Govern (5 page)

“Whatever it is. He was licking his lips.”

She stared at him. “You are serious.”

“Of course I am. Are you not used to men falling at your feet?”

A light laugh made its way out of her chest. “Not usually. I am unremarkable for my species. If I didn’t run around in skin-tight clothing, I am sure that I would not have garnered a second look.”

“I have looked far more than two times.”

“Yes, but you are stuck with me at close quarters.”

“You think that makes a difference?”

“It is the only difference that I can determine from the dozens of other men that I have had on board.” She let her grumpy nerves rule her language. The moment that the subject had turned to her appeal, she had gone defensive.

“I think you need to have something to eat before you say something that will necessitate my proving your appeal. Given my current form, you won’t enjoy it nearly as much as I would.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, and he reciprocated with his forked tongue flicking out in mimicry.

Sighing, she got to her feet. “Breakfast and then back to the city.”

“What was the significance of the tongue thing?”

“It was a gesture of derision.”

“Ah, we are going to have a conversation once we have concluded our negotiations here on Gah-tosh.” He inclined his head and offered her his hand.

She slid her palm along his, and he escorted her to the kitchen.

“Good morning,
Gold
. Let’s try a new name on, shall we? Aura? How about Aura?”

A bright chime greeted her, and Leo smiled while she prepped their breakfast packs. “We will try Aura this week then.”

Eykanyo asked, “What are you and the ship discussing?”

“Some of
Gold
’s sisters have had cute nicknames given to them by their pilots. I have been remiss in my duties to my partner, so now we are trying names on for size.”

“Aura?”

“The ship is still the
Gold Fairy,
but now, the consciousness within will be known as Aura, at least until she decides she doesn’t like it.”

“How many names have you tried on?”

“This makes six.”

The heater chimed, and she retrieved the meal packs. He was pouring tea for them both.

“Why doesn’t she just accept what you pick?” He sipped and inclined his head in thanks when she dropped the meal in front of him.

“She is a living being and just getting to know herself. She needs a name she can be part of that feels comfortable for her. Eventually, she will begin speaking, and she will want a name she can live with. I am just her pilot. There is a very good chance that she will outlive me. Her name is all I can give her to take with her into her future.”

His eyes widened, and he looked around with a new understanding in his gaze. “So, she is truly alive. I had hoped that this would happen when I designed the specifications, but I never dreamed that it would become a reality.”

She paused while eating her omelette. “Design? I thought you were an ambassador.”

“And you were an invalid, trapped by your own body, never able to take your own steps forward and show the worlds what you truly are.”

He ate his breakfast and sipped his tea as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb in the room.

“How did you…how do you know that?” It wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t something known to the average Guardian.

“I told you, I designed the project over a decade ago, but they couldn’t find a matching species in the Nyal Imperium. The races here do not do well and do not blend well without a lot of medical intervention.”

“That isn’t right, I know plenty of cross-breeds.” She finished the last few bites and sat back with her teacup in her hand.

He mimicked her and inclined his head. “I mean the intermingling with technology. You all seem to have immune systems that are easy to manipulate. Your species was the ideal one to use for this project, but we had to wait until there were enough suitable candidates up for selection.”

Leo was shocked, and she leaned forward. “How did you know about Terrans?”

“Your species has been prized on the black market for eons. Only a few samples of descendants were available for testing, and their blood was diluted. We had to cross our fingers and wait for you to come to us.”

“My family was shocked when I applied.”

“Why?”

“Because it was not socially acceptable for my family to have one of their members leave the world. They were objectors to the Volunteer project. I had to sneak in under the dark of night and fill in the application. They interviewed me and took a brain scan right there. The whole thing was enacted with the utmost secrecy. My family didn’t even know I was leaving until my name popped up on the roster, but by then, I was on my way to the launch area and waiting to drop into one of the long-range transfer pods for shipment to the project site.”

“Your family objected?”

“My family objected in public, on vids, on the radio, in public events…everywhere.”

“Why?”

“Many of my people believed that we should only get to the stars under our own power. Others believed that the Alliance were the agents of the devil. A sign of the end of humanity.”

“So, you were going against convention.”

“You could say that. They offered me the chance at developing a new treatment for me. They never promised me a cure, you understand, but a treatment that made movement easier was something I was after.”

“And here you are.”

“And here I am. My body still fights the treatment, and it has to be recalibrated every six months, but the ship and I are fast friends and daring partners. Aura puts up with a lot though, so I don’t envy her being my ship.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pain control. When my immune system overrides the treatment and attacks my joints and limbs again, I get a little cranky, and she has to keep me calm until we can go in for repairs and I can get my upgrade.”

“How painful is it?”

“It takes about ten days to render me immobile, but out of their research on me, there have been great strides in autoimmune diseases on nine worlds, as well as five functioning pain killers that focus on bone and connective tissue.”

“And so the project works.”

She had to ask. “How did you think of it?”

“I met a descendant of one of your kind, and she told me that her mother used to work in a place where those who were physically infirm were brought to simply live out their days without any hope of a life outside. She mentioned a strange metal machine that a few of the people had been trapped in and that got me thinking, so I began to write, design and the project bloomed from there. I took it to the imperium and got funding during the early organization days of the Guardians. Many worlds had talents acting as protection, but a little organization and crossing the species lines created a solid unit that is flourishing with your help.”

“The Guardian Transport project fits in and gets the Guardians where they need to go and picks them up from the places they are not wanted.” Leo blinked at the knowledge she was getting about the origin of the project. She was still not quite sure that Eykanyo was the originator, but he did seem to know a lot about it.

“What was the DNA offered to blend with ours? I mean, which species?” She had a suspicion, but she wanted confirmation.

“It was Beholder DNA. Since we have so many species blended in our forms, we took to your tissue samples like you would not believe. All the ships are half Terran and half Beholder in their biological parts.”

“Well, hell.” She thudded back in her seat. “Aura, did you get all that?”

A chime rang out.

“Do you believe it?”

Another chime.

“You really don’t care do you?”

A cheerful chime.

Eykanyo sat up and said, “This has been lovely, and I am sure we will get into it a little more at a later time, but that time is not now. Now is for the Gah-tosh.”

She loaded the dishes into the recycler and left the ship with the ambassador sitting on the skimmer in his customary position.

He hadn’t been kidding. The councillors of the Gah-tosh were staring at her like she was a small mouse dangling over a reptile cage.

Ambassador Wikkio kept the conversation on the details of the Nyal space station. He covered everything from armament to outriders and staffing levels.

Govern stood behind him the entire time, trying to keep an eye on the other men in the room. They were staring at her with speculation in their gazes, and she was glad for the makeup’s assistance in keeping her features hidden.

When the stipulations were complete, the senior councillor raised his scaly hand. “Now for another matter. How much for the woman?”

Govern stiffened and glared at him. She sent a beverage bot over to dump a pot of tea in his lap.

Ambassador Wikkio snickered. “She is not available. She is mine, and I will not part with her.”

“I am sure that there is something we can offer your people in exchange for your bodyguard.” He was lazy and confident that he could get the ambassador to come around.

“No, you cannot. Nothing you can offer will take her from me.”

She was heartened by the confidence and absolute certainty in his tone.

Every service bot in the building was slowly converging on the boardroom as tension mounted.

“You do not understand, Ambassador. We wish to keep her here to assist in planetary defense.”

“I understand perfectly, Councillor. You cannot have her.” He stood and took the documents and data pads that had been signed, tucking them into a courier bag.

He looked to Govern. “We are done here.”

She inclined her head. “Our escort is waiting, and the ship is on the way. They have a large public square here.”

“Excellent.” He smiled and inclined his head to the assembled men. “Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure to negotiate with you. Please excuse us. We have another assignment to attend to.”

The councillors looked at each other in confusion, and the senior spoke rapidly into a com unit, hissing all the time.

Govern gave the ambassador a speaking glance, inclined her head to the men assembled and walked with Wikkio toward the door.

The first attack was not aimed at her, but she felt it coming. She struck out at the blast weapon with her fist and gripped it in her own hand a moment after it parted from the scaled fist of the attacker. The other weapons in the room were rendered inactive by a flick of her thoughts. It was more difficult to grab a weapon as they only had one programming option, but it was still possible to turn them off.

“We are ready to leave, Ambassador.”

“Thank you, Govern.”

He opened the door, and their escort was waiting. She could see his shoulders shaking in amusement as every cleaning, service and maintenance bot surrounded them and moved with them through the halls.

He spoke quietly, “This is a little unusual, even for me.”

She whispered, “Get used to it. This is only the tip of the freaky.”

They walked outside, got into the skimmer with their army slowly returning to regular duties. The bulk of the
Gold Fairy
was above them, and Govern gunned the skimmer’s thrusters to get them up and aimed at the cargo hatch.

She didn’t breathe easy until they were back home and the skimmer was locked in place. “Well, that was fun.”

“You handled it well.”

“I had some training for that kind of event. Now, check in with dispatch and let them know the results of your negotiations.”

He grinned. “You can remove the makeup now.”

“Oh, thanks.” She sighed and headed for the command deck. “Aura, what is the status of pursuit or attack?”

A low tone rang out.

“Nothing, huh? Good. They were able to take
hell no
for an answer.”

A bright medium chime pinged incessantly.

“Spoke too soon. Coming up to command. Just dodge them, Aura.”

She skidded into the command chair and locked in. The plugs jacked into her skin and she was piloting the
Gold Fairy
with Aura as her co-pilot.

The Tosh were aiming their satellites at the ship. Scanners indicated that they were powering up for a series of beams designed to knock out the ship. That wasn’t going to happen.

“Big guns at the ready, Aura.” She swivelled and targeted the edge of one of the satellites. It spun off to the side and had to right itself.

One by one, she knocked them out of their orbits just enough to get past them and into deep space. The gimbals that supported her swung and twisted as she shattered a few small objects, turning their debris into a smoke screen of sorts to halt pursuit.

It was an intense hour, but when her chair eased her back into its normal position, they were well on their way to the point selected by the contract.

“Aura, take over. I need to get this makeup off.”

The ship chimed cheerfully and began to play an Azon opera.

The jacks pulled out of her ports, and she flexed her hands as she released herself from the command seat.

“Are you all right?”

She looked up to see a concerned Eykanyo standing in the doorway. He was wearing a loose pair of trousers and nothing else. His Tosh form was far behind, and he was all Beholder.

Leo wrinkled her nose and bent and stretched. “A little stiff. Those jacks take it out of me.”

She walked past him and felt the creak of her joints. She needed a hot soak and a rub down but only one of those was available.

“May I help you?”

“No, I can manage. I just need to get to my quarters, turn up the heat and open my therapeutic tank. I am do for a change to my system supplements soon, and I will have to head to a Guardian base to get them.”

“Are you in pain?” He was at her side, cupping her elbow.

“No, discomfort but not pain.”

“May I help?”

She reached up to rub her eyes, remembered her makeup and she curled her fingers into a fist. “There is not much to help. I need warmth to relax me. The tank is large and you can join me if you wish.”

Leo couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. She frowned and heard a tinkling of bells in her mind.
Aura, what the hell was that?