Determine (2 page)

“What happened to you?” Hydra touched the back of Tangle’s hand. He seemed the most stunned out of the batch.

Starburn looked at her hand and removed it from Tangle’s. “He had to use his talent for an extended period of time. He is a little tired.” She frowned with concern. “You all look like hell.”

Liskey had been playing charades with the server, and a moment later, there were water glasses and teacups in front of everyone. Liskey poured the water and then did rounds with the tea.

Tangle drank the first glass of water and held his cup between shaking hands for more. Liskey kept him topped up and summoned another pitcher of water with a glare at the server.

Hydra noticed that it was a different server than the one she had seen when she and Liskey had arrived. “Breaker, is there a problem with our server?”

Breaker looked at the young man with weary eyes and she nodded. “He is a reporter. Our regular server is stuck in the chiller.” Hydra was going to sort it out, but Starburn got to his feet and walked behind the counter. There were thuds and curses followed by a bright flash.

The regular server came out bristling with the indignity of a wet chicken and quickly began taking orders.

“What was the flash?”

Starburn resumed his seat next to her. “I toasted his data scanner, but his first images were already sent through. Hopefully, you won’t be recognized.”

He took her hand as casually as if it was something that he did every day, and damned if it didn’t feel just as natural to Hydra.

She let him hold her hand and asked, “So, what did you risk your lives for today? I just had to deal with a Nyal noble who wanted me for his collection.”

Starburn’s hand heated up when she said that.

Tangle looked up, and the hydration had improved him dramatically. “A fire in a seven-story accommodation. Breaker kept them calm, Starburn pulled the flame away, Warp opened exits and I built ladders. Lots and lots of very tall ladders.”

“No wonder you are tired.” She tilted her head.

“What do you build them out of?” Starburn rubbed his thumb along the side of hers, “You honestly don’t know?”

“I have been concentrating on learning new customs and how to find my way around a new world. I am not one to poke my nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Tangle smiled. “A refreshing attitude. I grow vines and force their shape with my thoughts. Breaker is our mind reader, Warp rearranges molecules into strange and unusual shapes and Starburn controls fire and plasma.”

“Ah. Well, that makes a certain amount of sense.” She smiled and shrugged at her ignorance.

Breaker stared at her for a moment. “She is serious. She really hasn’t dug into our histories since we last met. Hydra, thank you. It is so refreshing.”

Hydra blushed. “I frankly didn’t have time. This is the first day that I have even been able to think about getting back here for soup, let alone stalking the Guardians of Deyfell.” The table at large burst into laughter and food began to show up. The Guardians ate their meals, but Starburn did not release her hand no matter what he was doing with his other hand. She was going to ask him to release her, but Breaker shook her head slightly.

Breaker shifted and leaned into Liskey for a moment, and Liskey had no objection to the contact.

We need the contact, Hydra. Trust me on this.

Starburn doesn’t even know he is touching you, he just
feels better.
Hydra blinked as the words dropped into her mind with the steadiness of water.

She looked to Breaker who was making herself comfortable with Liskey. It was obvious that she was feeling better with the contact, but Warp and Tangle were still tense.

Despite what Starburn wanted, Hydra leaned over and placed her fingers on the back of Warp’s hand. “I hope you feel better.”

He brightened at the light touch and turned his hand for a moment to grip hers before releasing it.

“Thank you.”

She left his hand for Tangle’s and he took it for a moment, smiling brightly at her with surprisingly sharp teeth. He was a Deyfell 5 Nyal by the sharp edges of his teeth. She resumed her previous seat, and Starburn’s hand was still exceedingly warm until she settled out of range of his two companions.

“Are you all stationed here on Deyfell 4?” Starburn nodded. “We do six-month circuits through the system and have bases on each world, though we do travel for attacks by outside forces when necessary.”

Breaker sighed. “Fortunately, that is not often.” Hydra nodded and settled a little further in her seat. “How long do you have left on Deyfell 4?” Starburn rubbed her fingers with his. “Two weeks. We are on our way to Tangle’s home next.” She sighed in disappointment. “Two weeks. Well that… How long until you rotate back here?”

“Three years.” Starburn was watching her closely.

“Ah. I will be back in the Alliance by then. My contract here expires in eighteen months.” She shrugged, and Liskey had a flash of disappointment on her features.

“I see. So, we will all be going our separate ways in time.”

The table was mired in silence until Hydra lifted her chin. “Well, I think I have to return to my quarters. Liskey?”

Liskey sighed. “I suppose I should get to going over those research reports.”

Hydra tried to retrieve her hand, and it seemed for a moment that Starburn wasn’t going to let her go. She looked into those brilliant red eyes, and she was able to meet his gaze with calm determination.

“I have to go now. It was nice meeting you again. I don’t think I will be able to come back here. I will have to find a recipe for forty-seven-ingredient soup.”

A murmur of laughter rippled through the Guardians.

Warp said, “It was nice running into you again.”

Starburn rose when she did, still holding her hand. He walked her and Liskey to the door, leaning in to whisper in her ear. “I am hoping that we meet again, Hydra. Twice was not enough.” She turned to tell him that she agreed, but her lips collided with his, and what started as an accidental connection turned into a heated kiss.

* * * *

Warp turned to Breaker, “I don’t think he is going to let her stay here, do you?”

Tangle snorted. “With the energy she offered to me with that light touch, I would stand in line if he wouldn’t kill me. I am fairly sure that she will be coming with us, whether she knows it or not.” Breaker smiled, “I am just hoping that Liskey is the kind to visit her friend during school holidays. I am sure that I would enjoy the company.” Warp shook his head as the kiss between the normally staid Starburn and the alien took on an urgency. The Guardians’ captain was gripping the woman’s waist with one hand and holding her head with the other. She wasn’t getting away any time soon.

The reporter who had masqueraded as a server was on the other side of the diner door.

Warp winced. “Damn. Well that cinched it. That picture is going to be on the newsreels within minutes. I thought him holding her hand was going to cause enough of a fuss. This is going to be very annoying for her.”

The Guardians chose their companions discreetly. Not only did they not want to make them targets for harm, but also the reporters and newsreels were highly invasive on some worlds, and once the identity of a companion was known, their privacy went out the window.

It was only a matter of time before Hydra was a target, but Warp was sure that Starburn had decided on the charming alien. Being a half-breed himself, Starburn was not hung up on Nyal bloodlines. She may have been born on an Alliance world, but Hydra was going to meet her destiny in the Nyal Imperium.

I
n the hired skimmer, Hydra could not stop touching her lips. They still burned and tingled from Starburn’s kiss. Breaker had peeled him away from her, muttering about him doing enough damage.

“I thought he wasn’t going to release you.” Liskey was still blinking in shock. Breaker had landed a quick kiss on her as well.

“I didn’t think he was either. I was just hanging there.” She shivered. He had literally lifted her against him and held her where he wanted her. It wasn’t unexpected in Nyal males, but Hydra had never been on the receiving end of that kind of attention before. Shock was a polite term for what she was feeling, raging hormones was another.

“Well, you can brag of a moment that no other women on Deyfell 4 can. You were kissed in a public venue by one of the Guardians.”

“So were you.”

“Yes, but Breaker didn’t explore the sharpness of my teeth with her tongue.”

Hydrangea blushed. “Well, I think we should put this behind us. They are leaving in two weeks, and after that, this will all be a memory.” Liskey leaned against her for comfort, so Hydra stroked her hair.

The skimmer passed a huge view screen and the breath left Hydra’s lungs. “Holy hell.” Starburn had a woman in his arms and that woman was being held flat against him while he ravished her mouth. The woman’s face wasn’t clear, but the clothing and hair were unmistakable.

Even Hydra’s students commented on the natural silver frosting that coated her hair. Anyone with eyes was going to figure it out in a matter of a few moments.

Liskey sat up and stared at the image as the kiss went on and on. “Wow. It looks even more intimate at ten times normal size.”

“Oh lord.” She couldn’t look away. The words beneath in Nyal script said,
Is Starburn making time
with a mystery woman, or has he found the one?

Nausea rippled through her. “This is going to get me ejected, isn’t it?”

Liskey gave her a helpless look. “Maybe they won’t see it?”

There was a stringent regulation for behaviour of visiting instructors. Hydra was getting the feeling that this was going to qualify as inappropriate behaviour.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you were seeing one of the Guardians?” Her department coordinator was delighted with the image on the screen.

Hydra rubbed her neck and shrugged. “I am not really seeing him. I met him twice, and we had just agreed that with the Guardians moving on and my contract being up before they return, it would not work out. It was a farewell kiss if you must know.”

Srevil Quarthur shook his head. “That does not look like farewell. That looks more like,
this will
continue as soon as we have privacy
.” Hydra’s blush heated her face. “So, I am not dismissed as an instructor?”

“Of course not. He is a Guardian. It isn’t like he is another instructor. Starburn is a treasure of the system. He could choose any woman on any world he visits, and he chose you. It is a tremendous honour.” Srevil got a sly look on his face. “The coordinator for the Guardians demanded that you not be relieved of your duties by the way. The Academy head assured them that your contract would not be cancelled prematurely due to this publicity.”

She sat with relief in the chair in front of the desk that he had offered to her earlier. “That was nice of them.”

“Yes, but it does belie your earlier statement that it was farewell. Since the Guardians will only be here for two weeks, you may want to take some days off to spend time with him. There is nothing wrong with that.”

She rubbed at her forehead. “Why is everyone reacting this way? My students applauded me, the kitchen staff wanted my autograph and I was offered a parking space when I don’t even have a vehicle.”

“The Guardians keep us safe. No one can stop every bad thing from happening, but they are willing to try in any circumstances that raise their heads. The sacrifice that they make is appreciated, and if one of our people can ease their burden in any way, it is up to us to offer them up for that purpose.”

Hydra couldn’t stop her eyes from widening.

“Oh. All right. Well, I don’t think that it will come up again.”

She was getting ready to rise when Srevil’s receptionist came in, flushed with a silly smile.

“Instructor Graham? There is someone to see you in the outer office.”

Srevil grinned, and she winced as she rose to her feet.

Srevil said, “I will have Uli cancel your classes for the next few days.”

Hydra was drenched in shame as she left the administrator’s office, but she stopped with a jolt when Warp greeted her. “Hello, Warp.” He smiled. “I did not think to meet you again. Would you come with me on a short trip, Hydra?”

“Where are we going?” She bit her lip.

“To our base. Starburn wishes to see you, but he isn’t up and around right now.” Concern rippled through her.

“What happened?”

Warp offered her his arm, and she took it, letting him lead her out of the admin building and down to a private transport.

Students and instructors alike stopped to stare at them.

He helped her inside the vehicle, and she settled against the cushions. A driver lifted off, and without a word, they were increasing height and speed, approaching the sound barrier and then passing it.

Hydra’s nails were dug into the cushions as the flight took several dips and shudders that she wasn’t too fond of.

“You don’t fly much, do you?” Warp was smiling.

“Not if I can help it. Space flight is easier than atmospheric any day.”

“Right, that reminds me. Starburn was working on a meteor shower last night, and he exhausted himself. He is recuperating at our base, and I thought you would help speed the process.”

“Wait, he didn’t ask for me?” This was going to be so embarrassing.

“Not verbally, no. But, according to Breaker, his last thought was of you before he passed out, so I came to get you.” He looked so pleased with himself.

“I am not a toy to be fetched.”

“No, but you are the woman he wants. Either way, he is not going to say no. Are you?” She scowled at Warp, but he was wearing an innocent expression behind his mask. She crossed her arms and tipped into him when the pilot took a sudden left and she overbalanced.

He caught her and held onto her for the rest of the ride.

An island provided them with privacy and a central launch site for disasters. She had to admit that comic book villains back on Earth had the right idea. It was convenient.

After a bumpy landing, Warp helped her out of the transport and into a building carved into the side of a mountain. “I am guessing that a previous Guardian did this?”