HeartbeatofSilence Read online

  The young woman looked at her with hope. “Are you sure? He got the code from me.”

  The researcher gasped. “You betrayed the codes?”

  The assistant was horrified and mired in a spiral of self-blame.

  Veera faced the researcher and found the same psychic traces in his mind. “She was not the only one to fall for the seduction of the interloper. Stop playing the accusation game and tell me if there is anything else that I can use to find them.”

  The researcher coloured darkly as he met her knowing gaze. “Would having the prototype help?”

  Veera felt Stanik’s agreement. He was interviewing the security force, and they had been seduced as well.

  “Yes, please. I will be able to key myself to them more easily if I can see their mental structure.” She had never done anything like it before, but it wouldn’t hurt to know exactly what she was looking for.

  The researcher led her to a green space in the centre of the research station, and as they walked through the coded archway, a light trill greeted them. Veera looked toward the sound and watched a small, fluffy body making its way to them at speed. It smacked into her and frantically hopped up and down with its stubby wings outstretched.

  “It wants you to pick it up.” The researcher was amazed.

  Veera leaned down and lifted the small, warm creature up into her arms. “Hello, cutie.”

  The creature started to rumble low, and the noise soothed Veera to the point of complete relaxation.

  The researcher blinked. “It likes you. It really likes you.”

  Veera looked into the wide golden eyes in the powder blue fur, and she nodded. “I like it too. Can I take it with me?”

  “Of course. Please return it when you have found the others. It was our first successful attempt at increasing the size of the original species.”

  She cuddled the creature in her arms and smiled. “Was that all you did?”

  “Yes. We needed them in a larger size. The smaller creatures are effective, but they do not enable us to make use of them. You can’t hold something that small.” He held up his hand and measured a three-inch span between his fingers.

  “Well, I have what I need. Me and Fixit here will meet up with Guardian Stanik and we will be on our way.”

  “Fixit?”

  Veera blinked and looked down at the innocent face batting long lashes at her. “Yes, its name is Fixit.”

  “That was what the original discoverer called the species. We named them after her, the Yaluthu, but I suppose that in their minds, they still remember Fixit.”

  She could feel the researcher’s mind working on exploring the generational mind of the Yaluthu while he gave her information on feeding the creature. Shrugging, she took her new companion and carried him through to the security office.

  Stanik was waiting, his black uniform very formal and lightly armoured for their conversations with the staff. He nodded and smiled slightly at the creature in her arms.

  They had what they needed, so they left to return to the shuttle and the pilot waiting for them.

  Captain Haglan Orvin fired up the engines and lifted off. “Where are we going?”

  Veera sat just behind him with Fixit in her lap. “We are going to get reinforcements. The Yaluthu are being used to treat the injured on a mobile gladiatorial arena.”

  Stanik nodded as he got the details from her mind. “We need to contact Relay on Morganti and get something in place.”

  Captain Orvin placed the call, and Stanik gave the details to Relay.

  Veera was sitting and cuddling with Fixit, their minds connected easily, and Veera could feel her range expanding.

  “Stop that, Fixit. Too much too soon, sweetie.” She stroked Fixit gently, and the beast snuggled against her to sleep.

  Stanik finished his conversation with Relay, and Captain Orvin set a course for Morganti. “Should I be jealous?”

  “No. Fixit is exhausted with worry for its companions. He can feel their distress at this distance.” She stroked him softly.

  “Well, I am the only male allowed to curl up against you when you are naked. I set that rule down right now.” He leaned over and kissed her.

  “How long until they can gather a large-enough force?” She licked her lips to get the last taste of him.

  “Fourteen hours.”

  “Why are we heading to Morganti?”

  He chuckled and slipped into the seat next to her. “You need some weaponry. You are not going into a situation like this without a weapon. You may not be able to get Masuo, but there are reinforcements to your suit that can make you safer.”

  She leaned against him. “I thought that was your job.”

  “I can’t be everywhere at once, and I am acting as your guardian by making sure that you are as protected as I can make you.” He put his arm around her, and they sat together as the good captain took them to Morganti.

  It was time to get her ready for battle, but she had no idea what she was going to do when she got there.

  Chapter Ten

  “It feels funny. Does it look funny, Fixit?” She twisted in her new suit as the Sector Guard and Alliance ships gathered in the staging area.

  Stanik was testing the weapons that had been loaded into his suit, and he looked over at her with a grin. “You don’t want my opinion?”

  “I know your opinion. I can feel your opinion every time you get a look at my backside. Fixit likes the pink in my suit and when my hair flows down my back. He likes the colours, you like the shape. Two opinions are more reassuring than one.” She chuckled and twisted again.

  Her suit was loaded with blades, and she had proved to Fixer that she knew how to use them. Fixit had cheered her on as she lunged and twisted through the obstacle course that Fixer had ready.

  The Moreski woman grinned and congratulated her on being the best blades woman that she had seen to date. Fixit was also the subject of admiration. Fixer had her son with her, and the child and the critter had a lovely time together while Veera was going through her paces.

  Now, her happy trio was on the shuttle and waiting for the go signal to make the jump into position around the station. Surrounding it was the only way to make sure that those who had been captured had a chance at escape.

  Captain Orvin sent a ping through their suit coms. It was time for the final jump, and after that, they would be depending on her direction via the nine receiving telepaths in the fleet.

  She reached up and gripped the overhead rungs in the stern of the shuttle. Fixit huddled between her ankles, and Stanik did a partial shift into beast mode.

  Veera shivered as they jumped, and she hooked her mind into her eight contacts and fed them the locations of the minds that were on the station under duress or kidnapped.

  The locations of the Yaluthu were in large clumps over the station. They were Veera and Stanik’s priority. Everyone else was on a rescue mission for the larger sentients.

  Fixit was going to help gather his people, and they were going to help him.

  After the jump, they ran silent, everyone moving into position until Guardian and Pax made the call.

  When the small chirp came, Orvin locked them to the station hull, and the ship opened a hole to let them drop through the emergency hatch.

  We are good. Hop up, Fixit.

  She lifted Fixit, and he popped onto her shoulder, hooking his feet into the saddle that Fixer installed for him. He might only be with her for one mission, but he was going to travel in style.

  They dropped silently into the station, and Stanik kept himself half shifted and ready for anything.

  Fixit raised his head and chirped. Veera wanted to hush him, but he was intent on finding his people. She couldn’t fault him for that.

  Answering murmurs came at them on the psychic plane. As the restrained sentients were freed, the Yaluthu were coming to them.

  Stanik growled as a pair of guards rushed at them. His suit absorbed the shots, and their armour was no match for his c
laws and teeth. It was short and savage, but Fixit was enthused by the violence.

  Veera stroked her new friend to keep him calm as the surge of minds grew closer to them. Stanik was linked with them as he led them deeper into the station toward the Yaluthu.

  She felt the occasional flick of aggression from the beasties as they approached on their stubby legs.

  They entered an open space, and the battle raged all around them. Freed fighters took on the guards, and the Yaluthu were waddling through the gore.

  It would have been cute if it weren’t so brutal.

  Fixit chirped and his kind moved toward him at speed. She waded carefully through the fluffy bodies as they headed for the path to the shuttle and continued until she reached the minds that were still trapped.

  A dozen of the little beasts were in a medical bay with damaged men and women curled around them.

  “Oh, damn.”

  Fixit contacted his kin and they refused to leave their charges. The people needed healing, and the Yaluthu were doing it.

  Stanik, can someone come and take these people? The Yaluthu won’t leave them.

  I am sending the request. Have you located all the personnel?

  As far as I know. I can’t see any other minds that are in distress on this station. After this medical bay, we have them all, though I would like to take a quick run through the station. There are blank spots. Can you see them?

  I can. Nothing is always more suspicious than something.

  She waited while he ran their plan to tour through the circuit of Sector Guard. Veera was amazed that she could see the communications but didn’t have to be part of them. A total of ten minds were using her to speak, and she didn’t feel a thing.

  Stanik finished his briefing and shifted to full beast.

  Veera asked Fixit if he wanted to stay with his people, but he wanted to go with her instead.

  She climbed onto Stanik’s back and held tight as he moved to the first of the dead zones.

  They passed armoured men and women helping to tidy up the residue of the strike. The first dead zone fought her, but Fixit rubbed his head along hers, and the psychic barricade shattered.

  Three women were on the other side of a door, and each one was pregnant.

  Stanik tore through the tech that barred the door, and as it slid open, Veera left his back to walk in with Fixit on her shoulder.

  He sent a call for Guard personnel as Veera entered the room.

  The stench of confinement came to her, and she wrinkled her nose, but as she entered, she heard the minds of the women, and it was a relief that they were bruised but not broken.

  “Ladies. I am here to get you out. Medical attention is on its way and help is coming.”

  Darkness shrouded them, but one leaned into the light. Her face was grimy, scarred and grim. The beauty that she had once worn was evident even under her filth. “Is this a game?”

  “No. It’s the truth. The Sector Guard has captured this station and is freeing all those who have been taken against their will.” Veera didn’t dig deeply into their minds. After what they had been through, they needed a little privacy and respect.

  The woman in the centre moved forward again, and her companions leaned into the stream of light coming down from the ceiling. The other two women were less battered, but as they came fully into the light, the one who had spoken said, “Taken against our will. Yes, that sums it up.”

  Veera identified the crew coming to help. “Help will be here in a moment. I have to go and see if others are kept in holes like this.”

  The woman in the centre nodded. “Thank you for seeing us. Now, go and find the others. We are not the only ones.”

  Veera sent warmth and gratitude augmented by Fixit. A series of chirps behind her got her attention, and three Yaluthu hopped forward.

  The women withdrew, but Veera calmed them. “They are trying to help. Just touch them and see.”

  The central one took a pale yellow Yaluthu into her arms, and it made soothing noises as she curled around it. The other women did the same, and Veera felt confident enough to leave them.

  Ten of Fixit’s people were waiting outside the chamber, and when Veera climbed on board, they clambered onto Stanik’s back for a ride, holding tight.

  This isn’t comfortable, but it will work. Where to next?

  She gave him the coordinates, and he sent soothing thoughts to her as he ran through the station.

  Her first meeting was re-enacted four more times. Pregnant women were stashed all over the station and in a variety of mental states. She didn’t ask them the details of those who had fathered the children. They were having a hard-enough time accepting that they were rescued. The Yaluthu were being very helpful and by the time all zones had been ripped apart, Veera was hovering on the edge of tears.

  It is all right to be affected, Veera. Just run through what we have to do now, and you can grieve for what you have seen later.

  Stanik’s voice was calm in her thoughts, but she could feel that he was experiencing some of the same waves of despair as she was.

  She did a final check and the station was clear. No more blank spots, no more hidden caches of women.

  We can go now, Stanik. I want to leave this place. She buried her face in his fur as he returned them to their shuttle. Fixit rubbed her cheek with his, and he tried to comfort her, but there was no comfort in what had been done to the people on this station.

  If this was what her new job would entail, she was going to retire.

  Chapter Eleven

  Veera cried for two days and moped for five. Stanik tried to calm her, but the shock and horror of what she had seen through the eyes of the men and women trapped on that station worked like acid on her soul.

  The research station agreed to leave the active Yaluthu with their injured companions. The creatures wouldn’t separate from a living being in need and that meant that Fixit was constantly on one side and Stanik was on the other.

  “Well, I suppose it is time for lunch. There is going to be some new intake today.” Veera tried to be cheerful, but her heart ached.

  Stanik hugged her and rubbed his chin on her forehead. “There is. I think you will enjoy the new arrivals to Balen. Come along.”

  With his arm around her, they walked down to the dining hall. The cooks had bent over backward in an effort to cheer her up with pastries and cakes. Her mind was too heavy for any casual frivolity, including the edible kind.

  Stanik was trying to cheer her from the inside out, but it wasn’t coming to her quite yet. Even with her mind wide open for years, she hadn’t felt that concentrated despair. It shocked her, and she didn’t know how to cope with what she had seen.

  Fixit was in a fussy mood and that got her attention as they sat, and her fuzzy friend hopped to the table next to her. She was about to get up and grab some food when the cook brought a heavily laden tray to their table.

  “Excellent service, Hinya. Why the special treatment?” Fixit walked to the tray and started pecking at a shredded meat dish.

  Chef Hinya grinned, “Avatar Zenina-Balen is having us prepare for one hundred twenty newcomers, staff and students. We are putting lunch on for them but didn’t want you to have to run through them when they arrived. I didn’t know Fixit ate meat.”

  Veera touched the creature’s mind, but Fixit wanted meat, and it was going to have it. “Apparently, he wants the meat.”

  Stanik chuckled. “It might explain the moult on him. He isn’t quite as fluffy as he used to be.”

  Veera looked him over and crooned to Fixit as she stroked his fluff. Fine strands came off in her hands. “Oh dear. I hope one of the newcomers is a vet. I am worried.”

  “Call the research station?”

  Fixit was perfectly content when she felt his mind. “He seems okay, but I will call after lunch. Eat around him.”

  She chuckled, and Stanik’s mind surged with relief. She realized it was her first laugh in a week, and he had been worried.


  She reached out and stroked his cheek. “I am sorry. I will get better. I promise. I simply need time to adapt to what I saw.”

  “I understand. Eat quickly. I believe that the rest of the Citadel just showed up.”

  Men and women in long robes walked in, the colours denoted their rank and speciality, but Veera had never learned the differences.

  More women and men followed, looking around curiously as they milled forward in white robes. Veera smiled in greeting as they walked in, but something in Stanik’s mind told her to look closer.

  When one of the newcomers walked toward her, a huge pregnant belly preceding her and scars on her face, Veera suddenly understood. Happy tears started in her eyes.

  She got to her feet and the woman rushed into her arms. “Welcome to Balen, Saga Neific.”

  Their hug was broken by another woman, a man and a round of touches and caresses that took an hour to sort out. The survivors of Lithnan Station had a new home.

  Fixit crept up on her shoulder and chirped triumphantly. Around the legs of the newcomers, a wave of Yaluthu came forward to greet their leader.

  Veera put Fixit on the ground, and she noticed how tall the prototype was compared to those who followed. The Yaluthu moved off to one side and went through a formal greeting that made Veera smile.

  They rubbed heads, touched wings and rubbed backs, one after another. By the time they were finished, Fixit was nearly bald, but he was perfectly content.

  Stanik got up and walked over to the groups of folk in instructor robes. One male accompanied him back to the Yaluthu gathering.

  “Veera, this is Healing Instructor Canevor. He is also familiar with most animals. He is willing to take a look at Fixit.” Stanik wrapped his arms around her as the instructor knelt to greet the creatures.

  With some coaxing, Fixit allowed a light touch, but when Canevor stroked him, Fixit snapped at him.

  Veera’s eyes widened. “What the hell? Fixit, come here.”