by Viola Grace
She smiled gratefully as she regained her balance. Her thoughts tripped with images of her family, and she told Reset everything she knew while the world blurred around her.
The snow was bright and young Amlie was running toward her. Hahvi laughed happily and held her niece for the first time since she was a baby.
Hakena stood watching with a smile on her face, her arm around her husband Prenaro. Haloor was with his new wife Rishka, and they were all watching her frolicking in the snow with Amlie.
“Join us.” Hahvi waved her family toward her.
Her siblings and spouses took a few steps before they burst into flame. Screams rang out as they burned.
Hahvi looked down at Amlie, and her niece crumbled into ash in her arms. The pain in her soul struck at her, and Hahvi screamed while the world around her turned into a pool of seething molten rock.
Her suit was on her body, but as she watched it, it caught fire, burning her skin when nothing burned her skin.
She heard voices in the distance, urging speed and care.
Hahvi took a deep breath of the scent of her scorched skin and extended her arms. She called the lava to her and let it wrap her from ankle to neck. The fire had taken her family from her, so now, she would let it cleanse her.
The lava shot upward, arcing out, and as it left her body, it hardened into a smooth stone wall protecting her from any further damage or the image of the family cottage slowly catching fire.
When she was surrounded, protected and her body had repaired itself, she let the tears fall.
Gasping and sitting up, Hahvi looked around her to see Reset leaning heavily against a strange male, Fixer doing the same with a man made of midnight, and Rackon sitting on the edge of the medical bed that she was perched on.
Her limbs were bare and free of the restrictor suit for the first time in eight years.
A light tunic was draped over her torso, and it was a relief that she didn’t have to look down at her own body.
Rackon was sweating, but he gave her a cheerful grin. “You have a powerful mind.”
“You put me in my dreams.” It was an accusation.
“More or less. I tried to shape something you would like, but the pain seeped through, and I lost control. You managed to pull it together though. Congratulations.”
She rubbed her forehead with one hand. Without the suit, her body felt the cold like it never had before. “I had to work a few things out. All those years with the power bottled up created issues that needed to be solved.”
He nodded. “So I saw.”
Fixer cleared her throat. “I will need to fit you with a suit that has protective properties. Knowing that you deal with molten rock is going to be a bit of a challenge. Plus, I have to make it match your old suit in case the Resicor newsreels see you.”
Hahvi frowned. “I have to get a new suit?”
“I am afraid so. Gant has been working on a more resistant Masuo, but if it doesn’t work, I have another fabric standing by.” Fixer smiled.
The man next to her sighed. “And as soon as we get a meal or three into her, she will be able to help you with the fitting.”
Reset laughed. “I am sure she will be fine, Shade. Stop with your worried face.”
The man holding Reset chuckled. “Never begrudge a man concern for his wife, dear heart. You know that Fixer tends to overdo.”
“Yes, and you know as well as I that her cargo will cease her exertion if it endangers it.” Reset batted her lashes at her partner.
He sighed and drew her back against him, pressing a kiss to her temple.
Hahvi watched all of this with amazement. She had heard little snippets about the Sector Guard from the new arrivals in the dome, but their reputation as fierce and determined warriors was being somewhat skewed with the tenderness that they were showing to their partners.
Rackon was rubbing at the back of his neck, and he grimaced. “I do hate to rush anyone, but whatever we are doing, can we speed things along. There is a planet at stake and slowly disappearing beneath molten lava.”
Fixer nodded, got to her feet with the help of Shade and tottered out of medical.
Rackon scowled. “Where is she going?”
Reset gave him a smirk. “Fixer has to refuel. She will be ready to go in an hour.”
Rackon frowned. “Where shall we go?”
Reset’s companion smiled. “If you want to keep an eye on Fixer, go to the commissary. She will be there for quite a while.”
A stranger walked into the room and waved Reset out. “Go and rest, you look exhausted.”
Reset’s companion lifted her off her feet and carried her down the hall without a word.
The new arrival smiled, “Hello, I am Dr. Nywyn. You can call me Effin. I apologize for my absence earlier, but the commander of the base required my attention.”
The man had a semi-feline face and a charming grin. His teeth were dramatically pointed, but his smile was still friendly.
Rackon was at her side and scowling at the new arrival. “And why are you here?”
“First off, I am the medical officer for Morganti. This is my facility. Second, I am here to run final checks on the young lady to make sure that she is fit for duty. Since her talent precludes us from running tests, we have to make sure that she is as well as she can be after her trauma.”
Rackon nodded tersely, but Hahvi could tell he was upset about something. What it could be was far beyond her.
Chapter Four
“How does it feel?” Fixer was sitting on a high stool and watching Hahvi.
Hahvi twisted and reached, liking the feel of the new suit. It felt similar to the restrictor suit, but it had none of the wiring that kept her talent subdued and interrupted. “It feels good. Do you think it can withstand the heat?”
Fixer shrugged, “Gant did what he could to make it as durable as he was able. If not, I have a fabric suit that will withstand anything you can throw at it. Literally. We lit it on fire, poured molten metal across it, and it withstood it all. It will be your backup in case the Masuo fails.”
Hahvi grinned at the pregnant woman. “At least this looks like my old suit. What will happen if this one burns? I mean, from a publicity standpoint.”
“Relay is standing by to watch the news reports, and she will alter the data stream to show you in your old-style suit even if you have to change into the synthetic.”
As Hahvi watched, Fixer’s belly rippled. She smiled, remembering Amlie. “Do you know if it is a boy or a girl?”
Fixer shook her head. “As long as it is single, I don’t care what it is. The twins run me ragged, though they did enjoy using the flame thrower on your new suit.”
“May I?” Hahvi extended her hand.
When Fixer nodded, she pressed her palm to the rippling abdomen. The small shockwaves running through the amniotic liquid told her all she needed to know. Smiling, she withdrew her hand.
Fixer narrowed her eyes. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Engage in a mild sonic pulse. I could feel it, and it appeared on the readouts.”
The readouts had been explained to her. Hahvi would be under observation by both the Citadel and the Sector Guard until she had proven her talent stable and under her control.
“I used to use that all the time. It is how I find pockets of magma under the surface and bring it up. I have to know where it is to use it.”
“That makes sense. I never thought about it before. We haven’t run into someone with your particular skills before.” She smiled. “Thank you for not telling me the gender either. I know it is difficult for some people, but I really don’t want to know.”
The door to the workshop opened and two small girls, who were obviously the aforementioned twins, came barrelling in.
“You let those two use a flame thrower?” The girls couldn’t have been more than five.
“Let is a very fluid word. I mentioned we had to fire test it and my little ones we
re torching away in five minutes.” Fixer sighed. “Their nanny never had a chance. They were in here with the fabric and torch without anyone seeing them.”
“How could the nanny not see them?” Hahvi didn’t understand.
She heard a giggle near her, but there was no one there. Another giggle from the other side finally had her cluing in. “They have invisibility.”
“One of them does, she figured out how to share it last week. Now, let’s get the next suit fit to you, and you will have a lovely backup in case you end up naked in a lava field.”
The little girls helped, one even assisting her mum with the fitting of the suit.
By the end of the afternoon, Hahvi had one suit that was living on her skin and a flameproof backup.
Rackon was impatient but polite when they finally said their goodbyes and climbed aboard the shuttle.
“Where to next, Rackon?” Her suit was familiar, at least in appearance, so she was far more ready than she would have thought for whatever was to come next.
“We are going to my home of Bormaic, but you can have some rest in the bunk. It will take sixteen hours and three jumps to get us there.”
She sighed and smiled. “Okay. As soon as we leave the atmosphere, I will take a nap. I want to be fresh and awake for whatever I have to deal with.”
He nodded, but there was tension around his mouth. He didn’t say anything else, merely kept their trajectory up and out of the bounds of the Sector Guard Base Morganti.
The moment that they were on their way through the system to the jump site, she unclasped her harness and walked to the area of the shuttle that had to contain the bunk.
With a few false starts, she got the bunk folded down. On the plus side, she now knew where the lav and kitchen were.
The bunk was hard, but as soon as she lay down, she realized how tired she was. Hahvi relaxed, pulled the light sheet over herself and surrendered to darkness.
* * * *
Rackon sighed in relief as the woman fell asleep. He had been holding his breath while she was awake for fear of telling her something that he shouldn’t know.
When he held her mind in sleep, he had learned far more than he anticipated. Her entire emotional centre downloaded into his brain, and he had been helpless under the storm of her hopes and dreams.
Her pain had bled through into her sleeping mind, and he was unable to help her as she dealt with the translation of what was happening to her body.
It had never happened before. Rackon was not only sleep master to the Citadel, but dream master to the Bormaic. He was known to have complete control of the sleeping mind, but this woman from Resicor fought him the entire way.
Her sleep now was blessedly blank. He could not read any trauma or panic in her mind.
Rackon ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at her. He hoped that she could do what he saw in her mind. His people needed just a little bit of help before they could move their population to the new location. If she could hold back the tide of molten stone long enough for them to put the barricades in place, her assignment would be complete, and she could move on to the next world that needed her help.
Hahvi had a lot of potential. He hoped that she was everything they had been told. If her exceptional mind was an example of her talent, he had hope that she just might be exactly the right talent at the right time.
If she wasn’t, he had no idea how they would get the city installed in its new location.
Chapter Five
Hahvi had never imagined a world on fire before, but Bormaic was as close as anything that went through her mind. “It is covered with liquid stone.”
Rackon was grim. “It is. My people have lived on the fringes of the lava fields for centuries, but now, there is no avoiding it. We need to move the city, but to do that, we need the lava held back for a few days.”
“So that is where I come in.”
“Indeed. Our technology and talents can move our city, but to do that, we need to drop the shielding that keeps the rock at bay. Once you have bought us the time we require, we shall move the city to higher ground.” Rackon’s expression was tense. “Did you dream?”
She blinked and concentrated on the view as they approached. “Nothing major.”
Hahvi had watched her family consumed by flame once again. This time, she had pulled the lava back, but it had erupted under them and burned them all.
He gave her a look that indicated he did not believe her, but he left it alone.
“Have you lived here all your life?” Distraction seemed the better option to laying her nightmares bare.
“Not my entire life. The Citadel recruitment officers came through when I was a teen, and for ten years, I travelled and used my particular skills. It enabled me to train and master my talent.” His hands tightened on the controls as they entered the atmosphere.
The heat from the surface caused the ship to buck and twist, but eventually, it found a calm patch of air and glided downward.
Hahvi kept her mouth shut as they wobbled down to the landing zone that was rimmed with liquid stone.
“It wasn’t that bad when I left.”
“Is there anywhere else to land?”
He shook his head. “No. It is the only spot available until the city is moved. They will come to get us after we land.”
His silent hope was obvious.
Hahvi nodded and held on as they flew low over the waves of heat coming up from the surface. The shuttle skidded to a halt, leaving them on an island of tarmac surrounded by molten rivers.
“Rackon, are you heat resistant?”
He grinned. “Not to your extent, but all of the Bormaic have evolved to live with the gasses in the air, the heat and the minimal food options.”
“Good. When we open those doors, hell is going to flood in.” Hahvi unclasped her harness.
Rackon mimicked her. “Are you ready to try your talent out?”
She blinked in surprise. He was right. This was the first time in her life that she would be able to use her talent without fear of exposure. “I guess I am. Is that the ride to the city you were referring to?”
He sighed in relief. “Yes. Time to step on Bormaic. Enjoy it.”
She followed him to the shuttle exit and waited behind him. Their lift had come to the door side of the shuttle. It should be a short run from shuttle to the flying machine, but who knew?
The blast of heat when the door opened fluffed her hair straight up into a shock of green. When she was able to set her feet on the tarmac, the heat of the ground on her bare soles made her smile. This was her element. This was her power.
She walked past Rackon and extended her arms, a wave of stone lifted away from the ground and rippled upward, cooling as it climbed. When the tarmac was surrounded by cooled stone twelve feet high and six feet thick, she dusted her hands off and followed Rackon onto the small flier.
Their pilot was a young woman with the same dark grey skin as Rackon. “How did you do that?”
“I have no idea, but I am going to do it again.” She grinned and held onto the edge of the flier as it lifted up and out of the landing site. Her first test was successful, and she knew in her soul that she could make this world in whatever pattern she chose.
The power was heady, but the feeling of success was far more intoxicating. Her people had no right to fear her. She was a talent in control of her power and nothing she did would endanger anyone.
It was enough to start a spark of determination inside her. She was going to go home and tell them that there was no reason to fear physical talents. She would not go back into the dome so easily this time. They would have a fight on their hands.
With her thoughts on Resicor, she nearly missed the city as they flew over a restraining field and into the heart of the population of Bormaic.
Cheers rang out as they left the flier. Hahvi was taken by surprise and thought that they must be cheering Rackon’s successful return.
A soft, feminine voice spoke
near her shoulder. “They mean you, you know?” The pilot was standing next to her.
Hahvi was confused. “Why?”
“Because hope is always something to be cheered on, even if it falls short of the dream, at least it shows an effort to survive.” The young woman smiled. “I am Aliora. Rackon’s cousin.”
The male in question was speaking with someone who had the air of a person in command.
Hahvi looked down at the young woman and asked, “Are you a talent as well?”
“A surface reader. I know what you will say before you say it but that is about it. Apparently, I hone in on the speech centre.”
Hahvi blinked. “Oh. Is it common among the Bormaic?”
“To have a talent?”
“Yes.”
“Yes. Those who didn’t have extra means of survival left the surface years ago. Our mechanical talents combined with the few who have gravitational-manipulation abilities have made the move of the city possible, but it is Rackon who had the dream that sent him to get you.”
“Is his talent rare?”
“Very. We have only had two dream masters in all our history. Each one had a different focus, and we were wondering what Rackon’s would be until he dreamed of you, and now, here you are.” Aliora smiled.
“He dreamed of me? He didn’t mention it.” She frowned, taken aback.
Rackon turned his head toward her and was at her side in an instant. “What is it, Hahvi?”
She raised her brows, “You dreamed of me?”
He scowled at his cousin. “I was going to tell you later, but yes. My mind found yours six months ago. It was then that I began proceedings to find you and bring you to Bormaic.”
Hahvi closed her eyes in remembrance. “I was dreaming of summer.”
Rackon’s shock was unmistakable, but the man clearing his throat next to him broke up what he would have said.
“Hahvi Karuda of Resicor. We are happy to have you with us.”
Hahvi smiled and inclined her head. “I am happy to be here.”
