Avoid Read online

  Chapter Eight

  “When the Orb called its first candidate, there was confusion as to what was expected of him. He muddled about, and when the Nameless began to appear at Home, there was a need for regulations.”

  He paused and retrieved the food he had ordered. Harken lay out the meal he had punched up and put a plate in front of her.

  She picked a few pieces that seemed familiar to her and gestured for him to keep talking.

  In between bites, he explained how the Nameless had started.

  “The first Nameless were wild and drunk with power. They changed time as they willed it and caused endless ripples in the new universe. There was no idea of what their actions would cause, and when the signs began to show, cracks in the new universe started to spread.”

  Idara nibbled at a chicken nugget and nodded. “That is creepy.”

  He shuddered, “You have no idea. The Orb had only initially seeded one race, and it rapidly spread seeds in thousands of races, hoping that they would mature as the race developed. Some races died out. Some flourished, and those who had been touched by the power of the Orb of Time tended to die early deaths.

  “Generation after generation percolated the power inside them until it was calm, controlled and integrated into their nervous systems. No power surges, no energy flares, nothing that would interfere with the timeline exists by the time we are ready to become Nameless.”

  “What happened to the original Nameless?”

  “The Orb removed their charge, and they returned to their natural state.”

  It took her a moment to recognize what he was saying. “Oh. They were dead again.”

  “They were dead again. The Orb didn’t just remove its power, but also the very stuff of life.”

  “Wait, how did it start repairs on the incoming folks when there was no one to catch or heal them?”

  He nodded. “It chose those who could be healed by accelerating their biology. Those few people formed the base for the current ranks of the Nameless.”

  She finished her meal and sipped at her tea, watching him slowly consume everything on the table.

  “When there were thirty Nameless, the Orb gathered them together and made them select a council of seven to coordinate supplies, living quarters, discipline and training. Acquisitions have a talent for forethought, and they bring in the food that we eat and the clothing that we wear. The objects and food are paid for using money that has been lost to time. A few bakeries on differing worlds have contracts, and they provide the food which disappears each day with money left in its place.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “So, that does not answer why we are here.”

  He sat back and sighed. “There are some who guess that the Orb of Time, the kernel of the lost universe, is lonely. Others feel that the new universe was put on a skewed path by the first Nameless and we are here to set it right.”

  “What does the council think?”

  “That we are here to witness history and record it for some unknown purpose.”

  Idara blinked and concentrated on the bright spark inside her mind. “I don’t think that that is it.”

  He cocked his head. “Are you sure?”

  “No, but I will gain surety through action.” She grinned and got to her feet.

  “Action?”

  “Neither one of us is on duty, so why not find the bed and try and forget our day.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him to his feet.

  The moment that he wrapped his arms around her and leaned in for a kiss, she groaned. He was glowing white and she was burning black. “Damn it.”

  Laughing he kissed her deeply and took them to the world that burned in both their minds.

  Idara looked across the wasteland and found her target. A tiny plant grew in the arid desert, and it called to her.

  Harken was off near the settlement, watching the last ships of Ekhalio leave the surface.

  The sun was flaring wildly, and Idara was running out of time.

  The plant in question was a bright bloom that had a star in its centre. It had the potential to power whole cities if cultivated, and it was going to die here on this world if she didn’t get it onto one of those transports.

  She dug it out of the ground with care for its elaborate root system and turned to face the settlement. She would never make it in time if she didn’t find some way to get close in a hurry.

  Harken’s face flitted through her thoughts, and an understanding smile crossed her lips. She focused on him and used that image to pull her next to him in a single step.

  He was near the launch site, and a crowd was pushing to get on the last ship.

  Cradling the small plant in her hands, she pushed through the crowd and got to the edge.

  When she was near enough, she shouted at one of the timid team members who were walking onto the ramp, “Botanical sample!”

  The woman’s head snapped toward her, and two men with blasters came toward Idara, The crowd surged against her, but the men with blasters threatened them and they fell back.

  The woman in the researcher’s white bodysuit asked, “What do you have there?”

  “Botanical sample from Ekhalio. It is giving off an energy signature. Please, take it.”

  “How do I know it is real?”

  “Take it, put it in stasis and research it at your leisure. It has soil and traces from this world and it needs to live.”

  The woman reached out. “I can’t take you as well.”

  Idara smiled. “I don’t want to go. That ship is not for me. Take it and be careful. It is the last of its kind.”

  The researcher took the plant and the guards held back the wailing crowd. Backing out of the press of bodies was far easier than pushing her way in. Idara walked back to where Harken was waiting.

  “The Orb sent you after a plant?”

  “It is an energy source for a new colony. No one here was selected for life, and so I didn’t interfere in their affairs.” She dusted her hands off on her thighs, free of the black glow at last.

  Harken watched the hatch seal, and Idara stood with him. There was no sense rushing these things. If time wanted him to witness that moment, then she would wait.

  Chapter Nine

  After the ship left, the remaining persons rioted and engaged in a range of inventive suicides. Harken watched it begin, and when the Orb allowed him, they left.

  Silence reigned when they returned to the tower. In a dazed stupor, Idara stripped off her bodysuit while walking to the lav. When she got to her dagger, she threw it from her with a sob and kicked her boots off viciously.

  The water from the shower washed the muddy tracks of tears from her cheeks, but when her body shook with sobs, it was Harken’s arms that soothed her.

  “How can we be expected to just let people die? They were screaming, sobbing, begging for help. Why couldn’t we help them?” Her words were broken as her voice crackled alarmingly.

  “Because people live and people die. You died, and I could not save you. I knew that death was coming for you, and there was nothing I could do.”

  She snivelled and ran her hands over his back, mimicking what he was doing to her.

  “Yes, but you knew that there was a chance I could survive. These people had no chance.”

  “The decision to leave them was made by their ruling body. They were the unwanted members of the society, and the folk in the shuttle chose to escape rather than weigh themselves down with unusable beings. We merely witnessed it.”

  She sighed, and he quickly bathed her as her stressed body slumped against him. Idara remained quiet while he wrapped her in a towel and sat her on a chair. He combed her hair with expertise that she supposed was appropriate considering his own snowy locks.

  “It isn’t right.”

  He nodded in the mirror. “I know it isn’t. It is why this tower was built. One of your fellow Terrans has been selected to avert disasters and rescue innocents. It seems that you change fate in a slightly different man
ner.”

  He braided her hair into a thick rope and wound it into a coronet.

  She smiled, “You are very good at that.”

  “My sister’s husband died when she was pregnant, she needed help with her hair, so I learned to braid.” His smile was wistful.

  “How long ago was that?”

  “Fifteen hundred Admaryn years. Her grandchild is actually still alive today, you know.” He adjusted a few tendrils before putting the comb down and lifting her in his arms.

  “It is?”

  “Yes, he has taken a Terran to wife actually. His name is Vere, hers is Tess, and they live in a traditional tree home on the planet’s surface.”

  She looked up at him and the pride in his eyes. “You watch them.”

  “I do. He looks so much like his grandmother that I see my sister every time he opens those red eyes of his.”

  “You miss her.”

  “I really do. When the Admaryn were harassing your people and trying to wipe them out, I stood on the side of humanity and was pulled Home when I died.”

  He put her gently on the bed and removed the towel that had been snug and warm around her.

  Harken leaned over her and pressed soft kisses across her forehead and trailed them across her face. He nipped her lips and laved them with his tongue before working his way down her neck, across her collarbone, between her breasts and he cupped each one in his hands as he worked lower.

  His tongue laved her navel, and she flinched but arched her hips against his chest in reflex.

  His chuckle was dark and then, he worked himself between her thighs and his tongue delved deep into her, parting her sex before flicking at her clit. He repeated the motion over and over until a high, keening note broke from her throat.

  The wet slide of his tongue continued and held her at the pinnacle of her orgasm until her limbs were shaking with the effort to hold herself still and she collapsed on the bed.

  Harken shifted her under the covers and curled against her.

  “Don’t you need to…” Her voice was lazy, drugged with exhaustion.

  “I did. That was quite the release you had. You took me with you.”

  She blushed. She hadn’t noticed a thing.

  “Relax now. The first few steps through time can be taxing, and you have gotten more than your fair share.”

  She nodded sleepily and inhaled the scent of him while her mind spiralled into a resting state. Pleasure was a good way to get to a restful sleep, and she was going to see if he would be willing to provide her with a reliable prescription whenever she needed it.

  The glow woke her. “Aw come on.”

  She looked over at Harken, but he was sound asleep, no glow to be seen.

  The images in her mind were of a world where there was a fairly strict dress code, so she went to the request-centre console near the kitchen and sent in an order for a gown with accoutrements.

  She brushed her teeth and performed her ablutions. By the time she was finished, a package was waiting in the slot.

  It took some trial and error, but she managed to get into her disguise, including a lacy veil that covered her head and, by extension, her freaky eyes.

  The folds of the elaborate skirt concealed her knife, and when she was sure that she was acceptable by the standards of the world she was about to visit, she charged up and stepped through time.

  Waves of the crowd surged forward, and she moved with them. When the flare of shadows led her down a hall, she parted from the wave of people to watch the ten-year public consummation of the king and his land with the sacrifice of the current queen.

  Idara ran swiftly to the nursery.

  The door opened under her hand, and she was treated to the sight of the nurse and her guardsman boyfriend going at it in the front room.

  The nurse yelped and clutched her dress to her breasts, but she was not why Idara was there.

  With long strides, she entered the child’s room and walked to the window where the child was watching the splaying of the woman down below.

  Calmly, Idara stepped between the child and the window, drawing the shades closed with her hands. “You do not need to see this, child. Your mother loves you and your father and is sacrificing herself for the well-being of the country.”

  The little girl had huge tears welling in her eyes. “Mama told me not to look.”

  Idara knelt and cuddled the child to her chest. “She didn’t want you to remember her that way. She wants you to remember her as she was standing proud and knowing what needed to be done.”

  The child started to sob and when the nurse came in, dishevelled and shocked to see her charge up and near the window, Idara waved her back.

  The princess eventually stopped her sobbing, and her even breathing told Idara that she had fallen asleep. Awkwardly, she got to her feet and took the girl to her bed, tucking her in and kissing her forehead.

  Idara got to her feet and was about to go when a small voice said, “Can I see your face, lady?”

  With a low bow, Idara lifted her lace veil and then stood straight. “Be well, child. Life will start anew tomorrow.”

  She flared with light and disappeared, returning to her home and leaving behind a child who just lost her mother in the most horrific of spectacles.

  In her apartment, she removed her clothing and crawled back into bed with Harken. His arms came around her as she burrowed against him, and she shuddered until she fell asleep again.

  The smell of breakfast woke her, and she scooted up against the headboard when Harken came toward her with a tray.

  “Where did you go last night?” He pressed a kiss to her lips and nudged her to eat.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. Formal clothing though. Big skirts and a lace veil.”

  He looked to the floor where she had dumped the clothing and nodded. “I see. What did you go for?”

  She sighed and swallowed with effort. “I was sent to stop a child from watching her mother being sacrificed so that a new woman could take her place as queen.”

  He froze. “Please tell me you are joking.”

  She shoved her plate away. “I wish I was. The nurse was having a tryst in the front room and had no idea that the child had woken up and was watching her mother being strapped to an altar.”

  “I am sorry.”

  “It will be fine. I am sure that eventually I will have another moment like when I got to stab the ball. That was sort of fun.” She chuckled weakly.

  He nodded. “Well, here is hoping that you will get another assignment soon.”

  Her skin started to glow, and she groaned. “Harken, be careful what you wish for.”

  Chapter Ten

  Knowing that a man is ticklish and having to actually tickle a warrior in front of an audience were two separate things. Putting the whole thing on a Raider station made the process more difficult.

  Idara was wearing her bodysuit and belts once again, and the Enjel warrior that she was facing had been trying to take a Terran woman by force. It had been a while since her basic defense training, but when he stopped laughing at her challenge, they had faced off waiting for the signal.

  The moment that the hands clapped together, she lunged forward, ducked under his swinging arm and she got behind him, running her hands down his sides until he convulsed and fell to the ground.

  The Terran woman was free to go by the terms of the challenge.

  The Enjel howled and pounded his fists into the soft dirt of the challenge ring, and Idara faded into the crowd.

  “What have we here, another little morsel to play with?”

  A huge, hulking male stepped into her path, and she scowled up at him. Her cowl was still shading her eyes but only barely.

  “I am not for the likes of you, fellow. Stand aside and let me pass.”

  He reached out and lifted her by her arms. Following her reflexes, she kicked him where his genitals should be, and he merely grunted and scowled. “I don’t know what you were aiming for, bu
t you missed.”

  Idara was about to try something else when the giant’s eyes rolled back and he dropped to the ground, releasing her on the way.

  “You can thank me later. Can we leave now?” Harken was quite fetching in the black leather that the men on the station favoured.

  She grinned. “That leather looks good on you.”

  Idara walked up to him and caressed the skin visible through the open vee of his neckline.

  “Don’t tease, pet. Off we go.”

  He wrapped her in his arms, and they disappeared in a flash.

  Back in their room, she took the opportunity to explore the skin under the leather, and he was content to let her. Apparently, the passive moment was now his to enjoy.

  Idara pushed him back onto the bed with one hand and peeled the leather shirt off, using her mouth to taste the sweet-salty taste of his skin as she worked her way to his belt.

  She opened the fastening of his belt, and his cock sprang eagerly from the rapidly opening vee of his trousers. She wrapped her lips around the head and flicked the tip with her tongue. With slow suction, she worked her head up and down, fighting a smile as his hips moved in time to her strokes.

  One hand clutched his waist and the other worked on his shaft, extending her coverage and increasing the low groans that were coming from his throat.

  When he shouted, she felt the pulse under her hand a moment before the thick cream hit her mouth. She swallowed convulsively and fought the urge to make a face.

  Idara looked along his body and noted his narrow-eyed stare. “What?”

  “Come here.”

  She crawled up and over, careful not to knee him in the groin. “You called?”

  He laughed and rolled with her until she was under him and his waking cock pressed against her. “I did indeed. What did I do in my last life to have a woman like you in this one?”

  She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. “You haven’t had me yet today, and I have to say that I am disappointed.”

  “I will have to remedy that.” With a determined gleam in his eyes, he opened the closure of her suit and slowly worked the fabric from her body.