Broken Wings (7 page)

She looked into the fire. “I didn’t bully.”

“Why were there mechs designed for regular bipeds?”

“The Tival had a small settlement outside our gates. They were the first to die.” She kept herself cold. She could get through this.

“The records and witnesses said that you left the colony with the mech and kept it moving until help arrived.”

She snorted and looked at him with eyes that didn’t see him. “Help for them. I would have destroyed them all if the Guard hadn’t arrived. How have you seen those reports?”

“I am a minister of the exterior. It is my business to know about our people in the stars. I am sorry for your loss.”

She nodded and swallowed. “Thank you, but many others were lost that day.”

“You are an interesting young woman. I can see why Astien is interested in you.”

Minerva was surprised. “He is interested in many women, or they are interested in him. There is always a crowd around when he is out in the open from what I have observed.”

“He has his father’s good looks.”

She was surprised into laughing.

“And his mother’s pheromones. Women might chase him, but you are the first he has not run from, and yes, I know that disguising you as his lover was his way to stop his mother from giving him hints as to which women he should begin courting.”

Minerva inclined her head. “He is very pretty, but it has only been weeks since I saw my family killed, nearly died and then went on a rampage. I need time.”

“He will give it to you, but do not mistake his lack of aggression for a lack of persistence.”

It was the best advice she had been given in her life.

Their trip back to Ohkhan was quiet. Poppy kept her calm when the memories of the attack had her waking up in a cold sweat.

When they returned to the base, Astien kissed her hand and smiled. “Keep working on the sculpture. I will be in and out of the base for the next few months and don’t want you to lose the progress you have made.”

He left her, and she took Poppy back to her quarters where the statues of her family had been placed, on the side table where the sun gleamed on them.

She touched the faces of her parents, and she sobbed. Time might heal all wounds but it did not hurry.

The days took on a pattern. Mornings with Kibor, and afternoons with everything that took her fancy. She spent one day a week with the psychic sculpture, learned clothing design, cooking for survival and a few other random skills.

When Astien was in the Citadel, they met and had lunch, talking about her learning experiences, and when he was gone, she finally wrote her account of the attack on Decla and sent it in.

She went on assignments as pilot and animator but always returned to her new home with a sense of relief.

Months passed and Poppy got a little taller, but she didn’t make a move toward her own wings, which was the signal that Minerva was waiting for.

The sessions with Kibor came to an end when there was nothing more he could teach her about how to react to her talent.

One morning Kibor called her. “I was wondering if you would allow Poppy to take part in a little assessment.”

“Will she be in danger?”

“No, she will be perfectly safe.” Kibor winked. “I hope.”

Minerva silently asked Poppy if she wanted to do it and the response was enthusiastic.

“We are all yours.”

He grinned, and he gave her the details of where they were to meet.

The sonar talent moved well through the maze with the explosive charges creating interference. When Yllin had Poppy, Minerva smiled at the excitement that was coming through the link.

Her companion’s body was wiggling with excitement as she was carried through the mock battle. As Yllin tumbled over the finish line, Poppy squealed and flapped her wings in delight.

“How are you doing, Poppy?”

Yllin stroked Poppy before letting her go.

“Well, Master Kibor, how did I do?”

Minerva looked down to where Poppy was butting her fluffy head against her calf. She scooped her up and put her on her regular perch.

“You are a disappointing student, Yllin.”

Minerva could see the woman’s heart sink. “What do you mean?”

He smiled slowly. “Usually, I get to teach for at least three months and I get to chastise my students along the way. You were far too eager to learn. Congratulations, Specialist Yllin Gerocard.”

Yllin’s shoulders slumped with relief.

“Now, you need to continue your combat training, but your instructors have given you a survivalist grade, so you are free to go on missions whenever you gain an assignment.”

Minerva grinned and adjusted Poppy on her shoulder. “That is high praise. It took me six months to get through his training.”

Kibor grinned. “You were a hard case in another way. You had no motivation to succeed, so we had to work on that. Poppy did a wonderful job there.”

Poppy lifted her fluffy head and chirped proudly.

Minerva laughed. “Well, I am glad I stopped by today. Citadel Ohkhan is my home, but I haven’t been back in a while, so I thought a visit with Kibor was in order. I had no idea that Poppy was going to volunteer to be a living target.”

Poppy settled on her chubby toes and wiggled her stubby wings. She was obviously sticking by her decision.

“How sentient is she?” Yllin looked at the creature she had so recently been holding.

Minerva grinned. “Pretty smart. She has the emotional drives of a child about eight years old. She is concerned for my emotional and physical welfare, but when I am safe, she does what she likes. Today was just fun for her.”

“I am glad; it was rather hair-raising for me.” Yllin grinned.

Master Kibor straightened. “Well, I have sent a list of items for the quartermaster to your pad. Specialist Yllin, it is time to gather your kit and be prepared for your first assignment.”

Hopeful, she looked away from the Yaluthu at the instructor. Minerva knew that look. “You think I will go out soon?”

“You never know; so be ready when it happens.”

Yllin shook her hand, bowed to Poppy and gripped Kibor’s arm. “Same time tomorrow?”

“Of course. You are going to need to train with the equipment list I gave you. Now, get going. Minerva is taking me for tea.”

Minerva grinned and put her arm around his shoulders. “Come along, Ancient One, you need to get some hot tea in you to warm those bones.”

He smacked her in the arm and they laughed while Yllin packed up.

Minerva walked slowly with him, aware of his rapid aging and what it meant. He wasn’t long for this world.

“Have you heard from Astien?” he asked her bluntly.

“No. Have you?”

He chuckled. “No, but I am not the woman that he writes sonnets to or draws when he thinks no one is looking.”

She blushed and changed the subject. “Do I have you to thank for the common knowledge of me being a wingless Enjel?”

He shook his head. “No, the report that you filed was made public as the mining consortium was caught in another attack on a minimally populated world.”

She winced. “That would explain it. I have a meeting with the administrator today. I think I am being transferred.”

“Not without your consent.”

She smiled. “I know. Let’s get some tea and talk about something less depressing. How is your love live?”

He cackled. “Talk about depressing!”

They laughed and spent an hour talking and reminiscing before she had to face the next step in a very bad year.

“Specialist Minerva, I have asked you here to consider a permanent posting on a colony world as its Guardian.”

She sipped at the tea and paused. “A what?”

“A Guardian. A single defender of the population and the worlds in the immediate vicinity.”

“Why me?”

The administrator tented his fingers and gave her a long look before answering. “Each assignment we have had you on has been a remarkable success. Dispatcher Nearing has rarely had such glowing comments about a Specialist. This world requires a special knowledge that you possess and a commitment that you can offer.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We are asking you to go to Decla.”

Her polite smile froze. “What?”

“Decla colony is being repopulated with additional Enjel, and this time, they want a Guardian in place to step into action with an immediate response. You have already demonstrated that you are willing to give your all to your people, now they want you to come back.”

“What?”

“The people of Decla have signed a petition to have you come home.” The administrator lifted a cylinder and handed it to her.

Minerva slid a tube of parchment that smelled of herbs out of the cylinder and unrolled it.

The crackling of the parchment beneath her fingers was familiar. She read her name and the words
Please come home.

The signatures filled the page and far beyond. Folk that she had assumed dead had signed and some had included notes that she read through blurry eyes.

To her surprise, Astien Akhiera had added his signature.

“Astien?”

“He is one of the rebuilders that we sent to help the colony. They were a successful social experiment that Jela wanted to expand, but they had to thrive on their own. The attack pointed out that asking a handful of defenders to keep organized military at bay was unrealistic. No one thought that it would happen.”

She wiped at her tears. “And one Guardian?”

“Well, we will have a team of four, eventually. For now, it will be you, Astien and nineteen mech shells. Kibor assures us that you can animate them into defences until help can arrive.”

She chuckled and hiccupped. “I can.”

“Will you?”

She took a deep breath, put one hand on Poppy and nodded. “I will.”

Landing on her home world sent shivers through her.

“Poppy. I want to introduce you to my home. Our home now, I suppose. If you do have babies they will be Endecla.”

Poppy nuzzled her cheek as she prepared to step out.

A winged crowd was gathering, and when she stepped out, there was cheering.

Familiar faces surrounded her, and she felt hugs, touches and handshakes from those she had known all her life.

“You made it, excellent. Come on, Minerva, there is a party waiting for you.” Astien used his wings to scoop out space, and he put his arm around her as he steered her through the crowd.

“So, Guardians, huh?” She gave him a sideways glance.

“It seemed the best way to be close to you while being useful to your people.”

Tears pricked her eyes, and he looked at her with concern. “What? What is wrong?”

“You said precisely the right thing.” She laughed and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight as they walked.

He seemed startled but pleased as they made their way to the city centre.

She looked around and the broken buildings and torn streets were gone. The nightmare was over and the Endecla had woken up and rebuilt with a little help.

Poppy sighed and rubbed her head, nibbling at her hair.

One of the little girls came up and asked, “Miss Nhu?”

“Yes, Timya?”

“Guardian Astien said that your clothing turned into wings. Does it?”

Timya’s mother came over. “You should call her Guardian Minerva, now.”

“It is fine, Lekra. Everyone here knows me. I don’t have to hide who I am.”

They were seated at the place of honour, the table that looked out over all the others filling the public square.

“Do you really know everyone here?” Astien held her hand on the table in full view of the crowd.

“I think so. There are empty tables and that is a little odd. We don’t save space for the dead.”

Astien nodded and the foreman of the power plant raised his fist. Forty Enjel flew in from the surrounding buildings and settled at the tables. They grinned and inclined their heads toward the head table.

Lord and Lady Nhu were there as well as what had to be her mother’s family, Lord and Lady Kirios.

The foreman made welcoming speeches to one and all, asking for an official welcome for the new Guardians.

Astien stood and he tugged Minerva upright.

“I was not born on Decla, but I have felt welcome here during the rebuilding. I will not say that I came to this place out of a sense of duty but rather curiosity. I had met Minerva and heard her censored recounting of the damage here and wished to see the people she had sprung from. Imagine my surprise when I found out more than I had imagined regarding the end of the attack; that the reason for your survival is standing next to me. You all are her family, and it was you she stepped out to defend and avenge, and now, she is here to guard you. I give you, Guardian Minerva.”

The crowd hooted and howled, wings flapping in enthusiasm.

Minerva started speaking and everyone went silent. “I didn’t think I would live, and when I did, I had to do what I could. Timya asked me a question about my clothing. Just so that you are aware, I do have wings.”

She ran her hand down her corset and stepped away from the table as her wings unfurled. The crowd gasped with the exception of the new Enjel. They had seen her or heard of the wings before.

“These wings were made by a master of the mechanical arts. They look pretty, they are functional and they can also do this.” Minerva stepped toward the edge of the table and her wing sliced through the wood with ease.

The crowd gasped.

“Also, this is Poppy. She is a Yaluthu, a healer. When I was taken from here, I was damaged; she has kept me going while I have dealt with what occurred. She kept me in the moment until I wanted to see a glimpse of the future. Looking around today, I see faces that I want to watch grow and learn and reach far into the distance.”

She flexed her wings and then closed them, returning them to the corset form that was now so familiar.

“Each day that Decla survives and moves forward is a triumph. This place was where my parents chose to live a new life, work to create an equitable society where gender no longer caused a portion of the population to be hidden away, contributions to their people never to be known. Today, we look forward to a widespread population where all can contribute what they have inside them and those around them will help bring it out.”