Quell

  Going from prison guard to an alien queen was never in her career goals, but Amylia can adapt.

  Amylia has a skill that can really deaden a party. Apparently, her ability to keep folks calm is the sign of a Null. She has a talent for defusing situations and that is exactly what is needed at Janial Prison. Life as a prison guard wasn’t in her outlook for her future, but after a bit of training, she settles in rather well.

  When one of her favourite prisoners is set for a court appearance, Amylia pulls strings to be at her side, and it seems things are going well until Kreatha’s family arrives to break her out of court.

  Taken along with Kreatha, Amylia’s fortunes change from tortured to elevated into the position as queen of a province, with a consort in tow.

  Gyrion has been Kreatha’s brother-in-law for years, but he never imagined her bringing a queen to his quiet province. He is honoured to serve in every way she requests.

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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.

  Quell

  Copyright © 2016 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-0792-6

  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 Inc or

  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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  Quell

  Terran Times Second Wave

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Amylia Caxton listened to the offer that the recruiter was extolling. It seemed that her ability to stop folks from fighting wasn’t just a skill; it was a talent. A measurable, psychic talent. She radiated a specific frequency that dampened activity of brains in her area until they were calm and reasonable.

  “So, you can understand our eagerness to invite you into a position in law enforcement.” Norz steepled his slender, grey fingers together.

  “I am not cut out for law enforcement.” She sighed and crossed her arms.

  “Well, you would be involved in crowd suppression. The trainers will give you the necessary instruction, and you will not have to engage in any punitive actions.”

  Amylia blinked. “Trainers?”

  “They are already on the way.”

  She leaned back and smiled. “You were counting on me to say yes.”

  The alien shrugged in a very human gesture. “Yes. We have been running the Volunteer program for a decade, and you will be one of our anniversary Volunteers, right next to the Champions.”

  Amylia pinched her nose. “My parents would love that.”

  Norz shrugged. “I know. I am not trying to pressure you, but you are the last piece of a very large puzzle.”

  Amylia Caxton wrinkled her nose. “I guess I have little choice. My parents would flip if I missed the opportunity to be remembered in a grand way. They are all about the family name.”

  Norz chuckled, showing shark-like teeth. “And your happiness. They have been very involved in this process, and it is good to see such support.”

  Amylia smiled. “It is good to feel it, too. I wasn’t sure that there was actually anything to what I felt I could do.”

  “Oh, you can do it; you just need to be honed a little. So, are you in?”

  Amylia nodded. “I am in.”

  The contract was signed, and her life went into high gear.

  She spoke in front of the United Nations and explained her reasons for wanting to go into space. When questioned, her carefully prepared words went out the window, and she had to say, “To be frank, I have always been a people person. There is a universe out there that I want to see and interact with, and I have been granted a place in it. That matters. That is huge. I may live, I may die, but I am doing something that I have always wanted to do. I am embracing this opportunity. Letting a chance pass you by without taking it is the greatest disservice that any human can engage in. If you are given a chance, take it. Thank you for the opportunity to address this assembly, and I wish you all long and prosperous lives.”

  She inclined her head, and Norz nodded. Together, they left the United Nations under guard and headed for the shuttle that would take Amylia to Lunar Base. She had already said her goodbyes; now, it was time to start talking to strangers.

  A woman in robes greeted her and smiled. “Amylia Caxton, I am Specialist Smith, and I am here to teach you about the joys of being a nullifier.”

  The woman was human and had a cheerful expression. When Amylia reached out and shook her hand, she continued forward to the floor as her world went grey.

  Amylia woke up next to Specialist Smith and looked at the other Terran woman in surprise. “What did you do?”

  “That is nullification with a telekinetic push. Yours is on the electrical processes of the brain with a pheromone carrier. You will be able to do that in about a week.”

  Amylia rubbed her forehead. “Oh. Um, how will I know if it is working?”

  Specialist Smith smiled. “We have volunteers standing by and a healer standing by to help them if you get out of control. Your application is fairly narrow with your assignment to Janial Prison in the Nyal Imperium.”

  “Assigned to a prison. How delightful.” Amylia chuckled.

  “It will be fine. We also brought in a combat instructor to get you started, so you should be quite competent at defending yourself and subduing others before you leave Lunar Base.”

  “Excellent. How long have you been out here?”

  “I left in the first wave. I trained with one of the Champions. It was quite an honour, but she now owns a planet and is doing well, growing her family and a population of half-elves. It is a thriving post.” Specialist Smith smiled.

  “Elves?”

  Specialist Smith lifted a tablet and aimed it toward Amylia’s face. The light flashed, and Amylia squeaked as her brain was overloaded with information designed to travel along her ocular nerve.

  The data seared into her brain and made itself at home. She blinked frantically to clear her vision, but each blink settled the data further and further into her mind.

  “You could have warned me.” She covered her eyes with her hands.

  “Where is the fun in that? Seriously, if you knew it was coming, you would have closed your eyes.”

  Specialist Smith patted her hand. “If you can see, I will show you to your quarters and you can get changed.”

  “I am staying at Lunar Base?”

  “For a couple of days. We are going to get your ability to nullify under your control so you can affect more than mood.” The Specialist rose to her feet and shook her robes straight. “Come on. You need some rest.”

  Amylia got to her feet, and the Specialist caught her. “You seem very familiar.”

  “We have met, but my speciality is forgetting. When I left, all memory of me left with me.” Smith smiled. “If you can even vaguely recog
nize me, it proves that you have an exceptionally strong mind.”

  Amylia frowned as they walked the halls where aliens walked with humans as casually as if it happened every day. Her mind suddenly gave her an image of the woman next to her in high school. Specialist Smith was a substitute teacher for a geography class.

  “You remembered me.”

  “I did. Grade eleven geography while Mr. Delian was off with a broken leg.”

  “Yes. You had an interest in knowing if there were any undiscovered lands.” She chuckled. “I told you to wait and see.”

  “You were already a Volunteer?”

  “I was one of the first applicants, yes. I was just waiting for them to remember me and put me on a shuttle.” She chuckled.

  Amylia remembered the way the woman next to her had spent time staring at the sky with longing. It had never occurred to her that a student teacher could be a candidate for the program.

  They walked, and eventually, Amylia was in a narrow but comfortable bed while Specialist Smith touched her forehead. Everything went dark.

  Amylia found the bodysuit in the wardrobe and put it on. The boiler suit she had worn from the surface was definitely not suited for her current location.

  She was dressed and her hair was in a severe braid, coiled around her head when she decided to leave her quarters. Amylia opened her door with a little fumbling and was unsurprised to see the Specialist waiting outside her door.

  “You knocked me out again.”

  “You needed time to set your mind to the new information. Now that you have it, what language are we speaking?”

  “Nyal Common.” The words were out of her mouth in an alien language before she could stop herself.

  “Exactly.”

  “Wow.”

  “Precisely. Now, let’s get into the dining hall so we can run you through the basics of how to get around once you leave here. We have mock-ups of all the commonly used dispensing devices, including the DNA scanners that will pick foods that you can digest without secondary issues.”

  Amylia didn’t want to know what constituted a secondary issue, and she went with her tutor to learn what she needed to blend in once she left Terran space.

  After the meal, she was taken to the exercise area and introduced to her activation instructor.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Oh, you have been given the means to defend yourself and act as a true guard at Janial Prison, but you need to learn how to move your body. That is what Yimtoa is here to do.”

  The slender man moved with lazy grace, and his smile nearly split his face in two. “Ah, my student. Welcome. Are you ready to sweat?”

  Amylia stepped forward as his pose woke defensive postures that she didn’t know she knew.

  When he reached out to strike her, she ducked, and the punch became a stinging blow that sent her spinning.

  “Very good. Smith, I will deliver her to the silent hall when I am done with her.”

  “Excellent, Yimtoa.”

  Smith left, and Yimtoa struck again. Amylia moved, dodged, ducked, rolled and finally kicked.

  “Excellent. Now, don’t avoid. Defend!” He struck at her with a flurry of jabs, and her mind sent her limbs to do the work.

  Pain bloomed throughout her body, and she used it to spur adrenalin. He came after her until she couldn’t move and her body was screaming at her.

  She groaned and lay back, tasting her own blood.

  “Do you yield?”

  She spat at him. “No. But I can’t move.”

  He laughed. “That’s the spirit.”

  He stopped looming over her and picked her up.

  “What is going on now?”

  “Now, we are taking you to the healers who are learning their trade. It might hurt, but I think you broke your knuckles on my jaw.”

  He walked with her past a few interested humans and elbowed open a door leading to a room filled with low couches and nervous-looking Terrans.

  There were a few robed and hooded figures around the space, and one of them rose to its feet, beckoning Yimtoa forward.

  “You should be more careful with your toys, Yimtoa.” The voice was a soft hiss.

  He chuckled.

  Amylia looked around through swollen eyes. “I am not a toy.”

  “Oh, she’s awake! You are losing your touch. Solar, please come here and show your world mate what you can do.”

  Amylia was settled on one of the couches, and a woman with black hair and vivid green eyes came forward. Her skin was marred with a burn mark that covered half her face, but her shy smile was kind.

  Her eyes continued to swell shut, and when the cool hands of the healer-in-training drifted over them, they left a refreshing feeling that slowly warmed.

  Amylia felt like sunlight was following wherever the touch had been, and the pain of cracked ribs and bruised flesh soon turned into a soft, warm pulse.

  “Very good, Solar. You have got them all, now heal her.”

  Fire hit the nerve endings that had been woken by the first touches.

  Amylia arched upward until her head and heels were the only contact with the bed. She heard the whispered apologies as the healer burned out the dead cells and forced her body to heal itself.

  When the seconds, minutes or hours were over, Amylia was drenched in sweat and panting, but her body was intact and the aches and pains were gone.

  Solar was at her side with a cup of water, and she helped her up to sip. “I am so sorry for that.”

  Her instructor chuckled softly. “Don’t apologise. Fire healers are the best. They don’t miss anything, and folks don’t seek them out unless absolutely necessary. Solar is one of the best that we have had out of your world.”

  “Thank you, Solar. I appreciate your effort. Now, for my next beating, but at least it will be a little less physical.”

  Yimtoa got to his feet, still munching the fruit that he had been consuming. “Come along, Amylia Caxton. Smith is waiting.”

  The other instructors inclined their heads at the mention of her tutor. Amylia fought her way to her feet, stabilized and nodded. “Right. Lead on.”

  He continued to eat his fruit while he led her through the halls of the station, and then, he showed her her next destination. “This is the silent hall. I would recommend you keep your mouth to yourself. You will learn fast enough, but I think avoiding some pain might be in order.”

  He winked and left her.

  Chapter Two

  The urge to remain silent was with her from the moment she stepped through the doorway. Smith was sitting by a large viewing window and sipping at tea. There was another cup sitting across from her.

  As Amylia approached, she took in the designs of the teacup and the pattern on the side. She inclined her head, knelt stiffly and placed her hands on either side of the cup.

  When Smith replayed the gesture, Amylia took the cup in both hands and sipped.

  Everything had been completely silent until this point when Amylia set her cup back on the table. When the minute click was heard, it reverberated around her and returned in a crushing wave of sound that made her cover her ears.

  Smith was unmoved, as were the other four people in the room. Apparently, if you made the noise, you suffered it.

  Amylia drew in a quiet, shaking breath and nodded. She got the hint.

  Three hours of pantomime and mental push and pull had her ready to work on a volunteer. When Smith raised her hand, a young man knelt next to them, and his mind pushed at Amylia’s. She acted on reflex and shut him down.

  Smith smiled, and they repeated the exercise over and over.

  A few of the volunteers cried out, but when the room punished them, they passed out in silence.

  At the end of the exercise, Smith smiled, got to her feet and gestured for Amylia to come with her. When they were out in the hall, they walked back to Amylia’s quarters.

  “You are getting th
e hang of this. Three more days of intensive training and then your ride arrives. I think you will do very well in your new job, but remember that your mind depends on your body and vice versa. Keep them both in fighting shape.”

  “Why are you here? I mean, why are you tutoring me?”

  Specialist Smith smiled. “Because you wanted to know more, and there is more. So very much more. I want to make sure you don’t only see it, you revel in it.”

  To both of their surprises, Amylia hugged her. It was her first step off the edge of the world, and she had a friend with her.

  * * * *

  Six months later, Null Caxton got up and got ready for work. She braided her hair in a coronet around her head, pulled on the star-studded, armoured bodysuit and headed to the mess hall for breakfast.

  Nothing she wore could be used as a weapon, and no one could get near her if she didn’t allow it. She was the first shift of Nulls in the talented section of Janial Prison, and it was a task that had taken getting used to.

  She wasn’t allowed to make friends with the inmates, but she could speak with them at select intervals.

  The other Nulls were all of differing species, and they didn’t enjoy being around each other, so when Caxton saw two other Nulls having breakfast, she nodded politely, got her food and sought her own table.

  She ate quickly and got to her feet the moment she was done. After her null shift, she had to be in court, and that was one part of her job that she actually enjoyed.

  Her first few months in her position, Null Caxton had been nervous when appearing in front of the High Court of the Nyal Imperium. Her presence kept a few of her more aggressive prisoners from burning the judges or freezing them, for that matter. Caxton was still amazed on a nearly daily basis that she was able to quell power and emotion for a living.

  She headed down the halls and went through the ocular and genetic scans as well as a proof-of-power station. Null Caxton entered her block, and an exhausted Null Kormingate greeted her with relief.