Water and Power Read online

  The telepath sent a bolt that Mora felt, but she let it slide through her without making a mark.

  “As entertaining as this is, you came here for a reason. What is it?”

  One of the normals in the room said, “Have you heard of the New City?”

  Mora scowled. “Only in theory. It was to be a talent-free zone, a haven of safety for those who feared the taint of the talented.” She laced as much sarcasm as she could in those last words.

  The normal continued on as if she hadn’t spoken. “The New City is a clean and fresh start for Resicor. We have designed it to be the peak of technological advancement, grace and beauty.”

  “Wonderful for you.”

  The other normal spoke. “Our opening day has been moved up and our water-processing systems have not been completed. Your assistance is requested.”

  The telepath scowled. “Required.”

  Mora snorted. “That goes without saying, but thanks for making sure I understood.”

  She lifted her wrists and the bands shifted.

  The telepath nodded and Mora was grabbed by two guards she hadn’t noticed standing behind her.

  They shoved her arms into pitchers of water, and Mora let the water flow across the bands. First, there was pain and then everything went black.

  She woke up in a large bubble covered with screens. A voice in her ear began immediately. “Ms. Esterhart, you are now responsible for the water feeds to three thousand homes and all public works. A relief switch has been placed that will allow you to have breaks and operate the few pumps we have for up to eight hours. You can sleep, eat and there is even an entertainment station for you, but from this moment on, you are the water supply for New City.”

  She felt a tingling in her wristbands.

  “If you cease to work, oversleep or attempt to escape, you will feel a growing electrical shock in your limbs. Begin now.”

  She found the reservoir and pulled the water upward and into the pipes while the electric charge on her wrists intensified.

  When the gauge displays finally showed water pressure, Mora felt the sensation dissipate. She exhaled and took a seat in the only chair in the room.

  She was on duty until she figured out what she wanted to do next.

  Four years came and went while she worked with New City. They had added exercise space for her when her limbs began to show atrophy and she lost her appetite from lack of stimulation. She was ordered to work out and to eat everything that came out of the dispenser.

  They had turned her into a pet, dependant on them for food, water and exercise. That is when the hatred for them got a second wind.

  A tech began showing up to check her equipment around that time. He was handsome with pleasant features and an easy smile. He was a distraction, and she knew it when she saw it.

  He worked on her cuffs and scowled. “You should not get them so grubby.”

  She snorted. “I thought the sonic shower would clean them.”

  “It can’t get into the nooks and crannies like a good alcohol soak. I will have to make a request to have one removed at a time to give them appropriate maintenance. Can we check your com systems?”

  “I receive only. If I complain, there is no one listening.”

  “I beg to differ; they are always listening.”

  “Well, go ahead and check them. I am not fussy about what they hear.”

  The tech slipped under one of the low decks that housed the electrical systems, and he cut and snipped away while she made the fountain dance with a strange rhythm that made the little children in the town square laugh and clap with delight.

  A voice whispered in her ear. “Don’t react.”

  She kept her eyes on the video screens with her normal bored attention. The city had expanded and her talent had expanded with it. She checked on water pressure, the power plant and all the public water features that made the city so attractive.

  “We are working to free you, so I have set up a separate channel for you to listen to. Don’t speak to us, don’t acknowledge us and you will be free in a few months.”

  She asked him, “Are you done yet?”

  He squirmed out from under the instrument panel. “I am done, but you still need work on those cuffs.”

  “File a request with my owners. I don’t have much say in a matter.”

  He nodded. “Right. I will be back, or they will send another tech for the procedure. Either way, you will get the right maintenance for that equipment. We can’t keep you safe if they are not in good shape.”

  “Right. Of course not. I forgot my safety was at stake.”

  “We are here to keep you safe and healthy, Ms. Esterhart. Remember that.” He nodded to her and made his way down the staircase under her platform.

  Alone again, she set off the fountains in rotation. Anything beat the boredom.

  She squelched down the hope of the whisper in her ear. Hope would kill her faster than the hate. Hate kept her going.

  Chapter Three

  Whispers in her ear had caused hope to surge despite her better judgement. The view of the night sky on her screens showed her the ships that were landing at and taking off from the dome.

  Mora heard the whispers telling her to keep calm and to remain ready to leave, even though her tech had been changed to a young woman who had a knack for quick work and a cheerful manner.

  No one who attended her gave their names. They were techs, officers or governors. She was a curiosity to be kept from public knowledge, but she was a treasure that they gloated over. She seethed with rage.

  The whisper came to her one night, after dark. “Ms. Esterhart, prepare to leave. When you receive the signal, run to the service entrance and count to six then blow through the door.”

  She hummed casually, “How am I going to do that?”

  “We have faith in your skills. The bands have been disabled for this moment.”

  She shrugged. “May as well.”

  “You do realize you are talking to the empty air.”

  “Oh, I have been doing this for months. You just didn’t notice. Now, Count Heinrich, take me away.”

  “Count Heinrich?”

  “Earl of Masterwill. Please, I don’t know you well enough to consider a courtship at this stage of our acquaintance.” She held her hand out and giggled coquettishly.

  Her whispering companion went silent for half an hour. On the screens, she saw a falling star tumble toward the ground.

  She looked up and heard the voice in her earpiece. “Go! Now!”

  She bolted out of her chair, struck the maintenance switch and ran for the exit. Each stair trembled under her feet as she clung to the railing. The bridge that connected her pod to the outside world was made of thin metal. The service door was on the other side, and she rushed over as quickly as she could.

  Now that she faced the metal door, she counted to six and summoned some water from fifty meters below where she stood. It wasn’t a laser, but slicing through the metal was not difficult. The hole she made was big enough for her to easily run through.

  She had never been beyond this point, so she treaded carefully, waiting for the pain to sear through her body. When she realized it wasn’t going to activate, she used her own saliva to cut free of the bands. She kept the earpiece to hear any more instructions from her invisible friend, but she wasn’t going to keep those bands.

  The second door was open and figures were waiting for her. She worked up a little extra saliva and waited to see what they would do. The male tech was waiting for her. “Come with me. Wait, where are the bands?”

  She swallowed, “I cut them off. Even if they imprison me again, I won’t wear the bands.”

  He looked as if he wanted to ask her something else, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the rocks nearby.

  “We are heading to a shuttle. You are being kidnapped by the Citadel.” He laughed.

  The shuttle was waiting with
the hatch open and power systems gleaming, ready for action.

  They ran, and in the distance, Mora heard the approach of flying skimmers. The sound sped her pacing, and she was suddenly glad of the exercise she had been required to engage in.

  They clambered into the shuttle, and the moment that the tech shut and locked the door, they shivered up and into the air.

  Mora clutched at the nearest wall as they tipped and tilted past the attackers and into the sky.

  After the violent rocking eased, the tech helped her into the shuttle and up the hallways with a hand under her elbow.

  Once she was seated, she sighed and smiled until the shrill voice in her ear demanded to know where she was. With a scowl, she pulled the earpiece out with a wince, and she sliced the unit into pieces with a stream of spit.

  The tech blinked at the tiny fragments left on her skin. “Well, that would explain it.”

  She sighed again and relaxed into the seat. “So, what do you need me to do?”

  He looked at her with his dark brows furrowed. “What?”

  “I expect that you need me to do something or you wouldn’t have gotten me off Resicor.”

  “Um, not really. The Citadel does pay talents for the use of their skills. They can teach, train, learn, take courses or merely meditate to keep themselves centred. It is all up to you. If you want to work using your talent, you can, but if you want to take a class on species identification or how to prepare foods for a multitude of extra-planetary visitors, you can do that as well.”

  “Are you with them?”

  He smiled, “Tranoth Lek, technician and power supply.” He extended his hand to her.

  “Morakil Esterhart, water control.”

  “You are an elemental.” His smile reached his eyes.

  He really was quite nice to look at. Fit physique, black hair and dark brown eyes made him attractive and blend in at the same time. His height was a few inches greater than hers but that was a good thing. She hated being able to see the top of a man’s head.

  “So I have been told. Is there somewhere I can get out of this bodysuit? Or something else for me to wear?”

  Tranoth nodded. “Of course. I will show you to the lav and get you a new suit.”

  There was a slight shift in the feel of the ship. He got to his feet and offered her his hand.

  She put her hand in his and let him guide her to the lav. The hated suit was off the moment she got the door closed. She peeled out of it and left it in a heap on the floor. The lav had a solar setting instead of the hated sonic, so she turned it on and basked in the quick flash of heat that her captors had denied her. She wanted a sun, she wanted warmth and, more than that, she wanted to make her jewellery again.

  Mora reluctantly left the lav with her hair hiding a lot of her upper body. She took two steps before Tranoth blinked and extended a suit with stiff arms. “Here. It is a Masuo suit.”

  She pulled it on and moved to fasten it, but it fastened itself. “What is going on?”

  “Masuo is the best protection we can offer you. It is a plant with delusions of grandeur,” Tranoth explained.

  “What is it doing?”

  The suit was creeping along her skin and fitting tightly to it while offering her breasts support and shifting to a yellow and deep aqua. The neckline was high, and she finally felt warm and relaxed when the suit finished squirming.

  “Well, that was a successful extraction.” Tranoth smiled.

  “I am glad. All that whispering was beginning to freak me out.”

  “So, what was your blather about counts and earls?”

  “Oh, I made up my own mental soap opera with me as the star. I would prattle on for hours.”

  She smiled and stretched her arms over her head. “That feels good. It is like wearing a warm column of air.”

  “When you sleep or shower, it will reduce itself down to a band on your calf or arm.”

  “Do you wear one?”

  “No, they don’t get along with my personal biology. I have to make do with boring fabric; well, it is custom made to help focus my power, but I have to ask you again, did you really cut through your cuffs with spit?”

  She smiled at him. “Of course.”

  “So, you could get out of your bonds at any time?”

  “Yes, but with nowhere to go, what would it have gotten me? The electric shocks used were quiet painful, and they expected them to be effective.”

  “Expected them?”

  “Well, as I had nowhere to run, there was no sense in breaking free. Since they were expecting me to react, I had to pretend that I couldn’t get around the cuffs. A few shocks over the years convinced them that I couldn’t get away, so they removed the guards and made my escape tonight easier.”

  “So, you were just waiting for us?”

  “I was waiting for a way to get off Resicor. Since you have provided me with that means, I owe you a few years of service, or the Citadel, whomever brought you here.” Mora smiled. “I am guessing that you are not from Resicor.”

  He shook his head. “No, I am not. I have been infiltrating the tech corps for a few years to see how many talents were being used for public works. You are only the beginning.”

  “So, how are your people going to square this with the Resicor government?”

  “We are not. There is a rescue effort in effect across the globe. Tonight, we tore dozens of talents free of their imprisonment. They will be scattered across Citadels around the Alliance and the Imperium.” He smiled brightly. “Would you like to meet our pilot?”

  “Sure. Lead the way.”

  Tranoth walked with her through the ship, showing her the quarters she could sleep in, the small galley and the tea dispenser.

  “Lovely tour, where is the pilot?” Mora smiled.

  “Sorry. I just want to make sure you can find what you need at any time of the day or night.” He waved for her to precede him, and a moment later, they were on the command deck.

  Mora stumbled to a halt. “Leehan?”

  Her childhood friend turned and smiled. “Hello, Morakil, I am glad that we got you out.”

  Mora blinked. “I thought you were dead.”

  Leehan flipped some toggles and pressed a button as she got to her feet. “Yeah, that was the general idea. I have been sneaking the Citadel personnel onto Resicor for seven years.”

  Leehan opened her arms, and Mora ran forward for a hug. Tears flowed between both of them. Tranoth was left out, but Mora could see him taking a seat at the second console.

  “Come on, Mora. I will explain where I have been. Tranoth can steer if he has to. The ship takes care of most of the flight.”

  “Don’t you have to worry about them coming after us?” Mora asked as she was nudged back toward the galley.

  “No. The Raiders that have been farming the talents aren’t ready to make their move yet.”

  Mora stopped. “Farming?”

  “I will explain on another occasion.”

  Leehan set up a pot of tea and two cups, then flicked through the menu and selected items that were highlighted in purple. “We can eat the food with the purple outline but some of the others are a little sketchy.”

  “Good to know; now, how the hell did you get here?”

  Leehan poured the tea and sat down while the dispenser whirred. She sat back and sipped at the tea, her red braid over her shoulder. Leehan looked right at home in her black bodysuit and her bright green eyes sparkled.

  She smiled at Mora. Mora smiled back out of rusty reflex. It had been so long since someone smiled at her, she had nearly forgotten how to react.

  “Well, let me take you back to our final year of school when we went on that camping trip. You and I were in tents next to each other, and in the morning, the rain hit. My tent collapsed under the weight and yours was still standing. You pulled me into your tent, and we ate the food your mom had packed while the rest of the campers were soaked to the ski
n. When the rain stopped, we came out and your tent was damp, but the water hadn’t come in. That was when I knew that you had a talent.”

  Mora twitched her lips. “You didn’t buy my excuse about waterproofing?”

  “The ground around us was liquid, but you and I were able to break down your tent and get back to the transports without slipping and sliding in mud. Whatever you did, you didn’t like getting dirty.”

  Mora sipped at her tea. “I never did. It wasn’t the wet. That I could deal with. I hate getting dirt on me.”

  Leehan laughed. “Anyway, that was when I first realized that you were a talent and that your skills were way more obvious than mine. I can drive anything, but that is a skill that doesn’t make much of an impact on an observer.”

  “You can’t drive a horse.” Mora chuckled.

  Leehan scowled. “You are right. I can’t. I can’t drive anything that thinks for itself. I still think of that every time I am on a world with high humidity. My butt aches.”

  Mora chuckled. “I told you not to try it.”

  “I thought I could manage. You didn’t have to laugh so much.”

  The dispenser chimed and Mora went to get their meal. “Yes, I did.”

  Leehan chuckled.

  “Anyway, so after I realized what you were, I talked to my parents. They were talents as well and had been trying to find a way to get my brother and myself off Resicor. Our departure was set up to take place during a landslide. There was no way to arrange for you to join us that wouldn’t put your family in danger.”

  Mora blinked. “You were going to try and take me with you?”

  “We wanted to try, but since we had never been away with you outside of school, it would have drawn attention to your family if we took you with us. So, we drove up a hillside on a night with a meteor shower and my brother caused a landslide that destroyed our vehicle with tissue and blood samples inside.”

  “And the meteor shower hid the landing craft.”

  Leehan smiled and refilled her teacup. “And the meteor shower hid the landing craft. We were taken to the Citadel on Urgus. We gained mastery over our skills and started to work for a living. That is when I was able to hand over information on you and several other talents in danger of being locked up or used by the telepaths.”