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  “She is Gaia.”

  “Why does she not speak to me directly?”

  “Oh, because I would freak out if she did that first off. Plus, she is still settling in. Seriously. I am thinking that I had furniture in there that she doesn’t like.” She pressed her fingers to her head.

  “Well, if she will let us create the embassy on this island, we can return to the hotel.”

  Minny nodded. “She will. She built it for me. It has always been here, waiting for me.”

  She slumped as the years of memory began to download into her brain. “I think I need to lie down now.”

  He caught her and held her to him, flying them back to their hotel.

  She wasn’t cold anymore, and she bemoaned the loss of that craving for Imbolt’s closeness.

  I can chill you, but your body is adapting to me. We will become one soon. You are doing very well.

  She made a face. How would you know, you haven’t done this before?

  No, I have not, but I know when something works. When something is right.

  You asked another world.

  That as well. There was a sheepish emotion in Gaia’s thoughts.

  Minerva turned her thoughts inward and focused on Gaia’s memories. The minds of other worlds had touched her frequently over the last few centuries and each had had a piece of advice.

  It wasn’t Zanicon. His advice had come eons earlier.

  They were back at the hotel before she had gone through all those conversations, and Imbolt set her on his lap and held her on the couch.

  She dimly heard her sisters come in, and Iris gasped when she came toward her.

  Minerva dealt with the changes the way she did her job. She sent her mind into eight directions at the same time, seeking out what she needed to control and harness the power inside her.

  When she surfaced at long last, she smiled at her family. “Hey, guys.”

  Iris gasped. “Minny. There is something inside you. Something bright.”

  “Yes, Iris. I know. I have taken on the mind of Gaia. She’s set up housekeeping in my body.”

  Athena and Selene came and knelt next to her. Athena asked. “You are joking right?”

  She felt Gaia surge to the fore. “I have joined with your sibling. She is my link to the human world, and I am grateful for her generosity. I do think that we will make a good combination as the new age begins.”

  Iris blinked. “Your eyes changed.”

  Minerva nodded. “That is how you can tell. Note how they have changed back when I am speaking. I think her eyes are vivid, glowing green.”

  Iris nodded.

  Minny smiled. “Is it a good colour on me?”

  Iris’s eyes welled up, and she asked, “How long will it last?”

  Imbolt murmured, “Several thousand years.”

  Her family was shocked.

  “Sorry. I am going to wear this body for a very long time. I guess I am going to have to take over the family history.”

  Athena finally said, “You will be the family history.”

  Minny chuckled and leaned her head against Imbolt. “At least I won’t go into that endless future alone.”

  Selene whispered, “No, but you will leave your daughter behind.”

  Minny paused. “That is true. Alyla will age, hopefully marry, have kids and pass on. I suppose I will have to get used to being the good-looking grandma.”

  Athena scowled. “I am going to Photoshop in wrinkles on every picture of you from now on.”

  Minny knew that there would be some rough times ahead, but her sisters were accepting her situation. It wasn’t the best outcome, but it was pretty darn good considering.

  Imbolt asked them to procure food, and Iris whipped out her phone, asking, “What are you in the mood for?”

  Minny grinned. “Anything and everything. You order it, and I am going to eat it.”

  Iris smirked. “I know a challenge when one has been thrown down.”

  Her sisters settled and asked questions about what had happened, and Minny answered as best she could while holding tight to Imbolt.

  He knew what she was going through, and when they had a moment alone, she was going to ask him about it.

  “What happened when you and Zanicon joined?”

  “Before I joined with him, I had blood, tissue and other genetic samples donated and stored. That is where Alyla came from.” He was undressing and speaking softly to her.

  “You said you were wounded?”

  “I was missing my left leg and right arm. I was very unstable. There were scars and chemical damage to my body as well, but I had the best mind for the job.”

  “So, that is when they took the genetic sample that they used to make Alyla?”

  “Yes. The possibility of a family was the sticking point. I had lost so much up until that moment I was focused intently on leaving part of myself behind on something other than the battlefield. Zanicon contacted the Alliance, and they started looking for a match the moment that he was within me.”

  He climbed between the sheets, and she cuddled against him as he wrapped his arm around her. “Now that you are finally here, it was definitely worth the wait.”

  She was tired or she would be rewarding him for that comment. “So, what do you think I should do now?”

  “Well, Gaia wishes to see her world, so why not project yourself into the farthest edges of the globe to see what needs to be done?”

  “I can do that in my sleep.” She relaxed against him. “What do you think the locals will say?”

  “I think they will believe you are alien influence. It will take a few centuries to build their trust. Zanicon had had other Avatars. My people knew what I was becoming.”

  “How did you feel about the markings?”

  “It comes with the position. Eventually, on her third or fourth Avatar, Gaia might do the same. Zanicon needed those I was speaking to, to listen immediately. The markings proved my identity faster than any tricks or feats of strength could have done.”

  “Oh, and as the first of the Gaian Avatar, I get to be me.” She chuckled and settled against him. “How long did you know that I would be chosen?”

  “Zanicon suggested to Gaia that she create a match for me, and she began the process over a thousand years ago. She steered your family together, one generation at a time until you were the end result. It fortunately coincided with the Protectorate phase of Terra’s introduction. If not, I would have been here years ago, sweeping you into the stars.”

  An internal conversation made her smile. “Gaia would have fought you for me.”

  “She was making you for herself as well?”

  “Apparently. Now that the Alliance and Imperium have come to lay claim to her children, she wanted to be able to defend them. I have always been her chosen champion.”

  He stroked her shoulder. “How man corners of the world are you in right now?”

  “Seven, and I am still on Lunar Base, reading to Alyla. I am going to need a new book soon.”

  He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her neck. “A natural-born multitasker. You were designed for this.”

  “I am starting to think you are right.”

  Chapter Eight

  The penthouse became their temporary embassy. After two months, she was completely bored.

  “How much longer before the structure arrives?” Minerva was surfing the net and catching up on trends and the current political situations around the world.

  Imbolt looked up from a report outlining trade proposals from across the world. “The canister will be here later today. The Avari have created a series of nanites that will build and then deactivate. Do you have the finals for the design?”

  “I do. It is based on one of the shorter Citadels I was at. Plenty of room for visitors and a nice pool for exercise.”

  She was playing on Facebook with her sisters as her primary friends. With a sigh, she logged out and paid attention to her husband.

  “They put it in
the diplomatic pouch, and it has been scanned at Lunar Base. It is on the way.”

  He smiled at her quickly and returned his focus to the report. “There seems to be a bottleneck in getting some of the new medical equipment into certain areas around this globe.”

  She propped her chin on her fist. “Bribery. Corruption. Do you want me to investigate?”

  He smiled. “That would be lovely. Here is a list of the equipment that was delivered, and here is where it was supposed to go.”

  She smiled and took the hardcopies. “Do you have the original shipping manifest?”

  “Of course.” He handed her the tablet, and she flicked through the original documents with the ease gained by working with contracts and shipping Terrans around the universe. “They are being diverted. I will find them.”

  “You can tell that at a glance?”

  “Sure. My job before the Volunteers was at a transport company. I know what the paperwork is supposed to look like.” She winked.

  She closed her eyes. “Give me a minute.”

  Across the world, she walked through the warehouse where the boxes stamped with alien languages were stacked. She should have been more surprised at the ongoing auction.

  When the lot that she had walked in on was sold, she called out, “So, they got the authorization keys from the Alliance to go along with those repair units?”

  The language she was speaking was taken from their minds. Minny had to admit that being a solid projection of her own mind was a definite boon.

  Guns were pointed at her, and she walked into the crowd without fear. “What you have here is theft, and misuse of all those from this area that left to provide their families and communities with help. Disease is rampant in this community, and the machines could save lives. I am not letting you take them anywhere but to their original destinations.”

  One of the men snorted. “We will just take the machine from the communities.”

  “Will you? I don’t think so.” She flicked out her fingers, and there was nothing but ash where he had been.

  She smiled as the men pulled their triggers in her direction. The bullets flew through her, many hitting men behind her.

  When the groaning and dead were on the ground, she smiled brightly. “Now, who is going to help me get those units on a truck? No one? I suppose I will have to do it myself. Don’t go anywhere with them. I can find them wherever they are.”

  One of the men pointed to the ash. “Where did he go?”

  “Oh, he is still there, just in his component parts. Every living thing on this planet is made of the same components. I simply pulled out the water and a few of the connections that kept him in a man shape. If you listen, you can still hear him screaming.”

  Horror filled the faces of the men around her, and they scrambled for cover.

  Sighing, she wandered over to the machine crate larger than a full-sized van, blasted a hole in the roof and flew it out and away. There were four others to redistribute, and she was going to have her work cut out for her. She called four other versions of herself and got the deliveries underway.

  She smiled at Imbolt. “I found them. They are being redistributed. I will even stay to show the communities how to use them. I have high hopes that they will cork some of the disease vectors that are cruising around that region.”

  He sighed. “How many of you are working there?”

  “Four, maybe five. Why?”

  He turned on the news, and images of her projections flying the units away from the warehouse were on every channel. “I am impressed. You just invented superheroes.”

  She groaned. “I was trying to avoid that.”

  “I know. That is why this is funny.”

  He got up, sat next to her and pulled her into his lap. “You have to surrender to the obvious. Terra is going to need Guardians. You are in an excellent position to manage them. You can literally be everywhere at once.”

  She scowled. “It is going to get crazy. The world is obsessed with images and recordings. If folks start endangering themselves, it will be harsh.”

  “There will have to be rules, regulations and, most of all, obfuscation.” He stroked the outside of her thigh.

  “What do you mean?”

  “No one needs to know that they are human. Design a uniform or have one designed, and the identities of the Guardians can be hidden. You might have Terrans in mind already who didn’t qualify to leave but who would be excellent Guardians.”

  She wrinkled her nose and looked up at him. “You know me so well.”

  He laughed. “It is my business to run along at your side.”

  “Or fly.”

  He pressed a kiss to her chin. “Or that. How is Alyla doing?”

  “I have started reading her a physics manual. She is getting so big!”

  It was nice to not require a mechanical self anymore. The bot had been put into storage. She was sitting and holding the data pad as a solid projection of herself.

  “She only has three months to go, and then, we can hold her in our arms. I think you should take on the idea of a Guardian project. It would be a good way to distract yourself.”

  Well, she had done all her pre-baby shopping, anticipating getting someone nearly toddler height and taking her home.

  Her sisters had prepared to bury their niece in soft and fluffy items. The assortment of Earth animals available in pink was mindboggling.

  “I would need the governments to agree with me. They would have to authorize the Guardians.”

  He reached over for a data pad and held it out to her. “I have come up with a proposal. It has worked across the Imperium. If you can come up with four Guardians, we can train them at the embassy, and when they are ready, they will be outfitted and good to go.”

  His use of human vernacular was funny. She sighed and set the data pad aside. She crawled around and straddled him. “Speaking of good to go, I think that we should take the advantage of this moment of quiet and lack of an infant.”

  She kissed him softly, slowly, and she stroked her hands through his feathers. “How long do you have before your next meeting.”

  He groaned and whispered, “Two hours.”

  She smiled. “Is it enough time?”

  He got to his feet and held her against him. “Never. Let’s see how long it takes them to call me.”

  She laughed as he made it to the second-floor balcony with one leap, and he swept her into the bedroom. She peeled off his layers, and he worked on hers. In a flurry of fabric, they fell to the bed together, and she pulled him over her, tracing the moving marks under his skin while he used his lips to take inventory of every inch of her.

  She lifted her knees to either side of him as he worked his way down, and she revelled in the heat coming off him. His mouth caressed her sex with devoted enthusiasm, and her moans echoed in the room.

  When she pulled at him, he slid up her body and fitted himself to her. She tasted herself on his lips as he arched and thrust into her.

  She clutched at him, surrounded and filled by his heat as he rocked into her. Their situations as Avatars may have ceased their ability to have children, but she was definitely happy to have him as her lover. She always got to go first.

  Wrapped in his arms an hour later, she smiled as he traced her hip, ribs and cupped her breast. “Didn’t you get enough?”

  He kissed her shoulder. “Never. It is a very good thing that we have forever together.”

  “How will we deal with outliving our daughter?”

  “We went into this knowing that it would be the case. It is not unheard of for the children to die first. Hopefully, there will be grandchildren stretching into the far future.”

  She pressed her palm against his and leaned against him. “It will definitely colour my parenting technique.”

  “You will be fine. I will be fine, and she will be fine.”

  “Your assistant is downstairs.” Minerva smirked.

  “I know. I forgot to close the door.
I am guessing he got an earful.”

  Her cheeks heated, and Gaia was amused. It had taken two weeks for her to have sex with Imbolt without causing an earthquake, so a little vocalization instead of internalizing the pleasure was definitely what she needed.

  She sighed and stroked his palm again. “Should we get up?”

  He rolled to his back. “Excellent idea. You get on top.”

  Laughter rippled through her as she took in the expanse of muscle and magical designs that were at her disposal. She stroked his erection, mounted him and settled against him. With the first slide of him inside her, she let out a low groan, and his eyes took on the heavy-lidded look that she loved.

  She moved, he thrust, and Mr. Thompkins had to wait.

  Family crowded the room as the nervous medics watched the parents ease Alyla from her warm bath. Silence filled the room, and then a soft coughing sound preceded the wail of the baby who didn’t like the feel of air against her skin.

  Minerva and Imbolt held their daughter together and cleaned her up, tying off the umbilical cord and wrapping her in the soft cloth provided to snug her up.

  The aunties and their husbands were in the room and watching with rapt attention. The four apprentice Guardians watched their master with the same focus. This was their first trip to the moon, and they wanted to enjoy the fieldtrips.

  Minny felt the tears cascading down her cheeks. Gaia was inside her, behind her eyes and watching with a sense of joy that finally made Minerva understand the purpose of Avatars. The planets wanted to feel instead of observe.

  Alyla looked up at Minerva with huge eyes, the same starry black as her father’s tattoos. “Hello, pretty eyes.”

  The baby pursed her lips together and pressed her fat fist to them. A moment later, she pressed that fist to Minerva’s cheek.

  Minerva blinked and looked into her daughter’s eyes as Imbolt began to laugh.

  “I told you she was paying attention.”

  Imbolt was inside with Alyla while Minny took her Guardians on their first outdoor trip on the moon.

  “Breathing normally is key. If you can remain calm during a moonwalk, you can do it while a wave is coming at you, fire is rushing toward you and screaming is all around you. Silence is far scarier. To demonstrate, I will turn off your coms.”