by Viola Grace
“I burned him rather than let him near my child. He had forced her into life, and I loved her, but he had no right to contaminate her with his presence. I lured him into the snowy hills, and I destroyed him.”
Thakeri was backing away as she glowed brighter and brighter.
Rackon called out, “Hahvi. He is not the one who hurt you. We will deal with him now that people acknowledge what he made them do. You don’t need to kill him.”
Hahvi nodded, “I won’t, but he needs to know that if I ever hear of him doing that sort of thing again, I will return by whatever means I can, and I will turn him into a pile of ash that the wind will sweep away.”
Tears were welling in the baron’s eyes, and he knelt on the floor.
Hahvi cooled her skin and turned back to the dining table. “Well, what is for dessert?”
The baron was hauled away, snivelling and sobbing. The pain would keep him from trying to seduce his guards.
The councillors were speaking to each other in clusters, so Hahvi was on her own until Aliora grabbed her and held tight. The low whisper, “It wasn’t the first time,” made Hahvi’s heart ache.
“I am sorry I was not here before.”
“Watching him sobbing like an infant was almost worth it.” Aliora looked up through watery eyes.
“If he hadn’t tried it here, I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“If you had been amenable to his touch, he wouldn’t have tried to get me. He can only control one person at a time.”
Rackon had followed Thakeri out of the room, but he returned with a grim scowl. “He is visiting the Null.”
Aliora winced but nodded. “It does fit the crime. The healers can fix his hand afterward.”
To Hahvi’s amusement, Aliora was still stuck to her.
Rackon looked to Hahvi and asked, “Are you all right?”
She swallowed heavily and pushed her newly regained memory aside. “I am fine, but there is one thing about me that I have just rediscovered.”
He looked curious. “What is that?”
She looked down at the chalky and relieved Aliora, “Under the right circumstances, I am very, very dangerous.”
The councillors had thanked her for her intervention, and she had taken it as a dismissal for the night. At dawn, she would be flown to the edge of the city and dropped into position.
Thakeri was being returned to duty the following day, but his talent had been stripped from him by the Null, a Bormaic whose talent was destroying other talents.
Rackon was sitting next to her on the bed, and he asked her a question that she had been dreading. “What happened?”
She waited until he wrapped himself around her and then told him her tale.
She had been a student in first-year geological studies. Her attacker had been a fourth year, and he had caught her alone at a party, subduing her in seconds.
Hahvi had been forced to leave school, lived up at the cabin that her family used for holidays and bore her child with her sister as midwife. Amlie had been her heart and soul the moment that she was born.
There was no record of her being born, so it was too easy for Hakena to take her as her own child. Hakena did have a talent, but she didn’t want to use it for the government. She was a convincer, and she was able to convince everyone that little Amlie was her own. Even her husband was peculiarly happy to be presented with a baby, though he couldn’t remember the pregnancy.
Hahvi had returned to school and tried to get on with her life, but on her drive to the family cabin, Genald had popped up in the back seat, causing her to swerve and wreck the car.
With them standing next to the wreck, waiting for help, he announced his intention to take his child. How he knew about it wasn’t Hahvi’s concern. He was not going to touch her daughter.
He was in his first year at a government post and completely confident in his ability to get away with anything. His greatest mistake was in being too far for direct contact when he announced his demands.
She told him that he would never have her daughter, and if he took one step toward her, she would destroy him. He didn’t believe her, and soon, there was nothing left of him but ash. He had screamed and screamed as his body turned from flesh to ash, but she kept the fire on, keeping her daughter safe from the bastard who had fathered her.
Haloor had been the first one there, and his shock at the image of his sister sobbing with a burned-out radius of thirty feet had not stopped him from calling his other sister for damage control.
With her agreement, they took the knowledge from her. She didn’t remember her daughter, the conception or the demise of the paternal line. They set her at the edge of the woods and asked her to call fire.
That was how the guards had located her. The bright molten lava of the geothermic area came to the surface easily and gave her a warm place to stay while she waited for help.
The next step was the dome.
She sighed and leaned back against Rackon. “So, you can see what triggered it.”
He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Yes, I can. So, you have a daughter?”
Hahvi smiled. “I do. She is alive, healthy and completely unconnected to me. My sister could not risk bringing her for visits, because the sight of her would jostle the blocks that Haloor and Hakena tried so hard to put in place.”
“Do you want to see her?”
Hahvi sighed, “More than anything but not on Resicor. If I can’t keep her safe from incarceration, I don’t want to risk her freedom.”
“Spoken like a mother.” He stroked her hair back. “Does she have hair like you?”
Hahvi chuckled. “I have no idea. They didn’t allow us pictures of family.”
“I will put out inquiries. There may be a way to get your family off Resicor.”
“Haloor likes his position. It has enabled him to help any number of the newer physical talents.”
“He will be in danger if your daughter disappears.”
“I know it, so I will send him plain and uninformed messages and hope that he replies to me.”
He pressed another kiss to her temple, and she turned her face to his, kissing him gently.
He sighed against her cheek. “You have a full day ahead.”
With another caress to her face, she fell into the embrace of darkness.
Chapter Eleven
Aliora had dark circles under her eyes but a determined hand on the controls. “How close do you need me to get?”
Hahvi looked around and found a rock jutting out of the lava flow. “That one, right there.”
The idea was that Hahvi could get up to heat on the rock and move the lava from there. The moment that the pressure was off the walls of the city, they were taking off.
Hahvi opened the gate on the small flier and prepared to drop.
“I am in position, but I can’t hold it long.” Aliora grimaced and wrestled with the controls.
“You don’t have to.” Hahvi dropped onto the ten-foot plateau of rock at the point where two columns of lava met and mingled.
Her body started to hum with energy, and she drew the heat up into her cells and turned it into power that she could use.
Aliora smiled and waved as she returned to the city. “Good luck!” was a shout that faded with the wind and the roar of the rock.
Hahvi faced her element, raised her arms and got to work.
High on the hillside, a video recorder was aimed at the site, the edge of the city, and it took in the image of the alien who commanded stone to craft a wall around the city letting the inhabitants lift the city to safety without fear of dying a fiery death.
Hahvi pushed the stone back and up, causing a churning wave back on itself. The wall grew as she continued to be a barrier to the movement of molten stone. When it was fifteen feet high and expanded to either side of the city, she pushed the lava aside to allow them to lift off.
She felt rather than saw the propulsion of the city. It threw air off in waves as it pushed away fro
m the surface of the planet it had been built on.
Hahvi kept her mind on the lava as the city shifted position and hovered its way across the landscape toward their new home.
When they shifted toward the valley that would lead them, Hahvi crafted another diversion that sent the lava down and to the left. The air they were blasting cooled the surface, and the city slowly hummed along.
With nothing else to focus on, Hahvi began to sculpt shapes in the lava, pulling strands out and over the barricade to create a village made of wrought stone on the empty plateau that had previously hosted the city. It would be wiped out as soon as the lava broke the barricades, but for now, it was a bit of fun.
She shifted, twisted and created stone houses, a temple, a town square and stone flowers and trees. The chugging hum of the moving city was a constant background to her efforts.
Her mind held the barricades effortlessly. Her elements of fire and stone came to her easily when she was manipulating both and not trying to create one or the other.
A horn blasted and she nodded, looking for her pickup. The second major diversion needed her attention, and the only way she was going to get there was if someone came to get her.
It took an hour, but finally, a flier came toward her. It landed next to her, and Hahvi was surprised to see Rackon at the controls. “Where is Aliora?”
“Testifying against Thakeri. One of dozens. They had to have the trial immediately to allow the nullification to stand.”
She nodded and got on board. “Pardon if I am too hot, but I don’t want to cool down before I work on the second diversion.”
He smiled, but she noted that he was pressed tightly to the controls. “I understand. Just pick your spot, and I will put you there.”
She nodded, and they skimmed past the city where many of the population were out and watching the events. They waved and called out as Rackon and Hahvi flew past.
“This is a big day for everyone.” Hahvi was finally grasping the enormity of what they were doing.
He laughed. “I am glad you have figured that out. The talented of the Bormaic were not here as survivors, they were rejected from all colonies that they applied to. The rest of our race is scattered and blended through the stars, but we are stuck here.”
“You got into the Citadel, though.”
“Yes, but there is little reason to remain away from home. Counsel talents are thick on the ground, so unless someone is in a coma, a dream master is not of much use.”
She fidgeted. “You could come with me.”
He blinked at her in surprise. “You would enjoy my company?”
She blushed, “More than your company, but I am not sure about your inclinations on the matter.”
He grinned. “We will discuss this later, when you are not melting the metal beneath your feet.”
She chuckled and looked to see that he was right. She was too hot to be this close to him. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It isn’t my flier.”
Hahvi laughed and pointed out her drop site. He got her close, and she dropped to the edge of the valley, settling against the hard rock while she waited for him to get to safety.
Humming to herself, she redirected the lava trail, hooked it around the mountain it snaked past and back to the main river.
The diversion caused the waves to harden, and soon, the city was approaching at a slow and steady pace.
The underside of the city was exposed to her as it approached, and it took Hahvi a minute before she realized what it would mean to her.
She created a shelter out of the hardening stone, an archway that would keep the waves of air from suffocating her. It was a peculiar fact that air moving too rapidly was almost as bad as not enough.
Breathing took on a awkward intensity during the hour that it took for the city to pass overhead completely.
She was relieved in the extreme as a flier landed near her. She slithered out of her compartment and walked up to the flier.
Rackon smiled, but there was worry in his eyes. “Are you doing well?”
She nodded. “This stuff is easy. The city ought to be in place tomorrow. I may need to do some minor shifting, but it will be safe and sound. Where is Aliora?”
He sighed, “Still at the trial. Baron Thakeri is claiming that there is no proof that he used psychic seduction as he has never been tested for such.”
Hahvi nodded. “I understand. Do you have access to the Citadel or Alliance records?”
“Of course.”
“Is there any sort of video record of my arrival?”
“Yes, why? What are you getting at?”
She nodded for him to fly. “I will explain as we go.”
With the records in hand, a tired Hahvi went to the trial. She was read into the record, and she faced the queries of Thakeri’s defense.
“Hahvi Karuda, why did you accuse my client?”
Hahvi sat with the data pad on her lap. “I witnessed the change in attitude by Aliora and recognized it as a psychic seduction.”
“Are you an expert?”
She gave the woman a look of contempt. “Yes, I am.”
“How so?”
“I have been on the receiving end of a similar brand of seduction, and it had a similar effect.”
“Are you certain that you did not accuse him just because the handsome baron did not select you as a bed partner?” The legal representative had the expression that indicated that any and all women would enjoy Thakeri’s attentions.
“I am certain.”
Hahvi waited while the woman and the accused spoke quietly.
When the woman returned, Thakeri smirked.
“Are you not simply using your own experiences to colour your impression of Thakeri?”
Hahvi looked at the weary deciding council. “May I speak freely?”
Four of the councillors nodded.
“My experiences led me to voluntary incarceration, because I was afraid of injuring family or friends with my presence. I do, however, have proof of Thakeri’s attempted seduction.”
The legal rep blinked, “What?”
“I am wearing a living suit that assists me in my work, but as my species is new to the Citadel, it is implanted with sensors to detect all psychic fields.”
Hahvi lit the data projector and showed the group a scan of talent. “Do you see that energy wave pattern? That pattern is that of a male in the Citadel whose talent is psychic seduction. Do you see this next pattern and the time stamp? That pattern of energy was registered against this suit on my arrival.”
She played the arrival vid. “Here you see him approaching me, the energy in my suit is stable, and here is his touch on my hand and the registration of the psychic field. So, madam, yes, I do know what a psychic seduction feels like. No, I do not think that every man in my vicinity is trying to seduce me, and yes, I know the look on a woman’s face when she is dumbstruck under psychic pressure. I saw it in a mirror, nine years ago.”
The victims looked relieved and the councillors bent their heads together.
Finally, the head of the council stood. “Baron Thakeri, you are found guilty of psychic seduction and having an undeclared talent. Your nullification will stand and in light of your manipulation of these proceedings, you will be wiped, and tomorrow, you will begin your new life as one of the masses.”
The baron was crying, snivelling. His legal rep was looking at him with repulsion.
Hahvi got to her feet and swayed. Rackon was at her side, and they walked back to her quarters where a meal waited for her. She ate numbly, suffered through a shower and didn’t even feel Rackon curl around her.
Chapter Twelve
Hahvi wished she had something to read. Creating diversions to give the city a smooth and even path to fly over was boring as hell.
Six hours of diverting lava were almost at an end. As she watched, the city slowly elevated evenly, moving into position on the new plateau.
A now-cheerful Aliora piloted the flie
r that came down. “We are there, Hahvi. You did it!”
Hahvi dragged herself onto the flier and held on while they returned to the city. Drilling was commencing, connecting them to the water table. Power would be run through the mountain next to them, keeping them away from the possibility of magma eruption.
The crowds waiting for her cheered and yelled as the flier came in for a landing outside her quarters.
Hahvi was curious, “I thought you had to land in the designated area.”
“I will take the fine. You need some rest and a shower.” Aliora wrinkled her nose.
Hahvi walked through the crowd, shaking hands and smiling, but the door to her apartment loomed ever larger. Inside, she breathed deeply before heading upstairs.
The shower woke her enough to make sure she drank some water, but wrapped in a towel, she fell onto her bed without bothering to wish for Rackon.
When she woke, everything was silent, but a peculiar light was coming from the small balcony.
Hahvi made her Masuo form her suit. She walked to the edge of the balcony and peered out to see where the light was coming from.
Hundreds of folk with lights were holding vigil for her.
“They have been there for six hours. Aliora told them you needed to sleep, so they gathered and held onto the lights so that you would not wake in darkness.” Rackon’s voice was sleepy, and as she looked, he was lying on her bed, nothing on his body but the sheet.
She blushed hotly and returned her gaze to the crowds. She waved slightly and a cascade of laughter and yelling began. With Hahvi awake, there was no reason not to start the party.
Hahvi watched streamers fly as well as a few inhabitants. They climbed high into the sky, and as they descended, bursts of light marked the sky.
“They are enjoying themselves.” She smiled and sighed happily.
Hahvi returned to the bed and had a seat. Rackon took her hand and tugged her toward him.
She had a thousand questions that would distract him from the intent in his eyes, but she swallowed them all and pressed her lips to his.
They rolled together in the sheets, her Masuo disappearing as he touched her skin. The cuff on her leg didn’t get in the way as she stroked the hard planes of his skin and her fingers memorised the strange musculature of the Bormaic.