Touching Water Read online

  He sat back in his chair. “Isn’t there another option?”

  “Not one that I can find. I am going to start looking when I get home.”

  “Why not start here?”

  She sipped at her caf and raised her brows. “I am not a member of the Citadel.”

  “They are always getting requests for placements on other worlds. You are a fantastic researcher. I am sure that you are exactly what some world is looking for.”

  Lydra sighed. “You are relentlessly optimistic.”

  “I have to be. If I wasn’t, I never would have found you.” He patted her hand.

  Tears pricked her eyes. “Thank you. Did they ever find the doctor?”

  “No. He is presumed dead. There was so much water rushing around that he was probably swept out with the first surge. I still can’t believe that he did that.”

  She shrugged. “He said I was the perfect subject, and I hate to say it, but when I learned what it was supposed to do, I was going to volunteer for it anyway. You know, after I was working for EmberCorp.”

  He grimaced. “I suspected you would say something to that effect. It explains why you got in so close.”

  Lydra sipped at her caf and ate another pastry. “You know me too well, cousin.”

  “I do. Well, have you told your parents?”

  “Nope. I thought I would find someplace to stay and let them know when I had actually found somewhere to go.”

  “I am sure I can get you authorization to stay in the guest quarters.” He sighed. “You are going to have to tell them.”

  “I know, I know. I just... if I had come out of this with a talent, things would be different.”

  “Yeah, you would have been blue and annoying. One powerful ego in the Citadel with the Yrick name is quite enough.” He winked.

  Lydra laughed. Aside from his good looks, Mirdok had nearly no ego. When it came to his power, he considered it a commodity to be managed. It wasn’t a talent, it was a tool.

  “Come on, finish your snack and we will see what we can do about getting you lodgings and a communication account.”

  “Thanks, Mirdok. I am going to owe you.”

  He grinned. “Yes, you are. Now, let’s get you sorted and job hunting.”

  She sat back and felt a deep tension ease a little. She had one person on her side and watching her back. Now, it was time to find a new place to step out and seek her fortune, such as it would be. Her dad was right, though. She was going to need a new makeup pallet. This was going to be an expensive transformation.

  Six weeks after she woke, Lydra was on the ramp of the shuttle and stepping onto Vidiaro for the first time. She looked for her contact and smiled when she saw the uniform.

  “Guardian Rombar?”

  He was golden from head to toe with only the black accents of his uniform breaking up the glowing tone.

  “Miss Yrick? I was not expecting you to be... I thought you would be... paler?” His voice was low and soft.

  “Ah, I have had a few changes in my life. Shall we go? I am eager to get to work.”

  “You will have to go through genetic confirmation.”

  She smiled brightly. “I know. Just point me at the scanner and I will be on my way.”

  He blinked. “Right then. Come with me. Oh. Wait, do you have any luggage?”

  She hefted her one bag. “Just this. So, which way do we go?”

  He waved for her to precede him to the immigration desk, and he followed her closely.

  It was her first time being off world, but Mirdok had helped her study the social mores of Vidiaro. She knew how to step into the scanners and to show the officer her work permit.

  The whole time, the Guardian stood behind her and verified that she was to be employed by the research arm of the base.

  When she had cleared all the necessary documents and scans, the officer smiled at her and said, “Welcome to Vidiaro.”

  She nodded, grabbed her bag and turned back to the Guardian.

  “What’s next?”

  “I will bring you to the base and you will have your orientation in the lab. I believe that will conclude our exposure to one another.”

  Lydra kept a politely fixed expression on her features. “Excellent. Let’s get me out of your hair, shall we?”

  He blinked slowly as if realizing his words had been indelicate. “Not that I want to be rid of you.”

  “It is fine. I am here to work, not socialize with the Guardians. The sooner I get settled, the better.”

  He paused, nodded and led the way out of the spaceport.

  Lydra followed him and slid along in the path that the locals made for one of their defenders.

  He waited next to a conveyance that she guessed was a riot runner. When she was next to him, he took her bag and stowed it in under the seat.

  “Get on behind me and hold on.”

  She waited for him to settle before she followed his direction and straddled the seat, holding onto his waist as lightly as she could.

  The engine started up and he throttled upward, but she didn’t alter her grip. She wasn’t going to importune him by contact with her skin. She could use her legs to control her pitch and sway as they flew across the skies and to her new position as Research Analyst of the Guardian Base Vidiaro.

  Chapter Three

  “Sorrow, can you run the trace that Merker picked up against the samples that Rombar brought in last week?”

  The friendly hologram smiled. “Of course, Lydra. Is there anything else?”

  “No. I just need those results as quickly as can be managed. There is a meeting before the new Guardian arrives. I was hoping to present the similarities at the meeting.”

  “I will send them to your tablet the moment that they are ready.”

  “Thank you, Sorrow.”

  She gathered up her wrap and tablet before leaving the lab as neat as it had been that morning.

  Her job was both simple and complex. Lydra’s focus of the last four weeks had been to take the crime scene samples and tell Sorrow what to compare them against. The computer had been restricted for fear that it would be hacked. It could only work on the immediate problem and only with direction.

  Researching genetic samples was interesting, even if Sorrow did most of the heavy lifting. Once the scans had been run, it was up to Lydra to interpret the findings.

  She was on her way to her quarters to change and then present her findings for the last two days of analysis.

  Lydra had no idea why they wanted her to dress in a Guardian uniform for the briefings, but it was just an annoyance, not a deal breaker.

  She walked out of the lab and across the landing deck, making for her small door at the rear of the base.

  Taking off her rather comfortable tunic and leggings, she sighed with regret as she had to pull on the snug suit in a blue a few shades darker than her skin.

  She sealed the closure and glared at her reflection in the mirror. No change and none of the diagnostics on site had been able to help her out. She was stuck as she was with no cure in sight, but it was only a month out. There was still a chance she could either resume her normal appearance or trigger her talent, but it was not something she needed to concentrate on.

  Her tablet chirped and the results were in. It was a match. Whatever had broken into the great library the previous week had also cracked into the museum that afternoon.

  “Well, that is a result after all.” She checked her appearance, swept her hair over one shoulder and carried her tablet back through her door and around the building to enter through the door from the landing area.

  She walked into the common room and passed into the briefing room, taking her seat. She sat and waited.

  Lydra checked her chronometer and sighed. They must be off on a mission.

  She got to her feet and walked back through the common room, stopping when she noticed the man standing there in a version of the Guardian un
iform, but he was not a Guardian.

  His half-scarlet, half-silver features formed a smile. “Hello. Are you the new Guardian?”

  She shook her head. “No, sir. I am the analyst.”

  “Ah. I am Kloran-Vidiaro, Avatar of this world. I am here to greet the new Guardian.”

  “He isn’t here yet.”

  “Then, I shall wait.”

  She looked around. “Um, I would like to act as host, but I am not supposed to be here if there are no Guardians on hand.”

  He smiled. “I give you leave to remain here. Please, have a seat and tell me about yourself. I knew that a researcher was coming but was unaware that you had arrived.”

  She blinked. “Oh, um...”

  “I will make some tea.”

  There was no arguing as he moved easily into the kitchen as if he owned the place, which she supposed he did.

  “Pardon my indelicacy.”

  “Yes?”

  “Are you a cyborg?”

  He chuckled. “I am. I am a very ancient one. Vidiaro keeps me up and running.”

  “Ah. You don’t have the same golden skin tone as the locals. It caught me by surprise.”

  He grinned. “I was an early trader and the old Avatar wanted to retire. The locals had evolved to be unsuitable, so I was asked to take the world into me.”

  His frank description made her cheeks heat. She wasn’t sure that she could blush, but she was trying.

  He set the water to heat and leaned back against the counter. “You have had nanites on you recently.”

  She shrugged. “A few months ago.”

  “They are still active.”

  She stared at her hands. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, they are using a grid pattern of energy. I haven’t seen that technique before.”

  She brushed at her skin as if that would work. If the ocean hadn’t washed them off and the healers hadn’t seen them, what chance did she have?

  “What are they doing? Where are they?”

  “Subsurface. Embedded. A light electromagnetic pulse should deactivate them. Would you like me to?”

  Before she could answer, the voices of the Guardians could be heard approaching.

  She smiled weakly. “They are back.”

  He took her hand and squeezed it. “I am at your service, lady.”

  The Guardians rounded the corner.

  Rombar blurted out, “You aren’t supposed to be in here, Lydra.”

  She sighed and pulled her hand away from Kloran-Vidiaro’s. “Thank you for the offer of hospitality.”

  He winked. “I didn’t offer you hospitality; that would be something else.”

  She blushed again and nodded. “Right.”

  Turning, she came face to chest with Merker. “The results match. Same biological at both sites. Acid attack and unidentified physiology that isn’t in the database.”

  “Thank you, Analyst.”

  She nodded and moved past Urmor to leave the base proper. She had her own room to hide in, but if he was right, she was going to need to head to the lab first. Nullifying any residual nanites was something she could do on her own.

  * * * *

  “Avatar, we were not expecting you to be here.” Guardian Merker inclined his head.

  Kloran-Vidiaro smiled slightly. “I decided that I should meet the new personnel who keep my people safe. Imagine my surprise when I meet the new analyst, and it seems she is not welcome in the base.”

  Rombar cleared his throat. “That is at my request. I am not comfortable being around mutants.”

  “You think she is a mutation?”

  Urmor raised his hand. “We have seen the species specs. No one on her world has her coloration. She’s either a mutant or a bastard.”

  Kloran nodded. “That is true regarding her skin tone, but have you seen her genetics? The pattern is pure. She is as she was a year ago, only a different colour. Are you really so bound by your own purity that you consider her inferior?”

  Merker shifted. “We are not sure that she is the woman who was sent for, Avatar.”

  “Is she doing the job?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Then, allow her the rights and privileges of the base and stop being idiots.”

  He was about to continue when the lights flickered. “Speaking of idiots.”

  He moved as fast as he could and sought out the disruption. The lab door had been blown open, and the power was surging and ebbing in a peculiar heartbeat of a rhythm.

  Inside a metal cage, slumped against the open door, Lydra looked up at him with bleary eyes. “Yeah, you were right. Nanites.”

  * * * *

  Lydra closed the cage and set up the pulse. The feeling of her skin being shredded by the death of the small bots was unexpected, but she gritted her teeth until the agony subsided.

  She took a step toward the door and swung it open. She was about to step out when the first surge of power hit her and sent her off balance. Electricity crackled in her blood and surged with her heartbeat.

  This wasn’t good.

  She heard someone enter the lab and looked at the Avatar. Lydra smiled at him. “Yeah, you were right. Nanites.”

  He stepped forward to help her, and she shook her head. “I am a little unpredictable right now.”

  “I am aware. Let me take you to somewhere where you can free the energies rising inside you.”

  “Right. That would probably be best. I don’t want to scorch Sorrow.”

  He nodded and picked her up, striding to the door, past the gathered Guardians and taking to the air.

  She relaxed against him. “Won’t the electricity mess with your circuits?”

  “No, it is living metal. The power will skate along the surface of my skin. Thank you for thinking of me.” He smiled slightly and banked, taking them down to a tiny island with a low cliff.

  “Here you are. Let go.”

  She took a few steps away from him. Gathered the painful crackling inside her and raised her arms to the sky. Lightning crackled brightly as bolts of power flew from her to the clouds.

  Lydra looked at her fingers and closed her eyes to the relieved tingle that was running through her body. “That feels better.”

  “Cool off in the sea.”

  It sounded like a good idea, so she climbed down the low cliff and walked across the pebbled beach to the sea. She soaked her hands, and a cool energy rushed through her.

  She lifted her fingers, and the water followed her. She laughed. A flick of her fingers and a wave of water cut across its siblings. “Whoa.”

  “This is an enclosed bay. Do what you need to, do what you can.”

  Lydra glanced at the Avatar where he sat on the top of the cliff, his legs dangling casually and feet kicking slightly. He was enjoying this. If she was honest, so was she.

  Lydra turned back to the water and stiffened her shoulders. With determination, she waded in and under the waves. If she could breathe water, she should be in it to do what she needed to do.

  Her hands began to conduct an orchestra of water jets, and her eyes changed to see in the dimness. When she dropped one of the jets to the bed of the bay beneath her, she was propelled up and out of the water.

  Lydra looked around as she tried to get her balance on the shifting surface, but it was impossible. She couldn’t be still, so she went forward. Both hands let her control her direction and elevated her nearly a hundred feet above the water’s surface, but when she was able to grasp that her feet were pulling the water in and she was expelling it through her hands, she lowered her height and worked on her speed.

  Coming from a family of talents, she was used to the origin points of the talent and the awkwardness of the first grasps at control. She was willing to work on her skills and shaping the energy inside her. You couldn’t rush such things.

  Her excitement and the thrill of the power eventually dwindled. It wasn’t just a moment. This wa
s going to last her the rest of her life if she didn’t burn out.

  She slowly lowered herself to the surface of the water and cruised along it, back to the beach and up to the cliff where the Avatar was waiting.

  Lydra sat next to him and sighed. “So, thanks for this.”

  “You are welcome. When you are as old as I am, joy sometimes becomes a faded memory. It is nice to see it out and about now and then. You were the true depiction of joy. It is a memory I will enjoy replaying when I forget what being alive is about.” He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Are you ready to return to the base?”

  “I would just like to stay a little bit longer here. I don’t know how much I am going to have to clean up when I get there.”

  He chuckled and kept his grip on her hand. “As you like. I have the next century if you need it.”

  “I appreciate the offer.”

  They sat in silence and watched the light change. When the clouds that she had sparked up drifted away, chortling to themselves with crackles of energy, she got to her feet.

  “Take me back, please.”

  He smiled, leaned down and picked her up easily, pulling himself along on the magnetic lines of the world that was his to command.

  She leaned her head against his chest as he carried her through the skies and back to the base. Time to clean up the mess she had made.

  Chapter Four

  Seeing three Guardians and a stranger in her small lab took her aback. “Um, I can clean that up, guys.”

  Rombar ducked his head. “No, we are cleaning up. You are incapacitated.”

  Merker nodded. “You are a team member, and we have been reminded that you are the person hired for this position. There has been no reason to keep you separate from the rest of the team.”

  She looked to Kloran. “Did you have something to do with this?”

  “I merely reminded them of why you are here. Their new member has been delayed, so I am suggesting now that you be take on as apprentice for the time being. You will need the practice to control your talents, so the position will serve two purposes.”