be the new Citadel recruit for the Lowel station.”
Alda shrugged. “If you say so. I am only here because the alternative is not good for my health.”
Helsin looked at the men behind her and nodded. “Quad. Good to see you. Do you want your post-assignment physicals now or later?”
“One physical, but do the entrance scans for Alda first.”
Alda grinned. “I suppose I am first.”
The woman shook her head. “Where are my manners? I am Dev.”
Alda extended her hand. “Alda-Xeri. Please call me Alda.”
Helsin smiled. “Dev, she might like some privacy.”
Alda snorted. “I am in a room with five strange men and one woman. She stays.”
Dev laughed and took a seat next to Helsin’s desk.
Alda followed the doctor to a peculiar machine. He directed her to place her hands and feet on the marked areas, and with a few clicks on his data pad, a scan began working on her, covering her from head to toe with waves of energy.
It didn’t hurt, it tingled. Being watched by six people while she stood spread eagled in a machine was only mitigated by the fact that she was wearing the court gown.
When it chirped completion, Helsin took her hand and helped her out of the scanner. “May I take samples?”
“Certainly. I know what they will show, so it isn’t like I have anything to hide.” Alda took a seat on the exam bed and folded her hands in her lap.
“What happened to your wrists?” Helsin took a skin sample and put it in a dish.
“Five months in manacles. Skin isn’t meant for that much metal contact.” She held still while he removed a blood sample and put it in another machine for analysis.
Helsin blinked in surprise. “Why were you in manacles?”
Alda barked out a laugh. “To keep me from getting away. What did you think?”
Dev chuckled. “She has you there, Helsin. Why do you think she was wearing the metal? A fashion statement?”
He shrugged and checked on the readouts. “You certainly have an unusual DNA cocktail in your system. I have never seen this many races blended in someone who didn’t have slavery in their family history.”
Alda cocked her head, “How do you know I don’t?”
Dev answered for him. “He got your family to send your medical records here in a sealed dispatch a month ago. The Duke of Olsted has been trying to get the Citadel’s attention for two months.”
Helsin sighed. “Thank you for blurting everything out, Dev.”
“You are welcome, sweetie.”
Helsin finished with the scans and made some notes before addressing her companions. “Quad, I am ready for you now.”
Helsin walked up to Dev and held a hand over her eyes as all four men stripped to the skin.
Alda watched, fascinated. They were truly identical, each one had scars in the same place and all other attributes matched perfectly, not that she was staring or anything.
As she stared, the men stood chest to back, slowly backing into Terlio. When they were all incorporated, he shivered and put his uniform back on.
“So, Quad, as in four. I see. You are one person.”
Quad closed the seal of his uniform with a smile. “I started as one but was forcibly shattered by the Raiders.”
Alda’s widened her eyes. “What?”
Helsin looked to Quad and the Guardsman nodded. “Quad was originally one man with one talent for metal manipulation. They used another talent to overload him, and he shattered into four bodies. They each think and experience differently but all memories are shared when they recombine.”
Quad nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “Every conversation you had with part of me is now part of the whole.”
She nodded as if she understood, but her mind was trying to remember everything that she had said to him before and after the shuttle. Relief filled her when she acknowledged that nothing untoward had been said.
Dev got to her feet. “What is her next stop?”
Quad scowled. “I will take her to Guardian when I am finished here.”
Dev arched a brow. “Why not let me? She does kick me off the bottom of the lists.”
Quad blurred in place. “I will take her.”
Helsin looked at him with concern. “Are you all right, Quad?”
Quad breathed deeply and settled back into his one self with brilliant blue eyes. “Fine. Do the scans, Helsin.”
Alda waited while her companion was run through the same scanner she had just been standing in. He stepped from that machine to the next with the ease of long practice.
Helsin processed his scans in a few minutes and nodded. “Nothing unusual,
Quad. All seems stable.”
Quad nodded. “I haven’t noticed anything different, so it seems that everything is fine.”
Alda took the hand he extended to her and hopped to her feet.
Quad asked, “Are we done here, Helsin?”
Helsin nodded. “I have forwarded the scans to Guardian. He is waiting to give Alda-Xeri the introduction to Udell base.”
Dev waved. “I will see you later, Alda. The commissary is open any time day or night. There is usually someone to eat with if you can’t sleep.”
Alda smiled and waved back with her free hand.
Quad tugged at her hand, and she followed him out of medical. She couldn’t resist. “So, four men in one body, huh?”
He gave her a wary look through his radiant blue eyes. “Yes.”
She shook her head and sighed, “You must go through a ton of laundry.”
He blinked and a shy smile crossed his face. “You can say that again.”
Chapter Five
Guardian had silvery skin and bone plates marching up his skull but otherwise was a very tolerable-looking male. “Good afternoon, Alda-Xeri. Welcome to Sector Guard Base Udell. I am Guardian.”
Alda sat in front of Guardian’s desk, and Quad stood next to her. “Pleased to meet you, Guardian. I am not sure how useful I will be in service to the Citadel.”
Guardian motioned to Quad, and the Guardsman closed and locked the door. “Alda-Xeri, I am asking you to take on an assignment that will put your life in peril and place you in the heart of the Raider stronghold.”
She frowned. “What? I have no training for espionage.”
Guardian leaned forward. “You don’t need training for this. Word of your talent has rippled through the Alliance, and through moles in the Alliance, the Raiders have taken an interest in you. They want your skill under their control.”
“Oh. I see.” Alda didn’t.
Guardian gestured to Quad.
Quad sat on the edge of Guardian’s desk and spoke to her. “When I was taken by the Raiders, they enhanced my one skill by torturing another talent into spurring my body into mutation and regeneration. The sedatives that they used to keep me out stalled the effects of the mutation until I was able to escape. Once in the shuttle, I needed more than two hands, and so the others were born.”