Hard Hearted Read online

  "I cannot foresee an instance where it would be necessary. I am going to Teklan as a medical officer, after all." She extricated herself from her friends and nodded formally. "I wish you luck and please stay in touch."

  Zenina smiled. "We will. Now go, or I will start crying and the last thing Balen needs now is a sudden rainstorm."

  With effort, Gray pulled her features into a smile. It was supposed to be funny, she knew it, so she had practiced mimicking a smile. When someone smiled at you, you were supposed to smile back, so she had practiced until she could manage it without looking frightening.

  As she left her friends and went to her quarters, the startled looks of staff that she passed reminded her to release her smile. Smiles that were not triggered and didn't waver were creepy. She had learned that, too.

  Her bag was sitting where she had left it on the centre of her bed. Inside was her other eight uniforms and the three hair clips she had brought with her from her clan ship. They were the only things from her old life that she had and though she didn't know why, she felt she had to keep them with her.

  The flicker of attachment relaxed her. It let her know that the roots of emotion were still in her body, even though her soul was soaring through space with her old family.

  A knock at her door had to be answered. "Garoz, you look…sweaty."

  Her brother stood in the doorway, filling it completely with his muscled bulk.

  "I was working out when I realized what the time was. I didn't want to miss you, so I came straight here." He smiled down at her, his dark gold eyes twinkling.

  "Good timing, I was on my way out." She jerked her head. "Move. I want to be on my way. I have already said my goodbyes to the ladies."

  "Then take my arm and you shall arrive in style." He held out his elbow and she took it, walking next to him through the halls of the station. Hardcore and Hard Hearted together for the last time as Guardsmen of Station 13.

  Members of the Morganti team had designed Deadpan and it contained a specially designed interface that even Gray's mind could manipulate. A large ship, in keeping with the Teklan standards, it could hold four guardsmen and several passengers if needed.

  "I will miss you, Gralial Ashwin Neeri." Her brother pressed a kiss to the top of her head and she knew she would see tears in his eyes.

  "I wish I could miss you, Garoz Eknon Neeri, but you will have to be satisfied in knowing that I am going to be content wherever I go."

  "You are not Hard Hearted."

  "And you are not Hardcore, but we are now whatever we say we are, a new beginning, yet again." She didn't try to smile. He said it hurt him when she smiled, so she didn't.

  "Go, fly safe and call me when you arrive on Teklan."

  "I will add you to the list." She nodded. "Be well, Garoz."

  "I will. Now off you go. Fly safe." He grinned and backed away from the shuttle doors.

  Part of her wanted to be amused. When her emotions had gone, fear went with them. Her flying had taken a very linear pattern, no matter what was in her way.

  Apparently, it made for a very eye-opening experience for her passengers. She couldn't see the attraction in being frightened, but during down time, she was frequently asked to take crewmembers for a swing around the planet.

  Gray supposed that was all over now. She set the control halo on her head and did her pre-flight checks before requesting permission to leave.

  "Fly straight, Hard Hearted."

  "Will do, docking control."

  A laugh came through the mics. "And fly safe. Call us when you land on Teklan."

  She nodded. "I will add you to the list."

  With her farewells spoken, she steered the Deadpan out of the shuttle bay and into the launch area. She hooked into the launcher and watched the colour shift into launch sequence. The force of the ejection shoved her back in her seat as she was propelled out of the station and into the space over Balen.

  Breathing slowly, she set the coordinates for Teklan and turned Deadpan toward her goal. With nothing else before her, she hit the throttle and sent her ship at full speed to her new assignment.

  The stars help anyone who got in her way.

  Chapter Three

  Teklan base was silent. Gray brought Deadpan in for a light landing and cocked her head in confusion. There was supposed to be an authorization request before she landed.

  Based on the silence, something could have occurred, so she armed herself with a short bolt gun and a stunner. She sealed her ship and walked into the quiet bulk of the building.

  A sector guard staffer came running and she stopped him by raising the stunner. "Where is General Brodin?"

  The man looked shocked, possibly taking in her guard uniform or her waist-length blue hair. "He's in the commissary. There was a birthday and all the staff is there."

  She nodded. "Take me there."

  He turned on his heel and led the way through the maze of halls.

  A large group of people were laughing and enjoying themselves around a huge cake. "General Brodin?"

  The dhemon in the group turned and his mouth opened in surprise. "Hard Hearted, I presume? You are early."

  She nodded and holstered the bolt gun. "There wasn't any traffic."

  He laughed, looked at her blank expression and picked up a second piece of cake. "This way."

  His office was less than twenty metres from the commissary and she blinked in surprise when he shoved the cake at her. "Here you go."

  "Thank you. Have you received my records?"

  "Yes. I will show you to your quarters. As the physician, you will be living inside the base. The other guardsmen seem to be trending toward homes just outside the grounds."

  "It will be more convenient for me."

  "I believe it will. In your own words, what skills do you bring to Teklan base?" He was suddenly all business and she envied his ability to switch his moods.

  "I am a fully trained physician and have a talent which enables me to reset a person's body to peak health, provided that they have not been altered physically, chemically or genetically. I will reset any patient I heal to their base state. For those who have been altered, I offer a complete range of medical skills from stitching up basic wounds to using a variety of equipment supplied by Fixer."

  "Excellent. You are missing your soul?"

  The statement was bald, but she had answered it before. "Yes. It is currently flying around the Kozue enclave in a glowing ball in my grandfather's ship."

  "Why was it taken?"

  She shrugged and ate the cake. "Because it was preferable to the death penalty or sterilization for being a female undeclared talent."

  "So, you have no emotional responses?"

  "Nothing visible, though I have learned to mimic a few things to relax those around me." She worked up a smile and when he smiled in response, she knew she had gotten it right.

  She slowly relaxed her face until it was her normal blank aspect.

  "Well, it certainly put me at ease. Now, why are you carrying a weapon on base?"

  "There was no request for my authorization when I came in for a landing. I was prepared for anything. I believe I frightened a crewman though." She twisted her lips. A tiny sign of regret.

  "He will get over it. They were not supposed to leave the com station unattended."

  "Oh, speaking of com stations, I need one. I have to call fifteen people on Station 13. They do not trust my ability to fly on my own, apparently." She flicked a smile.

  "That will be our first stop. Fifteen?" He raised his eyebrows.

  "Yes. Many of the staffers there have become friends of mine. I think. They are concerned about me and I have enjoyed watching them interact, so I think they are friends."

  His look went from amused to pity. She sighed at the expression on his face, but he answered her. "Yes, that is good criteria for friendship. You liked them and they like you. That is how it works."

  She finished her cake and put the plate and fork on his desk, unsur
e of where else to put it.

  "Would you care for some tea? I have to confess I have never met a female Kozue before."

  "I would enjoy some tea and they don't usually let us off the ships. It shows you how strict they are when it comes to the women. A male with a talent could have simply left the enclave, a woman had to be killed or sterilized for fear of her passing on her genes to the next generation. No woman is ever without a clan according to policy and I believe that is where the stricture lies."

  "What do you mean?"

  "My brother could leave the clan, but they didn't want him to. They would have overlooked his genetic heritage provided that he didn't breed within the enclave. Me? They wouldn't take the chance that a stray male would be tempted to break the rules on my behalf."

  "They execute pregnant women?"

  "No. Not when there is a chance that the child could be a pure warrior of the Kozue enclaves. Once the child exists, there is no question of execution. Until that moment, the woman is an abomination to her family and the others around her."

  He stood in a swift move, making her blink. "I will take you to the com station. I understand your problem far better than you could imagine."

  "Dhema doesn't allow for talents either, does it, Might?" Her eyebrow wasn't raised, but her question was genuine.

  "No, it does not. My talent was late-onset. If it had peaked early, my life might have been radically different and not on my home world with my family around me."

  She shook her head as they walked through the station. "My family was around me, it did not help, with the exception of Garoz. He has always been my guardian and now he can use his talents for others without worrying about me."

  "You seem to be a woman who can take care of herself."

  "Now, yes. I used to be a blubbering idiot, or so Garoz used to say. Now he just looks sad when he sees me." She took up the com station that was emptied as she approached. It may have been her face or possibly Brodin's horns gleaming in the afternoon light coming through the station windows.

  She punched in the call sign for Station 13 and went through her list. They all sighed with relief that she had made it and commented on the speed at which she had travelled.

  Brodin was called upon four times to confirm that she was indeed at the correct Sector Guard base and the fourth time he couldn't keep his laughter in as Kaylee ordered him to swear a secret base commander's oath that he would keep Gralial out of trouble.

  She waited for him to stop snickering and got to her feet. "I left my bag in Deadpan. Can you show me where my quarters are?"

  "Deadpan?"

  "The shuttle I flew here. It was Fixer's joke."

  He was fighting a smile. "I see. Your quarters are this way and as soon as you are ready, I will show you to medical and you can get oriented."

  She nodded and followed him through the halls. Her room was positioned next to medical, a convenience she appreciated.

  "Where are the other guardsmen?"

  "The two couples are on an assignment to determine the identity of a murderer. They will only be gone a few days, but Past Tense is recovering from a massive genetic overhaul. While you will be able to reset the drai, the humans have been adjusted."

  He was smiling again. "We have also included a set of healer's robes for you, designed as a form of body armour for the times you will be on assignment."

  That was news to her. "I will be leaving Teklan on assignment?"

  "As soon as your partner arrives. He should be here within the week."

  She blinked. "I am to have a partner? I thought that was unlikely."

  "With comparisons and scans, we have found one for you. His name is Mist and he has been operating in the position of enforcer on Dalnish. We offered him the position and he signed up immediately."

  "He knows about my condition?"

  "He does. It does not bother him."

  "You have spoken to him?"

  "Of course. I had to make sure he would be suitable for Teklan."

  "You did not interview me."

  "I knew you would fit. Haunt and the Citadel had nothing but good things to say about you and we needed a medical specialist with a variety of species under her grasp."

  "That does fit me rather precisely."

  He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as they entered Deadpan. "I thought so at the time and now I am sure of it."

  She ran the tour of the shuttle for him and when he had touched every surface of her shuttle, she returned her weapons to the storage bays and grabbed her bag. It was time to move into her new home.

  Chapter Four

  Time flowed quickly on Teklan. When a team returned from its assignment, she was responsible for checking them out to verify that they had not suffered damage from the alien environments.

  Once they understood her handicap, she made friends with Roxy and Mayden. Their partners were relatively uninterested in her beyond making sure that she didn't damage the females.

  The happy couples rarely spent time in the base, preferring their homes outside the facility to the boring interior. Gray filled her day with the mundane, doing physicals, setting bones and estimating oestrus for some of the female staffers.

  She was doing inventory and paperwork on one of the rare days when all of the guards were away when a knock on the frame of medical surprised her.

  "Hello?"

  She put her data pad down and looked at the figure in the doorway. "Yes? Welcome to Teklan medical."

  "I am Canil Warks. I am the new guardsman. Code name Mist if you need it for the file." His voice resonated in the room, starting a tingle in her feet that crawled up her body.

  "Thank you. I am Healer Gralial, Gray or Hard Hearted if you prefer." She opened a new file and calibrated the scanners. "Your species?"

  He glided into the room and stood immediately behind her. "Nishan animorph."

  She entered the information into the system and blinked when she noticed the physical appearance clause. "You choose your form?"

  She turned and looked up at him, his eyes the only intangible thing about him. The rest was solid muscle that would give a Kozue warrior a run for his money. His physique was truly impressive.

  "I do. I have chosen this one in the hope that I would blend more easily with the guard." He was within her personal space, but she merely pushed him aside to get to the scanning bed.

  "You will do fine. Please lay back on this table so I can run the scans."

  He sat down and scooted into position, his body filling the expanse of metal. "I was told you are to be my new partner."

  "I am. Please hold still while this scans your current status."

  Gray made notes until he gripped her wrist. "You are missing."

  "Yes, I am." She flashed an empty smile to him.

  His jaw clenched. "I was not told you were not whole."

  "I am whole, but my soul has been removed. I can operate perfectly well without one." She shook her head at the readings she was getting. If he wasn't on her table, she wouldn't have guessed that he was solid.

  "Has no effort been made to retrieve it?"

  "It was the price for my life. A fair trade as far as I am concerned." She nodded and withdrew the scanner.

  "Is the Alliance aware of this?"

  She would have felt surprise if she could. "Of course, they are the ones that made the deal. My family was pushing to have me put to death."

  Canil blinked in surprise, his eyes swirling faster, the grey mist twisting in dark ribbons within his eyes. She met his gaze with her own, though not falling into the depths of his stare was difficult.

  Arms were around her, supporting her. "Blink, Gralial. You are not equipped to meet my gaze quite yet."

  She sagged and looked around her in surprise. They were next to her desk, but she didn't remember walking there. "How did I get here?"

  "You fell and I caught you. General Brodin mentioned that you would show me my quarters in the communiqué." He was still holding her and
she absently compared him to Tomo's more slender physique. Canil was definitely male, where Tomo had been easing into manhood when she last saw him.

  When she realized the spill of heat through her body was hormonal, a shock of surprise hit her. Even her lack of emotion could not squelch the reaction to him.

  "You need to let me go."

  "As you wish." He released her and she stood straight.

  "I will take you to your quarters." Gray tucked the data pad away and filed the initial scans into Mist's file. She could research them later.

  He retrieved a bag from the hall and followed her to the room Brodin had set aside for him. She opened it and gestured for him to enter. "Your quarters. Do you wish to rest or shall we get the noon meal?"

  "A meal would be nice, company would be nicer." He explored his room quickly. "What is this door?"

  "It adjoins my room. To date, most partners have been sexually compatible, so it is built in to every facility in one way or another." She waited as he eyed her speculatively and she quickly looked down at her robes to make sure she was still wearing them. His eyes were telling her that she was naked and he was appreciating the view.

  Gralial waited as he quickly unpacked and when he offered her his arm, she took it out of habit. He felt solid under her hand, his muscles bending and flexing. "Why did you pick this form?"

  "I researched your species and the ideal male form as far as Kozue is concerned. This was the result." His arm flexed under her hand. "I have to admit, many females are drawn to this standard shape."

  "It is a basic tenant of biology. The fittest male gets the mates. The Kozue assess both males and females to determine best gene combinations."

  "If I were Kozue, would you be attracted to me?"

  "I have no soul and my body already responds to you." Her voice was its standard deadpan, but he jumped.

  "Really?" His pleasure at the statement seemed to swell the muscles even more.

  "I do not lie. If I still had all my faculties, I would be a bright pink by now. As it is, I can talk about anything without trouble." She steered him into the commissary and waved at a few of the staff who had made an effort to meet and understand her.