HeartFast

by Linda Mooney

  Within moments, a figure dressed in a pale yellow blouse and dark tan pants came around the corner. At first it was difficult to believe it was her. The normally loose and flowing cape of curling hair was clipped back with several small, jeweled hasps. But there was no mistaking that walk, that graceful, almost boneless flow of her body. As the figure drew closer, they knew it was StarLight.

  The crowd drew closer to the perimeter, and tried not to breach the defensive shields. Halfway across the courtyard, Star halted and lifted her hand to her face.

  “Release gate four,” she spoke into the comm unit she’d brought with her.

  The low humming around the crowd ceased. They looked up expectantly at the Guardian standing a dozen yards away.

  “Doctor Perlakian?”

  Devorah nodded.

  “Come on,” Star waved at her, beckoning. “It’s safe.”

  “I-I hope I’m not interrupting. I just came to return your uniform. You’d left it in your room.”

  Star took a few steps closer and smiled. “That’s kind of you. I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday. You were just doing your job, and I was being a first-class bitch. Come. Let me try to make it up to you.” She beckoned again. This time Devorah didn’t hesitate.

  Stepping over the circle of reddish stone tiles that marked the edge of the protective shield, the physician walked over to where the Guardian waited.

  “Reactivate gate four,” Star ordered into the comm unit. “Come on. Let me introduce you to everyone.” She grinned, and took the intern’s arm to lead her back to Command Central.

  Devorah followed alongside the woman taking her into the interior of the citadel. She was in a daze, never expecting the kind of welcome she’d received. The most she had hoped for was a quick return and the chance to apologize one last time for administration’s unforgivable behavior. The last thing she had expected was for StarLight to apologize to her, and invite her in.

  The public didn’t go in without a phalanx of guides to escort them. And the lucky few med techs who were allowed to make emergency runs to Guardian Command were handpicked from a select pool of applicants.

  Having a Guardian personally show one around was unheard of.

  Devorah snuck a look at the woman walking beside her. She was glowing, a happy smile creasing the corners of her full lips. Star was perhaps an inch, no more than two inches taller than she was, but there was no way she could compare herself any further with the woman. In fact, there was probably no other female in the universe who could match Star’s physique or beauty.

  They passed through another door, down a short hallway, and suddenly they were inside Command Central. Around an immense, elliptical table of shining onyx, the other Guardians ceased their discussion and watched the couple enter the room. Hanging suspended in the air was a glowing, bluish-gray grid of some kind, wavering like a holographic image.

  Taking her arm, Star led her over to stand near an empty chair. “May I introduce you to Doctor Perlakian. She came to return my uniform I’d left at the hospital.”

  “She’s also the person responsible for breaking their unethical code of silence, and letting me know what kind of nonsense those people had been saying about Star,” a voice behind her commented. Devorah turned around to see Master Hunter smiling at her. “Thank you again for your assistance.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “That was a brave thing you did,” a woman a few seats over noted. Devorah searched her memory. Corona. Yes. Her name was Corona, and she had the ability to exude tremendous amounts of heat and pressure.

  “Thank you, but I only did it because I’d had it up to here with their treatment of Star. No woman deserves the kind of blasphemy they were giving her, whether it was true or not. And unless someone spoke up, it would continue.” She looked back at Master Hunter. “I realized your protecting StarLight extended far beyond the HandFast edicts. These next few months are going to be hard enough without her having to face that kind of behavior every time she has to go in for a checkup.” Taking a shaky breath, Devorah shook her head. “It should be better now. I hope.”

  “Is that why you’ve quit the hospital? Because it should be better?”

  The critical voice came from a Guardian watching her with piercing brown eyes. Devorah cursed herself for not paying more attention to who each individual person was, but her job had prevented her from pursuing any kind of private life. That included being aware of anyone or anything outside of hospital business.

  “I’m sorry. You are…”

  “Seeker,” the brunette answered, smiling. She waved at the woman sitting next to her. “This is my twin sister, Sender.” The blue-green-eyed brunette also smiled in greeting. Devorah saw the family resemblance. Twins, but not identical. Fraternal.

  “You quit the hospital?” Star queried. “Why? Your job was secured.”

  “I know you evoked Guardian Law,” Devorah admitted. “It would only be a matter of days, though, before they would make my life unbearable, and force me to leave.” She gave them a watery smile. “Never mind. Here. Let me return this.” She reached into her satchel and withdrew the uniform, handing it to Star.

  “What are you going to do now?” Hunter asked.

  Devorah shrugged. “There are other hospitals. Other clinics. Don’t worry.”

  “Wait a minute.”

  A man she instantly recognized stepped around the table and approached her.

  “You were among the refugees we evacuated from Sira Tarella Four, right?” Commander inquired.

  “Sira Tarella went nova a little over a year ago, but I don’t remember working it,” Blender interjected. “Where was I?”

  “I think you and Provoker were thinning out that little disagreement between the Tercians and the Vaternaki,” Deceiver reminded him.

  “Oh, yeah. That’s right.”

  Commander stared down at the intern. “Pardon my saying so, but why are you a measly intern over at the hospital? Weren’t you in charge of some sort of medical school on your world before we evacuated the population?”

  Devorah remembered the pandemonium and fear as clearly as if it had happened last week. Their sun had begun fluctuating a few years before, and growing steadily worse in the following months. Sira Tarella didn’t follow the usual path of taking several millennia to burn out. She was determined to do it in a matter of months. Fortunately, once their scientists had figured it out, the Guardians were there, along with the Stellar Police, to get the nearly two million occupants off the planet and safely ensconced on other worlds before the sun flared one final time.

  Before she had let herself be carried off, she’d made certain every one of her employees, their families, and each patient from her small hospital had first been evacuated. Devorah recalled Commander coming into the doors of her clinic, moving like a whirlwind as he snatched her up into his arms and carried her over to the transport. Their eyes had locked, and for several heartbeats she wondered why the man hadn’t just sent her along with the rest of the group being corralled together.

  Looking up now into the man’s light brown gaze, she nodded. “It was the only job I could find at the time. Hospital policy states every new employee must go through an internship and indoctrination before working up the ladder to full staff. Doesn’t matter what your previous position was, or how many years you had invested in it.” She gave him a rueful grin and laughed gently. “Guess it’s back to the bottom rung.”

  “That’s crap,” Star exclaimed. “You defended me. You deserve better treatment than that.”

  It was Provoker who spoke up, bringing forth his capacity as negotiator. “You know, Deceiver, we really could use a med tech on site, not to mention a liaison between us and the city.”

  The one Devorah knew as Disaster spoke up. “He’s right, Deceiver. We’re always needing some kind of medical attention, and having to constantly call over for a med lab unit gets to be a pain in the butt. Not to mention having to run over to the hospital f
or simple things like checkups.”

  “If we had a physician on staff, we could avoid all that,” Corona interjected. “What if we had a serious, life-threatening emergency? By the time a unit got here, it could be too late. After all, none of us have any kind of medicinal power.”

  “N-neither do I,” Devorah hurried to say. “I don’t have any kind of ability, other than what I know and what I’ve learned.”

  “But it’s a gift and an ability none of us have,” Deceiver smiled. “It may not radiate from you, but you have it just the same. I can finagle the funds to equip the clinic we have here with what you need. That is … if you’re willing to take the job.”

  Star grabbed the woman’s upper arm. “I have this really bad taste in my mouth whenever I think about having to go back every week for an exam. If you did it here, you could send in the reports.”

  “You would be doing all of us a favor, not just for Star and myself,” Hunter added.

  “Are you sure? I mean, there’s no precedent.”

  “Provoker wouldn’t mention it if it wasn’t feasible and necessary,” Sender told her.

  Devorah lowered her face, ashamed to let them see the tears welling up in her eyes. Work with the Guardians as their personal physician? When no other civilian had ever been known to work so closely with the tight-knit group? Much less been asked.

  “Doctor Perlakian.” It was Deceiver. Slowly, she raised an embarrassed face, and swiped at the wetness on her cheeks. “Is there family you’re having to consider? Forgive us for our haste, and for not considering this earlier before we’d asked you.”

  “No, no family,” she admitted with a shake. “My mother died on our home world. And I’ve … I’ve been too wrapped up in trying to get a decent practice established to have any sort of private life.”

  A warm voice floated into her ear. “You know, if you took one of the women’s suites, you could live on-site. Unless you’d rather live in the city and commute every day.”

  Star’s smile was unavoidable. Giving the woman a grateful look, Devorah nodded, then she suddenly became all business. “But on the condition that when I give you a direct order, you follow it,” she said sharply, although the twinkle in her eye softened her tone. “I can be as hard-nosed as you, Miss DiLyric. Go against my medical advice, and I won’t promise to make the examinations easy on you.”

  Hunter barked with laughter, as well the others. Star gave the doctor a grateful hug, which Devorah returned in kind. It took a few more minutes before everyone had calmed down.

  “All right. What now?” Star inquired, looking to Deceiver.

  “It depends on where Doctor Perlakian wishes to establish her residence.” The Guardian leader tilted his head at the woman.

  “My name is Devorah, and I think it would be best if I was on-site around the clock. Experience has shown me that emergencies and the need for medical attention aren’t relegated to just daylight hours. With this group, I’m betting that goes double.”

  Deceiver nodded. “Good. We have a room available over at the women’s quarters. When you’re ready, bring your things over and settle in. In the meantime, Star, we have a small matter of the Ombitra to discuss.”

  Star turned to the woman physician. “Deceiver will fit you for your collar at a later date,” she grumbled. “If you go out the way we came in, Time Merchant will see that the shield is down to let you leave.”

  Giggling, Devorah thanked her. “I’ll be back as soon as I’m packed. Who do I notify when I’m ready to come on the property?”

  “Here.” Commander handed her a small pocket comm link. “Give us a yell in that.”

  Nodding, Devorah left the room as the group resumed their discussion. She was walking in a daze now, slowly digesting the turn of events of the past few minutes. She was the Guardians’ official and private physician. Won’t the boys at the hospital spit nails when they find out?

  Smiling, she wished her mother were still alive to see what her only child had managed to accomplish, even if it was unintentional and unexpected.

  Another thought suddenly raced through her. Better get your rear in gear, Devorah, and start learning the names of your new employers. It wouldn’t do for a doctor not to have a complete medical work-up and information on each of her patients. And they wouldn’t be just average patients, either. With each of them having their own unique powers, it would mean an extra headache when tending to their individual needs.

  Glancing at the little comm unit with its inscribed G nestled in her palm, she shivered with anticipation. There would be a lot of work ahead of her. She smiled. Yeah, but there would also be a new family and friends waiting for her when she returned.

  It was a thought that warmed her all over.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter 28

  Attack

  “This is crap.”

  Star’s sudden outburst reflected what the rest of them were feeling. It had been two hours since they had settled down to study and discuss Deceiver’s grid of information. Twice they’d had him reformulate and reenter the information into different graphs, but nothing continued to make sense.

  “Take a break, everyone.” Deceiver sighed loudly. “We’ll resume in fifteen.”

  As the others got up to get a drink or exercise their legs, Star reached overhead and stretched, arching her back over her chair in one, long, smooth pull of muscle. The tingling sensation over her skin became more intense. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know he was standing beside her.

  “Feel better, now that we have our own physician on staff?” Hunter asked, leaning against the table.

  Yawning, Star answered, “Yah, ah-hah. Ummmhhh. Oh, wow. What a headache. Rub my neck, would you?” She lowered her head and pointed to her shoulder muscles. Two warm hands obediently started kneading the tenseness away.

  “Hey, no fair. What’s this with a personal masseuse?” Corona giggled as she headed off.

  “I’m entitled. I’m the pregnant one, remember? I get special treatment. Ohhh, Hunter, that feels good.”

  “I know what would feel even better,” Provoker began, stepping off the short podium.

  Hunter and Star threw him identical black looks. “Provoker!” they chorused together.

  The man threw his hands into the air in mock surrender. “All right! I give up! Not another word!”

  Within minutes the two found themselves alone in the meeting hall. Hunter took the opportunity to drop a kiss on the bared skin right above her collar.

  “Tsk, tsk, Hunter. What’s the matter with you? And in broad daylight, too.”

  “You know, Provoker had a point.”

  Star rolled her eyes up at him. “I won’t argue with you.”

  “We have fifteen minutes.”

  “Can’t even work up a good sweat in that amount of time,” she quipped, although the familiar wetness was beginning to dampen her pants.

  “It’ll cure your headache, I guarantee.”

  “All right, but can we do it again where the clothes stay on? To save time,” Star hastily added. Hunter grinned, proving she hadn’t fooled him in the least.

  A moment later, they had vanished from the hall.

  They made it back in twelve. Rather than appear immediately in the meeting hall, Hunter materialized them outside the door leading from the courtyard, and he and Star walked in together. If anyone noticed anything, nothing was said.

  Taking her chair, Star’s eyes went back to the dimmed grid, now hovering in stasis over the table. When Deceiver resumed the meeting, it would power back up into bright luminescence.

  She blinked, rubbing a hand over her forehead, then blushed. Damn! The man had been right! Her headache was gone. A tiny smile curled over her lips as she tucked one leg underneath her. Their quick coupling had left her sensitive and hungry for more. What she had hoped would be a repeat of their escapade in the botanical garden had ended up being a new and completely different position altogether. Good heavens! How many d
ifferent ways were there to make love?

  She glanced down the table, but found Hunter’s chair empty. At that moment the tingling came over her again like a sudden shifting, and a bottle of water tapped her on the shoulder. She reached up to take the drink, glancing over her shoulder to see him give her a warm smile and a wink before he went to take his own seat.

  “I saw that, girlfriend,” Morning Fire drawled slowly as she plopped down beside her. Star blushed again. “Gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘quickie’, doesn’t it?” she leaned over and whispered.

  “Fire!” Star gave her friend a look of wide-eyed astonishment.

  “Hey, don’t mind me. I’m jealous.”

  “We’ll begin in two more minutes. Merchant, please beep whoever’s still not here and tell them to make it snappy,” Deceiver ordered.

  For the umpteenth time, Star glanced over at the grid and tried to make some kind, any kind of sense out of it. Taking a drink of water, she let her eyes slide over the words inside each section. It was more of a timeline than a listing of events. This happened. Then this. Then this happened after that.

  She started to take another swig of water, when a memory stuck. Pausing with the bottle against her lips, Star wandered back in time.

  Magnetic. Pull. Force. Evacuation. Pull. Withdrawal. Pull.

  Oh, damn! It was right there, at the edge of her consciousness. Right … there.

  “Sender, where’s your sister?”

  Sender glanced up from the portable vidscreen in her lap. “She ran back to her room for a sec. Why?”

  “What’s up, Star?” Time Merchant called over the table.

  “I don’t know, but something’s tickling at the edge of my mind,” Star confessed. “I can’t explain further, but it’s irritating as grit.” Spotting the woman she needed coming through the door, Star called out to her. “Seeker! Come here a moment, would you?”

  “Yeah, Star. What’s up?”

  Tapping her temple, Star told her, “A memory’s stuck. Right here. Regarding something that occurred when I pulsed the Ombitra ship back on Biris. Can you draw it out for me, please?”