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  “It is alive, born of vegetation and completely invested in keeping you whole once you put it on. It will transmute from bodysuit to formal wear at your will.”

  She looked at him and smiled. “I am sold; now excuse me while I go put this on.”

  She left to go to the ladies’ room. She shucked out of the recruit suit and tugged the bodysuit on up and over her hips, wriggling her arms into the sleeves before the suit took over and wrapped around her completely.

  The Masuo surged up to the edge of her hairline on the nape of her neck and opened into a keyhole in the front. The sleeves edged to a point and the fabric ruffled and smoothed against her body.

  She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. “I only wish for boots.”

  The fabric around her calves thickened and hardened into boots that ended just below her knee. She was wearing the fitted bodysuit of the instructors, and it was fairly comfortable.

  Feeling impish, she closed her eyes and concentrated on wearing the recruit suit and heavy boots. She tucked her old suit and boots into the Masuo box and went outside with her shoulders slumped.

  She sat next to Ikvaro and gave him a sad look. “It didn’t fit.”

  He stared at her and blinked. “I have never heard that before.”

  She waited a moment before the laughter overwhelmed her and let the suit shift to the bodysuit and boots. “I am joking. Thank you and thanks to everyone who helped me get it. I have been wanting a pet.”

  He watched and slowly applauded. “Well done. I had no idea that it wasn’t the original suit. You had it replicated precisely.”

  She smiled. “Thank you. I thought that that was the point. The suit is very comfortable.”

  “I am very glad for that. You will be wearing it constantly.”

  “What?”

  “Once on, it cannot be removed, but it will shrink so you can take showers and attend nature, though it can deal with those as well if you are unable to groom appropriately.”

  Iridia looked down at the suit. “How long does it last?”

  “As long as you do. It will be your constant companion, so you had better get used to it.”

  She frowned. “You couldn’t have warned me?”

  “If I had warned you, you wouldn’t have put it on. Now, come to the com room. You have an appointment with a secure line to your new boss. Your vehicle is on the way, so you might want to get acquainted with him.”

  “Him?”

  “I have been assured that your commander is male. He is heading up a new Nyal base and he is collecting exceptional talents. You are one of four new talents on that base.”

  “So, you know a little bit about it.”

  He shrugged. “I hear talk. The Guardian project is very exciting. It has been a boon and a haven for talents who are rejected by their own kind and who are suddenly appreciated by others.”

  Iridia smiled. “Sometimes you just need to change your venue to feel that you are heading in the right direction.”

  Ikvaro grinned. “You have the right idea; keep that optimism.”

  “It has gotten me off Earth; it is not going to let me fall.” She realized as she spoke that it rang true. She wasn’t going to let herself fall.

  Chapter Three

  The com room was emptied and Iridia stood alone on the projection pad.

  A light flickered across the room, and the person who took shape was kneeling and hunched over.

  Holding onto her etiquette, she waited for a count of ten before she said, “I greet you this bright day.”

  The person lifted his head and dark rainbow hair cascaded down his back. There was a smile on his iridescent blue features. He slowly stood and his wings flexed. They matched the peacock-shaded colours of his face but were greener than the blue of his skin. A tunic belted at the waist and a narrow scapular with metallic embroidery covered his body. Gladiator sandals were on his feet and two blades sheathed at his waist.

  He was staring at her, and the ruby red of his eyes was rather disturbing. She stopped moving and felt herself fade as he watched.

  He chuckled. “Good. I greet you on this bright day, Iridia Graves. Are you ready for your journey?”

  “May I know where I am going?”

  “No. It is not safe for you to know until you are here. Our base is an Imperial secret and that is all you need know until you are with the Guardians.”

  “If you will not tell me anything, then why did you want to talk to me?”

  He smiled. “Your instructors have told me much about you but not how you react in situations you find uncomfortable. I had to see for myself what your instinct was when confronted by something unexpected.”

  “You knew I would find you unexpected?”

  He chuckled and the sound was low and rich. “I doubt you have seen anything like me. If I may ask, what made you remove yourself from my sight?”

  She thought about it. “It was your eyes. I have never seen a being with red eyes and that much colour everywhere else.”

  He grinned. “I look forward to seeing you when you arrive. My name is Zanthan Ibin and I will see you in five days.”

  He cut off the call, and she was left standing there wondering what had just happened. She left the room and Ikvaro was waiting for her.

  “Well?”

  She blinked at him and frowned. “I think I just got a date.”

  He laughed and offered her his arm as he took her for her last cup of coffee in Earth’s orbit.

  The next morning, she got up, braided her hair and secured it in a bun. She experimented and the Masuo became a long tunic, slit up each leg, and a soft pair of trousers. The muted sand colour suited Iridia, and the flow of the fabric suited her even more.

  It was still before regular rising on the base. Only the night shift and maintenance crews were stirring.

  As she left her quarters with the only possessions she still owned, she felt a certain rightness to her leaving in darkness. It was the same way she had arrived.

  She walked on silent feet to the launch bay and waited for her ride.

  A woman in a golden bodysuit came forward. “Iridia Graves?”

  The yellow of her hair and the tan of her skin said that the woman was human, but the cybernetic implants visible around her eyes indicated that she wasn’t entirely natural anymore.

  “That is me.”

  The woman smiled. “I am Gaze, my partner is Shiver and the ship is the Blue Fairy. Please, come on. Our shuttle is waiting and we have a fast turn-around scheduled.”

  Iridia walked with the stranger. “Are you Terran?”

  “Yes, out of the first wave. You will learn more on board the Blue Fairy.”

  There was no stalling, Gaze put her arm behind Iridia’s back and herded her out to the small shuttle with the Nyal script on the side. Gaze wasn’t kidding. The shuttle did belong to a ship named the Blue Fairy.

  She sat where Gaze put her and strapped in.

  Gaze received the clearance for the personnel removal and they were off.

  “Technically, I could have landed the Fairy here, but the shuttle is just faster. We will be in the ship in a few minutes.”

  Iridia said, “Thank you.”

  Gaze chuckled. “Don’t thank me yet. It will be a few days with the three of us and the ship.”

  “The ship?”

  “I will explain when we get there. It falls under Imperium secrets, and since you are to be a Guardian, it will be under your purview the moment we dock.”

  Iridia was looking forward to learning something new, and this was definitely new.

  The large ship swallowed them up a few minutes later.

  Gaze exhaled and grinned. “Call me Gwyn.”

  “Iridia.”

  “Well, Iridia, are you running to something or from something?”

  “To something, I hope. There was nothing really to run from.”

  “Excellent. Welcome to the
Blue Fairy.” Gaze unbuckled and got out of the cockpit, waiting for Iridia to do the same.

  When she followed Gaze out into the larger vessel, a blue light with a tiny woman inside hovered at eye level.

  “Iridia, that is Blue. Blue, this is Iridia Graves. She is a new Guardian bound for Tharos Prime.”

  Mist coiled around their feet, and Gwyn signed. “This is my husband, Durz, also known as Shiver. I always try and keep things with other Terrans casual, because the multiple-name thing gets really annoying.”

  The mist formed into a column and the column became a man who was, in Iridia’s eyes, completely and eerily perfect.

  Gwyn grinned and waved her deeper into the ship. “He is a Nishan animorph. He can take any shape, but his natural form is the mist you first saw. The form you just saw is the one he uses to impress the ladies.”

  Blue hovered near Iridia’s face and urged her further into the ship. By Iridia’s estimation, if a fairy flew near you and told you to get into a spacecraft, you did it.

  She followed the small point of light up and into the ship. The quarters it led her to were comfortable and spacious. She put her bag away, and the blue light followed her as she shifted around. Her favourite books were tucked away in the bottom of her bag, and she verified that they were there before she closed the locker and got to her feet.

  Iridia asked her Masuo to become a bodysuit, and it shifted and snuggled against her skin. Dressed much more like her hosts, she followed the blue fairy out of her quarters and up a set of stairs.

  The command deck was a series of monitors and a large chair in the centre of the room. Gwyn was seated and inserting jacks into her skin. Shiver was curling around the floor in a low fog.

  “Fold out the jump seat and strap in. This is going to be fun.” Gwyn’s voice took on an echoing tone.

  Iridia found the fold-down seat, and she slipped into it, tightening the harness as much as she could. The blue fairy flew up and tapped her nose, leaving an electronic tingling sensation.

  “Blue likes you. She doesn’t like many people.” Gwyn grinned. “Here we go.”

  The monitors showed their increasing speed until they were skimming out of the Terran solar system.

  “Jump site acquired. Jumping now.” Gwyn’s eyes glowed.

  Iridia felt the sensation she had read about and swallowed as she was in two places at the same time for a moment. When they settled, she shook her head and looked at the monitors and their display of new stars.

  “You can unclip the harness now. We will be travelling through this system for eleven hours.” Gwyn unhooked herself from the ship.

  “You plug into the ship?”

  “She doesn’t like to jump alone. She could, but she is a little fussy about being in two places at the same time.” Gwyn grinned as she finished her unplugging.

  “Is it rude to ask why you literally plug in?” Iridia watched Gwyn get to her feet.

  “Come with me, Iridia, and I will explain things to you. As a Guardian, you will know about the fairies soon enough.” The captain of the ship walked down the hall and Iridia followed her.

  The mist coiled around their feet and tagged along.

  Gwyn led her to the galley and showed her to a seat. “I will get some tea. You had better get used to it. One tea or another is the more common beverage on the world you will live on.”

  Iridia nodded. “I was briefed and my parents are tea drinkers, so it became less of an issue.”

  Gwyn set a pot of tea in front of her and poured. “Good. It was the hardest thing to get used to. With my malformation, I tracked coffee far more easily than the subtle scent of tea.”

  “You have my attention.”

  “I was blind and badly burned when I arrived in the Nyal Imperium. I was dependant on those around me for navigation and information, and it was frustrating as hell. Being wired to the ship was part of the price I was willing to pay.”

  Iridia sipped at her tea and waited.

  Gwyn smiled. “I was born blind with no link between my brain and eyes. When I was a child, I suffered burns in a house fire that caused scarring over seventy percent of my body. I was miserable and hopeless until the Volunteer project offered me a chance to put my body on the line for the chance at a future. I took it.”

  “They created the missing link?”

  “They did and gave me every spectrum of sight they could imagine. This suit protected my body, but my partner has been working on helping my skin become a little more robust. It is working pretty well.” Gwyn smiled.

  “And the fairy?”

  “Oh, the ships are genetically engineered to match their pilots. Blue is bonded to me as I am to her. She is literally part of me.” The pilot chuckled. “We are part of a group of five ships and pilots in total. Each has a Terran pilot with a physical defect that could only be corrected by extensive surgery. We all went into it with open eyes, so to speak, and have come out stronger, with friends and an unlikely family.”

  Iridia sipped at her tea while the fog on the floor spiralled upward and wrapped around Gwyn. Gwyn held her hand out and the fog swirled around it.

  “When we are home, it is easier for Durz to just be himself. The sex gets a little weird, but he is comforting to have around.”

  The cloud tightened on Gwyn and she chuckled.

  Iridia smiled. “I am happy that you seem so content.”

  “I hope that you find something similar. The world you are heading toward has had its share of issues.”

  “What can you tell me about it?”

  Gwyn nodded her head. “Drink your tea. You are going to need fortification for this.”

  Iridia followed orders. It seemed like the safer option.

  Chapter Four

  They returned to the command deck after tea and Gwyn sat in her chair. “Blue, bring up the images of Tharos Prime.”

  Iridia watched the holographic image form and gently turn in front of her.

  Gwyn took on the lecturing tone that Iridia was all too familiar with. “Tharos Prime was a thriving, sentient planet with an Avatar in power and trade agreements with all the worlds around it. A rebellion formed amongst the population, and they urged an uprising against the Avatar that hosted the mind of their world. After centuries, they began to believe that it was not a true Avatar but rather a being engaging in self-serving actions to form a dictatorship.”

  Iridia knew enough about human politics to guess what happened next.

  “The uprising surged and assassinated the Avatar in a brutal and gruesome manner. Tharos Prime rose up in anger, and in sixty days, there wasn’t a living sentient soul on the surface. It killed all of its people in revenge for its Avatar.”

  “How many?”

  “Four billion.”

  Iridia closed her eyes in respect for the lives lost before opening them again. “Why is there a Guardian base there?”

  “Five years ago, Tharos Prime agreed to allow refugees on its surface provided that their bloodlines were not those of the original Tharosians. The refugees are all under threat of extermination on their own world, but some of them are from conflicting cultures. There are hostilities rising and peacekeepers cannot be posted because of Tharos’s attitude toward certain Nyal species that descended from his own.”

  “It is a long-standing hate then?”

  “Very much so. There are also talents in the mix of refugees, so a Guardian outpost is called for to keep the traders and visitors safe.”

  “The what?”

  “Didn’t I mention? Tharos Prime is a trading hub and a mineral-rich world. Those who live there are becoming some of the wealthiest citizens in the sector. They are regaining their power and becoming a people once again, though they are struggling in their different cities to find harmony between those born to be in conflict with each other.”

  “It sounds like a complex situation.”

  “It is. That is why the Guardians are needed. They a
re required not only to physically intervene, but also to be a symbol of a united Tharos Prime.”

  Iridia blinked. “A symbol? No one said anything about public appearances.”

  Gwyn laughed. “You will rise to the occasion when you are called upon. I can see that much in you. You have an inner strength that all of your instructors noticed. If they didn’t think you could do this, they would not have put your name forward for the position and the Imperium would never have snapped you up.”

  Iridia blinked.

  “This is not a charity. If you are not useful, you are not chosen. You have been chosen, so consider yourself lucky. This life is not for everyone, but for those who can adapt and thrive, it can be magical.”

  “What if I don’t thrive?”

  Gwyn turned toward her and Iridia got the feeling that the woman was seeing far more than her physical appearance. “You will. Giving up is not in your nature.”

  With that, Gwyn gave her a tablet loaded with all the species currently on Tharos Prime. “Study up, Iridia. Your test starts in three days if all the lanes are clear.”

  Iridia took the tablet and nodded. “Thank you, Gwyn. Thank you, Blue, for the image of my upcoming home.”

  The buzzing ball of blue appeared again and zipped around Iridia’s head, leading her back to her quarters.

  She took the hint and went to study her upcoming world. There was a lot to learn and only three days to learn it.

  Iridia enjoyed her time on the Blue Fairy. She always had someone to talk to, whether it was Gwyn, Durz or the ship itself.

  The sense of companionship was strange to her, but part of her had always craved it without her mind truly knowing that it was an issue. She could feel her heart growing and could not imagine that it could ever be a bad thing.

  Waking on her final day on the ship, she was seized with intensity. Blue was hovering above her and zipping around frantically. Something was up.

  A quick solar shower, a refitting of her bodysuit and she was ready to see what the fairy was trying to tell her.

  She could hear voices coming from the command deck and followed the spot of blue light until she was entering the space filled with energy that she wasn’t expecting.