Dance of Time

by Viola Grace

  “How did you die?”

  Her mother smiled. “Birthing you. You were still inside my body when I was collected, and you were returned to M’rora when they realized you were still alive.”

  “How did my father die?”

  He inclined his head. “I had been stabbed, and she went into labour. We both bled to death.”

  Zez dragged in a breath. “So, Mikki’s bleeding was normal?”

  Her mother inclined her head. “My family did not breed well. The Moreski in us made childbirth dangerous. Is Mikki all right?”

  Zez stared. “She nearly died. If I hadn’t been here, she would have.”

  Her mother pressed. “Is she all right now?”

  “She is stable and being watched around the clock. You have a grandson.”

  The two apparitions who claimed to be her parents smiled. They showed relief in their postures.

  “Why can’t you just go and see her?”

  Her father looked around. “We are not supposed to be here. We can speak to you because you are out of time. Your body can pull you and others out of measurable time. It is the side effect of your time away from this dimension.”

  She had a thousand questions and wanted them all to be answered, but the two shadowy folk disappeared in an instant.

  Zez settled in Korlin’s arms, and she breathed deep. What a freaky dream.

  Chapter Seven

  Zeross was the favourite occupant of medical. His little fists waved in the air when anyone other than his mother or aunty held him. He also had a strong set of lungs.

  Zez sat with Mikki while Penross got some desperately needed rest.

  “So, Mikki, how are you feeling?” She was holding Zeross in her arms, and the warm, heavy weight was comforting.

  “I am feeling much better. They have decided to keep me here for observation until I build up my blood supply again. They can’t transfuse me. Even you aren’t a match.”

  Mikki was still pale but no longer grey. Her meal plan was excessive, and the amount of fluids she was being given were staggering.

  “Zez.”

  “Yes, Mikki?”

  “How did you know?” Mikki cleared her throat. “I didn’t even feel anything, and then, you were there and I could feel the wetness from the blood. I thought my water had broken.”

  “I just knew. Something was wrong, and I had to get to you. Isn’t that right, Zeross?”

  She chuckled as the infant tried to suck his fist. She felt his hunger. “He’s hungry.”

  Mikki blinked. “How do you know that?”

  Zez paused during the hand off to his mother. “I don’t know. He just is.”

  Mikki stared at her baby. “I can feel it. I can feel his little mind pulling at me. Do you think he could have been what summoned you?”

  Zez looked at her nephew as Mikki got him into position to eat. “I guess he could have. He certainly would have known that something was wrong before you did.”

  “Well, he had a better view than I did.”

  Zez chuckled.

  She thought about what Mikki had gone through, and she asked, “Do you know if our mom had problems with childbirth?”

  Mikki swallowed and held Zeross a little bit tighter. “She told me that she had a problem with me and that she had to be careful. I didn’t know what she meant until I saw her and father, each lying in their own blood. They were there, and then, they were gone. I thought they had been murdered and whisked away, but you were put into the puddle of blood a moment later.”

  Zez whistled. “I am amazed that I survived.”

  “You were about a year old, so it wasn’t too bad to pick you up and carry you back to the house. Gene testing proved that we were sisters, and from there, you were put into the crèche, and you know the rest.”

  Zez stroked her sister’s arm. Ten years of household labour, and then, they ran when Mikki was going to be sold. Three months after they escaped, the Citadel recruiter arrived and caught Zez.

  “Yeah, I know the rest. Would you be upset if Zeross was an only child? I don’t know if it is safe for you to have another.”

  Mikki stroked her baby’s downy head. “If we can save up enough for a gestation tube, we can have as many as we can afford. I always wanted a little girl.”

  Zez smiled. “Me too. But...”

  Mikki sighed. “I know. I am sorry.”

  The new mother looked up and smiled. “Hi, Korlin. Thank you for your part in my rescue.”

  “It was an honour. I thought that Zez had gone mad until Penross made that call.”

  “She often gets excited, but she never acts without reason. There is always something behind whatever she does.”

  “So I have learned over the last few months.” He smiled.

  Zez chuckled. “He needs reminding of it now and then.”

  “When are you taking her away again?” Mikki was blunt.

  “We have another week, and then, we have to resume our rounds. Zez is in much demand. Her skills are unique.”

  Mikki smiled softly. “Zez is unique.”

  “Yes, I am well aware of it.”

  Penross woke up from his nap and took his place at Mikki’s side. Zez kissed her sister and nephew before leaving medical with Korlin next to her.

  She asked him, “Have you been to Citadel Necridid before?”

  “No. This is a first.”

  “There are amazing gardens here. Would you like to see them?” She smiled encouragingly.

  “I would love to.”

  Zez took his hand and led him around to the gardens, using her ocular scan to gain entry to the magical collection of plants.

  They walked through the rows of edible flowers, and Korlin confirmed that he had come in during their pointed conversation.

  “Your sister mentioned that you would have an issue having children.”

  Zez wrinkled her nose. “My body doesn’t age. I am a mature female, but that is where the aging process stopped. The medics determined that I couldn’t have children. They wouldn’t be able to mature.”

  “Ah, understandable. Would you consider external gestation?”

  “When I am ready to have children, yes. That isn’t now. I am just learning that I have a purpose on my own.”

  He smiled and lifted her hand to his lips. “I heard you and Mikki speaking of gestation tubes and wondered if it was for you.”

  “No. she wants more children. If she had another one, the result might be worse than what happened this time. Apparently, we have a family history of dying in childbirth.”

  “I thought you didn’t know your mother.”

  “I didn’t. I asked Mikki a few things. She remembers Mother and how Mother died. We didn’t put it together until this moment.”

  “Do you know what went wrong?”

  “The blending of Moreski nobility into our bloodline. Those genes don’t want to be there, and they do freakish things to our biology.”

  “Ah. I suppose that it is a concern.”

  “Yes. We can’t all just turn into mist and do whatever it is that Nishans do.”

  “We gather together and share mist, contributing part of our personality to the new mind. It is a fairly simple process. Mind you, Nishans that join with solids have to engage in a more complicated effort.”

  “You can breed with a solid?”

  “Yes, it just takes a lot of preparation.”

  “Wow. That is unexpected.” Zez chuckled.

  “What is so funny?”

  “I am just trying to imagine how it would go. I think condensation would come into it.”

  “Don’t use that particular phrasing, but you aren’t too far off.” He wrapped his arm around her waist.

  She snickered for a few minutes while they walked. Eventually, she asked him, “Do you know anything about the Nameless?”

  He paused. “How did you hear that name?”

  “Someone mentioned it. What are they?”

  He sighed. “There are legends that
they are watchers of time. They witness events and record them. They are Nameless because they leave our reality at the moment of death and only come back through small windows in time.”

  She blinked. It was more information than she thought she would get. “That is something.”

  “Yes, it is. Now, where did you hear that name?”

  “I heard it in a dream.”

  He looked at her closely but didn’t say she was lying. It was a start.

  They eventually returned to the Citadel, had a meal and a quick visit with Mikki.

  After Zez was sure that her sister was recovering, she dragged Korlin upstairs to bed.

  It was time for some active practice in teamwork.

  Zez lay in his arms, coated with sweat and several bite marks. Apparently, Korlin had been waiting a very long time for a compatible mate. He lost control.

  Being surrounded by mist that carried her up as well as infiltrated her in the most pleasurable of ways had been an excellent exhibition of foreplay. When she tried to tackle his solid form and hold him down for her, he altered his shape to fit her perfectly. There had only been the feeling of fullness with no sharp flares of pain.

  Korlin pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “You are prepared to return to duty?”

  “In a few more days, yes. Now, I just want to feel the world under me and the pull of natural gravity for a few days.”

  He pulled her to him with his arms wrapped around her waist and hips. “Have you checked your Citadel accounts?”

  It was an odd topic to bring up at such a moment.

  “No. I haven’t really had a chance.”

  “You might want to.”

  Her curiosity had been woken by his not-so-subtle queries.

  She squirmed loose from his grip and padded over to grab a data screen. When she was tucked back in bed with Korlin around her, she flicked open her Citadel accounts with a thumbprint and ocular scan.

  “This can’t be right.” She squinted and stared at the positive figure in the account.

  “It was your handling of the riots on Mpreki. It put you over the edge and back into the debit column.”

  She twisted in his arms. “I am free?”

  “You are out of debt. You are still under contract to the Citadel. I just thought that you should know in case you had a project that you wanted to save up for.”

  She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Like a gestation tube.”

  He smiled and stroked her cheek. “Like that. I think that Mikki would be an excellent guardian for it. She might need a larger house for all the children she is planning.”

  Zez smiled. “I think I could spend a year of my life in gaining the funds that are needed.”

  “Do you? That is a very good thing.” He kissed her softly.

  “You just want me with you.”

  “And I will find reasons for you to stay until my body breaks and shatters into a thousand droplets of mist.” He smiled and brushed his lips across hers again. “Zeross will need an education, as will his siblings.”

  She smiled and kissed him again. “You know that I don’t need the funds for myself, so you have gone after my family. Very cunning.”

  He smirked and rolled her to her back, lifting her in tendrils of mist until they were high enough to rotate above the surface of the bedding.

  “I have merely found a way to keep the peace in my life, and you are crucial to it. I am sure that the peace will wobble now and then, but it will be up to me to stabilize it.”

  She smiled and held him close as they slowly came together again to dance for a moment and eternity at the same time.

  Chapter Eight

  Korlin was up to something.

  Zez glanced at him while he piloted them to their first assignment since she became an aunty and they became lovers.

  “So, you won’t tell me where we are going?”

  “No. It is a surprise. Nothing unpleasant, just a short holiday before we return to our active duties.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Why the secrecy?”

  “Because I feel like it.” He grinned.

  Zez smiled and picked up her book.

  “More tales of Terrans?”

  “Yeah. These ladies really get around. Malleable genetics must be a huge draw for some species.”

  “They are.”

  “Tell me about them.”

  He smiled and told her about the Star Breaker, Pilot and the Terran Guards on Teklan.

  She listened to the stories and put her screen aside. Hearing about the actual women after they had found their mates was a lot more fun than the initial stories. When he finished his tale of Fixer, he mentioned, “Did I tell you that she also is a Moreski with Terran bloodlines?”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  He chuckled. “She also has a growing brood of children. You might be related.”

  The thought was amusing. “Hundreds of planets apart, I doubt it.”

  “Well, you never know. Dinner?”

  She knew he was trying to keep her from seeing where they were headed, but if he wanted to surprise her, she didn’t mind.

  They landed in the dark, but the moment she left the shuttle, she knew where they were. “Lecidia!”

  He laughed. “You have a keen nose.”

  “But what is the surprise? The eggs would have hatched months ago.”

  “That first clutch, yes.”

  Zez squeaked with excitement and ran up the hill, looking down toward the beach.

  The huge bulk of the mama turtle was there, as were the smaller shadows of her first children, already two feet long.

  A series of incubators were lined up on the beach and set into the sand, their lids open and the eggs rocking.

  The research team was standing at a safe distance with everyone tense and humming with anticipation.

  Zez walked down the hill, and she felt the pressing consciousness of the turtle on her mind. Tiny, little pellets of thought followed as the babies wanted to talk, too.

  Korlin followed her and didn’t try to call her back as she walked up to the mother turtle.

  She walked past the incubators and walked up to the dark hulk of the mother turtle. “It is good to see you and yours again. I am glad that you have felt comfortable enough to have more babies.”

  Images of thick layers of kelp and lush schools of fish filled Zez’s mind. “Ah, they have stopped fishing.”

  The turtle sent another image of Korlin and Zez with little versions of them swimming around.

  “We are working on it.”

  The turtle’s focus was suddenly on the shoreline.

  Zez took the hint and retreated to a safe distance. She put her arm around Korlin and watched the hatching.

  Little heads started poking up out of the sand, and the turtles flapped their way to the huge bulk of their mother.

  It was a magical night as the incubated eggs tore open with their occupants tumbling free and heading for their family.

  Suddenly, the activity stopped. The eggs were empty and the turtles were heading out to sea.

  One of the researchers suddenly stood up and started cursing. She skidded down the hill with a shovel in her hand.

  Zez didn’t know what the woman was after, but when she said, “It’s drowning!” Zez didn’t hesitate. She ran to the woman’s side and held the buried hatching turtle in time.

  They worked together to claw and shovel away the remains of the eggs and the liquid that had supported them.

  The lone hatchling was seven feet under, and the slime and sand was sticking to both Zez and her companion.

  When they cleared the little head, Zez nodded. “I am letting it go now. Korlin! We need a lift for this little guy.”

  A tendril of mist closed around the hatchling as Zez let him go, and he started flapping. She leaned away and kept her digging buddy clear of the barbed limbs.

  Zez crawled up the slope of sand, and the other woman was next to her. They were both filthy
and grinning.

  “Hello; I am Zez.”

  The other woman laughed. “I guessed. I am the communicator. Laura Swell.”

  The woman stuck out her hand, and Zez shook it.

  “I think a dip in the sea might not be a bad idea.”

  Zez pulled herself out and helped Laura to her feet. They looked at each other and then sprinted for the water.

  The turtles were humps reflecting the moonlight in the distance, and the last hatchling was rapidly catching up with his people.

  Zez jumped into the water, and she shouted as the cold liquid covered her head. Laura jumped in after her, and in a few minutes of icy cleansing, they staggered out together.

  The naturalists were celebrating.

  “So, Laura, how did you know that that hatchling was stuck.”

  “I have been able to hear animals since I was a kid. It was why I was accepted to the Volunteer Project.” Laura was wringing out her hair.

  “Volunteer? Like, Terran Volunteer?”

  Laura’s face was hard to read in the minimal light, but she nodded. “Yup. What is your species?”

  “Technically? Terran. Most of it anyway. My ancestors were stolen a few centuries ago.”

  Laura blinked. “Really?”

  “Really. I am mostly Terran, a little Nyal and a hint of Moreski. There aren’t proper records. Stolen primitives don’t get a high price.”

  Korlin walked up to them. “So, I see you have introduced yourselves.”

  Zez looked at him. “You knew?”

  “Of course, it was part of the surprise.”

  She hugged him and made the introductions.

  Laura was fascinated by the idea that Nishans had mist as a standard form.

  The naturalists had tables ready, and a nocturnal celebration began.

  Zez sat with Korlin on one side and her new Terran friend on the other.

  She turned to Korlin. “Thanks for today.”

  He lifted her hand to his lips. “The first of many.”

  The application of surprises became random. Zez tried to trick Korlin a time or two, but since he tended to send a nearly invisible vapour cloud with her when she went shopping, there was an extra level of difficulty. When she managed a surprise, it was extra special and he appreciated it after he stopped laughing.