Call the Moon Read online

  She nodded. “What does Piq tea taste like?”

  His grimace was answer enough.

  “When do you think we can go to get Piquaro?”

  “Let me do some more research on this. The Citadel was going to forward me all records last night. I will check to see if the files are here in a moment.”

  Naka smiled, a shimmying eagerness started in her belly. Whatever happened next, she was choosing it.

  Naka Gwyn was going to rescue the misplaced mind of a planet.

  Chapter Eight

  The files were a little disturbing, but they didn’t change Naka’s mind.

  “I still want to do this.” She crossed her arms and was an inch away from stamping her foot.

  Viiko was scowling. “This is dangerous. The first carrier only managed three planets before she died, and there is only rumour of the second one. It is likely that Piquaro was his first attempt.”

  “He needs help, and this planet will be useless without him in it. It will not stabilize, it will not remain habitable, it will deteriorate and remain volatile.” She leaned forward and tried to press her point. “I have touched his mind. He is not going to take no for an answer without punishing those who dared to refuse him. He might even take matters into his own power and collide the two bodies.”

  Viiko paused while he viewed the files and looked up at her looming over the kitchen table. He had retrieved the files, loaded them onto a data pad and re-joined her at the dining table. They had read it all, and she remained true to her original choice.

  He asked, “Would he really?”

  “If I don’t help, and I am the only one capable of doing so, he will have no reason to believe that help is ever coming. He is already desperate, that will enrage him.”

  Viiko gave her a look that said he was unconvinced.

  “All my life I didn’t know what I was, I simply knew I didn’t fit. Then, I was the butt of a government conspiracy designed to wrap me up and hide me forever, cutting out all chance of happiness. Existence is all that my life has ever been. This time, I am choosing. I am choosing to help Piquaro, and I need you to help me carry out my choice. Please. Help me.”

  He got to his feet and inclined his head. “Of course. Are you prepared for what will happen?”

  “Not in the least, but let’s go before I change my mind and decide that I want to turn farmer on a rapidly degrading world.”

  He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I will help in any way I can. To the shuttle.”

  His touch was relaxing, she smiled and breathed more easily when he walked her to the shuttle and waited for her to lock herself into place.

  “I will eventually have to give you lessons on how to fly this shuttle.”

  She giggled. “I know. Piquaro was upset that I simply could not act on my own and come to get him.”

  “How did he react when you told him?”

  “He asked me to ask you and he would wait for my answer. I am guessing that he will see us coming.”

  “Good. There is an EVA suit waiting in the cupboard to the right of the door.”

  She nodded, but she knew what was going to happen when they arrived and she really hoped he understood.

  Naka was going to depend on the Masuo to protect her. There had to be a reason for the mask, and she was really hoping that this was it.

  As if her thoughts conjured it, a mask appeared over her mouth and nose, thick lenses protected her eyes and the suit extended to cover her hair, neck, hands and form boots.

  Viiko whistled softly. “I see. Well, hold on. We are on our way.”

  She sat quietly. The suit opened her mask to save whatever it had to for her EVA. It had been demonstrating its usefulness, that much was certain.

  Her palms were dry, and she felt eerily calm as they climbed closer and closer to the moon. Her heartbeat slowed until she could barely feel it, but it felt right.

  “There is a crashed shuttle.” He sounded surprised.

  “That is what he said. He caused the shuttle crash and dragged his carrier out to the moon.”

  Viiko inclined his head and set their shuttle down neatly. “Are you ready? I can’t leave the shuttle. The EVA suit was not designed with my horns in mind.”

  She nodded nervously. “If we ever get to the point where we discuss safety measures, may I say that being in a small ship that you can’t escape from might not be the brightest of moves.”

  “I will take that under advisement.” He settled the controls and turned to her. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded. She could feel Piquaro building beneath her feet. “He knows we are here. He is ready.”

  She unclasped the harness and got to her feet. He grabbed her by her shoulders. “But are you ready?”

  Naka bared her teeth in a grin. “I am choosing this. That is as ready as I can be.”

  The moment her lips closed over her teeth, he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss.

  The sweetness of the contact washed over her, through her and warmed her from her soul outward. When he lifted his head, she opened her eyes and blinked at him.

  Satisfaction and interest were stamped into his expression. “Until we are back on Piq.”

  She pressed her fingers to her lips. “It was a good first kiss. Better than I had imagined it would be.” Ducking her head, she turned to the exit to avoid his stunned expression.

  Her suit covered her completely again, and she was ready. Her hand shook as she keyed the code for the opening, she stepped through and it sealed behind her. The cycle of depressurization was enough to give her cold feet, but she locked herself in place and waited for the moment that was scaring her to the depths of her soul.

  When the outer door opened and she stepped out onto the moon’s surface, power swirled around her, seeking its way in.

  He needed skin, so against her instincts, she retracted the Masuo on her hands and feet. With her body exposed to the minimal atmosphere, Piquaro started to come inside.

  He needed more space. She could feel it. Her mind and his could not occupy the same space at the same time.

  Memories of a thousand years of loneliness spurred her next action. She retracted the mask from her face and breathed deeply of the minimal atmosphere.

  Light sparked behind her eyes, and she felt the sudden surge of Piquaro in her mind. It had worked. He was tucked in, and all would be well. Viiko would take him home.

  Chapter Nine

  Viiko watched with nervousness as her hands exposed themselves, he was queasy when he saw her feet, but the moment that she turned her head slightly and he saw she wasn’t wearing her mask, he panicked.

  He watched Naka’s small body stiffen as power ran into her. She should have collapsed when she ran out of breathable air, but she was standing tall.

  Her body turned to him, and there was an orange glow where the bright blue of her eyes should have been. Piquaro was in control, and he was slowly, carefully, moving Naka’s body back to the shuttle.

  The planet’s consciousness was inside her. Viiko could see it. It walked into the airlock and waited for the cycle. When Naka’s body walked inside, Viiko had no choice, he bowed to the planet that he had been walking on.

  “Thank you, Dhemon, but I think getting me back where I belong so that Naka will resume her heartbeat would be a good idea.”

  Viiko sighed as he helped Piquaro steer Naka’s body to the navigator station. “She has no heartbeat?”

  “She needed to make her body as blank as possible. It was said that the first planet carrier could do the same. Her mind is blank, her heart isn’t beating, and her brain is asleep. The faster we get down to my planet, the better.”

  Viiko didn’t need to be told twice. He locked the harness around her body and got behind the controls. “How did you kill your kidnapper?”

  “I irradiated the cabin and killed the pilot before ripping open the ship and simply walking the carrier out onto the moonscape. He was already dead by that point.”

>   Viiko concentrated on getting them down as quickly and safely as possible. If Naka could hold on, he would make sure that she didn’t need to leave Piq. Somehow. She needed a world to call her own, and if that was truly her first kiss, he wanted it to be with him.

  He could feel the power pouring off Naka’s body. It was an electric charge that was building as Piquaro neared his home. If there was any doubt as to his true affinity, this cleared it up.

  He skimmed along the river once again, pulling up sharply to decelerate. The moment that the shuttle touched down, he flicked it into standby and helped Piquaro release the harness.

  He helped Naka’s body up and to the door, keying in the override to open both doors at the same time.

  The air of Piq came rushing in, and the steps of the planet’s consciousness grew more rapid as Piquaro stepped onto his surface.

  Naka stood with her arms and legs spread, power streaming from her. The bodysuit shrank to a small anklet, leaving her body completely bare with power pouring out of every inch of her.

  Viiko couldn’t look away. Small scars dotted her otherwise flawless skin. The curves and angles of her body were even more graceful than when they were encased in fabric.

  He watched over her as Piquaro left her, and when her body collapsed, he was at her side, lifting her and carrying her to her room.

  She was pale blue, her eyes open. He placed her on her bed and covered her with her blanket. He shook her. “Naka, wake up.”

  She didn’t respond, so he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on her lips. “Come back to me.”

  She inhaled sharply, sucking the air from his lungs. The blue tinge of her skin faded rapidly as he leaned back, and her breathing became normal again.

  Naka looked up at him with her blue eyes back in control. “Did it work?”

  He chuckled with relief. “I believe it did, but you are the expert. You tell me.”

  She stretched under the covering and blinked. “I am naked.”

  “Piquaro needed a maximum amount of surface area to escape. Your suit retracted to assist.” He smiled at the blush that came to her cheeks. Her blood was pumping, her lungs working and she was going to be fine.

  * * * *

  Her body was cool, but with the blanket over her, she warmed rapidly. Viiko’s gaze was helping to build her body temperature at an astonishing rate.

  “I am hardly an expert. This was my first time doing anything other than taking the pulse of a planet for lack of a better term.” Under the blanket, she spurred the Masuo into covering her, and when the suit had returned to full size, she sat up and folded the blanket back.

  “Can you feel Piquaro in the planet?”

  The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the ground underneath them shivered. It wasn’t a large motion, but it was definitely proof that something was going on.

  She grinned, “Did you feel that? That was Piquaro renewing his bond with the soil and rock.”

  “Are you still communicating with him?”

  She shook her head. “He has left me completely.”

  Viiko fidgeted and looked as if he had more questions but didn’t know how to ask them.

  “Once I have had some more food, I will run a diagnostic on the energy levels of Piq. From that point, I will try to make contact again if you like.”

  He smiled and nodded. “Please.”

  He helped her to her feet and kept an arm around her waist while they walked to the dining table.

  Viiko prepared some tea and got Naka a ration bar. She slowly worked through the ration, drinking water and waiting for the tea. “Well, I hope Piquaro is happy.”

  Viiko brought the tea tray over. “Why?”

  “Because I am not moving him anywhere anytime soon.” She snickered.

  She watched her companion bring out a tray of food and watched wistfully as he ate something that was a lot more tempting than the prefab bar she was gnawing on.

  “Why am I on ration bars and you get stuff that actually looks like food?”

  He laughed. “Because Dhemons have been out in the Alliance for generation and the Resicor just entered the intergalactic arena. The Alliance is scrambling to learn about your species, and every time they get a bit of solid information, a weakness of your species surfaces.”

  “Weakness?”

  “You have delicate digestions. You have special dietary requirements that have to be planned for. Your people do not travel well in space, but you thrive on any world you land on. That is a strength.”

  She inclined her head in acknowledgement of the compliment and bit another chunk off her ration bar.

  They sat in companionable silence as they drank their tea, and finally, Viiko asked something that had obviously been bothering him. “Did you know that you were going to have to walk onto the moon without protection?”

  She contemplated how to answer him and opted for most of the truth. “Yes. Piquaro mentioned that it had to be direct contact to transfer his consciousness. I thought it might be necessary, but then, I also know one talent that I have that the original thief probably did not.”

  “What was that?”

  She grinned, “My dear, Viiko, I can go untested amounts of time while not breathing. Piquaro was given full possession of my body. I did not fight him in any way. With my mind silent and my body quiet, he simply rode along until he was home.”

  Understanding came into his eyes. “The thief must have fought him.”

  “Fought and lost.”

  She rested with her elbows on the table and her teacup between her palms. “I am exhausted.”

  “Technically, you have died twice in the last few days. No wonder you are tired.” He shook his head.

  A bright giggle started low in her belly and spilled out into the room. She howled with laughter until tears made it down her cheeks.

  Viiko got to his feet and removed her teacup from her hands, placing it firmly on the table.

  Without another word, he lifted her to her feet and covered her laughing mouth with his. Her laughter changed direction, and she curled her arms around his neck, holding herself against him as her blood rose and heart pounded.

  If she had gotten this kind of greeting the other times, she might have made an effort to stop breathing more often.

  Chapter Ten

  The ground quaked beneath their feet, and for a moment, Naka wasn’t sure if it was just her or the actual ground of Piq that had a sudden shift. When Viiko raised his head and asked, “What was that?” she had her answer.

  Sighing at the end of something that she had been looking forward to most of her life, she cast her mind toward Piquaro.

  Piquaro, was that you?

  Indeed. I have done a little more damage to the planet than I thought. I was attempting to gain attention, but it was too good a job. There will be micro tremors throughout the day. I apologize for any difficulty it causes.

  Can you keep me apprised of any large shifts? Viiko is getting nervous.

  That should have reset the majority of the continents, but I would suggest that you get to higher ground. There is about to be a flood in the river outside your domicile.

  “Viiko, grab your essentials and follow me. There is about to be a flood in the river.” She looked at him and watched the knowledge make it through his surprise.

  He didn’t waste time asking questions or arguing. He immediately sealed the greenhouse, set a deflector field and grabbed a bag.

  Not knowing what the situation would bring, Naka grabbed a dozen ration bars and dumped them into his bag.

  He nodded and fired in another dozen. “Just to be safe.”

  They headed for the shuttle. Naka noted that the water was already ten meters closer than it should have been. Piquaro wasn’t kidding, the flood was on the way.

  They climbed into the shuttle, locked down the objects and bags and got underway. The shuttle lifted and Viiko turned them to watch the surge of water approaching their small base.

  He s
truck a number of keys on the control panel, causing an energy field to radiate and spark around the base.

  “What is that?”

  “A protection field. It will last for about a month if needed. The field covers the building ten feet under the ground to twenty feet over. Hopefully that will be enough.”

  He took them higher up, and the view of the reshaping continent was amazing. Water flooded low-lying plains, lava bubbled and coursed down mountainsides creating new land as other bits disappeared.

  “Did Piquaro mention where a safe place to be is?” His words were casual.

  “No, but I should be able to find something.” Naka concentrated and read the energy signatures of Piq.

  The areas under construction were hot. The calm areas that were safe became clear as she looked through her mind and not her eyes. “Look for a plateau on your left. There is a cavern under it that is large enough to shelter the shuttle. If you can park this thing next to the base, that huge cavern should be no problem.”

  He followed her directions as they moved across the shivering ground. Trees quivered and a visible wave rippled through the grass.

  The plateau was five kilometres north of their base, but when she spotted it, she didn’t need to say a word.

  “Is that it?”

  “Yup. Nice, stable. It is lodged firmly in the crust and high enough to be out of the way from the flooding.” Naka watched through her inner eye as the grid lines that marked every world she had ever heard of started to shift. It wasn’t going to cause any structural difficulties, but the lines were converging on the very cavern that Piquaro had directed them to.

  There was something peculiar about those lines moving, something significant, but when she tried to grip the haze of memory that was trying to speak to her, it slipped away.

  It probably wasn’t important.

  The interior of the cave was surprisingly light. Crystals reflected the daylight, and the shuttle only took up a tenth of the open space.