Tales of the Citadel # 32 - Core Charge Read online

  Junior snuggled up next to her again when she sat down.

  A woman who crackled with energy asked, “Since you have custody of my child, may I have a seat?”

  Nyral laughed and the woman had a seat. “Gwiette, this is Carella, also known as Star Breaker.”

  Carella extended her hand over the table. “Pleased to meet you.”

  Gwiette shook it, and Carella stared at the glove.

  “Do you have a contact talent?”

  Gwiette shrugged. “Not really. Biological energy into electricity is my talent. I am still learning how to control it.”

  Carella laughed. “That explains Junior’s fascination. My child is attuned to energy patterns.”

  “And a telepath.”

  “That too.”

  Junior ignored them and took the food that its mother passed it.

  They had a polite and cheerful conversation until the plates were empty and Fixer appeared in the doorway.

  When Gwiette met the other woman’s gaze, Fixer’s filled with relief. She pressed her palms together and gave a beseeching glance.

  Gwiette removed her arm from around Junior and got to her feet. “I believe we need to make our appearance. Fixer looks desperate.”

  Carella clicked to her child and Junior came around and climbed into her arms. “We are invited to hear you as well. Call Fixer Mala when she is not working on your uniforms. She isn’t usually one to stand on ceremony.”

  They gathered as a group and followed Fixer to the family quarters. Fixer handed her the harp and the children clumped together on the floor while the tired mothers sat on couches.

  In a straight-backed chair with Nyral next to her, Gwiette began to play.

  She focused on the sound of the songs, the cadence and the echoes from the chamber around her. By the time she finished a decent amount of soothing selections, everyone in the room was asleep.

  She got to her feet and Nyral offered his hand. She took it and they slipped out without waking anyone.

  Once in the hall, she looked at her harp and smiled. The wood was growing, twisting into vines around the frame, but it still resonated when she played. “I really like this harp.”

  “I am glad. It was a thank you gift for rescuing the birthing pods of a plant-based species. I never imagined that a harp would be the end result of those samples of their eldest tree.”

  Suddenly, her grip wasn’t as casual as it had been. “This was a piece of a living, thinking creature?”

  “Offered freely in thanks for the efforts of the Sector Guard.” He smiled. “It does happen.”

  The harp’s feeling in her hands made a little more sense now. It felt like it was playing with her, not being played by her.

  “Let’s put it in your quarters and go for a walk.”

  She grinned. “Let’s take it with us, and I will play something for you out in the silence of the night.”

  “Are you flirting with me?”

  “Not yet. Let’s see what kind of music I play.” She had always expressed herself best with an instrument, and now, she had one that would help her sort out what she felt for him.

  “It is a date.” He lifted her gloved hand to his lips and kissed her.

  She smiled and walked with him out into the night, away from the base.

  Chapter Nine

  She could not stop smiling as she paced with her body crackling with power. She thought about the night before and grinned again.

  Last night, she had played the harp on a pile of rocks until Nyral had been moved to tears. She had played songs that reminded her of being alone then connecting with someone. Her repertoire worked through songs that made her feel, and she felt that they would speak to him as well.

  Coaxing emotion was a skill that she had practiced her entire life. Finally being able to work on it for an appreciative audience was a relief and a pleasure. The harp seemed to enjoy it as well.

  When she stilled the strings, Nyral had leaned forward and kissed her. Sparks literally flew between them as he deepened the kiss until she was holding his shoulders and he had his hands on her waist, pulling her tightly to him.

  They had made out with the harp carefully set to one side, and after her mouth was bruised and his body was shaking, they watched the sunrise over the base.

  Now, it was morning and she was working on her self-control. He had proved his last night.

  Four hours had passed since she had loaded up on energy, and while her skin felt like it wanted to fly apart, she was holding the charge.

  Nyral was sitting on the bench and keeping her company with a pot of tea.

  She pulled the charge away from her hands and walked over to him. “Tea, please.”

  He grinned and handed her the cup and saucer.

  With intense concentration, she sipped at the tea without shocking herself. In her mind, she gathered up the energy and coaxed it away from the involved extremities, but she had no clue as to the actual process.

  It was a strange part of life on Resicor. Talents were part of their culture, but recently, those talents with a physical application were separated from others and kept in prisons or they simply disappeared. That seemed to have been the fate in store for Gwiette until the Sector Guard stepped in. She didn’t just owe them her life, they had saved her sanity. She would do whatever they requested and put her life on the line whenever the situation demanded it. If Nyral were at her side, things would simply be a lot more pleasant and possibly less dangerous.

  He asked her, “How much longer do you think you can hold it?”

  “I believe I have gotten the hang of it. It seems to be holding steady, but we will have to see how much of the charge I return to the podium.”

  He grinned. “Go ahead and see what is left. I think you will be surprised.”

  She wandered over to the obelisk and placed her hands over the surface, letting the power spill out of her in steady waves. When she finished, the structure was so bright that she winced. “How is that possible?”

  “My guess is that when you hold it in, it simply works itself larger, like a snowball.”

  Gwiette looked at the obelisk and cocked her head. “Should I try again, or shall we go for lunch?”

  He chuckled. “I am up for lunch. Let’s go.”

  Three hours later, he got her attention with a wave, and she could hear Relay speaking to him through his suit.

  “There is an evacuation that needs Stop’s touch. Yours would do as well, Shock, if you are willing to go along.”

  “Of course.”

  “Excellent. Orders are in the ship and I had them pack your harp. You never know when you may need to entertain strangers.”

  “Or myself.”

  “Of course. Or yourself.” Relay chuckled. “The ship is fueled and supplies have been topped up. Your new suit is onboard and I would recommend you put it on, Shock. When folks have to evacuate, either they run or they fight. You want to be prepared for either.”

  “Right. How long will we be there?”

  “Well, the volcano might not scorch the entire city, but we need to be sure. So, go, save them from themselves and come back in one piece. Your contracts will be waiting.”

  Gwiette gave the voice a snappy salute and wandered over to the obelisk to discharge her energy. The brightness was blinding.

  “How long is the flight, Nyral?”

  “Sixteen hours.”

  “I think it is too long for me to try to hold it in that long. I have no idea if I can contain a charge while asleep.”

  “A wise decision.” He grinned. “Shall we?”

  She flexed her fingers and gave him a thumbs up. “We will do this and we will come home so I can find out what happens next in a relationship. It was getting very interesting last night.”

  “You are going to test my devotion to duty.”

  Gwiette took his arm and they walked toward the door. “That is my current goal.”

  On Plassos, they were briefed as to the situation. Lava
was going to wipe out the city and there was nothing that could be done. They needed to remove the folk forcibly who were huddling in their homes and holding out for the slim chance that the city would be standing.

  Gelia City was lovely and it was a shame that its tenure on the planet was coming to a halt.

  Suited up with heavy armour surrounding her, Shock went out with one gathering of local peacekeepers who would carry off her victims. Stop had his own collection of helpers for the other side of the city.

  “The monitor says that the nearest living being is over this way, gentlemen. Come with me.” Shock pulled on the mantle of leader and went in search of the life signs that were popping up on the unit Fixer had included in the ship.

  The shuttle was full of useful gadgets if you knew where to look. Fortunately, Stop was familiar with his vehicle.

  Shock knocked on the door where the life signs glowed. “Come out, please. This is an evacuation.”

  When there was no answer, she gestured to the peacekeepers with the ram. They broke the door open in seconds, and Shock entered with her shoulders back. “Come out. This is an evacuation.”

  The blast to her chest caught her by surprise. She was thrown back against the wall, and to her surprise, an old woman was holding the weapon that had blasted her.

  “Right. You want to play that way.” Shock dropped the woman with a filament of energy.

  Without looking, she sent power to the other life signs and listened to the folk hit the floor.

  She told the peacekeepers, “One on the main floor, three upstairs. All unconscious.”

  They rushed in and removed the family, placing them on a transport in shackles.

  “One down, seven to go.”

  Shock moved on to the next life sign, rubbing her chest. This time, she sent the energy into the house before the door was battered; it made everything go much more smoothly.

  Six hours of zapping strangers into fleshy heaps later, Shock was exhausted and ready for a good meal.

  Stop was waiting for her in the staging area, and she stepped up to him as the distant volcano exploded and the rain of stone began to smash the city far below.

  The removed citizens were waking and screaming to return, but they suddenly went quiet when the fiery rain took over and pelted the city.

  All over the safe zone, folk were standing and watching the destruction of their home. Shock went to Stop’s side and held his hand tight as the shocking sight of a volcano erupted inside the city below. The lava came up and spread out in waves of molten fire. Shock had never seen this level of destruction before.

  “We have done all we could. Our talent lies in manipulating people, not in rebuilding. That will be up to them.”

  Shock headed to the shuttle and brought out her harp, playing a tune she had learned at home about a woman who had become separated from her family and she sought her husband and children for two decades until she finally found them. She had lived her life for them, but they had all moved on without her. When the woman discovered that there was no home with her family, she threw herself into the sea.

  The song she played had no words, but Shock knew them and tears swelled and spilled over her cheeks as she played.

  A flute picked up the tune, an ululation took over the notes, and soon, the song swelled into a repeating wave of sound that washed over those who were safe from the death and fire far below.

  Shock kept playing until the sun went down.

  Stop took her by the shoulders and guided her back to the ship.

  This time, she remained awake but quiet while he flew them home.

  “Why are you so quiet?”

  “They lost everything. They are devastated.”

  He looked over at her. “They have their families and their health. They have what matters. Shelter can be found and memories can be passed along orally. They did not lose their homes like you did.”

  So, he had spotted where she was going.

  “I just miss my home so much, it hurts. Knowing what they were going through hurts.”

  “That is to your credit. When you stop empathizing with them, you have a problem. Your playing was beautiful though.”

  “I will have to tell you the song one day. It is a depressing story, but it sums up Resicor. Oh, remind me to thank Fixer. I got shot in the chest, and it is more the memory that hurts. There is no actual damage from the shot.”

  He stared at her. “Someone shot you?”

  “The little grandmother in handcuffs. She has a determination that I admire and excellent aim.” She laughed and counted herself lucky.

  “What are you thinking of now?”

  “How to teach the kids the songs of Resicor without telling them what they are about. We have some very depressing songs.”

  Nyral looked at her and laughed. “You might want to widen your repertoire.”

  “I just might. At least I now have a chance to learn. Thanks for that, if I didn’t say it earlier.”

  “I think another moonlight serenade might just be what I need for the thanks.”

  Gwiette smiled at him. “That can be arranged. I can even get you good seating, right next to my thighs.”

  “Don’t tease. I am trying to take my time.”

  “Then know that it is becoming my time. Your self-control might be more hindrance than help here. We aren’t both immortal.”

  They bickered about courtship all the way to Morganti when the theory turned into practice and she got to return the favour and see him without his suit after a week of waiting. He was definitely worth the wait.

  Author's Note

  Only one book this release day. My time at the Lori Foster RAGT took a huge chunk out of writing time.

  The Resicor plot is still building, and with only four more books in this arc, we should be there pretty soon.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  About the Author

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.