Grace and Shadow (3 page)

So’orn nodded and got to his feet. “Right. I am going to craft a plan of attack, so to speak. Good evening.”

Link smiled and watched him go. He was only three years older than Shadow and Shatter, but sometimes, it felt like decades.

He ran a hand through his hair and flicked the display on again. She grew up into quite a beauty. He remembered her from early family photos, but after she was officially diagnosed, his cousin ceased to exist as far as the family was concerned. He had always enjoyed her serious little face and the care she took with those around her. When she was eight, she explained that she was scared all the time, and the next family gathering, she was gone. He had been fourteen years her senior, but she had seemed older than him in some ways. Now that he saw her as a woman who had shut herself off from the world, he wanted nothing more than to help her find someone she could trust. She deserved someone she could trust who saw her for the valuable being that she was.

* * * *

Someone was baking, and it smelled amazing. Imgrace got to her feet and took a quick shower before removing the red suit from the refreshing unit. It was still too tight, but she was used to it after the one day. It beat going naked.

She tucked her boobs in until her cleavage was more circumspect. The neckline was still far too wide, but she could make do.

She pulled her hair into a tail and left her room, following the smells coming from the kitchen. The light was weak, but it was fighting to be noticed as it streamed through the windows. Bots were making breakfast, but Link was sitting nearby, flicking through a data pad and looking studious.

“Good morning, Link.”

He smiled. “Good morning, Imgrace. I am sorry that you had such a rough day yesterday.”

She chuckled and had a seat near him, her legs dangling inches above the ground on the high seat at the counter. “I have had worse.”

He put his data pad down. “That sounds like a story.”

“Several of them. I have run into more talented conflicts than I have fingers on my hands.”

She rubbed her palms together. “Why the sudden push for a Guardian presence in space?”

“The Citadel wishes to have representatives on the moon, and to have us there with no powers doesn’t seem right. We are looking for a way to preserve our talents away from home so that we will not be at a disadvantage.”

“And you think that I am the key to that?”

He smiled. “I think that we have tried everything else. We would not ask you if we had another choice.”

She nodded. “I came to grips with that last night. Aside from my genetic failings, I am a good citizen. I will do what I can.”

“Walking Shadow is not nearly the jackass that he seems. He has flown to the moon and back dozens of times. It was the first time that he had felt like himself, and it made him act in ways that were not appropriate to the moment.”

Imgrace nodded. “I caught on to that as well. He was giddy and excited. He just misdirected it.”

Link laughed. “I will have to imagine what he looked like when he was giddy.”

Imgrace whispered, “It was horrifying.”

They were still laughing together when Shadow and Shatter arrived, without their ubiquitous headgear.

Shadow’s matte-black suit gave him away, but the bronze skin and dancing blue eyes made him look like the handsome poster boy for the Guardians that he was. Across the world, young men lined up to be tested and to go into law enforcement with only a handful each decade moving into Guardian status.

Shatter had a slightly darker complexion with eyes a deep amber that sparked with good humour. “Good morning, Imgrace.”

“Good morning, Shatter. Good morning, Shadow.”

Shadow opened his mouth, closed it and smiled. “Good morning, Imgrace.”

Shatter asked, “What was so funny?”

She grinned, “Early to rise gets the joke. If you want to laugh, get here first.”

Link snickered as the bots set the table for four. Breakfast was served, and Imgrace was starving. She attacked the food with enough ferocity to kill it again and realised that she had not only missed lunch the day before, but dinner as well.

When her plate was empty, she was scanned and it was filled again.

She paused and looked at Link. “What was that?”

“They are assessing your caloric need based on the schedule for the day.” Shatter answered for him.

As she watched, the bots scanned the others as they finished their plates.

She shrugged and kept going. When she was done, she groaned and drank the sharp tea that the bots had served her. She loved sharp tea in the mornings.

When Link finished his meal, he blotted his lips with his napkin and her suspicion was confirmed. Her cousin Argus was sitting next to her with the same friendly smile he always had when he was talking to her.

“We will take you to medical, do some scans and draw some blood and tissue samples. Shatter and Shadow will then take the samples out of orbit and try to activate them or use them as batteries. If you can activate the blood or tissue from here, we will determine that as well.”

She nodded and smiled. “And if I can do that, it will mean that I can just turn it on and I don’t have to be there.”

“Precisely. Shall we?”

She followed him to medical, and he settled her on a tall chair with a wide back.

“Sorry about the equipment, it is all gauged for us. You are more petite.”

Imgrace smiled. “It is fine, Argus. I can get along anywhere.”

He smiled. “You recognized me.”

“At breakfast. I had to watch you eat to be sure.” She chuckled as he set the scanner over her and it took a baseline.

He set vials out and lifted an extractor. She had engaged in this procedure with her physician several times since her diagnosis, just to be sure.

He withdrew vial after vial until a dozen were set in the rack. The rack was in a heated unit, and each tube contained an anticoagulant. They would be as fresh as they could be.

“For tissue, we can use a scraping from the inside of your mouth. I just need a little, and then, I can use a regenerator on you.”

Imgrace nodded and opened her mouth so he could rub the brush across the inside of her cheek.

After half an hour, he had samples of everything and her scraped bits had gotten medical treatment. Her arm had also suffered a core puncture that had taken a full charge to heal. She was fine, and he had a box full of her genetic material. She was really hoping that they could find a way to make it work.

Shadow and Shatter took the box from Link, and everyone did a com check. Imgrace had to go back to her room to get hers, but the bots had put it on the bedside table when they had made her bed.

They launched without incident, and Imgrace sat and played with puzzle dice while they waited. She wanted to ask Link a thousand things, but she didn’t want the other two to know what she knew about Argus.

Link kept busy during the flight by catching up on paperwork. He fussed with budgets and recruitment letters while she sat and made patterns with the dice and their carved surfaces.

When they reached weightlessness, the men announced it and Shadow started to experiment with her blood.

Imgrace kept working with the dice until Shadow stated that nothing he did could provide him with the power he had felt the day before. There were flickers but nothing solid.

“I am going to try and focus on the blood. Keep the scanners going.” Imgrace took a breath and imagined the vials of blood and then the warmth that she felt while kissing Shadow.

“We are getting a reading!” Shadow was excited.

She evened her breath out. He wasn’t the only one. One kiss and she had a memory strong enough to send a signal through space.

Imagine what would have happened if he had kissed her back.

Imgrace still got queasy when she thought about what Shadow had done with all the blood samples. Some had been held in the hand, some had been topical and some had been ingested. All carried a shadow of energy that he could use, but none of them worked as well as direct contact had.
Great.

Link handed her a plate while they waited for the other two to return.

She felt tears well in her eyes. Starburst cookies. They had been her favourite for her entire childhood. Her hand shook as she reached out to take one of the brightly coloured pastries.

“I love these.”

He chuckled. “I know. You fought Kelbi for one of them when you were six. It shattered during the scuffle, but you said it tasted like it should. The same ingredients always gave the same result.”

“And the satisfaction was in the victory.”

He laughed. “That was it.”

She wrinkled her nose and crunched into the cookie. “This one isn’t really a victory.”

“No, Imgrace, but you didn’t have to fight for it. Take the win.” He winked and set the cookies down on the table.

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Shadow’s voice came through the headsets.

Shatter chimed in, “And are there really cookies?”

Link cleared his throat. “Concentrate on coming in. If you are all cleaned up and ready for a snack, the cookies will still be here.”

She chuckled at their anticipatory grunts and removed her headset. “Can I go for a walk? I need to stretch my legs a little.”

Link nodded and covered his own headset. “The grounds are fenced, so you can go anywhere your feet can take you.”

She moved to put the headset on the table, but Link said, “Take it with you. Just in case.”

She slipped it back on her ear and went exploring.

It felt so strange to be walking unaccompanied in a place where her coworkers would love to have set foot. The base was larger than she had imagined. There were outbuildings with bedrooms in them, large expanses where more Guardians could gather, gyms, pools; it was a city occupied by three men.

She grinned to herself and stripped off the bodysuit and headpiece. She slipped into a pool and began to pull herself through the water with long strokes.

She flipped when she reached the end and continued her journey back the way she had come.

When she heard the rumble of the engines coming, she looked up and yelped. Her selected pool was right on the flight path.

“Damn it!”

Her com was chirping, so she sloshed to the edge and put it in her ear.

Link’s dry voice said, “And by now, you have realised that they can see you. So, either stay against the edge of the pool until they land or jump out and take your chances. I would recommend against getting out, grabbing your suit and making a run for it.”

“Thanks for the help. How long have they been able to see me?”

Shadow’s voice came in, “Long enough. You need to lower your arm a little as you stroke downward.”

She blushed.

Shatter added, “And more power to your legs as you kick off. You could really improve your propulsion.”

She pressed her forehead against the cool stone of the edge of the pool.

The shuttle came into view, and it settled just a few buildings away. Imgrace pushed herself out of the pool, grabbed her suit and tried to stuff her wet skin into it. She was not immediately successful, but after a lot of yanking and two broken nails, she was wet and dressed at the same time.

“Link, do you have a nail trimmer?” She sprinted through the pathways and approached the main structure.

“The bots can help with that. Where are you?”

She came through the door and skidded to a halt. “Are they back yet?”

The door closed behind her.

“We are now. Nice view by the way.”

Shatter chuckled from behind her, and she yelped and sprinted for her room.

Her suit went into the refreshing unit, and she took a shower. When she was sitting down and brushing her hair, she realised that the earpiece was still on. “Apologies.”

Link chuckled in her ear. “Don’t worry. When you live at close quarters, accidental nudity is more common than you would think.”

“I am glad you guys are okay with it. I am still thinking of living in here.” She chuckled and kept brushing her hair until the refreshing unit chirped the completion of its cycle.

“Well, we are setting up for dinner, so if you could join us, the bots might feed us.” He chuckled.

“Did Shadow eat all my cookies?”

“He did. The bots have accepted a request for more. They might be ready for dessert if you ever come out of your room again.” There was wry chiding in his tone.

“Fine. I am on my way.”

She finished with her hair, put it in a loose braid and pulled out the suit. Once more, she wedged herself into the suit built for someone who didn’t have a lot of curves. The suit contained her, but neither of them were happy about it.

The guys didn’t make fun of her, but Shadow threw her a few intense glances. She shrugged and kept to her meal. The fresh cookies had just been placed on the table when an alarm went off.

Link and the others got to their feet, and she was alone in under a minute. She waited until she saw the atmospheric transport rise and take off before she asked, “I am guessing you guys have to go save someone?”

Shatter chirped in, “Sorry. Duty called and we forgot you were there.”

She nodded. “Right. I am just going to watch some news and then head to bed. Enjoy being heroes.”

She took off her earpiece and left it on the table.

* * * *

“Imgrace! Imgrace! Don’t watch...” Link sat back in the shuttle and rubbed his forehead.

Shatter looked over. “What is it?”

“Her identity is out. She has also been confirmed as a void. Her job with the city is over, and she is homeless. A riot burned out her apartment. Because we brought her here, her life is over.” Link swallowed.

It had been fun to pretend that everything was going to be fine, but if she was truly their shot at keeping their powers in space, he thought that the sacrifice was worth it. He was just wishing he had given her a choice.

Shadow tensed. “How do you think she will react?”

Link sighed. “I have no idea. I think she will be outwardly calm, but inside, she is going to feel that the tiny bit she has been able to carve out as her own life is gone.