by Viola Grace
Reset and Mist arrived, but stayed at a distance until Green took Eckobar's hands and he kissed both her cheeks.
"We have rounded up the prefect, but what can we do about the hybrids? They are resisting being burned and yet are not growing." Mist was scowling.
Reset patted his arm. "He used to be an enforcer. Those plants bug the hell out of him."
Green nodded. "I can take care of it. Is Stellar Storm nearby?"
A voice came out of Green's neckline. "I am here. Welcome to the team."
"Thank you. Can you meet me at the field?"
"Will do, see you in three minutes."
Hardcore gave an imperceptible nod. She was welcome to go without him and that little freedom meant more to her than anything he had said or done with her so far.
"Back in a bit." She fluttered her wings and shot into the sky.
As she shot toward the Askuke field, she smiled again at the feeling of freedom that the bodysuit also gave her. She could hover, flutter or fly and every part of her was covered. It was a small thing, but it mean she wouldn't be vulnerable.
A streak of light shot from the sky and as it slowed, she met Stellar Storm, dressed in a uniform similar to her own but wingless with loose hair that flowed over her shoulders.
They landed together at the edge of the field and introduced themselves. "Stellar Storm, at your service."
"Green, glad to be on the team." She giggled and the other woman laughed.
"Might I say, you have the look of a fairy from tales my people told thousands of years ago. Only more sparkly."
"I have just gotten a hint as to what species I am, so it will be a matter for research in the future. Now, as for this crop, we need to destroy it completely. I can reverse its cycle to the seed stage, but I will need you to irradiate it from there. Can you do that?"
"It will destroy the soil. Nothing will grow in it for years, but yeah, I can do it."
"The soil is already dead and the plants' hunger will continue to spread across the countryside. This is for the best." Green knelt at the edge of the field and plunged her hands into the soil. The dry death surrounded her hands and made her lightheaded, but she forced power into the soil and spoke to the plants, encouraging them to recede.
Nothing happened for thirty seconds and then the leaves folded in and retracted below the ground. She asked the plants to give up the energy they had taken in, but they refused. Sighing, she advanced them to the point where their casings cracked and the first seedlings were fighting to the surface.
"Now. Stellar. Do it now."
"You are too close."
"Then start in a wave on the far end of the field and I will get out of the way the moment I feel you."
She shook her head, but took off, "I don't like this."
Green scowled, Storm didn't have to like it, she just had to do it. Holding the plants at the stage where they were most vulnerable was difficult and the Askuke were starting to fight.
Green could feel the wave of death approaching and the smouldering pods exploded beneath the soil. When the wave was almost upon her, she kicked back and up, flying away from the radiation in an instant.
She hovered at a safe distance while Stellar Storm destroyed the seedlings. Her wings flicked and fluttered, adapting to the wind and when every carefully measured hole was smoking with destruction, she joined the Storm.
From their vantage point, Green could see another Sector Guard shuttle, but this one was outfitted with a number of weapons. "Do the bases have different shuttle designs?"
Stellar Storm smiled. "Each is more prone to certain assignments, yes. Morganti is for natural disasters and experimentation, Udell is the battle base and Teklan is for investigation."
"What about Station 13?"
"Small-force extraction. Not all new worlds welcome Alliance personnel. Whether it's an explorer team or a set of dignitaries, if things go wrong, they call Station 13."
They were almost to the carnival, so Green concentrated on the view from above. She wanted to keep it in her memory as she travelled the worlds and systems of the Alliance.
The colours, the sounds. She regretted that Hardcore had never seen a performance or walked the midway. Even the rides were powered by the carnival folk, some of them requiring tons of force to move and through a series of gears and pulleys, they could be moved by only one or two managers.
Green sighed. She should have known that Zigar would not be pleased with her leaving. As her handler, he received a portion of her earnings and that would now leave him with the new acts to prey off.
As Eckobar always told her, "You can't please everyone. So do the best that you can with what you have."
She sighted Hardcore and swept in to land next to him. He placed his arm around her waist and continued his conversation with Eckobar before stopping and asking, "How did it go?"
"They exploded. We are good."
"Excellent. I was just asking Eckobar to keep us apprised of their location. We may be able to visit in the future. Would you enjoy that?"
She grinned. "I would. Thank you for thinking of it."
"My duty as your partner is to think of things to keep you in a good frame of mind."
She almost asked what would put him in that frame, but his gaze dropped to her breasts and she giggled. That was one mystery solved.
The other guardsmen were rounding up officers of the Porvin army and arranging them in an open field.
"What is going on?"
"An Alliance warship is here to engage in an open court for the prefect and those who went along with him. Your testimony has already been recorded."
"How is that possible?"
"I have subdermal implants. When activated, they record anything I need and send it to the Sector Guard Relay."
Green flinched, "When, precisely, were they recording?"
"When you were at the Askuke field with the prefect and just now, Stellar Storm recorded the destruction of the plants. Our suits are not just decoration. They are tools to record everything we need to back our actions in Alliance courts."
She sighed and leaned against him. "I just want to get on with the next thing I have to adapt to."
"Reset will see to your burn and then we can take my shuttle to Station 13. Have you piloted a shuttle before?"
She shook her head. "No. With my sight problem, it made flying awkward."
"Well, since that is no longer a problem, prepare to receive instruction." His fingers splayed open on her waist and he stroked the curve.
Her mind twisted to a lascivious path, "I look forward to it."
Chapter Ten
"Grab the handles there and there." Garoz was being serious, but Sylvain was having a hard time not giggling.
They had taken leave of the carnival and Porvin. The other Guard ships had stayed with them for several hours until a flurry of jumps occurred around them.
Alone at last with the shuttle on automatic, Sylvain was holding onto the ceiling and the gravity was off. So was her clothing.
Garoz declared that each colour on her body held a different flavour and he was out to discover them all. Laughter spilled from her, highlighting her embarrassment, but the slick moisture coming from her channel could not be ignored as he licked and kissed his way down her belly.
She hung onto the handles in the ceiling, sure that they had not been invented for this purpose, while he tasted her with quick flicks of his tongue before he groaned and made a meal of her. He nipped at her clit, tongued her opening and wallowed in her until she tensed from head to toe and thrust her hips at him.
Syl screamed and twisted as he continued to stimulate her, turning her into a writhing mass of energy that clasped his cock gladly when he pressed into her.
Garoz gripped her hips and pounded into her, his own feet locked into rungs on the floor to make this possible. She wrapped her legs around him and the moment that he stroked the base of her wings, she started whimpering.
Heat and tension coiled
inside her as he thrust into her with enticing speed. She screamed and bucked against him, holding him tightly as her consciousness shattered around her. He followed her with a guttural shout and she let herself slip into his arms as she released the handles.
Learning to fly was definitely one of her more fascinating new hobbies.
"Station 13, requesting docking permission for unnamed shuttle containing Hardcore and Green." She was smiling at Garoz as he nodded encouragement.
"Station 13 acknowledges. Welcome to the team, Green. Follow the beacons to bay four and dock in slot nine."
She looked at the flashing icons and darted a glance to her partner. "Are you sure that you don't want to park this thing?"
"You have gotten us this far."
"Well, you were the one who had the common sense to rip off the back of my seat."
"Most of the Sector Guard shuttles have adjustments for wings. It won't be a problem in the future." He patted her shoulder. Since their coupling in the shuttle, he was constantly touching, stroking and occasionally sniffing her.
She tensed as she steered the shuttle along the path laid out by the electronic signals of the docking command. Her entrance was not practiced, but she was still able to manage a wobbling parking job in the docking bay that opened at her approach.
She powered the shuttle down with shaking hands and pressed those hands over her face in relief.
"Why cover your face?"
"Because my impulse is to lean back and since there is nothing to catch me that would not be a good thing." She tilted her head to the side and grinned. "Are we dead?"
"No. You saved us. A true hero who can park her shuttle." He took one of her hands in his and planted a kiss on the emerald skin.
Her colouring had become more vivid as time passed. The mirror in the shuttle lav had shown as much.
"I suppose we should meet my new commanding officer." She smiled as he helped her to her feet.
"After you are introduced to her husband. The good doctor is skilled at dealing with those outside their species specs and always does an intake exam when new guardsmen come on board."
"Aside from your sister, I have not seen a doctor in years." They exited the shuttle and pattered down the hall, their boots falling softly on the metal.
"Dirven Lacoss is a man who considers it good fortune that his wife can walk through walls. That says more than anything."
Sylvain chuckled. It did say a lot that the man had a wife who could become intangible. He could never be assured of privacy with a woman like that and if he didn't mind, he was a rare man indeed.
They knocked on the door to medical and when a voice answered, Garoz escorted her inside.
"Welcome, Green, Hardcore. Garoz, please hop on the scanner so that we can get your post-assignment check-up out of the way. Sylvain, if you could shut your wings? Oh, I am Dirven by the way."
"Greetings, Dirven." She bowed as if he was an audience and snapped her wings back, flat and down so that they ran down her back, mimicking her legs.
"Impressive. I did not know you could manipulate them so easily. Nor do I remember the description of your colouring as so vivid."
"It changed."
Garoz was standing in an upright scanner. "Any time, Doc."
Dirven smiled and activated the medical device. "Impatient?"
Sylvain laughed. "Perhaps he is upset that he is not as pretty as his new mate. Don't look so surprised, Garoz. I figured it out when you offered me a place as your partner."
Dirven scowled. "What am I missing?"
"Garoz, or rather Hardcore, bought my freedom with the rescue of the carnival. They are not citizens of the Alliance but rather the opposite. Nomads without a home. They had no right to call for help from the Sector Guard unless they were offering something in return. That something was me. So, either you bought me, or they sold me. Either way I am a free woman with one exception, I am a wife."
She stood casually, arms crossed and watching Garoz in the scanner, frustrated by his inability to come to her. When the scanner beeped the end of its cycle, he crossed the room in two steps.
"You knew."
"I knew. I could be angry, but I was a slave and now am free to be myself, wings and all." She reached up and caught his hair in her fists, pulling him down for her kiss.
Heat flared between them and she was held against him, thighs around his hips when a throat cleared.
Gasping, Sylvain looked over her shoulder and saw a pale woman who shared a species with the Stellar Storm. "As much as Dirven is enjoying the display, we need to scan you so that any alterations or injuries will register. So, welcome to Station 13, Sylvain. I am your commander, Haunt or Kaylee, which I prefer. Now, get yourself on that scanner."
Chastened, but still aroused by the connection between her and Hardcore, she stepped onto the scanning plate and took her turn.
She watched the displays behind Dirven and the expression on his face while he read the reports. He whistled softly and Kaylee darted around to say, "That is really impressive."
Sylvain didn't comment, merely stood until the cycle finished and then moved to step off the disk.
"Wait. I want to run another scan. Can you flare your wings for this one?"
"Sure, do you want me to pout as well?" She crossed her arms and flicked her wings out, her irritation made them larger than usual and she had to pull them back in slightly.
"Pouting won't be necessary. You have a very unique chemical signature."
"Well, as Garoz has told me, I am a rare breed."
Dirven wasn't listening anymore, he was chortling over his data streams.
This time, when the scanner signalled its completion, she snapped her wings shut and stepped away.
"You have an amazing physiology. I can hardly wait to study this in depth."
Sylvain cuddled up against Garoz. "There is nothing wrong, right? I can go and find something to eat?"
Dirven scowled. "Based on this, you don't strictly need to eat."
She laughed. "I know, but it's a good habit to keep. Makes me feel a little more normal."
"Fine. There is a lovely dessert selection in the cafeteria today. Go, but if I need blood samples, I will leave a message in your quarters."
Garoz didn't need to be told twice and whisked her out of medical and down another endless hall.
The introduction to the staff was easy when he started every conversation with "Gralial has her soul back."
They were so excited that they wanted to know Syl's impression of his sister and when she replied, "Smiling and huggy." They were shocked.
Garoz winked at a few of the female crew and Sylvain narrowed her eyes. "You were a tramp, weren't you?"
He swallowed and blushed. "I enjoyed my time away from the clans."
"Will you be able to settle for just me?"
He lifted her hand to his lips and promise sparkled in his eyes. "It would be my honour to settle for you until the stars burn up. May I demonstrate?"
She looked at his plate, "Have you had enough?"
His laugh rolled through her. "Not yet. I will tell you in the morning."
Epilogue
The arrow was flying straight at her head so Green turned and let her wing take the impact. The bolt shattered as it struck and she flicked away the residue.
She hauled her stun rifle to her shoulder and started to fire.
"Send Hardcore and Green to a desert planet, she said. Sounds fun, she said. Haunt has something to answer for." She fired again, taking out a row of the small attackers with cold precision.
"Yes, dear. Haunt will be in trouble, dear. Shoot that one on the right, dear." Hardcore was enjoying the weapons fire as they ejected power packs and stunned an entire tribe of folk who had no interest in communication with the Alliance.
Laughing, Green took to the skies, firing as she went, replacing spent charges from the bandolier that was specially fitted to her torso. They were only missing one of the first contact specialists
and as Green soared over the now-empty village, she spotted the female staked out in the sun.
"I am here to retrieve you." Green leaned down and cut the leather straps that bound the unconscious woman to the ground. It never hurt to announce herself. It reduced the fist-to-face ratio.
A noise from one of the small huts had her whirling to face one of the folk that were cornering Hardcore at the shuttle. The female looked at her face, the wings and smiled, bowing low.
Not wasting a moment, Green lifted the Alliance team member and took off before the creature could change her mind and fire.
She replayed the moment as she tied the last crewmember into a bunk, giving Hardcore the all clear for take-off. There had been recognition in the woman's eyes but something else. Green wished that she knew what the woman had been thinking.
* * * *
The gods have returned.
Maaski smiled as she watched the graceful flight of a creature that existed only in their legend.
The people of the Alliance had been aggressive in their insistence on putting a base on their world. Only the actions that they had finally been driven to had gotten their point across.
The female Vorwing radiated power and before she could forget the image, Maaski painted it on the interior of her home. Few, if any, of her people would have recognised the importance of this creature, but the lands they inhabited had once been lush and green. When their lone Vorwing had left, the land reverted to its original state. The blessing of the gods lost to their people forever.
Maaski painted the vivid colours of her face, the ivory, gold and red blending into a blue neck with her green hands visible outside her green suit. The wings were living rainbows, hard to catch with her paints, but she did what she could.
Standing back, she smiled at the stories she would tell her children, of the gods that may one day walk their world again.
Where there was one, there had to be others.
Author's Note
Greetings! This story was designed to be read after Hard Hearted. Writing linked books across the publishers was fun and the creation of the Vorwings as a race of earth-goddess fairies was just too tempting.
