by Viola Grace
“Now, I am here to teach you how to use everyday objects for self-defence. On many worlds, you are restricted in the type of weapons that are allowed on the streets as well as on your person. Being a Citadel Specialist will get you some preferential treatment, but you still have to be able to defend yourself using what is around you.”
He began the demonstration, taking small objects out of a case and expanding them to normal size. He demonstrated attacks with a rolling pin, a rasp, a saw and the devastation of a hammer.
“Now, I would like a volunteer to demonstrate some of these attacks.”
Three of the women raised their hands, but Poppy chirped frantically with her little wings flapping to get Astien’s attention.
He smiled. “Minerva, I believe you have been volunteered.”
She sighed and got to her feet, walking to the stage and putting Poppy safely out of the way on a countertop. Her little feet crunched into the marble and she crouched with her eyes wide.
Minerva stood in front of Astien with the other women watching. “What would you like me to demonstrate?”
“Pick a weapon and attack the target.”
She nodded and lifted a thin skewer and a hammer. With her left hand, she pinned the target, and with her right, she destroyed the place where the head had been.
One hard swing snapped the target and broke the hammer.
She dropped the broken handle and turned to Astien, bowing slightly. “Anything else?”
He gave her a considering look. “What would you use on an opponent you wanted to disable but not kill?”
“Frying pan.”
His lips twitched. “What about binding? Tying up an opponent.”
“They would have to buy me dinner first.”
The group laughed.
“I would use that tape and twist it into a rope instead of using it flat. From there, I would tie up whatever I needed to tie.”
He smiled. “So, what I am guessing is that you don’t need this class.”
She shrugged. “Apparently, my education was more thorough than I thought.”
He grinned, “Your parents must be very proud.”
Her polite smile froze. “I hope so. Excuse me.”
Poppy rubbed against her hand as she lifted her to her shoulder. Her wrist com chirped, and she excused herself again to take the call.
Kibor’s face was on the screen, and he scowled at her, but the look in his eyes said it wasn’t directed at her. “Specialist Minerva, I have had a request for your ship, and since you are the registered pilot, you will need to go with it.”
“My ship?”
“It was given to you by Fixer. You are the only authorized pilot for that equipment. Get your gear and get to your ship. You have a mission to go on.”
“You are not in favour of this?”
“You are in recovery and you have just bonded to your Yaluthu. I am not sure that you are in the most stable position to be going out on a mission.”
“Thank you for your concern, Master Kibor, but if we wait for me to be stable, we are going to be waiting for a very long time.”
“Right. Well, data has been sent to your ship. Your cargo will meet you there within the hour.”
“Thank you, Master Kibor.” She nodded her head and turned off the active display.
She started walking toward the Specialist tower at a brisk clip. “Well, Poppy, at least we are keeping busy.”
Poppy chirped and hung on as Minerva went to her quarters, grabbed a bag, the travel pack for Poppy, then she sprinted to the shuttle port.
Her ship was out and ready for action.
With only a few adjustments to the cockpit, a shelf for Poppy was arranged next to the pilot’s seat.
Minerva was in the middle of her preflight checks when her passenger arrived.
“Hello, your berth is on the right, so feel free to stow your bags.”
A familiar voice answered her. “This is a strange coincidence. If I didn’t know better, I would say that you were stalking me, but since I requested this trip, I don’t think it applies.”
She cleared her throat and rallied. “Astien. Good afternoon. As I said earlier, stow it.”
She heard the snort and focused on reading the location that she was flying him to. Her blood went cold when she saw that it was Jela.
Chapter Six
She held her distrust of Jela to herself and kept her focus on the flight. Poppy was enjoying the view as they lifted off Ohkhan and darted into the sky.
“Are you going home for the holidays?” She said it as pleasantly as she could.
“No. My brother is getting married, and he wished for me to be at the formal ceremony after the leap of faith.”
Minerva clenched her teeth at the thought of the female having her wings tied before leaping off a cliff and trusting that her mate was going to catch her. Women died on their way down when their mates were not on time or were delayed by other means. Whether he was there or not, there were attendants to make sure that she went over the cliff.
“I am sure you are eager to take part in the festivities. When will you need a ride back to Ohkhan? I am sure they can send someone for you.”
He looked at her with surprise in his bright blue eyes. “Oh, no, you will be staying. Check your assignment. You are designated as my plus one to the celebration. It is a reminder to my family that I am no longer theirs for finding a match for.”
“What?”
“Haven’t you taken etiquette classes yet? I am sure you will be fine at the party.”
She cleared her throat. “I only arrived at Ohkhan two days ago. Before that, I was in recovery at Morganti. I haven’t done anything but move from Novice to Specialist.”
“You did that in two days?”
She shrugged and plotted course for Jela. “Apparently. You have eighteen hours. What do I need to know?”
Poppy gave her a chiding chirp as if telling her off for not being forthright with Astien.
She stroked Poppy’s chest to calm her.
“Well, I didn’t ask for you specifically. I simply requested a female pilot to throw my family off the scent.”
That made her slightly more relaxed. “There wasn’t another one available?”
“The two other female pilots are on assignments and you were the only one left. It is not that I mean to be insulting, but that was the case.”
She nodded. “What is the etiquette?”
He looked her over. “Do you have a dress?”
Minerva twisted her lips. “More or less.”
“Well, most Enjel women wear gowns; the back is arranged around the wings. Women are generally separated from the men during daily life, but in an event such as a wedding, the females accompany their selected male or a member of their family.”
She knew the answer but she asked, “Why?”
“Because women on Jela are fair game if they are not mated. That is why the unmarried women are kept in an Aerie. Our men are savages when they are competing for a mate.”
That he would be so direct was refreshing. “I don’t think I have to worry. I am not an Enjel, after all.”
“We mate with anything compatible. My mother is wingless and my father bought her, installed her in the Aerie and courted her relentlessly until she chose him. For Selna women, it is socially acceptable to be owned. But, why am I telling you this? Decla was an Enjel colony, wasn’t it?”
“You don’t know about Decla?”
“No, it has never come up in dispatches. What was the issue with the colony?”
She stifled a snarl and double checked the destination information. “A splinter group of Enjel decided to form a colony where men and women could live together as equals. Women were taught to fight from a young age and the men respected their ability to hold their own. They were only into their first natural generation when the miners attacked.”
“They lived and worked together?�
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“They did and then some arrogant and greedy off-worlders landed and killed eighty percent of the colony in a matter of a week.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t know.”
“No one knows. The Sector Guard couldn’t get to the colony fast enough and they had minimal defences. They only had mechs that had been cobbled together from the landing craft two decades earlier.”
He blinked. “Mechs? Enjels in mechs?”
“Special units that had been designed to use the wing nerves for attack mechanisms. There were three standard biped mechs as well.” She smiled tightly. “I am going to get some tea. We have a while before the next jump point.”
She held out her hand and Poppy stepped onto her wrist, sidestepping up to her shoulder.
“How long have you had that Yaluthu?” He smiled and gestured for her to precede him to the galley.
“Two days. Poppy was here before I arrived. She was waiting for me in my quarters.” She reached up and ruffled her fingers across Poppy’s chest. Poppy squeaked happily and rubbed against her hand.
“What species are you, Minerva? You have characteristics that are very familiar, but I have never seen them in a body like yours.”
He moved easily around the galley, using the dispenser to bring up a pot of tea and some snacks.
Minerva had lost track of what time it was as they sat at the meal.
“You did not answer me, Minerva.”
“It was an impolite question.”
“I only ask it because all of the furnishings here are suited to my wings.”
She made a face as he moved around the room with ease. He wasn’t wrong. If Minerva ever decided to get her wings back, the ship was ready for it.
“I was born on Decla; it is a normal set of furniture for me, and Fixer wanted me to feel at home.”
He nodded and served her first from all the snacks on the tray.
She looked at the smooth motions and smiled. “Trained by your mother?”
“And the etiquette officer. She broke me of all my bad habits.” He smiled.
She took the pot of tea and poured two precise cups before reaching into her top and pulling out a pack of seeds for Poppy. She sipped at her tea while her companion munched from her hand.
“You are bonded to her for life?”
Minerva smiled at the warmth that Poppy sent to her. “Apparently. I didn’t have a choice in the matter either. She linked to me and started to heal the damage I had suffered.”
“Damage?”
“The Yaluthu are healers. There isn’t one person who has one that doesn’t need stabilization in some way. They like it because they get to travel and meet people and see things their siblings do not.”
She had answered him without answering him. It was still too soon for her to explain the nature of her injuries to a stranger.
“Your uniform isn’t standard for a Specialist.”
He was prodding again.
“I know. It was designed for me to accommodate my medical brace.” She tapped her corset with the cup of tea. “Before you ask, I suffered damage to my back and this harness keeps me stable.”
“Do you require it all the time?”
“No, just most of the time.”
He nodded and nibbled at the tiny sandwich in his fingers.
“Why did you join the Citadel?”
“Because life as a trader did not appeal to me and the Jela standing army is not a lot of fun for a man who wants to see other worlds and species in a manner that isn’t predatory.”
“You wanted to help people.” She smiled as he focused on his food.
“I suppose I did.”
He ruffled his feathers, and Poppy finished her food, hopping to the table and flapping her wings as she walked up to him.
He eyed her warily. “What is she doing?”
“She likes your wings. She has dreams of flying.”
He flexed his wing forward, and Poppy hopped to the edge of the table, nibbling gently at his feathers before burying her face in the black silky stuff.
The small, happy noises that came from her were obviously amusing Astien. “I think I may be a rival for her affections.”
Minerva grinned. “Not really, but she may crawl between your wings when you sleep. I would watch it; she is stronger than she looks.”
Poppy hopped back to Minerva and up to her shoulder again. She rubbed her soft head against Minerva’s and shared the feeling of the feathers and the sense of loss that Minerva was trying to ignore.
“What did your family do on Decla?”
He refreshed her tea.
“They assisted in the administration of the colony, and my father was involved in defence. He was on the first line when the attack came.”
“How was your colony so undefended?”
She bristled with hostility. “Because we had no funding, no equipment and only what the colonists had put together from the ships. Decla was not a supported colony; it was a social banishment from Jela. No communication, no support, no supplies. Nothing was there that didn’t arrive with the colonists. They had the good sense to put their city on an energy source, but it was that energy that the miners wanted.”
He blinked and leaned back. “Who did you lose?”
“Everyone. I lost my friends, my family and my world.” She wrapped her hands around her cup while Poppy rubbed her head against her cheek.
“And you were injured in the process.”
“And that.”
“How did you survive?” He cocked his head.
She blinked and took a deep breath. “I used one of the mechs and destroyed the invaders, their ships and their base.”
He blinked and sat back. “So you already had experience with using what was around you.”
“Yes. I was just a cadet, but I managed to get the mech moving.”
She swallowed her tea and refilled and refreshed both their cups. “Why are you interested?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. You just seem like so much more than you appear to be on the surface.”
“Everyone is. After the attacks, Decla finally got support from Jela, but I have no idea what form it took. I was already gone.”
“Would you like to find out?”
She gave him a look, and his blue eyes were earnest and sympathetic.
“I would. The survivors were friends of mine. Most of them.” She was hopeful. “You could find out?”
“I can and will.” He reached out and put his hand over hers. “You survived and took action. I am sure that no locals resent you for it.”
He was right. None of her friends or the other colonists would resent her for her survival, but they would pity her and that was worse. If he asked the questions, no one would know the origin.
Her com unit chirped and she got to her feet. “Excuse me. We are nearing a jump point.”
It wasn’t a graceful exit but Poppy didn’t judge her. Minerva got behind the controls and propelled them from one point in space to another via a lined-up point marked with a beacon.
The first jump was complete in seconds and she confirmed coordinates to the second. Poppy yawned and blinked sleepily, a hint that Minerva couldn’t ignore. She set the feedback and stats to run through her wrist com, said good night to Astien and headed for her room.
In eight hours, she would be woken to take them through the next jump point.
She removed her clothing and crawled between the sheets with Poppy cuddled next to her. At least she was getting paid to ferry Astien around and Fixer had provided her with clothing for all occasions.
Chapter Seven
Jela was a world that Minerva had heard of since she was a child and the terrifying society had haunted her dreams as she had gone from child to woman.
“When is the ceremony?” Minerva gained landing permission and settled in on the assigned path.
“This evening. They were waiting for al
l members of the family to be in attendance.” He settled in the second seat with his wide-legged formal trousers flaring and his wrap shirt gleaming a soft grey against his skin. The small silver loops he had put in his pointed ears were adorable.
“Shall I get into my gown now?”
“Before we leave the ship, yes. I will carry you to the event centre.”
She blinked. “Carry me?”
“It is traditional. We have skimmers and such, but for short distances, we fly.”
“And as I have no wings, you have to carry me.” She sighed.
“Correct.”
Poppy sat up and flapped her wings excitedly.
“Well, it seems that one of us is thrilled about it.” Minerva smiled and followed the instrument readings as she glided the ship into the atmosphere.
When they were in the assigned space, she got to her feet. “I will be right back.”
Poppy came along, hopping to the floor and following as Minerva went to her quarters and pulled out the gown in flame and black. She unclasped her corset, removed her clothing and slipped the gown on, fastening it in place with the corset once again. Her back ached slightly, but her scan at Medical had shown her that her wings were only buds. If she kept them down, they would not regrow with the kind of speed they were attempting. The restriction that Fixer and Effin had worked on would not last forever.
Her personal regeneration was something she was going to have to deal with another time.
The gown floated and flowed around her as she moved, the sleeves fluttered and drifted when she turned. Her hair needed a quick brushing, and when it was done, she slipped on some sandals and strapped them in place.
A final look, front and back, confirmed that she had created smooth lines with the gown and that her corset came up her back and protected the scars.
She checked her wrist com, and it didn’t clash with her dress too badly. Poppy chirped appreciation and fluffed herself up.
“You are lovely, too, Poppy. Come on up.”
She reached down and helped her companion up and onto her shoulder, grabbing two bags of seed and tucking them under the bottom of her corset. They were held in place by the snug fit.
