by Viola Grace
Beast cleared his throat. “That was me. I honestly didn’t think you could fly.”
She looked around and shrugged. “It is obvious that I can copy a talent. I also copy the psychic mechanical skills to control it. To really explain it, I need a board I can draw on.”
Fixer grinned. “Come this way. Class is in session.”
Amly got back to her feet, and with Keezik helping her along, she walked to the display board and took the drawing implements from Fixer.
She swept her arm in a short semi-circle and pointed. “This is the sub-mind. All your involuntary instincts are here. It is the building block for the rest of your personality.”
She drew an arc over the other one. “This is your conscious mind. This is where you put your personality traits, your moods, your knowledge.”
Another arc. “This is your surface mind. The thoughts for the day, your immediate plans. All that is in here. Now, if you are a talent, you have two control lines, containment areas. One is above the surface mind, and one is below the conscious mind.”
She took a deep breath and explained, “When I copy a body, I take a glance at everything above the conscious mind. When I copy a talent, I have to go down to the lower control line so that I don’t do anything stupid.”
Fixer stared at the lines. “How did you work this out?”
“My cousin Nola helped me to get a grip on my talent by copying hers. We worked on it for hours until I could even copy a talent without physical effect.”
She looked at the faces around her and picked up a piece of metal from the workshop table. Without changing her face, she warped the metal and then she rang the little bell. “Class dismissed.”
Fixer applauded wildly and the others joined in.
Equilar landed her small skimmer and strode into the workshop. “I don’t know what is going on here, but it isn’t Amly getting an education. She needs training and we need to get it done. Mala, get to teaching her about using those gadgets of yours. I will go and get some more food. We are going to get her into action as soon as we can.”
Fixer paused. “What is going on?”
“We just got a call. They are experimenting again and another wave of her people have been taken.”
Amly stepped forward. “Just tell me where to go.”
Equilar raised her hand. “Not untrained you won’t. You have a tremendous capacity for learning. Now, you are going to prove it.”
There was no arguing with the nod that Relay gave her and the look in Equilar’s eyes. She wasn’t ready yet, and if she wanted a chance at getting her people free, she needed to be the best that she could be. Urikara hadn’t been kidding. She was being called to get the sons and daughters to bring them to safety.
She had work to do.
Four days of intensive study and breaks to shift into as many forms as she could without passing out and she was ready for action.
Keezik was behind the controls, but she was more than capable of flying, in theory. All her life was filled with theory now, but Walking Shadow and Copy were on the way to the rendezvous with the intercept ship.
She didn’t know how she felt about the name, but going into a situation where someone might remember her, she was better off with an alias.
“So, he won’t know why I am there?”
“No. He is not going to be happy though. Keep that in mind. He will be defensive and his mind will be locked against you. It is the first thing they are taught.”
She gave him a look. “How do you know?”
“I used to be a Raider.”
Amly turned to stare at him. “What?”
“You heard me. I was a member of the Raiders, and I was with them as they pulled talents from Resicor. It was only four years ago that I…left.”
“How could you not tell me about that?”
“I was afraid you would react in a negative manner. Now, putting my previous occupation aside, you need to listen.”
He went through the procedure of how she was to gain the body she needed and what she was to say and do. Once she was wearing the correct body, she would have the keys to go anywhere in the Raider research base.
This was going to take more nerve than she had imagined she had in her body.
The rendezvous was with an Alliance warship. No one spoke to them as they entered the ship. They walked through the halls behind their escort and to the prisoner hold.
Outside the door, the guard stood aside and Keezik stood with him.
Amly stepped into the cell and faced the man who was shackled to the wall. Man was being kind; it was more an animal in features with blunt digits and scrubby stubble on every part of its face.
“Good afternoon.” She smiled politely and stepped into the room, pulling back the hood of her cloak.
“What do you want, bitch? I am not going to talk.”
She walked up to him and touched his hand, taking in as much as she could. “I don’t want you to talk. I want you to think about where you were going and who was meeting you there.”
“Like hell, bitch.”
She nodded and skimmed through his mind, gaining what she needed. “Thank you. Have a nice day.”
He was shouting obscenities when she exited the room with her hood up. Her body wanted to shift, but she had to make it back to their shuttle.
Keezik held her arm as they retraced their steps with urgency. She had warned him about what was going to happen. Instead of taking their Alliance shuttle, they were taking the bounty hunter’s ship.
It had all been arranged, but speculative gazes watched them as they got on board the ship and settled into place.
She breathed in and let the revolting appearance overtake her. The knowledge she needed was there, and after binding and locking Keezik in the hold, she settled behind the controls. She dropped out of the warship and headed for open space and an unmapped jump point.
D’kan Yilio was a day late for his return to the base. His return with Keezik would explain the delay. Handing in a wanted ex-Raider was always worth a bonus.
Returning without Lor Quil, the scaled assassin, was a bit of a downer, but Lor had had the bad taste to get caught on a simple assassination of an untrained shifter.
Deep in her own mind, Amly snickered while the outer D’kan Yilio prepared for the jump point. It wasn’t neat or comfortable, but she got them through.
She had two hours of comfortable shift left when she grabbed Keezik and hauled him off D’kan’s ship.
“D’kan, what kept you?” A scowling guard with three noses growled.
“Lor Quil got caught and then I caught this one. I think Dorsadu will enjoy the irony of this.”
D’kan shoved Keezik forward into the base. “I will take him to holding.”
“Good. What are you using on him?”
D’kan snorted. “The Citadel is working on null bands, so I stole a set. They should hold him long enough.”
“The researchers will love getting a hold of those.”
“I will charge them accordingly.” He nodded and dragged his prize into the facility, heading for the holding area.
D’kan stomped along and nodded at a few folk that he recognized. Keezik got a few jeers and sneers as well as a woman who walked up and slapped him across the face. D’kan just snorted and walked him further and further into the base.
Deep in the belly of the facility, D’kan found the cells and opened one, shoving Keezik inside. Once he had dumped his cargo, D’kan went to get paid.
“Norsko. I have picked up Keezik, and he is in the holding cells with null bands on him. I want the bounty for him and a bonus for the bands.”
Norsko looked up from his desk and sighed. “How do I know that the bands work?”
“Because he is here and in holding and not melting through the floor after grabbing the minds of the nearest workers.” D’kan put his hands on his hips and he snorted.
Norsko nodded. “Good
point. Hold out your chit.”
“I will take hard currency, like I always do.”
Norsko smiled. “Just had to check. Here you go.”
A small pouch of metallic bars clicked onto the desk. D’kan checked it and nodded. “Good. Oh. Lor Quil won’t be coming back. He messed up.”
Norsko closed his eyes. “Where was he caught?”
“He never made the pickup, so I am guessing Morganti.” D’kan shrugged and walked away, playing with his money.
He walked the halls toward the food court and exchanged greetings with a few folks that he knew.
He headed for the lavs and stepped into a service corridor, heading for the experimental holding area.
She was on the clock now. Her time holding a solid body was running out.
When she arrived at the experimental area, she checked the security guards and drew her gun. She fired several shots with precision and the guards lay on the ground.
She could feel the gazes on her as she worked to open the cages where the Resicorans were being held.
“If you want to survive, get out.”
They looked at her blankly.
She sighed and resumed her normal shape. It was odd, but it took some effort to get Resicor standard back in her mouth. “If you want to survive, get out.”
They pushed daintily at the cages until the doors swung open.
She sighed in relief. “Come on. Time is wasting.”
Keezik dropped through the ceiling. “The transport is ready. We can go as soon as we get there.”
Twenty of her people were milling around like herd beasts.
One woman said, “How are you going to get us all out of here?”
“Follow me and help when you can. I have minimal training, but I wanted to get you out and get you somewhere safe.”
She sighed and began to move through the crowd, touching them and learning their talents as she went. When she found a spy in the group, she pushed the woman away and used the electric stunner from her belt.
The others looked at her warily.
“She is a spy. A plant by the Resicor government to see what the Raiders are doing. She is a long-distance telepath.”
One man said, “She said she was a water talent.”
“She lied.”
Amly quickly finished her round and didn’t find anyone else. Everyone with her was a legitimate victim.
“Right. If everyone is ready. We are going to try and sneak you past an army and get you to a place where you have a choice to use your talent or not.”
One of the women said, “I want to go home.”
“I know. I do, too. I want my life back, but they won’t let me have it, so until our world changes, I am not going back because there is nothing there for me.”
The others exchanged gazes and nodded.
“Lead us out. Everything else is up for a later decision.”
Amly looked at Keezik and they started toward freedom.
Chapter Nine
The first ten minutes of skulking through the base were successful. The gadgets that Fixer had given her let them know when folk were coming and they mapped the interior for her.
When the dead guards and unconscious spy were discovered, the alarm went up and things got tense.
One of the prisoners stepped forward and said, “Wait a moment.”
Amly watched the tendrils of gas leave his skin and snake around the corners. The thudding of the bodies hitting the ground let them know that the gas was toxic on some level.
The prisoner shut off the gas and it dissipated in seconds. He waved them forward and they entered a dining hall filled with unconscious folk.
“Well done.” Amly clapped him on the shoulder and smiled at him.
They made it another five minutes, closer to the surface before they finally made it outside.
Keezik pointed. “Transport is over there. We need a distraction for the guns.”
Amly grinned. “I can do that. Take my utility belt. I won’t need it.”
He must have seen her determination in her gaze. She stepped out into the middle of the walkway, and as the guns came to aim at her, she channeled her inner dragon and let it come out to play.
She saw her people run to safety, and she breathed fire, pawed at the guns, broke them, shattered them and melted the door shut. No one was coming out of that door any time soon. Once the weaponry was destroyed, she ambled toward the ship, and when she reached it, she shifted back into her Resicoran form.
The transport was packed with folk, and she smiled brightly at them as she headed for the cockpit. It was a two-person console.
She locked the doors, checked the seals and nodded to her partner.
Keezik set the liftoff, and in seconds, they were rumbling into the air.
Amly ran her hands over the panel, programming in the jump site as well as the warship on the other side.
This was a two-part event for the warship. They had to hold position for this to work, so Amly was depending on the Alliance living up to their word.
“Are we set for the rendezvous?”
Amly nodded and rubbed her head. There had been too many people in it today. “We are set.”
“What is wrong?”
“You know the four-hour limit I put on the change?”
“Yes.”
“It is a protective reflex. If I keep them on too long, I lose a piece of myself. That was happening today. It will take me a bit to get back to myself.”
“Can I help?”
She thought about it. “Can you just hold me for a while? I will glove up so there is no danger of my learning something you don’t want me to know.”
He snorted. “That is up to you.”
She locked in the coordinates and moved to sit across his lap, seeking comfort and a sense of balance.
He wrapped his arms around her and sighed with relief. She could hear it in his tone. He was relieved by her presence in his arms.
“Why such a big sigh, Keezik?”
“After you learned I had time as a Raider in my past, I thought you wouldn’t come near me.”
“I am not so shallow. I also spent time as D’kan and therefore know about how you escaped and how many you took with you. It was very brave and exceptionally dangerous.”
“That will take some getting used to, that you can take on the experiences of others.”
“They gave me more understanding for you, so don’t knock it.” She laughed and whispered, “Hit the jump drive.”
He leaned forward and activated the drive, pulling them into Alliance space and the path of the warship.
When he leaned back, she took his cheek and kissed him. “Sorry that I freaked out. I trust you and I trust what you choose to tell me.”
“I am so glad. Now, go warn the warship that we are on the way and pursuit is three minutes behind.”
“Yes, sir. Too bad. The lap thing was working for me.” She grinned and returned to the com side of the ship.
The Alliance officer got excited when the call came in but assured her that they were scrambling for engagement with the Raiders while protecting the victims’ transport.
It was important that they made that distinction, because Amly had no inclination to be blown out of space because someone got a little overly enthusiastic.
The battle raged behind them, and their ship docked with the warship, getting the Resicoran survivors off and to safety before they cut the transport loose and blew it up in case it was tracked or rigged to blow anyway.
The Resicorans were given the language basics the same way that Amly had been, and when she looked at the assistance they were getting from the Alliance staff, she felt that she had done the right thing in not fighting to bring them home.
They didn’t need to be on a world where their lives and freedom were forfeit just for existing.
Keezik stayed near her while she helped the Resicorans settle
into the ship, but when she stepped back for a moment, he whispered, “We need to leave now. They will be assessed and sent to the Citadel that best matches their skills and personality. There is nothing more you can do, and you need to send a biological update to Effin.”
Amly made a face. Based on his concerned tone, he had noticed the tremor in her hands. “Fine. I have already said goodbye to those who needed it. Let’s go before I refuse to.”
He nodded and put his arm around her waist, walking her back to the Citadel shuttle that they had arrived in.
The moment she was back in the familiar surroundings, the energy that she had been forcing through her to keep her awake began to dwindle.
Keezik cursed and carried her to the medical foldout bed, strapping her in and putting oxygen and a drip on her.
She pointed at the belt he was holding in one hand and weakly pawed at the pouch holding the monitor relay.
He pressed it to her hip, absorbed the information in the relay and he read the display. With the care of a man assembling a detailed recipe, he opened and measured out supplement after supplement, adding them to her drip.
The resulting cocktail was an eerie neon green, but he settled everything securely and nodded. “I will get us underway so that Effin can look you over.”
She nodded from behind the oxygen mask and closed her eyes. He would take care of her; his mind was glowing with it.
Amly woke when Effin was moving a floating gurney through the halls.
She touched his arm, and he looked down in surprise.
His smile was warm. “You did well, Amly. It was the Cressex form that drained you this time. Their skin has a different mineral base, and it unbalanced your system. Oddly enough, the Drai shift was the easier of the two.”
She chuckled weakly and let herself doze off. When she woke, there were flowers all around her.
“What?”
Wekiat was sitting next to her bed. A shadow moved along the wall, so Amly knew that Keezik was nearby.