Lesser (3 page)

Iridia found the fold-down seat, and she slipped into it, tightening the harness as much as she could. The blue fairy flew up and tapped her nose, leaving an electronic tingling sensation.

“Blue likes you. She doesn’t like many people.” Gwyn grinned. “Here we go.”

The monitors showed their increasing speed until they were skimming out of the Terran solar system.

“Jump site acquired. Jumping now.” Gwyn’s eyes glowed.

Iridia felt the sensation she had read about and swallowed as she was in two places at the same time for a moment. When they settled, she shook her head and looked at the monitors and their display of new stars.

“You can unclip the harness now. We will be travelling through this system for eleven hours.” Gwyn unhooked herself from the ship.

“You plug into the ship?”

“She doesn’t like to jump alone. She could, but she is a little fussy about being in two places at the same time.” Gwyn grinned as she finished her unplugging.

“Is it rude to ask why you literally plug in?” Iridia watched Gwyn get to her feet.

“Come with me, Iridia, and I will explain things to you. As a Guardian, you will know about the fairies soon enough.” The captain of the ship walked down the hall and Iridia followed her.

The mist coiled around their feet and tagged along.

Gwyn led her to the galley and showed her to a seat. “I will get some tea. You had better get used to it. One tea or another is the more common beverage on the world you will live on.”

Iridia nodded. “I was briefed and my parents are tea drinkers, so it became less of an issue.”

Gwyn set a pot of tea in front of her and poured. “Good. It was the hardest thing to get used to. With my malformation, I tracked coffee far more easily than the subtle scent of tea.”

“You have my attention.”

“I was blind and badly burned when I arrived in the Nyal Imperium. I was dependant on those around me for navigation and information, and it was frustrating as hell. Being wired to the ship was part of the price I was willing to pay.”

Iridia sipped at her tea and waited.

Gwyn smiled. “I was born blind with no link between my brain and eyes. When I was a child, I suffered burns in a house fire that caused scarring over seventy percent of my body. I was miserable and hopeless until the Volunteer project offered me a chance to put my body on the line for the chance at a future. I took it.”

“They created the missing link?”

“They did and gave me every spectrum of sight they could imagine. This suit protected my body, but my partner has been working on helping my skin become a little more robust. It is working pretty well.” Gwyn smiled.

“And the fairy?”

“Oh, the ships are genetically engineered to match their pilots. Blue is bonded to me as I am to her. She is literally part of me.” The pilot chuckled. “We are part of a group of five ships and pilots in total. Each has a Terran pilot with a physical defect that could only be corrected by extensive surgery. We all went into it with open eyes, so to speak, and have come out stronger, with friends and an unlikely family.”

Iridia sipped at her tea while the fog on the floor spiralled upward and wrapped around Gwyn. Gwyn held her hand out and the fog swirled around it.

“When we are home, it is easier for Durz to just be himself. The sex gets a little weird, but he is comforting to have around.”

The cloud tightened on Gwyn and she chuckled.

Iridia smiled. “I am happy that you seem so content.”

“I hope that you find something similar. The world you are heading toward has had its share of issues.”

“What can you tell me about it?”

Gwyn nodded her head. “Drink your tea. You are going to need fortification for this.”

Iridia followed orders. It seemed like the safer option.

They returned to the command deck after tea and Gwyn sat in her chair. “Blue, bring up the images of Tharos Prime.”

Iridia watched the holographic image form and gently turn in front of her.

Gwyn took on the lecturing tone that Iridia was all too familiar with. “Tharos Prime was a thriving, sentient planet with an Avatar in power and trade agreements with all the worlds around it. A rebellion formed amongst the population, and they urged an uprising against the Avatar that hosted the mind of their world. After centuries, they began to believe that it was not a true Avatar but rather a being engaging in self-serving actions to form a dictatorship.”

Iridia knew enough about human politics to guess what happened next.

“The uprising surged and assassinated the Avatar in a brutal and gruesome manner. Tharos Prime rose up in anger, and in sixty days, there wasn’t a living sentient soul on the surface. It killed all of its people in revenge for its Avatar.”

“How many?”

“Four billion.”

Iridia closed her eyes in respect for the lives lost before opening them again. “Why is there a Guardian base there?”

“Five years ago, Tharos Prime agreed to allow refugees on its surface provided that their bloodlines were not those of the original Tharosians. The refugees are all under threat of extermination on their own world, but some of them are from conflicting cultures. There are hostilities rising and peacekeepers cannot be posted because of Tharos’s attitude toward certain Nyal species that descended from his own.”

“It is a long-standing hate then?”

“Very much so. There are also talents in the mix of refugees, so a Guardian outpost is called for to keep the traders and visitors safe.”

“The what?”

“Didn’t I mention? Tharos Prime is a trading hub and a mineral-rich world. Those who live there are becoming some of the wealthiest citizens in the sector. They are regaining their power and becoming a people once again, though they are struggling in their different cities to find harmony between those born to be in conflict with each other.”

“It sounds like a complex situation.”

“It is. That is why the Guardians are needed. They are required not only to physically intervene, but also to be a symbol of a united Tharos Prime.”

Iridia blinked. “A symbol? No one said anything about public appearances.”

Gwyn laughed. “You will rise to the occasion when you are called upon. I can see that much in you. You have an inner strength that all of your instructors noticed. If they didn’t think you could do this, they would not have put your name forward for the position and the Imperium would never have snapped you up.”

Iridia blinked.

“This is not a charity. If you are not useful, you are not chosen. You have been chosen, so consider yourself lucky. This life is not for everyone, but for those who can adapt and thrive, it can be magical.”

“What if I don’t thrive?”

Gwyn turned toward her and Iridia got the feeling that the woman was seeing far more than her physical appearance. “You will. Giving up is not in your nature.”

With that, Gwyn gave her a tablet loaded with all the species currently on Tharos Prime. “Study up, Iridia. Your test starts in three days if all the lanes are clear.”

Iridia took the tablet and nodded. “Thank you, Gwyn. Thank you, Blue, for the image of my upcoming home.”

The buzzing ball of blue appeared again and zipped around Iridia’s head, leading her back to her quarters.

She took the hint and went to study her upcoming world. There was a lot to learn and only three days to learn it.

Iridia enjoyed her time on the
Blue Fairy
. She always had someone to talk to, whether it was Gwyn, Durz or the ship itself.

The sense of companionship was strange to her, but part of her had always craved it without her mind truly knowing that it was an issue. She could feel her heart growing and could not imagine that it could ever be a bad thing.

Waking on her final day on the ship, she was seized with intensity. Blue was hovering above her and zipping around frantically. Something was up.

A quick solar shower, a refitting of her bodysuit and she was ready to see what the fairy was trying to tell her.

She could hear voices coming from the command deck and followed the spot of blue light until she was entering the space filled with energy that she wasn’t expecting.

Gwyn had her back stiff, and it was obvious that Gaze was in the house. Her posture and even the set of her eyes changed while she addressed the stranger across from her. Shiver was at her side, and they were both serious.

Iridia faded against the wall and moved cautiously into the room.

“I demand to see her. She is not an authorized recruitment despite what my son has said.” The newcomer put her hands on her hips and tapped her bare foot. She was wearing a Grecian-style gown and her hair was up in elaborate braids.

“It does not matter what you authorized; Zanthan Ibin has requested her, and we will deliver her to Tharos Prime.”

“My son does not know what he needs. He is only allowed four Guardians, himself included. A woman will be useless in the situations he will be entering.”

Gaze flicked her eyes toward Iridia and gave her a small nod.

Iridia moved quietly into the room until she was next to Gaze and Shiver.

“I do not believe myself to be useless. I have a talent for weaponry and an ability to learn. My body is fit and my mind is quick. I will be an asset on Tharos Prime.” It took all of her nerve, but she let her camouflage fade until she was meeting the blue and copper gaze of the woman across from her.

The woman blinked. “Who are you?”

“I am Iridia Graves of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra. I have been taught by combat and weapons instructors until they were satisfied that I had mastered what they had to teach me. I can handle thirty types of guns and twenty-two different knife assemblies. I can keep myself alive and protect those around me.”

The woman blinked, her skin was a soft moss green, which made her eyes quite startling. A secondary set of lenses shot across her blue and copper eyes.

Iridia identified her original species, Liankur. It did not account for the copper in the eyes, but it did account for the bright blue.

Copper filled the eyes completely. “
You have shocked her, Mistress Graves. She did not see you there. I am Grethan, Sivengea and I have been together since her mate died. She did not know she was pregnant until we had joined, and by then, it was too late to alter things. Zanthan is her son, and she is very protective of him.”

Gaze smiled. “Iridia, you are now speaking to the Avatar of the star we just passed. Grethan is our translator in dealing with Tharos Prime.”

Grethan’s posture was different from Sivengea’s. The star was powerful and knew it. There was no room for hostility in its gaze. It had seen worlds born and torn apart and that knowledge was in those eyes.

“I apologize for staring. I have only just learned of the possibility of Avatars, but to have one in front of me has surprised me quite a bit.”

Grethan smiled.
“You are honest; that is good. Deception irritates me. I was surprised that Sivengea could not see you. You were a flickering shadow, but you were definitely there.”

Iridia smiled. “I was just trying not to be noticed. Would you like to see me hide?”

“Please.”

Iridia faded against the wall and closed her eyes. She stilled her mind and became nothing.

After a minute, Grethan chuckled.
“Excellent. Well done. If I could not see all spectrums, I would not know where you were.”

Iridia opened her eyes and smiled at the Avatar. “Will that calm your host?”

Grethan laughed.
“It has indeed. She apologizes for her ire. Her son has dubious taste in women, and she was terrified that you were a piece of skirt for
his amusement. Now that your skills are not in doubt, she will get used to the idea of you being with him around the clock. I believe much of the objection lies in your clothing.”

Iridia looked down. “This is appropriate for my station in the Alliance.”

“But not for your station on Tharos Prime. You need to wear the indigenous garb of your new world.”

“And I will, but I need to land there first. I have no one to compare my clothing to except your host, and I am guessing that she wears a style all her own.”

“That she does. She is calm now. Would you like to speak to her?”

“If she is prepared to speak to me and Gaze and Shiver don’t mind me taking up their command deck for a while.”

Gaze waved her hand. “Take all the time you like. We are still travelling while you talk.”

The eyes of the Avatar returned to blue and copper. “I apologize for my earlier hostility. Zanthan has always been a little more interested in women than good sense. I worry about him being in the company of the attractive and useless.”

“I hope I am neither. Now, what would you like me to wear?”

Sivengea blinked. “A gown similar in style to mine with panels of fabric at the shoulder to cover your arms when you are standing still. It should cover you to your ankles.”

With everyone watching, the Masuo shifted and became a long gown with soft folds, the fabric panels on her shoulders did warm and cover her arms. Tendrils that could not be seen by the others reached down and transformed her boots into sandals. She kept her foundation garments and let a crisscross tie run through her thoughts.

Sivengea was amazed and Gaze looked at her with envy.

The pilot asked, “Masuo?”

“Yes, it was a gift from my instructors. They thought it would be useful in my concealment, and it does make the hiding easier.”

The sensation of cool air around her legs was a little odd, but she stood still as the Avatar examined her.

“That is very well done for not seeing a particular fashion in person. You will be passable when you arrive.” Sivengea smiled.

“Thank you. My bodysuit is my default so that will be how I arrive. This will take shape once I have officially become a Guardian, though combat in a dress is going to be a little awkward.”

Sivengea frowned. “I suppose that as you are coming in an active capacity, some alterations can be made to the dress.”