by Grace, Viola
She stifled a groan and wished for a moment that the world went dark when she closed her eyes. If she could blank her mind and her sight, life might occasionally get easier.
“Are you in pain? I heard you groan.”
Vida snorted. “No. Do you have the scans you need?”
“I do. They will occupy my evening most pleasantly. I will discuss them with Lerinian when he returns.”
Vida sat up again and dangled her legs over the edge of the bed. Her limbs tingled and she wiggled her toes. Even her toes were individually wrapped in metal.
She blinked and reset her vision to deal with the living world. “Too bad we have to leave. I find the peace here soothing.”
Ziggy chuckled. “We can come back for a visit, but the Balance are not very chatty.”
S’rin bowed. “We are interested in our research and the songs of the stars. Nothing else registers on our minds.”
Ziggy gave a stage whisper. “There are no girl members of the Balance. They find their mates in the other species and the boys are always the same as their fathers.”
It seemed rude to be discussing it with S’rin right there, but she asked, “What about the little girls?”
“There are none. The Balance have never been able to breed females. Our elders posit that it is because females already have balance within, they don’t need it without.”
Vida chuckled. “That is an enlightened view.”
He laughed. “That is why the Balance never varies in its population. We do not thrive, but neither do we dwindle. We are the same in number now as we were when our people left Underhill.”
Underhill was the Nine name for the world that the colonists had called Gaia.
Vida remembered her genetics lessons. “Since you always breed out, there is no degradation in the line, and if your power controls the genes, it wouldn’t fade either.”
“You seem to have a grasp on it.”
Vida chuckled. “My parents are scientists. Biology and basic genetics was my nursery school class.”
Ziggy laughed, “It is true. She has a scientific mind that can rival that of Ula’s, but hers is aimed a little more toward the motivational sciences.”
S’rin reached out his hand to help her back to her feet. She resented the lack of tactile feedback, but she accepted the help. Once she was standing flatfooted on the lab floor, she looked up and up into the cowl of S’rin. Yup. He was very, very tall. Seven foot easily.
She smiled brightly into the confines of his hood, and she swore she could see a flash of light.
Ziggy spoke to S’rin. “I am taking her to Meevin again tomorrow. If Lerinian can meet us there at midmorning, that would be great. He can take charge of the situation. Thanks for helping out.”
“It was my pleasure. I am eager for our little project to find a use. I will pass this information along to Researcher Lerinian. I am sure he will be there.”
“I second Ziggy’s thanks. I know I was unable to articulate it when we arrived, but I am deeply relieved that you were here to consult.” She extended her hand to him, and he seemed surprised by the gesture. Instead of shaking her hand, he raised it to his lips.
She really wished she could feel it, but Ziggy pulled her out of the lab before she could figure out how to get the suit to retract.
The Balance zone was soon to be a thing of the past, which was a pity; Vida enjoyed the clear pathways.
Chapter Five
Vida had seen images of creatures like Rothaway in the Gaian monster books. He had thick, wavy hair, pointed ears, wide shoulders and his fingers looked as if claws could appear at any moment. His doting on Ziggy made his appearance a little less aggressive.
“So, Vida, that is a striking robe you are wearing.”
She ate another morsel of food that Ziggy gave her a nod for and inclined her head. “It is Ziggy’s. I am afraid that the gown I came with suffered an accident.”
Rothaway filled her wineglass and chuckled. “So I gathered. Feel free to requisition anything you need on Ziggy’s account. She doesn’t use nearly enough of her income as it is.”
Ziggy made a face. “That is because you buy me stuff all the time. I don’t have a chance to go shopping.”
“If you shopped, you would not choose Wilding clothing.”
Ziggy sighed, “That is the point.”
Vida felt that she had stumbled into a domestic issue. “Um, if you would like, I can just head to my room.”
Rothaway looked over at her. “Don’t worry about it. We bicker about her clothing all the time. She has to dress according to her station. She is the first representative of your species and eyes are on her every time she leaves our quarters.”
Vida winced. “That must be stressful, Zig.”
Ziggy shrugged. “It will be worse when the baby shows up.”
Rothaway sat back and grinned. “We have no idea what it is going to be. Dr. Meevin is beside herself. The geneticists are waiting eagerly, but we have forbidden testing until the child has arrived. Aside from the other Gaians living on the mother ship, you are the first to know about the pregnancy. It shows that she has great trust in you.”
Vida nodded. “I already saw the addition, but I didn’t want to mention it. Some folks react badly to having things seen that are not in their consciousness yet.”
Rothaway blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “That explains your lack of shock.”
She shrugged. “When you can see the way I do, very few things in a living body can shock you.”
“So, you are in search of one of the lost ships?”
Vida leaned forward. “What do you know about them?”
“Before we arrived, no more than four and no less than two Tokkel ships escaped with samples of Gaian citizens and scientists. We had assumed that the Gaians had been killed, but Ziggy tells me that you think that is not the case.”
“They are alive. I am linked to my family. I know where my sister is and what her mood is, and I can feel my parents going about their tasks somewhere. I just need help in finding them.”
Rothaway nodded and placed his hand on the table, palm up. Ziggy took it and smiled at Vida.
“We can provide you with a probe, but we need coordinates. Are you going to be able to follow? I am guessing that you are having medical issues.”
Vida rubbed the metal over her forearm. “I have always been a little brittle. It never crossed my mind that it would be an impediment to me doing whatever I wanted.”
Ziggy chuckled. “Where I concealed my talent, Vida and Ianka have always worn theirs out for everyone to see. They worked tirelessly during and after the attacks. They found the living and sought the dead. They don’t flinch.”
“Your sibling also has this sight?”
Vida wrinkled her nose again. “Ianka is a tracker. She can find someone by traces left in the physical world. She uses scent, sight and touch predominantly. Possibly similar to your senses.”
“You and your sister don’t reside together?”
Ziggy turned her head to one side and squeezed Rothaway’s hand, but the question was out.
“No. She does not approve with my constant search for our parents. I have spent too much time staring into the empty sky, searching for traces, for the path that would lead me to them. The path from Gaia goes to orbit and then stops short. Our planet’s rotation has spun us away from that point in space that we had occupied during the attacks. I don’t know where to start looking, but I know I am not going to stop until I regain that signal.” Vida rubbed at her forehead with metal-clad fingers.
Ziggy got up, kissed Rothaway’s forehead and smiled. “I will be right back, she’s exhausted.”
The moment that Vida heard Ziggy’s words, she acknowledged that she was right. It had been over twenty-seven hours since she had slept, and her wound had taken a lot out of her. She still wasn’t quite right.
“It was nice meeting you, Rothaway.”
“I look forward to many more meals toget
her while you are here, Vida. Enjoy your rest. I am sure that Ziggy will have you up on your feet at first rising.”
Vida got up and nodded farewell. She and Ziggy walked the short distance to the VIP quarters that had been commandeered for her. The robe swung loose and was covered in delicate dark rainbows. It was rather girly for Vida, but bodysuits were not usually worn on the ship with nothing over them or, at least, not by women. The female-to-male ratio in the Nine in general was incredibly small. Families had a lot of children because they had to, to maintain population levels, but not all members of the Nine found mates among their own kinds. Ziggy and Rothaway were perfect examples.
“Are you feeling all right, Vida?”
“I am as good as I can be. Let’s see if I can sleep in this can and I will give you a breakdown of my night in the morning or first rising. However you tell time on a space craft.”
“Then, I wish you good night.”
“Oh, Ziggy? Congratulations. You will make an annoying but loving mother.”
Ziggy raised a brow. “Annoying?”
“You will know everything your kid is up to. Trust me. That will be annoying.” Vida retreated into her room, and when the door closed and locked, she found her bed.
She waited for the urge to use the bathroom but nothing happened. Either the suit took care of it for her or she was going to be in the sprint for her life the moment it came off. As she settled in and let fatigue take over, she could hardly wait to find out which one it was.
In her dreams, she called for Ianka. She couldn’t continue her journey, but if she could convince Ianka that she had found her parents, she knew her sister would continue the quest.
She called and called for her sister, yelling through forests, across oceans of water and sand. Finally, she heard a reply.
The chime woke her. Vida got to her feet with a groan and opened the door. Ziggy was wearing another lovely gown that made her pretty, elegant and casually formal. If casual and formal could exist in the same place, it was on Ziggy.
“Come on. Dr. Meevin is waiting and she sounded a little freaked out. Apparently, the researcher has arrived.”
“What about breakfast?”
“After you get out of that suit. We have no idea how you are going to feel once you have been freed from it, and you are at the edge of the dangerous zone.”
Vida scowled. “Fine. Lead on.”
They walked back to medical; the borrowed open robe flowed around her and belied her mood with its cheerful colours. Mornings were not her favourite time. Everyone’s auras were scrambled in the mornings. Too much of the dream state overlapped the waking body.
There was a crowd outside the medical bay, but it wasn’t the procedure that drew the attention. There were two researchers from the Balance waiting for them with a nervous Meevin while Ula was fiddling with a length of fabric on a hangar.
Vida smiled as she entered the room. “Just for the record, I am not getting naked with an audience. Ula, if you could get this suit off me, that would be great.”
Dr. Meevin opened a panel at the back of the room and unfolded it. “Here. This should allow you privacy. There is a med robe folded up for the rest of the exam before Ula fits you with the second suit.”
“Where is the lav in case I need it?”
“Over to the left behind that panel.”
“Thank you.” She smiled brightly, and Ula accompanied her behind the privacy screen.
“How are you feeling?”
“A little rough. My body aches like I am coming down with an illness. Can you get the suit off?”
“Yes, but I warn you that the pain could return, so if you do need the lav, do what you have to do quickly. I can have you wrapped up again in under a minute.”
“Thanks. Are you enjoying yourself?” Vida raised her eyebrows as Ula put her hand on the flat control panel in the centre of the suit.
“I am. This has been the first real-world test of this survival suit. It is designed to act as an emergency exoskeleton in case of injury. It won’t heal you, but it will keep you intact and process all of your body’s excretions for a limited amount of time. I am working on the timeline, but this is definitely proof of concept.”
Ula pressed a few of the buttons and the suit began to retract into the handheld size it had started off as.
As the external support disappeared, Vida grabbed for the shelf holding the robe. It held her while the suit crawled away from her skin and back into the pod. She thudded to the floor with a splat sound.
Since the robe had become clutched in her hands, she wrapped it around her while Ula tried to pull her to her feet.
“Tell people who are wearing the suit to remove it while they are seated or lying down. Having someone cut your strings is disconcerting.”
With her body partially covered, she got to her feet and finished arranging the robe.
“Sorry, Vida, I had no idea that it would drop you like that.”
“You said it yourself, exoskeleton. My muscles thought they had the day off. Oops, I will need that lav after all.”
She walked as quickly as she could around the corner and toward the lav in the medical lab. Relief was not a strong enough word. She had begun to feel that her eyes were swimming the moment that the suit came off.
After she was no longer feeling pressure, she hung up the robe and recalled the instructions for using the solar unit. The shower was in the small cubicle, and she stood in position for a moment while the blast of light scrubbed her clean. Even clenched eyes didn’t manage to stop the bright after-flares on her vision.
She put the robe back on and felt a little more like herself when she exited. At least she was clean and no longer smelled like the inside of a can. That metallic tang had been driving her nuts.
The crowd that was waiting for her was a little surprising. Two members of the Balance were standing side by side, but S’rin’s aura glowed.
Vida paused, “Dr. Meevin, Researcher S’rin, Researcher Lerinian? I was under the impression that there would only be one member of the Balance here today.”
The stranger bowed. “S’rin insisted on accompanying me here today.”
Dr. Meevin looked impressed with the turnout. “Step into the scanner please, Vida.”
As she had the day before, she stepped into the scanner and waited. Her skin was tingling, and there was an ache in her limbs that was a shadow of the day before.
S’rin and Lerinian were in quiet conversation as the data began to spill onto the screen.
Dr. Meevin was making notes with Ula on the readouts, and Ziggy sat on the medical bed across the way making faces at Vida to keep her entertained.
It was almost as if Ziggy knew how odd it felt to be examined like a bug. Come to think of it, being the first Gaian to live on the mother ship of the Nine, she might just know exactly how this went.
The machine beeped, chimed and pinged the occasional alarm. Apparently, whatever had gone into her body the day before had created an issue.
When the machine had worked out all the details it needed, Dr. Meevin released her from the unit and asked her to have a seat on the medical bed that Ziggy surrendered.
The collection of the Nine gathered at one side of the room, murmuring and comparing notes. Eventually, they called Ula over.
Ziggy smiled, “Don’t worry. I can read those reports. You are fine. I mean, you still aren’t in shape to travel, but your bones have completely reset and all ridges caused by breaks and remodeling have been removed.”
“Oh goody, so I am good as new?” Vida wiggled her toes.
“Well, something is up. I can’t recognize all the energy patterns of the Nine on a readout, but I am guessing that yours has shifted since yesterday. You know what that means.”
Vida did indeed. She literally wasn’t the same person she had been the night before.
Chapter Six
Ula made a few final adjustments to the blue and white fabric before she shook it out. “Here, try t
his on.”
Everyone in the room had an eye on Vida, so she grabbed the suit and returned behind the screen. The robe was off in a moment and she stepped into the legs, working the soft skin up and around her. It was a change from the metal suit, like water was to rock. The blue and white fabric hugged and supported her, but most of all, it felt like comfort.
She fluffed out her short hair and poked her head around the screen. “Nobody laugh.”
The room was very solemn as she came around, and Ula came up, tugging slightly until the fit was perfect. “Excellent. It has been wired to channel your sight and amplify your perceptions. I know enough about your ability to make a guess at the means by which you operate. Your eyes are your focus, so the power needs to flow through there.”
Dr. Meevin used a hand scanner and nodded. “It is helping to balance your body temperature. Good. How are you feeling?”
“My bones ache a little.”
“They were resurfaced and are still in the process of being reinforced. It will be an extensive remodel. Your body has taken to the injection that you received yesterday. It has decided to rebuild you using the DNA as a template.”
Ziggy cleared her throat. “The DNA of what?”
“Whom, really.” Lerinian bowed slightly. “S’rin designed the bone builder, but it was set for members of the Nine. We used my DNA as a starting point, but in your body, it has become something else.”
Vida narrowed her eyes at the cloaked figure. “What has it become?”
S’rin answered her. “Something new. We don’t know what it is, but it is making changes to you that normally do not happen outside of a bonding, and yet, there is no identifiable DNA left in your system. You have taken it apart.”
“So, am I Balance, Gaian, something in between?”
S’rin chuckled. “Yes.”
Vida sighed. “Right, well. Can we stop it?”
Lerinian and Meevin shook their heads. “No.”
“Fine. It is happening without my willing it, so do we just wait and see?”