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Aura has lived being a psychic mouthpiece for other races. When she sees an assassin from her past, she takes matters into her own hands and loses her life in an act of vengeance.
Randr has been trying to catch his Terran before she got herself killed, but she manages it anyway and he has to act fast. Carrying her Home, healers put her back together and time heals her wounds. Now, he only has to explain that she is destined to be a time agent chosen by the consciousness of a dead universe. What could be difficult about that?
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Avenge
Copyright © 2012 Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-77111-196-6
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Avenge
A Terran Times Tale
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Tarral Nich was an ancient world and it had the feeling of being what it was, a living museum. Aura Athena Arkan was bored out of her mind.
Assigned as an intermediary for a water-born race called the Irati, Aura had watched her client return to their ship an hour ago. The tank that the ambassador had travelled in was not conducive to a good evening with dinner and dancing. She returned to her own world with her compliments to Aura’s trainer.
Aura had thanked her politely and when she was gone, had entered the museum to join the party. As the music swelled, folks took to the dance floor in the old ballroom.
“May I have this dance?”
Aura jumped as the voice whispered in her ear. She turned to see a tall, elegant man wearing a hooded cowl standing right next to her. All that was visible was his jaw line, a sensual mouth and very pale skin.
“Oh. I am not sure that I know this one.”
The shadowed face smiled. “I am sure that I can lead you if you will trust me.”
It was a strange request. “I will trust you to lead me in the dance. After that, my trust is reserved for those who have earned it.”
“Fair enough. Shall we?” He extended a strong, long-fingered hand and she placed hers in it. He led her to the dance floor and swung her into his arms.
Aura was amazed that his arms didn’t roam but stiffened to keep her in step as they twirled around the floor with the other dancers. She was literally steered in the patterns of the dance and after a while, she relaxed enough to let herself enjoy it.
“You are doing much better, my lady. How is it that you have come to Tarral Nich?”
She looked up into the dark recesses of his hood. There were still no obvious features beyond that hypnotizing mouth.
“I am here on assignment. I was being used as a kah-dore.”
“A what?”
“It is an Irati name meaning air mouth. I open my mind to my employer and they use my body to speak through. It is an odd talent, but it is mine.”
He smiled down at her. “It is my luck that you were here today then. May I have your name?”
She grinned as he twirled her in a slow pass. “You may not have it, it’s mine. Do you wish to know it?”
“I do.”
“You first.”
“Randr.”
She blinked. “Well, pleased to meet you, Randr. I am Aura.”
If he was sticking to first names and no designations, she was going to be right behind him.
He had one hand on her lower back and the heat that was radiating from his palm worked on her nervous system in strange and fascinating ways.
“Why are you here, Randr?”
“That is a very philosophical question, Aura.”
“Yes, it is, but in this case, I am sure that you are aware that what I meant was why have you come to this reception on Tarral Nich?”
He spun her around, his hand pulling her more firmly against him. It was at this point that she realized he was either carrying steel in his trousers or he was aroused.
“I was called here by the knowledge of my woman being in this place, at this time. She is the reason that I am here.”
Aura was confused by his use of the word time. The way his voice expressed it, he had chosen to move through time and space to join the reception at the museum.
“I don’t understand.” Her whisper was for his ears alone.
The music stopped and they parted. He grinned at her, his mouth twisting in a smile that showed pointed teeth. “You will.”
He bent and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, a light bite followed that drew a bead of blood, but before she could protest, he was gone.
* * * *
“Did you get the sample?” the voice in his earpiece was intensely curious.
Randr disappeared into the shadows of the gardens behind the museum. “I have it. Analysis is running, but I believe that she is the one.”
“You must be sure. There is no room for error.”
“Then let me have the hour to confirm the match.”
“Be in contact in one hour. The gate will only open for three minutes, so we have to make it precise. Be sure, or we will have to find another one.”
“Understood. I will speak to you in one hour.” Randr cut off the link and turned to watch the woman from the shadows.
This was his nineteenth run through time and space, looking for this woman at precisely this time. Each time he had followed Aura to a world, he had missed her by hours and today, he was confident that he could catch her and bring her back where she belonged.
* * * *
Since Randr had disappeared, Aura was on her own, sipping at a glass of wine and making small talk with the assistant of one of the local representatives.
A familiar figure passed along the edge of the ballroom and her blood ran cold.
“Please excuse me, Rora. I think I see someone I know.” Aura smiled brightly while rage ran into her normally calm mind.
“Go ahead. I will be here when you get back.” Rora sipped at her beverage with her short trunk and smiled.
Nodding absently, Aura followed the man who had killed the ambassador of Gehnik just after her assignment three years ago.
The assassin she was trailing had poisoned the water that Mishsha was floating in and the living jellyfish had not had a chance. Aura had been the only one who had seen him entering the quarters of the ambassador and that was because she had offered the man her services as kah-dore to assist him in communicating with the creature in the tank. The man had declined, indicating that he did not need her.
One hour later, preparing to lock into the shuttle, she had been removed and given a going over by the local constabulary. Her innocence was easily proven, but they were not happy to have their best suspect cleared. The conversation in the hall had been recorded, as had a speech within the ambassador’s quarters clearly stating that the poisoning was for a bounty.
It had cost her six months of investigation int
o every inch of her mind and a very good friend in the ambassador, so his killer’s face was not one she was willing to forget.
He moved slowly along the perimeter of the crowd, speaking casually to anyone he passed.
With every laugh and casual chuckle that he gave out, her soul burned a little more until her fury blinded her.
Aura eyed one of the security officers standing by and bumped into him, lifting his stunner from his belt and apologizing profusely.
He smiled and brushed her off, “No worries, miss. Have a nice evening.”
With her gown rustling, she followed the assassin out of the ballroom and down the hall.
He didn’t seem to be aware of her, but she quietly fiddled with the stunner until the safety was off and the power was ramped up.
He passed a number of displays before stopping in front of a case. When he raised his arm to smash the glass, Aura lifted the stunner and fired.
He screamed and fell to the ground, twitching dramatically.
Caution was gone and she strode to where his body was writhing on the floor.
A knife flashed in the dimness of the hall and embedded itself in her ribs. Aura fell back, clutching at her wound.
The assassin stood and scowled at her, tilting his head as he stared. “You. The interpreter.”
She didn’t speak. She could taste blood and pain was radiating through her.
He reached out to take the knife back and she raised her hand, shooting him again, this time between the three eyes that decorated his forehead and straight into his brain. When he fell, she fired again. And again.
When the stunner’s charge was empty and he was dead, she started to return to the party, the obscene broach of the wound and knife front and centre on her gown.
Hands caught her and held her. Cursing was definitely the tone of the alien words coming to her ears.
With a swift move, Randr lifted her and walked out into the gardens. “This is not how I wanted to see you, Aura, but hold on. We are almost home.”
Chapter Two
A welter of images assaulted Aura’s senses—lights, men and women with long black hair, searing pain and then everything going dark.
Waking was an exercise in pain. Her ribs felt like they had been host to a knife, her throat was dry and raw. Lying still, she tried to get a feel for her surroundings, but all she could determine was that she was not in an Alliance facility.
Footsteps approached and the bed she was lying on tilted at the waist, bringing her to a sitting position.
Randr was standing next to the bed with his lips pressed together with tension. “You had us worried, Aura.”
She croaked, “Where am I?”
“That will wait for later. For now, know that you are simply safe and alive.” He reached to the bedside table and gave her a glass of water with a straw.
She blinked. It was so prosaic—it could have been a glass from a hospital on earth. With a few slow sips, she managed to make her voice sound normal again. “It’s later. Where am I?”
He sighed and scooped her out of the bed, sheet and all.
Randr walked with her to a double door and with the flick of his hand, he opened the doors and stepped onto a balcony that overlooked something that took her breath away.
Beyond the balcony, a wide panorama of land and mountain ranges extended, but what stunned her more than anything was the stellar expanse that made her feel like she could simply reach out and touch the stars.
“There is no name for where we are. We are outside time and have no home on any world that has a name.” Randr looked down at her and the curve of his lips was serious.
“So, I am lost in space?” A giggle started in her mind and spread until she stopped laughing with a gasp.
“Not lost. We know exactly where you are. We had to remove you from your timeline and I am afraid that I cut it rather close.”
She blinked. “Removed? From time? Am I still asleep?”
His lips curved upward in amusement. “No. You are awake and alive. Both were in doubt just a few hours ago.”
She touched her forehead and reached up to yank on her hair, a method that never failed to wake her from a peculiar dream. “Ow.”
His mouth twisted in a wider smile. “That was unusual. Is it a species’ tradition?”
She looked around her again at what appeared to be a chunk of land floating on its own in space. “This is real.”
Randr turned and walked back inside with her. “It is real. And as soon as you are up for it, you will learn why you are here.”
There was an undertone of threat to his voice, but she was too tired to take it to heart. She relaxed back into the crisp sheets of the medical bed and he slowly lowered her back to a prone position.
“Sleep well. You will be feeling much better when you wake.”
Aura could feel a smile curve her lips as she drifted off. The lightest touch of lips on her forehead sent her into dreams.
* * * *
Randr looked down at the small Terran and shook his head. They had used the power of three healers to pull her back from the edge of oblivion and her wound still had not healed properly.
It was the curse of the Nameless that they died so easily before they underwent transformation, but they had gathered around the newest of their number to bring her into their midst.
He had almost been too late. Seeing her staggering with the knife piercing her lung and internal organs had almost caused him to lose his concentration. The trip from her space and time to his had taken seconds, but it was seconds that she did not have.
Randr caught a glimpse of a sleeve near the door and he walked out into the hall.
“What is it, Tavik?”
Tavik grimaced. “The council wants to meet the new arrival. When do you think she will be up and about?”
Randr sighed. “As soon as I accelerate her wound. Give me an hour and remember that she hasn’t seen one of us before. A little concealment will probably go over very well.”
Tavik blushed and drew up his hood to conceal the eyes that marked all of the Nameless. Dark orbs that held the swirling of stars within them were a little unusual for even the races of the Alliance. No matter what species the member of the Nameless had been born, their eyes shifted to the stellar pattern after they embraced their genetic heritage.
“Are you going to heal her now, Randr?”
“I am. Have you seen the procedure before?”
Tavik shook his head.
“She is in a natural sleep, so I will not be able to speak for fear of waking her, but if you watch carefully, I will answer whatever questions you have afterward.”
Tavik nodded and followed Randr into the room.
Randr removed the knife from his belt that all Nameless were given at their activation and quietly slit the fabric of the sheet that covered Aura’s wound. The wound was angry and red against the pale alabaster of her skin.
With a quick look to Tavik, Randr gathered temporal energy between his palms and pressed the shift in time into Aura’s flesh.
The skin began to pale rapidly and when the mark had almost faded, he withdrew the orb of accelerated time and reabsorbed it into his hands.
When Randr looked up, Tavik was staring at his hands, his lips moving silently as he formulated questions. He got Tavik’s attention and they left the room where Aura was recuperating.
Once the door was closed, Tavik asked, “How do you control it like that? I am never able to get the orbs that small.”
Randr walked down the hall with the younger Nameless. “You just have to remember one very important thing when you heal with an orb.”
Tavik looked at him with attention. “What is that?”
“If the orb is too large, it will age and kill the person you are trying to heal. If you don’t think you can keep your concentration in check, you had best not attempt the healing. I did not even try to heal her until the physicians here had stitched her up. If I had aged her wound without treatm
ent, she would have either died of septic infection or bled to death. We are not healers. We can only move the process along once everything is in its proper place. So, when you try and heal someone, keep that in mind and keep the power tight. Also, withdraw the orb before they are completely healed as their body is going to continue to move at an accelerated pace until the energy dissipates.”
Tavik nodded. “Thank you. Where are you off to now?”
Randr grimaced, “Her clothing was soaked in blood with a large hole in the torso. She will need something to wear to meet the council. I am going to clothing storage.”
Randr strode along and Tavik came with him.
He sighed at the enthusiasm of the younger man, but he was not in the mood to act as tutor. Ravikka was Tavik’s tutor and he needed to address his questions to her. Tavik’s people did not consider women to be equals to men and that could be part of the problem. He was only one year into his time as a Nameless and he would learn.
At storage, Randr entered Aura’s measurements into the computer and ran through the available selections. He selected three outfits all the way to the shoes and undergarments and waited for the machine to remove them from their cubicles to deliver them.
“Why that clothing?” Tavik was looking at the selections on the screen.
Randr stifled a sigh. “Aura is capable of a fairly active lifestyle, but she also needs a casual outfit and a dress. Most women who have worn trousers prefer them for a relaxing day.”
“They are not appropriate for a lady.”
Randr laughed out loud. “You don’t know much about women. Give them an option and they will pick clothing to impress you. Tell them what they have to wear and they will find ways to thwart you. Aura is an independent agent, much like your tutor Ravikka. She does what she pleases but adheres to protocols.”
Tavik looked a little abashed. “But Aura was a servant. She is subservient.”