Avert (2 page)

As Sky sighed and smiled at the familiar smells. “Lead on, stranger.”

“Aura. My name is Aura of the Nameless, but let’s keep other information aside until we get some food in you. It is a lot to take in and I want you sitting down.”

Sky walked next to Aura and saw a collection of statues that were life-sized and some of them resembled people eating in the huge refectory under a crystal dome. That was filed as the third question on Sky’s list.

“Take what interests you and grab a cup of coffee. They have located a decent source as long as you don’t analyze it too much.” Aura wandered off and took a tray, filling it with selections.

Bemused, Sky did the same, picking things that seemed innocuous and familiar before she followed Aura to the beverage station where Aura filled a tall cup with dark, hot liquid and turned to plunk it on her tray. “Creamers and sugars are to the left. This isn’t Starbucks, but we get by.”

Sky almost dropped her tray. “You’re a Terran.”

Aura sipped at her own dark cup. “Yup. Now, come along, so I can explain things to you.”

With her new friend leading the way, Sky looked out at the smiling faces whose owners waved a hello to her companion.

Aura slid into a seat at a charmingly located table next to a statue of herself.

“What is the deal with the statues?” Sky had a thousand questions and no idea who could provide the answers to her.

“First things first, you eat, I will talk.”

Aura started nibbling at something on a stick, amusement crinkling her eyes.

Sky sipped at the coffee and blinked surprised eyes. “This is the closest thing to coffee that I have had in years.”

Aura chuckled. “It has been thirteen years for me. My second life has been spent running the errands of time.”

Sky frowned. “There wasn’t an early set of Volunteers. How is it that you have been here thirteen years when I have been away from home for three?”

“The short answer is that you were pulled forward through time. Out of Tavik’s past and into your own future.”

“I think I need more of an explanation.”

Aura nodded and sat back with her mug in one hand. “When the big bang occurred, what happened to the universe that had been here until then?”

Sky’s eyes widened. “I have no idea.”

“No one does. It ceased to be. Well, most of it ceased to be. The previous universe did not want to go, so it ripped a chunk of a world, wrapped it in an atmosphere and settled it in the space between universes. The old universe was lonely and it planted the seeds of the capacity to perceive and manipulate it over hundreds of worlds.”

Aura shifted. “The problem came in getting the people who carried the capacity of manipulating time and space to come to this place, this peculiar Home in the middle of nowhere. The universe created the Orb of Time, the window to its soul and used this to call the first of the Nameless to it. To here. To Home.”

Sky blinked. “What does this have to do with me?”

“Like many others, you have the potential to do great things and you have the ability to bend time to your will.”

“I don’t think so. If it was the case, why wasn’t I brought here earlier?” She crossed her arms and scowled.

“To be frank, you had to die and it had to be on record. To become one of the Nameless, you have to be removed from your timeline. That means you have to die, or be assumed to be dead. Once you are out of your timeline, you can go anywhere, anytime and see any point in history.”

“I died?”

“You were mostly dead. Tavik got to you before you were completely dead. There is a difference apparently.” Aura shrugged.

“Why didn’t any of those abilities show up on the Volunteer scans back on earth?”

“The gene is hidden. The theory is that at the time of death, your soul sends out a burst of energy that the Orb sees. The Orb, in turn, sends one of us to retrieve those who have just surrendered to time.”

“What a polite way to phrase it.”

“Isn’t it? So much better than
kicked the bucket
.”

They laughed together and to Sky, it brought back the inhumanity in Aura’s eyes. “What is it with your eyes?”

“When you look into the Orb of Time, it moves in. It activates the dormant gene and changes your eyes to the swirling patterns of time. Or at least that is what my bondmate calls them. I just call them nifty.”

A man rose from another table and calmly walked over to join them. He sat in silence and finally Aura sighed.

“Sky, this is my bondmate, Randr. My transporting us here dragged him along and he was polite enough to let us have a few minutes alone. Mentioning him is like summoning the devil, he will always turn up.”

“Bondmate? Is that like a husband?”

“Yes and no. We are bound by the power of the Council of Seven and the energy of the Orb of Time itself. Where I go, he goes and vice versa. It was a punishment for something I did on my first day of being Nameless.”

Randr inclined his head and grinned. “I have been listening. She has been very thorough. Any additional questions?”

“Tons. What does Nameless mean?”

Randr answered, “The universe that died at the moment of the big bang was nameless. Nothing survived. We give up our previous lives, including family and home worlds, and so, we are Nameless in all our actions from this point onward. No planet recognizes us and only Home is ours.”

Aura elbowed him. “In a slightly less tangled version, we are Nameless because the Orb of Time has no name. The previous universe had no name. We call ourselves Nameless because this is our new start, our way of honouring what we have become. Other races call us Nameless, Sentinels, Watchers and Bringers of Light.”

Sky whistled softly. “We get around.”

Aura grinned. “Yes
we
do.”

As Sky rubbed her forehead ruefully, she had to admit she was intrigued, and more than that, she was in.

Chapter Three

Sky had to admit she was well and truly hooked. She wanted to know more about the rabbit hole she had fallen into and when Tavik appeared at her side, she looked up into the same eyes that everyone else in the room was wearing and smiled.

He smiled tentatively in return, as if unfamiliar with the reason for her cheerful expression. “The council is waiting for you, Sky. Are you comfortable enough with the introduction that Aura has provided?”

She nodded. “I have more questions.”

“I will be happy to answer them. We simply have a small matter to attend to first.”

Sky cocked her head. “What?”

“Your viewing of the Orb of Time and induction into the Nameless.”

Sky looked down at her station-issue tunic, trousers and boots. “I am not going to meet the Orb of Time looking like this. Is there somewhere I can find some clothing?”

Aura stood. “I can take her.”

Tavik raised his hand. “I will take her to the acquisition centre. You can take care of the summoning that the Orb has sent to you.”

Randr chuckled and Aura swore as she flared with a brilliant light.

Aura smiled at Sky, her eyes brilliant and alive in her glowing face. “I will see you when I return, Sky. Don’t worry about the eyes. They will go great with that hair of yours.”

Randr wrapped his arm around Aura’s waist and together, they disappeared in a flash of light.

Sky blinked and stood up. “Does that happen often around here?”

Tavik grinned. “All the time. You get used to it.”

She looked at his dark gold hair, kept off his face by two neat braids at his temples. His skin was a pale gold with a texture that gave the shadows of his face a peculiar colouration. Dark blue accented the slight hollow of his cheeks under the high cheekbones. The sharp curve of his lips was medium blue and the column of his neck was highlighted with the same blue shadows.

Whatever race he was from was a new one for Sky. “What colour were your eyes originally?”

“Dark purple, why?”

“Just wondering. Now, where are you taking me?”

He straightened his impressively wide shoulders. “I am taking you to acquisitions. If you want to select another set of clothing that is the place to do it.”

She brushed her hands absently at her clothing, removing crumbs from her shirt and trousers. “Lead on, Tavik.”

He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her, sending a bubble of light around them both. When the hot light receded, they were in another place, in front of a large building that held the distinctive whir of machinery.

“Um, I think you can let me go now, Tavik.”

Being plastered against his body was distracting to say the least. In her time at Resku Station, she had never been anywhere near one of the aliens that frequented the place. If she had found one who looked and felt this good, she might have reconsidered.

When he released her, her body let her know of its disappointment.

“Come along, Sky.”

He took her by the hand and his palm scraped lightly against her skin. The tiny contact became the focus of her attention as they entered the domed building filled with the scent of mechanical operations.

A short line of others was focussing on a large display screen and Tavik explained. “You will key in your sizes and a selection of clothing will be displayed from differing cultures and points in time. When you make your selection, the computer will send a bot to retrieve the item from storage. The process takes only a few minutes.”

“So, we get in line?”

He nodded. “We get in line.”

They stood side by side and Sky noted one important thing, Tavik was still holding her hand.

Scrolling through the selections, she was shocked to see her own designs in the available listing. With a few light taps of her fingers, she picked out a deep black tank dress with a fitted bodice and flowing skirt. It wasn’t fancy, but it suited her.

To match it, she selected a pair of knee-high boots that laced snugly onto her calves.

It took the computer two minutes to find her selections and deliver them to her. “Where is there a change room?”

Tavik gestured to their left where she had seen others disappear with their boxes.

The change rooms had charming chairs, fully appointed vanities and a number of hangers on the wall. The change room she had wandered into was also larger than her first apartment.

When Sky opened the box, she smiled at the matching underwear that was in with the dress. She removed her station wear with relief and slipped into the bra and panties before lacing up her boots and slipping her dress over her head.

A few deft tugs at the laces made the dress snug on her body, just as she had designed it. The mystery as to why her designs were in evidence was just another question that she wanted to ask.

She frowned at her reflection in the mirror and adjusted her cap of long curls. No matter what she did, they refused to hang below her shoulders, so she was resigned to wearing her hair in the only style it would accept. It was her grandmother’s hair. The curls were the result of a wild mix of genes that had led to her grandmother being excised from polite society. Gran didn’t mind. She had married the man she loved and built a life and family with him. If she had tried, she could have passed as white in the towns and cities they visited, but Gran didn’t believe in being something that you weren’t. She was proud of her heritage and her children should be proud too.

Sky smiled at the memory of her gran. Sara Raynard had been a force to be reckoned with and the primary means for Sky joining the Terran Volunteers. When the rest of the Raynards had caused a fuss, Sara had stomped her cane down and said quietly, “She is going to be a representative of all the peoples of Earth. We are going to let her go and give her our blessing. Sky will make us proud as she always has in the past.”

The rest of the family had quieted and Sky had rushed to hug her gran. The scent of roses and lavender had embraced her and Sky had tried to commit the scent to memory.

A knock at the change room brought her attention back to the present. “Are you ready, Sky?”

She wiped at the tears that had tracked down her cheeks and quickly removed her sewing kit from inside her station tunic. She fastened it under the hem of her skirt and went to face Tavik.

“Sorry it took so long.”

He smiled, “It was well worth the wait. You look lovely.”

“Thank you. Where to next?”

“The Council of Seven and your induction as a Nameless.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and started to walk with her on one of the huge arching pathways.

They walked slowly. “Why are we walking here when you could just pop into the other place?”

“We try not to pop in on the council. It shows lack of respect, besides, I thought you would enjoy gathering your thoughts before the change.”

She grinned. “My thoughts are pretty well centred. I am fairly focussed when I have to be.”

He smiled back at her, his face still a little stiff as if the expression didn’t come naturally. “I am glad to hear it, but in that case, simply enjoy the view. Home is lovely right now.”

She thought that he had an act for understatement. Home was breathtaking. The feeling of almost being able to touch the stars, nebulas and spinning galaxies was overwhelming.

Life on Resku had contained its challenges, but something was telling Sky that her idea of what a challenge entailed was about to be tested.

Chapter Four

The building that housed the Council of Seven was a tall cylinder that descended below the level of the walkways and into a crevice that allowed a view of the stars beneath.

“We just go inside?” Sky was suddenly nervous.

“We do. They know you are here. They always know when new arrivals appear.”

Tavik’s arm around her waist was suddenly the only solid thing in her universe as he urged her into the dark maw of the doorway.

A semi-circle of Nameless faced Sky. The spot on the centre of the floor was obviously for her. Tavik gave her support by standing behind her.

A woman with black hair in an elaborate twist complete with tiny braids smiled at her. “Welcome, Sky Raynard of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra, Seamstress of Resku Station.”