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  Speaking to ghosts is her livelihood, finding her match in a man who ceased to live eons ago is her fate.

  Aura Speaker Avina is at the top of her field. It is a very small field. Speaking to those who have gone before is a strange talent and she uses it to bring peace and negotiate between the living and the dead.

  Utolian left his physical body to wait until he met a woman he wanted to spend the rest of his existence with. Avina’s touch brings him out of his orb on a regular basis, and he looks forward to each and every moment with her.

  Now, if only he will stop her from playing with his ball at every opportunity, he might just get somewhere.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Halo

  Copyright © 2013 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-715-9

  Cover art by Martine jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Halo

  A Terran Times Tale

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Avina Jenkins addressed the room of trainees. “I know that things tend to seem silly when you first begin an aura hunt, but the dead of certain species leave their energy behind when they die.”

  She flicked images on the screen behind her. “These pictures are aura captures from a dozen different worlds. A trained aura speaker can get people in touch with loved ones or end questions about deaths. It is a branch of investigation that few people are interested in and fewer still are able to become part of.”

  Her lecture continued with image after image of walking auras. When she completed her speech, she looked out at the audience. “Any questions?”

  The room was still for a moment, and then, someone raised a hand.

  “Yes?”

  A nervous young male asked, “Is it accurate that some of the auras can have physical effects?”

  “Yes. I have scars on my body from objects thrown at me, and in two cases, the aura fired a weapon.”

  He blinked. “I just meant moving furniture.”

  “Oh. Sorry. Yes, they can shove furniture, lift items and move things. It depends on their confidence or resentment level in life. In the case of the Lehashicar, the occupation that they engaged in in life is the one they return to after death.”

  Another hand went up.

  “Yes?”

  “Why are the auras invisible to so many sensitives?”

  “Excellent question. Every talent seems to operate on a differing frequency. The ability to see the auras is rare. If even one person out of this entire room develops the ability, I would be very surprised. While we are well known, there are not many of us.”

  Another male raised his hand. “Then, why are we here? This is a huge waste of time if we can’t consider this as a career path.”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose over her glasses. “I am going to answer that with a question for you. Have you ever lost a loved one?”

  He shifted in his chair. “No.”

  Avina smirked, “I thought not. When you have a chance to see your loved ones again, communicate with them, ask the questions that you didn’t get to ask during their lifetimes, you will want an Aura Speaker. When you need to know what happened at a crime scene, you want an Aura Speaker. When you want a good night at a space station, you will want a short-term Companion, but that is another lecture.”

  The room burst into laughter.

  Avina adjusted her lenses and inclined her head to the assembled Citadel trainees. “Thank you for your attentiveness, and please, feel free to take the Aura Speaker test at your earliest convenience. I will be here for two days. Call the administrator to make an appointment for assessment.”

  They applauded, hooted and generally gave her a good send off from the podium. She hated doing recruitments, but the more widespread knowledge of Aura Speakers was, the greater the demand for their skills.

  The Citadel preferred to post a permanent Aura Speaker on a world. They developed an affinity for the frequency of the species, and it improved their connection dramatically. This increased demand for the Aura Speakers far beyond the Citadel’s ability to train and produce new personnel.

  The only way to hone the talent of an Aura Speaker was to catch them before they locked into another branch of service. Using their talents in another direction would eventually destroy all chances of them retaining the ability to see the traces left by the dead.

  She straightened her smoke and blue robes as she walked. A few of the students and instructors nodded politely, but Avina had only one aim, she wanted a cup of caf more than life itself.

  The commissary at Citadel Morganti was well appointed, and once she had the cup of hot, caffeinated brew, Avina took a seat facing the atrium and relaxed.

  “How was the recruitment?”

  She looked to her left, and the Citadel Counsellor Kalo was sitting and sipping at his own beverage.

  “It went fine. I noted at least a dozen interested in seeking out the testing, so I will be busy when I get back to the office you have offered me.”

  Kalo nodded. “Did any of them ask?”

  Avina laughed and reached into her robes, handing him a coin. “No, they didn’t. Your powers of persuasion are very strong.”

  He puffed up with pride. “I got a lot of practice. I am amazed. Those lenses are rather striking.”

  Laughing, she pulled them off. “Yes, but most who see me consider it either a species-specific uniform or an affectation.”

  Looking around, she sighed with relief. The base was still relatively new and very few auras wandered the grounds. She could also see the souls of the living, beaming out and around their bodies but that was not something that the Aura Speakers shared with the general public. Being living lie detectors made them excellent witnesses. The halos that recorded all of their brain activity didn’t hurt either. You couldn’t lie if they could see that the readout proved your deception.

  Kalo’s soul gleamed out and around him. If he chose to, he would make one hell of a ghost after his demise. That was not something that Avina mentioned in casual conversation. It tended to unnerve people.

  She hooked the lenses to the front of her uniform, one earpiece in her cleavage. It brought back memories of home.

  “Are there a lot of them out here?” Kalo was curious. He was always curious; it was the defining characteristic.

  “Not a lot. Three only.”

  “So, not very taxing?” The tone of his voice was laden with suggestion.

  “What do you need, Kalo?”

  “Turnari would like to see you.” He inclined his head politely.

  “I bet he would.” She sighed and put her lenses back on. “Lead the way.”

  She set her cup down on the table and got to her feet.

  Kalo slugged down his tea and stood immediately. “I didn’t mean to wrec
k your repose, Avina.”

  “Yes, you did. It is all right. I am only here until Fixer finishes those modifications to my ship. Whatever he needs, he needs to ask now.” She chuckled as he joined her, and they headed for the staircase.

  Kalo left her with the receptionist, and she was shown right in.

  “Hello, Coordinator Turnari?”

  The Dhemon behind the desk got to his feet and smiled. He came around and hugged her, his hands stroking her spine. “You have been avoiding me.”

  Avina was irritated. “I was doing nothing of the sort. I simply gave the lecture and was having a cup of caf when Kalo waylaid me. What do you need?”

  He sighed and rubbed his cheek against her temple. “I need more time.”

  “You can’t have it. We are a horrible match, and you know it.”

  He grunted. “I know nothing of the kind.”

  “Fine. I can see your aura, and it isn’t compatible with mine. There is nothing else that needs to be said. Now, what did you need in a professional capacity?”

  Turnari released her with a sigh and resumed his seat behind the desk. “One of our students is experiencing symptoms of being haunted. We have ruled out all telekinetic or psychic interference. She is simply being followed by something she cannot see.”

  It was a common manifestation of an aura to haunt a loved one. “May I speak with her?”

  “Of course. I will have you know, she is very skeptical of your particular psychic branch.”

  “She doesn’t believe in it?”

  “She doesn’t think that a species like yours could be any good at it.” He opened the com and spoke rapidly to his receptionist.

  A chime sounded on the far side of the room, and a frame in the wall slid aside to show a tea tray, steaming gently. Avina took the hint and brought the tray to the sitting area with the comfortable chairs. She prepared a cup for herself and sat, waiting for the student to enter.

  The young woman that came into the office was a peculiar blend. Her aura showed Enjel, Wyoran, Azon and a smidgen of Nyal. They were not races that usually got into bed together.

  “Yeerin, this is Aura Speaker Avina Jenkins. She has agreed to investigate your difficulties.”

  Yeerin looked taken aback, and Avina had to stifle a laugh. Her hair was currently a lovely deep lavender and her eyes a bright leaf green behind the silvery lenses. On many worlds that would make her a freak, but in her line of work, it spoke only of debatable taste.

  Avina poured a cup of tea and held it out to her. “Please. I would like to help you if I can.”

  It would be extremely impolite to refuse to take the cup, so Yeerin came forward and took it.

  Avina removed the lenses that filtered her vision so that the auras of the un-bodied didn’t blind her.

  The moment that the lenses were off, Avina could see the problem. It was simple. Yeerin wasn’t haunted. Her jewellery was.

  Keeping to protocol, Avina began a round of routine questions to pinpoint the nature of the haunting. After a few minutes of back and forth, Avina asked, “How long have you been wearing that necklace?”

  The necklace wasn’t visible outside the student robes, but it burned with energy right through her clothing.

  Yeerin blinked and backed away. “How do you know…”

  “It glows with a bio-signature that isn’t yours. That signature is the woman who has been following you around. Your grandmother was very strong.” Avina sipped at her tea.

  “Should I take it off?”

  “No, but pull it out of your robes and hold it in your hand. She is riding on your own energy. It is why you can only occasionally see her. Your own signature flows and flickers past her frequency and that is when you see her.”

  Yeerin looked nervous. “How will my holding the pendant help?”

  “It will guarantee contact while I tune you. May I touch your arm?”

  “Sure.”

  Tuning the living was trickier than simply speaking to the detached aura, but it was part of her job. Avina gently put her fingertips on Yeerin’s forearm and tuned her.

  A moment later, a woman with Nyal and Enjel features was standing in the room and looking around curiously.

  Avina smiled and spoke out loud. “Greetings, lady.”

  I thank you for the opportunity to speak, Aura Speaker.

  “You are most welcome. I understand the frustrations that can accompany your state.”

  My granddaughter needs to cease her flagrant disregard for tradition. I wish her to cease pursuing men and to embrace the power of her mind. It got her this far; she needs to keep going.

  “I see. Would you like me to pass this along to her?”

  Please, Speaker. I don’t have the energy to do it for myself.

  Avina turned her eyes to Yeerin. The shock in the student’s eyes confirmed two things, one, she could see her grandmother, two, Avina’s eyes were glowing.

  “Yeerin, your grandmother has a message for you.”

  “Please, let me hear it.”

  “She wishes you to concentrate on improving the talents that earned you a place here. Her worry is that your pursuit of the opposite sex is going to destroy your potential.”

  Yeerin gasped. “How could she know?”

  The grandmother crossed her arms and looked at her granddaughter. I am with her all day, every day. I see her when she strives; I see her when she fails.

  Avina went into translation mode. She repeated the grandmother’s words and then waited for Yeerin to speak. They went on this way for half an hour. Yeerin would focus on her studies if her grandmother agreed to become a teaching tool for Aura Speakers.

  Avina wasn’t sure how that last one came about, but it was a good trade. If grandmother was going to put her clout down, she was going to work for it. Yeerin was vindictive, but the program benefited, so Avina passed along her demands.

  Yes, I will agree to be trotted out for new Aura Speakers; if Yeerin holds up her end, I will as well.

  “Your grandmother says that she will only hold up her responsibility as long as you do.”

  Yeerin grinned then paused. “What does she look like?”

  Avina blinked. “You can’t…”

  “I see light, nothing else.”

  With a kind smile, Avina looked over the spectral woman. “She is tall with dove grey wings. Her hair is a wide tumble of gold and white that reaches her hips. You have her nose.”

  Yeerin smiled, “She died birthing my mother, so I never saw her.”

  “Her eyes are a lovely Nyal scarlet and her mouth has a perpetually amused twist. She had a hard life, but it never shook her sense of self.”

  Yeerin’s grandmother preened. That is a very flattering description.

  Avina kept her lips together; Yeerin lacks pride. She feels disconnected. I did not want to tell her that she was almost the direct image of you, but I wanted to give her a bit of connection.

  So, you tell her she has my nose?

  It is the centre of her features, and she will now look in the mirror more often. If I said she had your eyes, she would be staring into them for someone who wasn’t there.

  You are smarter than you look, Speaker.

  I get that a lot.

  Yeerin was smiling as she sat back. There was something in her gaze that hadn’t been there before—a bit of knowledge she hadn’t possessed.

  The grandmother looked to Avina. Tell her that she was named after me. I am Yeerina Darforth Echohar Tinson, first consort of Dalu Tinson. It was an honour to give him a daughter, and I am proud to see my line continue.

  Avina smiled and passed on the message.

  Yeerin swallowed. “Thank you. I have never been able to track my lineage completely. There were too many gaps that my parents would not speak of. It does explain my wing-plates though.”

  Avina sighed. “May I close the connection? She will still be with you.”

  Yeerin blinked, “How do I speak with her again?”

  “You will h
ave to find an Aura Speaker, so I would urge you to convince your classmates to come in for assessment. I leave in two days, and if you would like to speak with her again, a trainee here would be able to manage it for you.”

  Her grandmother’s aura returned to the necklace, and Yeerin flung herself into Avina’s arms. “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome; now, go and recruit for me, little one. We need more of those who can speak to the auras of those who have passed.”

  Yeerin beamed and headed for the door after a quick nod to the coordinator.

  Turnari looked at Avina. “Very nicely done.”

  Avina sighed and put her lenses back on. “Thank you. It was easy. My guess is that Yeerina was wearing the necklace when she died. She will be haunting her bloodline for generations to come.”

  The receptionist knocked and came in. “Aura Speaker, you have appointments lining up.”

  Avina groaned and headed for the door. “My second least-favourite part of the job. See you later, Turnari?”

  “Of that, I have no doubt.” Turnari smiled, showing teeth that wouldn’t be out of place on a sabre-tooth tiger. It was a chilling note to leave on, but Avina got the hell out of there.

  Chapter Two

  Two floors down, around a corner and into a tiny hallway, she came to the waiting room outside her temporary office. Five students were sitting nervously, and Kalo was chatting easily, holding a data pad.

  Avina blinked, “You are all here for assessment?”

  They nodded nervously.

  She grinned happily. “Excellent. Just so you know, it doesn’t hurt. It is a completely external experience.”

  Three of them looked relieved, and the others looked marginally less nervous.

  Kalo nodded. “Toyali is the first on the list.”

  “You are acting as my interim receptionist?”

  “It seemed appropriate since I wrecked your caf break.”

  She winked. “Thanks. I will just get situated. Show them in one at a time and close the door behind them.”