Tech Tack (3 page)

“He is a chatterbox once he gets to know you. You will have a grasp of Alliance Common by the time you leave that ship. I look forward to meeting you when you head out to the base for outfitting. See you soon.” Relay chuckled.

“Uh, see you soon.”

The connection went quiet and the shuttle was suddenly silent.

Ainora looked around the consoles and took inventory of the switches and displays. She sat still until he cleared his throat.

“Prepare for jump.”

She didn’t have a chance to ask what a jump was; she clutched the arms of her chair and held tight as she saw another point in space a moment before she was in it. Her throat was dry and her heart was pounding.

She croaked. “If that is a jump. I think I would rather not be around for the leap.”

He cursed and set them on their course. “Apologies. I will get you some tea. I remember my first time, and you are handling it much better than I did.”

Lyon got to his feet and disappeared for a few minutes. When he returned, he was holding a cup in his hand. He offered it to her with both hands in a very formal way.

She extended her hands and took the cup. His eyes lit up a little as she sipped at the hot liquid.

“Thank you. My throat got a little dry there.”

“It happens. What we experienced there is a jump. The ship creates a field and pulls itself to a matching point in space some distance away. There are designated jump sites all over the sectors, but connecting the right dots is the duty of the jump computer.”

“That sounds like a tricky bit of programming.”

“It is. It is a program based on an Alliance navigator’s mind. She was strong of thought, and they were able to take readings as she plotted points in the stars that were in neutral positions that would not injure the local gravity fields.”

Ainora sipped at her tea. “Really?”

“Really. She sat in the archives and created maps of systems until this very day. She can look at a display and find a stable point that is suitable for a jump beacon.”

“She enjoys the work?”

“She does. The Nyal Imperium has offered her a space in their archives, and I think she is considering the move.”

“Have you met her?”

“No. She is in a tank.” He smiled and took his seat again.

“What is a tank?”

He skimmed his hands over the console and an image was projected in front of them. “A tank is a medical device filled with an oxygen-rich liquid, and it can have tubes for food supplements and life support. She can’t survive without the tank for now.”

“What species is she?” Ainora was looking close but the image didn’t let her focus.

“From what she has told me, she is one of your kind. She is of Resicor, and she was badly damaged in something she refers to as the purge.”

Ainora was shocked, and she peered at the image as closely as she could without disrupting it. “That would make her close to a hundred.”

“She doesn’t age. That much I know.”

“Does she have a name?”

Lyon paused before he answered, and then, he gave her a sidelong look. “Urikara Lenz.”

Her great grandmother, thought long dead, was floating in a tank and crafting maps for spacecraft to jump from one system to the other. Ainora felt positively tiny in comparison.

Ainora wanted to speak to her great grandmother to find out if it was truly the woman that her grandfather spoke of with such fond memories. He had been a child during the purge. His talent had not arisen and his family had hidden in the mountains while the Kozue and government teams scoured for them.

Urikara had run out to misdirect them, and it must have worked, because seven days later, she was gone without a trace and the purge was over.

She both hoped that it was and hoped that it wasn’t the woman of her bloodline. If she had truly been on her own all these years and on life support, it would be horrible to imagine the long life in confinement.

Ainora followed the directions that Lyon had given her and got the food dispenser to disgorge something suitable for her. She had been ordered to stay with purple-outlined images so that was what she did.

The food was bland, but her body accepted it eagerly. So, she was off Resicor, and now, she was going to be sent from assignment to assignment without her consent once again, just like at home. Well, maybe the uniform would be better.

She got to her feet and tucked away the dishes in the assigned slots. With her mind numb, she resumed her place in the flight deck and watched the stars as they shifted their positions relative to the ship.

“How long until we reach Morganti?” She smiled at Lyon.

His deep mahogany skin had a reddish tint, which made his dark hair and the silver streaks more startling. His nose was flattish and his brows were thick and black. All in all, she should have been petrified, but she had practiced keeping her emotions down for so long, it was second nature.

“Six hours and one more jump. How are you feeling?”

“Fine. How are you feeling? I imagine you are overdue for sleep.”

“I can stay awake for days at a time if need be. It is one of the things that makes me an excellent bodyguard.” He grinned and his hair lifted a little.

She continued to look at him until he turned with a raised brow. “You are staring.”

She blushed. “Sorry. I have never met anyone with mood hair before.”

“Yours is doing a pretty good job of being an indicator of your state. I am guessing that blue means you are calm?”

She snickered. “I am always calm when someone isn’t flinging darts at me. Do those things come out of your skin?”

He extended his arm and flexed. A series of darts rose out of his skin down toward his hand. “I fire them by moving the muscles of my forearm. Once I have extruded them, a small pocket of muscles at their base prepares to fire.”

She swallowed. “Are they all designed to sedate?”

He grinned. “Yes. That is how my species developed. It is a hunting technique as far as our historians can tell.”

“What is your species called?”

“Uradu. Well, the part of me that has spikes. My mother’s people are Wyoran. She was on a trade mission to Kobal, the Uradu home world, and she left with me in her belly. Once he knew I existed, my father insisted on his rights and they negotiated their union on Kobal.”

“So, you are a blend of two species?” She blinked as she came to grips with that. It was the most interesting thing she had heard since learning about Urikara.

“I am. The people of Resicor…right, you don’t blend with other species. Well, that is one thing you will have to get used to. There are literally hundreds of species in the Citadel and Sector Guard and more are added every day.”

“I am looking forward to it.”

“That is good. Do you want to start reading up on the species? There is a data pad around here somewhere.”

“If it is no trouble. You don’t have to entertain me. I just want to do my work to the best of my ability.”

“I think you will be able to exceed your estimation of your abilities. The Citadel has a way of bringing out the most in people. Learning from others who have gained mastery of their own talents in strange and unlikely ways is inspiring.”

Ainora smiled. “I think I might actually enjoy this.”

He got out of his chair and leaned over her, reaching past her and pulling back with a flat tablet.

She couldn’t help but inhale his scent, and it had the peculiar hint of conifer that she associated with her family’s home in the mountains. There was musk, sweat and a myriad of other scents involved, but the trees near her home was the image that stuck in her mind.

He showed her how to scroll through the data and bring up images. The language she had been given made it easy, and she started her Alliance education.

By the time they were ready to land, she had been through all the files for the rescued Resicor talents that had already been posted around the Alliance.

Even those who had been stuck in the dome and removed with the consent of the government had managed to get out of the restrictor suits and make new lives for themselves. It lifted her spirits to know that she wasn’t the only one, even with what Relay had said. Hearing that you were not alone was different than seeing the files and the non-classified missions that your planet-mates had been on.

It made her feel good to see the success that her people had gained. With everything that was going on on Resicor, leaving home and being triumphant was something to be proud of. The rejects of their society were saving lives.

“Why am I being given access to these files?”

“Your departure from Resicor put you in the custody of the Citadel. You will be signing a contract when you arrive, but for now, you are a ward of the Citadel.”

“And as a ward, I have access to information blocks offered by the Citadel. Right.” Ainora smiled. It was a freedom she hadn’t counted on.

Being trusted was something she was going to have to get used to. It had been so long since she felt the weight of trust on her shoulders that it was going to be a shock. Life was too short to spend it paranoid and looking over her shoulder. She had just been given an option that had been beyond her just one day earlier. If they trusted her, she was going to show them that it was worth the risk.

She pulled up her own file and looked at the words
In Transit
. Those two words said so much about the situation that she was in, she almost laughed at the complexity that was caught up in those words.

Ainora kept herself occupied until they were on their way down to the new world. Once he announced their descent, she put the data pad down and watched Morganti approach.

Sure, they were flying toward the planet, but to Ainora’s eyes, it looked like the world was coming up to greet them. Part of it did.

A speck turned into a figure that shaped into a woman, glowing like a small star. The figure caught up with them and a voice came through the coms.

“I am taking you directly to the Citadel, there has been a spill on the tarmac at the base, and it is all hands to the mops.”

Lyon leaned forward. “Thank you, Starbreaker.”

“You are welcome, Agent Tacks. Cut the automatic controls, I am bringing you in manually.” Lashings of energy surrounded their ship.

Lyon disengaged the computer. “Clear for you to land us where you like, Starbreaker.”

“Thank you, Agent Tacks. Landing will be in ten minutes or so. Sit still; this will be a little less smooth than a regular landing.”

Lyon buckled in and Ainora followed his lead. With Starbreaker as their only propulsion, they did indeed sway quite a bit on the way down.

The Citadel was a large structure on the fairly barren landscape. They were settled next to it and a column of people came forward to greet them.

“This is your new world, Ms. Lenz. I hope you enjoy it.”

“You aren’t staying?” she was suddenly very nervous.

“I will check into my quarters, get a change of clothing and some dinner. If there is time, I will sleep, and if not, I will turn around and head out on my next assignment.”

“Oh. I see.” Her hands fumbled as she unbuckled her harness.

She got to her feet and headed for the rear hatch.

Unsure of how to open it, she had to wait for him. He arrived a minute later and had a bag over one shoulder. He tapped in a code that released the door, and she was invited to take her first steps on a new world.

Citadel Coordinator Turnari was waiting for her, his horns gleaming in the light. He had a podium and a contract ready.

She looked into the page and began to read. She understood the necessity of being charged for her room and board as well as uniforms but was shocked to find that there were funds already set aside for her from two sources. The first source was the Alliance and the second was Navigator Lenz.

“Navigator Lenz?”

The administrator nodded. “She said she was a relative of yours. Her involvement in the issue is classified but your connection is not. It is a few lifetimes’ worth of spending money according to her.”

The rates for her services were impressive as was the free year of any courses she chose to engage in. When she signed and pressed her thumb to the plate, a sigh rippled through the assembled crowd. Apparently, there was more at stake than she knew.

She flicked a look at Turnari. “You are going to tell me what that was about?”

He smiled and exhaled in relief. “Your relative mentioned that if you were coerced into signing or hesitated in anyway, she was ending her career as jump mapper. You have provided your signature in front of as many witnesses as we could gather to assure her that you signed up on your own.”

Ainora looked around at all the faces who were staring at her with interest. There was no hostility, just curiosity. She looked down and saw the number on her suit. She looked at Turnari, turned and saw Lyon then returned to the administrator.

“I would like some new clothing please. I am not this number anymore.”

He smiled and gestured for her to walk the path to the doors. “Welcome to Citadel Morganti, Ainora Lenz. Please make it your home.”

She turned and walked toward the crowd that parted as she approached. “We will see.”

She twisted from side to side. “White?”

Yinfa, the guide that she had been assigned, grinned. “It is a novice colour. Once you have been assessed, you will be given your occupation-identification colours.”

The robes were a nice touch. They made everything feel dramatic. She shifted and twisted and watched them flare out.

“What do we do first?”

“I have been ordered to check and see if you need rest, and if you don’t, an assessment is scheduled.”

Ainora put her hands on her hips. “Well, Yinfa, I have plenty of energy, so let’s get the assessment out of the way. White isn’t my colour.”

Yinfa smiled and led the way out of Ainora’s quarters and down the hall. She was already placed as a specialist, but there were still the technicalities to adhere to.