by Viola Grace
Wraith asked her, “What just happened?”
“They shut the train down, and Yahfreet made it move again.”
“That is...”
“I know. It is weird. I had to act on it though. He was kind of insistent.”
“It is fine. I suspected they would try and shut us down.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Did you at least get your nap?”
She laughed. “I did. Yahfreet had to learn my language to wake me, so I am guessing that was the delay in my coming to get you.”
“They only had me for an hour. He works quickly.”
Aymin smiled. “He does. It is a little tiring though. He is using me as his battery.”
“Can Stalker help?”
“No. I will wait until Yahfreet is out. He is trying to keep to himself, but my brain was designed to host one.” She gave another tight smile.
The train increased speed and took a track away from the original point before it suddenly decelerated.
“Where are we?”
She heard what Yahfreet said and blinked warily. “Wraith, can you take us up?”
He blinked in surprise. “Through the tunnel?”
“We are right underneath our shuttle. If you can take us up, we can be off world as fast as you can fly us.”
“I will try.”
“Yahfreet will help, but I am not sure his idea will work.”
Wraith pulled her against him, and she felt the weird tingle as her body shifted into a state that matched his. He reached up with one hand and pulled them through the roof of the train.
Yahfreet did what he could to help, and the energy wings that sprung from Aymin’s back pushed them upward through the stone until the familiar setting of the shuttle was around them.
Wraith let them solidify, and Stalker shook himself violently. Aymin swayed but headed for the command deck.
Wraith was at her side and helped her settle Stalker on her lap while he set up his own seat with restraints. She took the hint and cinched herself in tightly, leaning over to grab the bag and fish out the cuffs.
“Why did you bring those?”
She snorted at his look of suspicion. “Nothing in the bondage arena. Instead of dying as we pry him from his world, I thought Yahfreet might like to survive by passing into the cuff so that we can speak to him later.”
The delight in her mind was unmistakable. Yahfreet surged into the crystals, and they lit up as he circulated himself happily.
Aymin slumped in her seat and nodded. “He’s buckled in as well, let’s go.”
Wraith started the shuttle up, and to her shock, he put on the jump halo. He muttered, “It isn’t what you think.”
Moments later, they pulled upward and headed through the sky, passing through the storms and wind as if they were intangible.
The sweat on Wraith’s brow was unmistakable. He was keeping them safe by whatever means he could. The entire shuttle was intangible.
When they reached the outer atmosphere, he solidified them. Aymin smiled at him only to see that he had passed out.
With a frown, she settled Stalker on his lap as she checked the ship’s systems, restoring the oxygen. Wraith had exhausted himself and the ship had lost its atmosphere. It was fine for her, but she wasn’t really sensitive to air.
He was breathing evenly.
With a frown of concentration, she worked on setting the automatic return to Balen. The thrill of satisfaction rippled through her as the computer confirmed the plot and the ship began to move.
It was hours to the jump, so she pulled the halo from Wraith while Stalker scampered away. She guided Wraith down the hall and ended up setting him in her bunk. She didn’t know where his was.
Stalker jumped into bed with Jex and snuggled against his chest.
“Don’t overdo it, Stalker. He’s a tough guy.”
She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “I had better go keep an eye on the shuttle. I might even try and call Veera and ask her for help. You know how to find me.”
He chirped softly, and she took it as a sign that she could go and do what she needed to. He would watch their partner.
Aymin headed to the command deck. She needed to make a call.
Epilogue
Psyche Specialist Aymin stood next to Wraith and watched the broadcast of the Selloki versus the indigenous beings of Selloki 5.
“Did you ever think it would end this way?” Wraith muttered it to her softly.
“No. I also didn’t think that one of the Specialists would grow Yahfreet his own body. He seems impressed with himself.”
The small crystal on the forehead of the new ambassador of the fliers glowed with every sentence that he spoke. Two months of processing and holding Selloki 5 in a blockade had been enough to make the miners very reasonable.
The entire crew was watching the large view screen in Station 13. Wraith had been one of theirs, and they were delighted with his achievement. Discovering a sentient species on an inhabited world was an impressive feat, and Wraith’s position in the Sector Guard was now unassailable.
Stalker was at Aymin’s feet, and when the treaty was signed with Alliance oversight, she sighed in relief and he echoed her.
“Well, I suppose I should go to my appointment with Haunt now.”
Wraith smiled. “I will show you the way. What is she working on today?”
“A more effective way of stifling my radiation. I have been killing plants in the arboretum, and it is getting annoying.”
“I don’t have a problem with it. I like that you are warmer than normal.”
She wrinkled her nose and looked around before hissing up at him. “You aren’t supposed to comment on that. Be a gentleman.”
“That isn’t what you said last nmmff—” His eyes were shining with delight as she clamped her hand over his mouth.
“Haunt. Now.”
He chortled and led the way with Stalker right at her heels.
She shook her head and smirked. Three missions later and they were now a hybrid team. The Sector Guard would not take her on because she was still considered a security risk, and the Citadel would not raise her to the level of master because that would leave her off the Guard combination roster.
She was trapped between worlds, classifications and organizations, but with Stalker and Wraith at her side, it wasn’t a bad place to be.
Author’s Note
Well, renovations, illness and the other things that come with the fall are all upon me.
So, I have begun to ease the Vorwings back into the picture. Not all of them were captured. Some were playing the long game. We have just met one of them.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.
