by Viola Grace
Table of Contents
Title Page
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Frisk
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Author’s Note
About the Author
An Enforcer turned Peacekeeper, Lera has to deal with the shift to Guardian Liaison and lover.
Lera has been through a few jobs since she left Terra. First, she was in training, then an Enforcer on alien worlds and now she is part of the Peacekeeper-Enforcer exchange program, dealing with the daily drudgery of being a beat cop in her small sector of a strange city.
When she comes to the attention of a Guardian, she knows that he is the one she has been waiting for. The quandary comes when she has to decide exactly how much of his destiny she is willing to reveal.
Lance uses his skill to create weapons from metal and disable his enemies. The small Terran captures his senses, but what can he do to get her within his grasp and keep her there?
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Frisk
Copyright © 2013 Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-77111-593-3
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.
Published by eXtasy Books
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Frisk
A Terran Times Tale
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Lera Douglas shifted in her riot armour. The Nyal Imperium had their Peacekeepers in heavy plates when they wandered into a fight, and as a member of the Nyal-Alliance Peacekeeper-Enforcer exchange program, she had to abide by the rules of her new unit.
“Private Lera, what are we looking at?” Captain Drular asked her quietly. Their unit was facing the prisoners who had crashed their shuttle perilously close to the city of Feural.
“Nine handheld blasters, twelve knives tucked into boots, a Delclaron with venom coming out of his claws.” She looked across the approaching field of escapees. “That is all I can see unless I can get closer.”
A new voice came through her com. “Thanks for that, Peacekeeper. We can take it from here.”
A skimmer roared overhead, and the Guardians of Jennila dropped into fight formation in front of the ten Peacekeepers. With a rush, Lance, Coma and Shatter wrapped up the incoming wave of violent prisoners.
Lera flexed her hands and grimaced. On Jennila, it seemed that Peacekeepers were only allowed to handle the bar fights and parade routes. Everything else was left to the Guardians.
Once the prisoners were wrapped up, the Guardians beckoned the Peacekeepers forward. “A little help with the restraints, please.”
“Well, Peacekeepers, at least we have something to do.” Captain Drular beckoned them forward, and they stomped out with the cuffs and bindings that would be needed to prepare the escapees for transport back to the prison world they had just left.
Lera set out with the rest of her unit, and they flipped the unconscious bodies over and cuffed their hands behind their backs. Lera went the extra mile and used her talent to frisk each and every prisoner before they woke. She pulled out wires, knives, a packet of acid and bone spikes in the first three prisoners she examined.
Looking down at them, she saw their weapons glowing hot. It was something she had always been able to do, and it was the skill that had propelled her into the Volunteers. Now, the psychic frisking was giving her a new set of aliens to search, and she had to admit that her strange talent was enabling her to meet new kinds of people and travel much more than she ever imagined.
The Guardian, Lance, came up to her. “What are you doing?”
“I am removing all hidden weaponry so that they can’t pick the locks or stab their pilot on the way home.”
“How?”
“I am looking for it.” She paused and looked up at him through the faceplate of her uniform. He appeared to be made of ivory and the palest gold.
She continued her work, ignoring the shiver that ran through her body at his lithe and athletic appearance. Half of her attraction was pheromones, the other half was the breadth of his shoulders. He was exceedingly handsome, but then, his people usually were.
He followed her, watching closely as she extracted a vast variety of weapons.
He cleared his throat. “We are having a recruitment drive in Feural tomorrow. You should come and try out.”
She snorted. “I am sorry. Tomorrow is my day off. I am not allowed to try out for anything strenuous.”
She finished and chucked the last weapon into a pouch that she handed to her captain. “They are as clean as I can make them, Captain.”
Lance was persistent. “Captain, I think your private here has what it takes to become a Guardian. You should insist that she attend the recruitment.”
“Her private time is not mine to control, Guardian. We were lucky enough to get her here.” Captain Drular was calm. He was always calm, it was his species’ characteristic.
“Where is she from?”
Lera blinked. They were talking about her as if she wasn’t even there. Shrugging, she helped arrange the prisoners for pickup.
Once the situation was under control, she was assigned to stand watch while the pursuit ship made its way to their location.
She ignored the Guardians and their curious looks as she watched the prisoners for any sign of a weapon she had missed.
The Guardians and half the Peacekeepers left, and it was four hours before the pickup ship arrived.
The pilot of the ship was cybernetically enhanced but obviously a Terran. Lera gripped her hand. “Hello, cousin.”
The woman winked. “Hello, cousin. Peacekeeper?”
Lera laughed. “Exchange program with the Enforcers. You?”
“Surgery to repair some genetic damage. The Alliance wouldn’t do it, but the Nyal Imperium would, so they made the arrangements, and here I am. Tobitha Morris.”
“Lera Douglas. Pleased to meet you.”
They weren’t able to continue chatting. The prisoners were loaded on board, and Tobitha waved farewell. “Sorry, duty calls. This is my sector, so if you want to go for caf next time I am in the area, I could call you.”
Lera grinned. “I would like that. Peacekeeper Outpost Feural. Ask for Frisk.”
They hugged quickly. “See you then, Frisk. Call me Gadget.”
“Bye, Gadget.”
The last of the groggy prisoners was locked in the transport, and Gadget was on her wa
y.
Lera marched away with the rest of her unit and watched as the ship flew off. It was a high-tech restraint transport. Gadget’s implants let her control every motor and mechanism on the ship. The prisoners were locked in place by their own susceptibility to magnetic fields. Lera had seen the setup before, but in that case, the transporter was a Nyal male, not a Terran woman.
Private Toimar walked with her on the long trek back to the city, his long legs creating a challenge for her to keep up. “So, are you going to go to the recruitment tomorrow?”
Lera grinned under her helmet. “I might, but as an observer, not as a participant. It might be fun to watch.”
Lieutenant Hormik chuckled. “Would you care to meet for dinner, Private? You can regale me with tales of your home.”
Lera grinned at the gender-neutral lieutenant. “That sounds nice. I am going to hit the groomers in the morning, so I should be presentable by the evening.”
Hormik shook its head. “I look forward to seeing it, and I hope your groomer is up for the challenge.”
Lera wanted to smack her current commanding officer, but instead, she sighed. “I hope you are right.”
She chuckled to herself as they made their way back to the barracks. “Enjoy your paperwork, Lieutenant Hormik. Ping me and tell me where you want to meet.”
“Will do.”
Private Toimar elbowed her. “May I come too? I am interested in seeing your magnificence.”
Lieutenant Hormik shook its head. “No, she does not need to be written up for fraternization. She has seniority on you and having her returned to the Alliance is not in the cards for me, so I will meet her alone.”
Lera laughed. Hormik loved to act as chaperone. It had no urge to see her returned to the Alliance, and they had a strange sort of relationship. One day, Hormik would have to choose a gender, and it was gathering all the information it could from Lera on what it meant to be a woman in the Peacekeepers.
Back in the barracks, Lera stood in front of her wide locker and stripped off her armour, one piece at a time. Her helmet went back on its stand, her body armour hung on a rack and her weapon was deactivated and locked in the case at the base.
With only her city suit on, she grabbed her baton and headed back to her beat. It was time to check in with the citizens of Feural and make sure that all was well in her section of the city. Being law enforcement had never been on her list of things she wanted to be when she grew up, but now, she couldn’t think about doing anything else.
* * * *
Lance looked around casually, and he nodded toward the Peacekeeper who was talking softly with the proprietor of a fruit stand. “I can’t believe that they have female Peacekeepers in this city.”
Coma snorted. “It took a while to get them to authorize it, but the population is warming to it rapidly.”
Lance watched the gentle sway of the woman’s hips, highlighted by her weapon belt. “It is certainly warming.”
They were seated at an outdoor café and enjoying a quiet moment after the activities of the morning. Lance couldn’t get the scent of the Peacekeeper out of his head. It was sending signals through his body to either fight or fuck, and since he couldn’t do either at the moment, he was stuck.
“You look like you need a workout, Lance.” Coma was noting his tense hand on his cup.
“I do, but not the kind you are thinking about. Something about that Peacekeeper.” He shuddered as he tried to get control of the lust running through him.
“Your kind is rather fixated on reproduction, aren’t they?” Shatter sneered. He considered himself to be above hormonal effects, though his species was so close to Lance’s, it was ridiculous. He was dark where Lance was light, and it was enough of a difference that few, if any, folks noticed the similarity.
“We aren’t fixated on it, Shatter. We just enjoy it. Finding someone compatible is a worthy pursuit. Proving that compatibility is simply mind-blowing fun.”
Shatter rolled his eyes, Coma snorted and Lance looked for the Peacekeeper, but she was beyond his field of view, leaving only the faintest of scents on the wind.
Coma shook her head. “I pity the recruits coming tomorrow. You are going to kill them.”
He smiled. “Then, they aren’t worthy of being Guardians.”
Chapter Two
Five hours after she had entered the groomer’s spa, they ejected her with her hair, nails, makeup done and a new outfit gracing her form.
The dress was slit up both legs to mid-thigh, allowing her to walk with ease and sit without flashing her bits. Hormik was meeting her at the recruitment drive. The afternoon had been reserved for physical talents, and both Lance and Shatter would have their talents on display.
The costume she was wearing was a lot more revealing than her uniform, but she enjoyed feeling like a girl once every eight weeks. It made her feel pretty.
Hormik waved her over, it’s long body covered in a neutral tunic and trousers. “You look lovely, Lera.”
“Thanks. It took three groomers and several prayers to get this result.” Lera grinned.
“Come on, Lance is just warming up.”
Hormik took her hand and hauled her to the front of the crowd on the upper level of the arena. They could see everything going on down below, and it was quite the show.
Lance was stripped to the waist and speaking quietly to the lineup of men and women on the side of the arena floor.
When he left them, he took a small metal bar from his belt and it expanded into a spear with a wickedly sharp tip. This was Lance’s skill, and he began to go through movements. His mastery of his own body was apparent.
His pale hair swung around his chalky body, his muscles began to gleam with sweat, and the blade he whipped around so effortlessly moved in deadly arcs through the air with every movement. It was a dance, and he was an excellent dancer.
The dark pigmentation around his eyes gave him a natural mask that made the gold of his eyes gleam, even from Lera’s vantage point. He was beautiful to watch, and she could stare at him for days.
His lower limbs were encased in loose trousers held in place with a tight sash and tucked into knee-high boots. He lunged, twisted and whirled, and it was only when he walked back to face the first of the recruits that Lera exhaled the breath she was holding.
Hormik was amused. “You are giving off pheromones that even I can sense. Is his physique that impressive?”
Lera leaned in and whispered, “Sometimes it is all about the first impression. The first impression here is that he is quite fit and very graceful. It is one of the first times since I came here that I have been struck like this.”
“What were the other times?”
“A Darkoli ambassador who was disturbed by my interest and a Genaran who wasn’t sure that I would be a good match. He was willing to screw me though, so I pushed that one aside and concentrated on training.”
“You don’t engage in sex for pleasure?” Hormik was surprised, and a few folk in the crowd around them were listening.
“We do. I do, but only when there is a chance for a bit more than a one-night stand. Never just for the purpose of satisfying the curiosity of a male.”
Hormik nodded. “So, it is a matter of pride then.”
“I suppose so. Hormones can only take you so far. Eventually, you have to look to the future.” Her words were spoken absently. Lance was up against one of the possible Guardian recruits.
The male had two blades and whirled them expertly, but he couldn’t land any solid contact with the graceful shifts that controlled Lance’s fighting. In a few strikes, the blades were in two pieces.
The attacker got a pat on his shoulders for his efforts, and Lance was on to the next recruit.
When Lance had taken care of his recruits, Shatter came up to work with his own batch of opponents, and the folk of Feural had the joy of watching one after the next fail the attack.
Lera sighed. “They don’t get it.”
Hormik was su
rprised. “What? What don’t they get?”
“A Guardian rarely attacks. They have to defend themselves and others behind them. It is in their very name.”
Coma was sitting still, and her head came up. She reached for the com unit, and as Lera made eye contact, she spoke. “Will the Peacekeeper who was at the prison shuttle yesterday please come down? You know who you are.”
Hormik grinned, “She doesn’t mean me.”
“I don’t want to muss my hair.”
“You won’t. Just wait for their attack.” Hormik grinned and prodded Lera down to the arena floor level.
Lera grumbled and went over to speak to Coma. “You called?”
Coma grinned. “You certainly look different.”
“It is my day off.” Lera put her hands on her hips.
“I would like you to pair off against Shatter. I heard what you said about waiting, and you were right.”
“Whoa. Shatter? I don’t have an active talent that can counteract his.”
“But you do have Enforcer and Peacekeeper training. Those can be useful. I promise to replace your dress if you rip it.” Coma’s orange hair complimented her pale yellow skin.
“Fine. Can I at least go now so that I can head off to dinner with my friend?”
Coma grinned and got to her feet. “Come along then. They will enjoy seeing this.”
The they she referred to was the audience. There was a general murmuring since Lera had sashayed across the arena floor. Shatter was busy using his concussive force to knock attackers off their feet, and he blinked with surprise when she stepped toward him and put her hands on her hips.
“Let’s get this over with.” She waited for Shatter to move.
“No!” Lance shouted from the sidelines where he had been involved in deep flirtation with one of his recruits.
Shatter lifted one eyebrow. “Lance? Would you prefer her to be your target?”
Lance frowned. “No. No one should be fighting with her.”
