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  He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a quick kiss to her skin before he let her go.

  Cera didn’t rub her hand until the priest with her had led her into a hall and out of view. Her skin was tingling and that warmth was moving up her arm.

  “What is going on, can you tell me?” She said it quietly in case others were listening. The building they were in consisted of a large inner courtyard surrounded by long halls that had doors along the outer wall. It was a combination coliseum and dormitory from what she gathered.

  “You are the catalyst to waking the Lord of Haloth. It is all you need to know.”

  She made a face at the back of his hooded head and stomped along behind him as they walked to the upper levels. She was dizzy, tired and having trouble focussing. “How long was I in there?”

  “Six days, it was far longer than most. We were expecting the chamber to reject you.”

  He paused next to a pair of double doors and waved her in. “We have prepared everything you will need for your first days out of the chamber. Do not go exploring without Lord Renn. We are in an unsafe situation.”

  She put her hands on the handles, and the doors swung open. The room was at least a suite. She turned to thank the priest, but he was already heading back to the rest of his brotherhood.

  Cera shoved the doors shut and made a beeline for the water and fruit that was on a sideboard, waiting for her. She wrinkled her nose at the grime on her skin. Six days. She should have been dead.

  Maybe she was still in that chamber and slowly going insane. Shrugging, she had to admit that it was a very genteel insanity. She placed a few small pieces of fruit on the plate, grabbed a goblet of water and went in search of a bathtub.

  Four spouts filled the swimming-sized tub in under two minutes. Cera stripped off her work suit, set the fruit and water on the edge of the tub and eased in.

  She paddled over to the shelf with a series of very attractive bottles and sniffed and experimented her way to a shampoo and liquid soap. Once she was squeaky clean, she sat back and just soaked, occasionally lifting food or water to her mouth.

  A low rumbling told her that her stomach had woken from whatever freaky stupor it had been in, and it was time to finish her breakfast.

  As she wrapped herself in a towel, she wondered what her Guardians were up to. Ice, Pathway and Bloom were good friends, but their job was to protect Weshkinin. With the imperial writ that transferred her custody and living space to Haloth, there was nothing they could do.

  * * * *

  Lord Renn looked at the three warriors confronting him. Their auras were wavering with concern and flares of confusion and hostility. “What can I do for you, Guardians?”

  “Return Cera Morrissy to us.” The tall male was radiating cold, but his lips were tight with concern.

  Renn looked to Orvi, his high priest. “Where did you get her?”

  Orvi bowed, “The Guardian base on Weshkinin. We had the imperial writ as per protocol and left it behind so they would know what became of their dispatcher.”

  “She is not suited for life as a sex companion.” The small woman covered with flowers had her arms crossed.

  The idea set off a set of images in the thousand minds that combined to make Renn. “Fascinating, but that is not her purpose.”

  The woman put her hands on her hips and literally stamped her foot. “Why do you want her then?”

  Renn grinned, “She is needed to make the infinite, finite. My priests have been seeking a suitable partner for decades and have only just confirmed that Cera was suitable. After having met her, they chose well.”

  The cold man cocked his head. “Where is she?”

  Renn smiled, “She is resting after the ordeal of providing me with a corporeal form. No harm has come to her aside from a minor cut to one of her fingers.”

  The commander of the Guardian pack was not moving, so Renn looked to the small female. “One of my priests will take you to her. You can see for yourself that she is alive, well and unharmed. Will that suffice?”

  The woman tilted her head. “If you are here, you don’t need her anymore.”

  Renn smiled softly. “It does not work that way. I am an extension of her. Physically and psychically. She keeps me focussed into a sentient form. If she leaves, I will break down into energy once again until another focus can be found, and if you were paying attention when you arrived, you can see that it would be a very bad thing for Haloth.”

  The female smiled. “You look familiar.”

  “I selected my form from a compilation of images and preferences in Cera’s mind. She has very specific tastes in a mate.” He gestured, and one of the priests stepped forward. “Loes, take Bloom to Lady Cera.”

  The frosty commander paused, “You know who we are?”

  “Your names come to me in the aura of Haloth. It takes time, but names are rather simple.” He nodded and got to his feet. “Now, if you will excuse me. I have an invasion to repel.”

  Chapter Three

  Cera was still eating when the knock at the door announced her visitor. She checked her towel for coverage and nodded silently. “Come in.”

  The familiar flame-red hair of her friend made her smile. “Bloom!”

  The Guardian rushed in and hugged her. “Cera. We were so worried.”

  “Worried? You guys defy death every day. I was merely legally hijacked by your government.” She smiled and enjoyed the scent of wildflowers that Bloom always carried with her.

  “It was so sudden, and there were no departure records. If Charm hadn’t called and filled us in, we would have had no idea why you disappeared.”

  Cera poured another cup of water and headed to the conversation area with her friend. “How did you get leave?”

  “Ice called the central organization on Nyal and reamed them out for allowing an integral member of our team to be abducted in our absence. They told us where you were and a spot team is taking over for our little visit.” Bloom held her hand and gave her a penetrating look.

  “What happened, Cera?”

  Cera knew that Bloom wasn’t talking about the actual removal from the base. “They brought me here, put me in a room filled with statues and weird spots of light. I was in there until a few hours ago when Renn appeared.”

  “Did you have food, water, rest?”

  “No. I should be dead by my species standards for starvation and dehydration, but time seemed to move strangely in there.”

  Bloom paused and said, “It isn’t safe for you here. There is a mining consortium in orbit, and they are preparing for mass invasion. That is why the brotherhood had to find someone to bring their lord into the physical—Haloth is in danger.”

  Cera sat up straight. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  Cera got up and walked around, opening and closing drawers until she found a stack of tablets and a stylus. She quickly made a list. “I need these things, and this file from my personal work station. Tell, Ambassador Cannaught to contact me as soon as he can, and I will explain all this to Renn. If we only have days, we have to make them count.”

  Bloom laughed and hugged her again. “That is the Cera I was afraid we had lost. I will tell Ice, and we will be on our way. Is it okay if Pathway stays?”

  “Fine with me but ask Renn. He owns this world.”

  Bloom grinned. “Glad to see you are back in action.”

  Cera yawned. “Now that I have set things in motion, I am heading for a nap. I can’t push a world around if I don’t have my sleep.”

  “I will let myself out and get this list to Cannaught. I love it when you have a plan. It always means that things will turn out all right.”

  Cera kept her expression perky until the doors were closed and she could let her uncertainty show. She stripped off the towel and crawled into the bed, pulling the sheets over her head and trying to plan a way to save a world she hadn’t even seen from miners who had profits on their minds.

  * * * *

&
nbsp; Renn scowled at the list that Bloom showed him. “She wants all of this?”

  Bloom grinned. “She does. She has a plan, and her plans never fail.”

  “She is not trying to leave?” He scowled, his insecurity at his summoner’s true motivation coming through.

  Bloom shook her head. “Cera doesn’t think like that. She commits one hundred percent to the situation she is in. She is here now and this planet will come out unscathed if she has anything to do with it.”

  Renn smiled, relief filling the minds that he channelled. “Good. Orvi, whatever our lady wants, arrange it. She knows the current workings of the imperium far better than I do. We will follow if she is willing to lead.”

  Ice smiled. “She will lead, nag and push you along the correct course. Our base has never run as smoothly as it is right now. She was the best dispatcher we have ever had.”

  Pathway smiled slowly, “Cera has an instinct for trouble.”

  “Thank you for coming to check on her. The brotherhood will see you home.” Renn reached out to touch the sleeping mind of his summoner, and he was eager to join her on the psychic plain.

  Ice paused. “But we came by shuttle. It took us days to get here.”

  “The brotherhood will have you back on Weshkinin in a matter of moments, with your shuttle. If you wish to check on Cera again, please call, and she will send members of the brotherhood to bring you here.”

  The Guardians looked at him in shock. Ice scowled. “Just like that?”

  “Bloom has seen that she is alive and well, including being fed and given the best rooms on the planet. Haloth is completely at her disposal, so we will await her completion of a rest cycle before we begin to press her to help us find a way out of our current predicament. There is nothing for you to do here, and the brotherhood needs to prepare for the coming difficulties. Your presence will just get in the way.”

  Ice opened and closed his mouth, but Pathway grabbed one arm and Bloom the other. They marched their commander back the way they came, and the brotherhood followed them.

  It would take all of the brotherhood to send a shuttle back, but it was not the largest item that they had swept through space.

  Renn sighed and tried to think back to the first time he had been drawn into a body. The brotherhood of Haloth had scoured hundreds of worlds to find a woman or man who could act as a focus to draw all the fractured minds of Haloth into focus. His species was crystalline in physicality and he had been away from his home so long, he didn’t remember its name. Haloth may be where he first began to think, but it was all rather fuzzy. Each time his mind was set free, he went into a holding state. His mind blended with all the shattered pieces of worlds that made their home on Haloth.

  No one had posited a theory about why the pieces of dying worlds and stars were attracted to Haloth, but when the meteors fell to the surface, they invariably had thoughts and signals of their own. Haloth was alive with energy and none of it was natural to the world.

  That the brotherhood dedicated themselves to the study and encouragement of the shattered minds on Haloth was always a mystery to Renn. They claimed that he had ordered them to come to him, but it was not something that he could remember doing.

  It still amazed him that they were here every time he woke. Different and, yet, always the same. Loyal priests from dozens of species, all with the same mental resonance that allowed them to open portals from world to world. One of them on their own couldn’t manage it, but in groups of three or more, there was nothing they couldn’t move.

  Renn felt the surge of energy that indicated the departure of the Guardians.

  His link with Cera was tenuous. He needed to strengthen it before she was tempted to leave Haloth. If she left, his physical form would surrender and return to the bits and pieces of the world around him once again. Haloth would be defenceless and that was something that Renn could not abide.

  When the brotherhood filed in, Orvi handed him an update as to the current situation. Sixteen mining vehicles were staging just out of orbit. It was a matter of less than forty-eight hours before they started to move, and Renn had no idea how to tell his summoner that she may have been brought to him too late.

  * * * *

  Cera was enjoying a lovely dream-free rest surrounded by gauzy clouds and no stimuli.

  “Hello, Cera. Funny meeting you here.”

  She looked around her private sanctuary and groaned. “Renn, how nice to see you here.”

  “Liar. I apologize for disturbing your rest, but you left some very specific requests and some of the equipment is coming in. Where shall I put it?”

  She chuckled. “Do I have an office?”

  “Not yet, but one can be arranged. When would you like to be woken from your sleep?”

  “After I have slept for eight hours.”

  He hovered in front of her, his hair fanning out behind him in a blood-red wave. “Then, it is time for you to wake up.”

  The clouds receded as something outside shook her gently.

  She squinted up at the face leaning over her. “I need a glass of water.”

  He sat on the edge of the bed, pulled her into a sitting position and handed her a glass with condensation beading on the exterior.

  She gulped it down and pulled the bedding up to her chest.

  He took the empty glass and set it back on the bedside table.

  “Thank you.”

  “There are clothes in the wardrobe. After you are dressed, we will speak.”

  He got to his feet and opened the wardrobe for her, giving her an excellent view of the tapered torso and narrow waist leading into tight buttocks shown off to advantage in the leather.

  A blush heated her cheeks as she thought the same word, perfect. She closed her eyes until he was out of the bedroom and then flipped the covers back to make her way to the wardrobe. Scanty was the word she used for the selections, but a blue skirt was decently layered and pleated to provide coverage. The bra that matched gave the appearance of two large cups and no support. Fortunately, she didn’t need a lot of restriction.

  There were jewels attached to the bra, and once they were all on, she had jewelled bands on her ankles, wrists, arms, belly and neck. There was even a band for her hair.

  She looked at herself in the mirror and noted the lack of footwear. Not even slippers. The weather of Haloth must be very temperate if she was going to be pattering around barefoot.

  A quick check of the other room proved that she was alone, but as she concentrated, she found Renn in the corridor outside her room.

  Cera walked up to him and smiled when he looked away from the data pad he had been studying. “Can you brief me on the situation?”

  He nodded, put his arm around her bare waist and he started walking toward an open balcony at the end of the hall. “In descending orbit above Haloth are a series of mining vessels. They want to take all the minerals that Haloth has acquired and use them for their own purposes with complete disregard to the fact that each of those rocks is a fragment of a sentient being. Worlds so ancient, there are no surviving records. We have pieces of them here.”

  “So, you need to defend this world. How do you normally do it?”

  Renn grimaced. “Normally, I am woken at least a year before the mining consortiums get this far, but the brotherhood had difficulty in finding a woman to act as summoner.”

  “Is that what I am, the summoner?”

  “Indeed. Your mind gives me an anchor to the physical world that I cannot manage on my own. In this form, I only live as long as you do.”

  Cera was shocked. “Well, I…can I do anything as summoner aside from take you with me?”

  They reached the balcony and looked up at the evening sky. “You can probably contact some of the minds who are not participating in my cohesion if you choose to.”

  “Nice. Now, what is your opinion of technology?”

  “I would like as little of it here as possible.”

  Cera grinned. “Then, I belie
ve I have a plan. Would you be willing to permanently house a Guardian here? Not one of mine, a new one.”

  Renn crossed his arms. “As long as they do not have any romantic inclinations toward you, I could accept them.”

  “Excellent. Now, where is that com unit? I am expecting a call.” She grinned and rubbed her hands together.

  “First, look out over your new home. You might appreciate its beauty.”

  She looked out over Haloth. Really looked. And her heart was given in an instant to the lights, mist, craters and wilderness that crept right up to the stone edifice she was inside, and then, it waited respectfully at their gates. Colours boomed in the night, glowing upward toward the stars. Soft pinks, brilliant violets, emeralds and blues she couldn’t name.

  Dreams of light had haunted her for the last two years, since she had been removed from Janial prison. Her time there had been due to her employer. She didn’t want to serve the sentence for tax evasion, so she had her personal assistant serve it.

  Cera had done the six-month span, and when she came out, to her surprise, the post at the Weshkinin Guardian base was waiting for her. How she had gotten so lucky, she had no idea, but she embraced her luck and threw herself into her work. It had been a very good life, but now, she was starting over.

  Chapter Four

  The com unit was set up in the centre of the dining room. The brotherhood was standing around and watching closely as she fired up the machine to call Ambassador Cannaught.

  Cera asked Renn, “What is the maximum number of personnel that you would accept here, outside of the brotherhood?”

  “Three hundred.”

  She beamed, “Good, I only need one, two at the most, but if we offer Haloth as a tech-free training ground for the Guardians, those mining vessels will have no choice.”

  Brother Orvi frowned. “Would we have to provide them with accommodations?”

  Cera started the call. It would take long minutes to get through. “No, the Guardians would have to provide their own living quarters as well as food. This would simply give Haloth training-world standing and it would keep anyone else from attempting to dig in. You can set your own specs and even have the Guardians set their living situation on the far side of the planet.”