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  She wanted a life worth living, and in the arms of three guardians, it got a little out of control.

  Maya worked hard jobs all her life, and a devastating explosion at sea turned her from a hard worker into a crispy critter. Bedridden and blind, she accepts the order from the Volunteer Project and gets herself reset into a body that can move and skin that isn’t black.

  She did not think of anything aside from getting her body back under her control, so when she ends up at her assignment as a guardian communicator and tactician for three worlds, she does the job with good cheer until she got the first day off.

  Having locals trying to seduce her was strange, but knowing that she had been reset with the genes to be one of their queens, she just tried to ignore it. An act of kindness puts her in the path of a guardian who coincidentally also has a day off, and her day in the sun warms up considerably from there.

  The next day she meets his teammate, and the next teammate the day after that. The new genes come with new morals and less control.

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  Command Control

  Copyright © 2021 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-3266-9

  Cover art by Angela Waters

  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.

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  Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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  Command Control

  Terran Reset, Book 4

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  The world was on fire. Maya stayed in the control room and sent directions to the men, who were working blind on firefighting. She shut the pumps down and tried to communicate with the coastal patrols. Ships were on the way for the men who made it into the sea, but for those caught in the initial blast, there was no chance.

  The room was roaring and creaking around her. She called to the crewmen to abandon their attempts and head for the deck. She didn’t know how many of them heard her. She turned and ran for the door. Everything around smelled like oil and fire. She touched the door, was burned by the heat, and then another explosion knocked her out as the rig slid into the sea.

  She should have retired last week.

  “It’s okay, Maya. Keep calm. You are fine. You are in hospital, and you made it out.” Her sister’s voice was calm, but it sounded like she had been crying.

  Maya couldn’t talk, so she squeezed her sister’s hand. Barb squeaked in surprise.

  “Maya! You are awake! You have a tube to breathe. Don’t worry. I am getting someone.”

  Her sister leaned over and hit a buzzer.

  Maya would have laughed, but she couldn’t feel her face. She couldn’t see anything either. This wasn’t good.

  The extraction of the breathing tube involved a lot of silent cursing and vomiting motions while she couldn’t really move.

  When the tube came out, they removed the bit from her mouth, and she suffered again as the feeding tube was checked before being taped to the side.

  She tried to talk and was given an ice cube to wet her mouth. Barb was holding her hand.

  “So, I am really fucked up, huh?” It took all of her control to speak those words. Her mouth wasn’t working properly.

  She heard the brusque foot falls of a doctor, and he came in and gave her a horrific litany of her injuries. She was blind, most of her face was scorched, and parts of her had been crushed before being burned. She was really fucked up.

  Maya went through days while she contemplated the future she had while locked in a bed. She wasn’t going to go anywhere on her own. Ever.

  Her life became listening to the news and eavesdropping on the nurses and doctors in the corridor. She heard some very interesting shit.

  The day that the ward went silent, Maya paid attention. There were very light footfalls headed her way.

  “Maya Baker?”

  “Yo.”

  The woman came closer. “I am the wife of the Alliance ambassador, and I have a proposal for you. Captain Mathskill, please, guard the door. We do not want to be interrupted.”

  Maya wheezed. “We don’t?”

  “My name is Minerva; you can call me Minnie.”

  “Is that your whole name?”

  “No. My whole name is Minerva-Gaia to Imbolt kei Zanican. There is usually a little more in there, but I am simplifying for speed.”

  “Minnie, then. What brings you to my domain?”

  The woman chuckled a rich and cheerful sound. “I am here to make you an offer.”

  “Do tell.”

  “Thirty years ago, you applied to be part of the Volunteer Project. Now, I am here to offer you that position.”

  “I don’t think I can fit in the uniform.”

  “Funny. You have a job; you just have to want to take it.”

  Maya paused and said, “Tell me about what you have in mind. I have nothing else to do.”

  Minnie chuckled. “Fair enough. What would you think if I said we can rebuild you from the inside out?”

  “Interesting, but what do you want me to do?”

  “The Nyal Imperium is in need of a dispatcher. They need someone to monitor the activities and distress calls on three worlds, and you have the mental capacity to monitor multiple events and displays at the same time.”

  “No one can see it all at the same time.”

  “I can, and you can. It is your talent, and with a slight enhancement, you are going to be able to manage it from anywhere.”

  “Like this?”

  “Ah, we can fix that. We can bind your genes to that of a sturdier species and get your body reset to the best shape your genetics are capable of. You get your body repaired and reset into your twenties or thirties. It depends on when your body clock was set to be at its best, strongest, and smartest.”

  Maya clicked, which was as close to a laugh as she could manage. “If it is this easy, why don’t you do it for everybody who is damaged like this?”

  “Oh, I never said it was easy. It is hella expensive. The Imperium has stringent guidelines, and you happen to fit their requirements. You are the first human that I have met with a brain that came close to matching mine.” Minnie chuckled. “It is more than rare; it is exceptional. So, when they scanned your brain when you arrived here after the collapse, it was confirmed that you had the structure we are looking for.”

  “So, if I didn’t have this rare mental structure?”

  “I wouldn’t be here. I am here because you are useful, and you already applied to the Volunteer Project.” The woman was calm and matter of fact. There was no brown-nosing. She was simply making an offer.

  Maya knew her options if she stayed as she was. “What do I need to do?”

  “I need you to sign the contract with th
e Nyal Imperium. Would you like me to read it to you?”

  “Please.”

  Maya lay there as Minerva read the contract. The agreement to work exclusively in the Nyal Imperium. The restriction of her living areas to approved secure facilities. The agreement for implants to enhance her talent and enable relay capabilities.

  “Wait. What is a relay?”

  “Well, it is another employment track for folk like you. They have open minds that can broadcast secure messages in an unbreakable cypher. They move at the speed of thought.”

  “Folk like me?”

  “People who can’t move but have a full mental capacity.”

  “Oh. Right. Thank you. Back to the contract.”

  Minerva explained the reset process and how they took a genetic sample from a stem cell in the thigh and used it to rebuild her using her own immune and regenerative systems. The genetic material from an alien species would be introduced to her system and fused with her own. This would not cause marked changes to her appearance, but it would work with her own biology to help her adapt to the new environment.

  Her position was a dispatcher for the Guardians of the Nyal Imperium.

  “What’s a guardian?”

  Minerva chuckled. “You know superheroes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Alien races have them, too, but they are real and attend to emergencies.”

  “So, hot guys in spandex?”

  “Usually some sort of body armour, but most of them are rather attractive. They certainly work out. Some even fly.”

  “And I get to tell them what to do?”

  “You have to. It’s in your contract.”

  She clicked again. “Right. Don’t care about the rest. Where do I sign?”

  “It is a thumbprint and signature. May I place your hand on the plate?”

  “Sure. It is the only non-crusty part of me.”

  She let Minerva move her hand and press her thumb on the plate. When that was done, Minerva moved her finger over to the signing pad, and she said, “Okay, sign your name.”

  Maya scribbled her name with her index finger. “So, now that I have agreed, how long until this happens?”

  There was a kiss on her forehead. She felt the pressure but not the touch. “Ah, little one. It starts now.”

  “Captain Mathskill, we have our candidate.”

  There was a scuffling of feet, and Maya heard Barb sob. “Thank you for agreeing, Maya. It will be fine. You will see.”

  “Sis, if I see anything, it will be worth it. Hug Eldon and the kids for me.” Maya wanted to smile, but it wasn’t going to happen. Her face didn’t bend anymore. It cracked.

  Minerva guided her team in, and Maya listened as a plan to move her happened involving lifting the bedding underneath her and settling her in something soft and supportive. There were at least six people moving her by the sound of the footsteps and the words that weren’t in any language that she had heard before.

  “We will need to sedate you for your trip to the Lunar Base, but it won’t be anything you haven’t felt before.”

  “Lunar Base? Why there?”

  “There is no facility on Earth that can do what we need to do to you. My daughter, Alyla, is heading up this project, and that is where she is currently working.” Minerva chuckled as they started moving. “She will let me know if you are a pain in the ass.”

  Maya clicked her tongue. “I resemble that remark.”

  Barb spoke from one side. “Maya. Behave.”

  “I am not a child, Barb. I am old, bitchy, and broken. The only thing keeping me going is the idea of keeping control of strange men. It is a strange fetish, but it is mine.”

  She heard a stifled masculine laugh from beside her, and she wished she could smile.

  She was taken out of the hospital, and the staff was silent as she felt the sun and wind on her right hand. Somehow her one hand had escaped the flames, and it was her only connection to the outside world.

  She was loaded into a vehicle and sedated. Let’s see if the dream was going to come to a crashing halt. Maya had enjoyed the hope. It was a nice way to spend a day.

  Chapter Two

  “Miss Baker. Miss Baker. Oh. There you are.” A young woman with grey skin, black tattoos that seemed to move, and a bright smile was standing in front of her.

  Maya wanted to speak, but she opened her mouth and gasped like a fish. She could see!

  “Oh. Sorry. Your implant is functioning, so if you want to try thinking to me, that would be great.”

  I am not sure if you are getting this. She furrowed her brow and thought it.

  The woman looked at the scanner in her hand and grinned. “I am definitely getting this. Excellent. We have your frequency, and you can broadcast on it anytime.”

  Really?

  “Really. The more you communicate, the faster it will go until it is like having a conversation. My dad is going to be the one transporting you to the Imperium, though, so I wouldn’t count on a lot of conversation. He isn’t particularly chatty.”

  Maya looked down, and her body was dotted and streaked with huge patches of hot pink, but it was whole. The surface of the skin showed the burns, but it looked like skin again and not a raw wound.

  How did my body heal?

  “It isn’t healed. Not yet. What we have done is pump you full of materials that make it easy for your body to heal itself. It is a kit that puts all minerals needed in the right place at the right time. Your bones are healing, your muscle and tendons are being repaired while your skin patches show us progress. Nerves are the last thing to come online. You don’t want them sooner. Right now, most of your body has the rigidity of a half-filled water balloon. If we pulled you out of the tank, you would hit the floor like a crushed fish.”

  Maya had no comeback for that. She couldn’t move her left arm, so she looked around carefully. She used her right arm on the tank to slowly turn her ninety degrees.

  Who are the other tanks for?

  “Other contracted workers in the Imperium. Oh, while we are working on your reset, did you want to stay with black hair or something more festive?”

  Purple streak.

  “Done. Anything else?”

  Maya wanted to smile, but her face still wasn’t moving. White eyes.

  “Oh. Wow. You are fun. Okay. White eyes, black hair with a purple streak.” The woman who had to be Alyla said, “Keep your body type? I mean, you have to work out as per your contract, so you might want a bit of a boost.”

  Athletic but curvy? Is that a thing?

  “That can be a thing. We have a few more days before any of the others show up. Getting you healed and ready for the reset is our priority.”

  You can’t do the reset on me like this?

  “Nope. Not until you actually have all your bones and tissue where it is supposed to be. It only works when you are all lined up and relatively whole.”

  Great. How long will that take?

  “Five days should take care of the worst of it. My father will supervise the reset from there on out. You will be in good hands, or Mom will lock him out when he returns home, and he doesn’t want that.” She grinned.

  A low voice spoke. “Are you gossiping with the contracted candidate, Alyla?”

  She grinned. “A little. Dad, this is Maya. Maya, this is Imbolt kei Zanican. He has the sentience of a dying black hole attached to him.”

  Maya looked at him and cocked her head, looking him over. How did he and your mother manage to have sex?

  Alyla read the printout and snorted. “Others have asked that question, and my mom has stated, Very carefully the first time. Then up against anything we could lean on.”

  Maya blushed as Imbolt stared at her. He slowly grinned. “It seems most Terrans have that question. You are obsessed with reproduction or, at least, sex.”

  I am just trying to figure out how many guys your size there are out there and what my chances w
ould be of finding one.

  The huge grey man coloured as her words flustered him; his moving tattoos moved faster. Imbolt had not heard that one before.

  After a few more minutes of chatting, Alyla smiled. “I have never seen anyone send him running before.”

  I have worked my whole life around men. Once you know the right buttons to push, off they go.

  “Is that how you control your love life?”

  Love rarely has something to do with it. It is more a matter of need. I gave up on love a long time ago. She paused when her brain blurted that out.

  “Oh, you are going to have to get used to it. Your brain is unfiltered, so the truth is the truth. You need to learn to not say things that you want to keep quiet.” Alyla chuckled.

  Wait, so your dad didn’t hear me?

  “He was being polite; he pretended not to, but avatars and telepaths can get right into your mind. You are going to be tutored how to make a shield over your thoughts to avoid detection.”

  Maya got a sinking feeling. Who is going to tutor me?

  Alyla grinned. “My father. Just stop sizing him up and see him as a tutor, and things should be fine. You are predatory for a woman in your condition.”

  My body is numb; there is literally nothing else to think about.

  “Ah. I will hook up some education and language vids for you. That should work until you get where you are going.”

  Alyla wandered around with a handful of crystals that she slotted into a box on the side of the tank. A screen extended around the corner, and she was treated to images of cities that were not built with straight lines and species that were fascinating. Colourful, monochromatic, everyone was just walking past everyone else like they had seen the same things several times before, which they probably had.

  A voice sounded in her mind about the people of Caloff, the industries, and occupations. She heard a whisper in her head that was working on the language, and she got very busy.