Mauled by Destiny [Tales of the Citadel 17] (6 page)

“He’s a Lyran. Couldn’t you tell?” She shook her head. “He doesn’t smell like a Drevvin Lyran.”

“He isn’t. He is from one of the other surviving colonies. Yarmor, by the smell of him.”

“Is Veera Lyran?”

He frowned. “I don’t think so. Not pure anyway. I don’t know what she is.” Priina caressed his cheek. “Don’t worry about it, just get me some dinner. I have had a bit of unaccustomed exercise today, and I am feeling faint.”

He walked her over to the bed and set her down with her feet up and her back to the headboard with a throw over her. “I will get you something.”

She chuckled softly as she enjoyed the feeling of being waited on hand and foot. It wouldn’t be all the time, but for now, he was eager to please her, and she was willing to make memories of being pampered.

Priina wiggled her toes under the throw and looked around her. If they kept the joined rooms, they would have enough space to not get under foot, though she had no idea what the space on Udell would look like.

She sighed. Two days on a pristine world was wonderful, and while she had looked forward to a few weeks here, she knew that she didn’t need it.

She had made peace with her inner beast, and it had gotten the time in the wild that it craved.

“Why such a big sigh?”

“We will be going soon, won’t we?” He set a tray with tea and biscuits on the bed.

“We will. Balen and Saru have been watching you.

You came to control far more naturally than anyone expected, including me.” She chuckled. “Damn. I should have fumbled a bit more. What will happen next?”

“Well, the timetable was moved up, so instead of Tech and Phase working on your suit, it will be Cadiela of Station 13. She is in residence and has full capability for altering the battle suit for you.”

“Do you have a fancy suit?”

He chuckled. “Yes. Mine is waiting for me in the shuttle. It is hidden behind one of the panels, and Argen makes fun of it whenever we have to go on a mission.”

She blinked. “He is your partner?” Rhanos shook his head. “Not in the manner you are thinking. He is my pilot. He stays in the shuttle while I take the hits.”

“You can’t fly a shuttle?” She sipped at her tea and inhaled sharply at the heat.

“No. I have only been off Drevvin for two years, and it isn’t a skill I ever learned.” She blinked. “Really? I can fly. I mean, I can fly a simulator. Nine different types of shuttle, actually, and seven skimmer or zipper types.”

“That will be handy, but we will still keep Argen as a pilot.”

“Why?”

“Because if you are tired from a long flight, you will not be ready for action, and when they send us, they really need action.” He smiled and lifted the plate to offer her a biscuit.

“So, we will be heading out into deadly peril at every turn?”

He raised his hand and long claws extended.

“Do you think they would set this loose on a peace-keeping mission?”

She laced her fingers with his, her own claw forming. “No, I suppose we are meant for the quick and violent end to a situation. There is no other purpose to this body but speed and death.” He leaned in, took her teacup from her and set it back on the tray. His kiss was tender and slow.

“There are other purposes to these bodies, Priina.

Let me show you how soft and slow can be something to enjoy.”

“I don’t want to upset Veera.” He pressed soft kisses to her neck. “These walls are lined to prevent the passing of thought. Veera will be fine.”

He moved the tea tray out of the way and showed her exactly what the Lyran body could do when death and fury was not the driving force.

A
knock on her bedroom door woke Priina. She heard Rhanos answer it, and soon, he was in his chamber opening the door to a woman who had a case on a hovering lift.

Priina sat up with the sheets to her breast.

“Cadiela I presume?”

The woman bowed her head. “Sorry to wake you. We just need to get this fitting done and test the transformation.”

Cadiela opened her case and began to remove pieces that stacked together into the silhouette of a female form. “Thoola sent us your measurements before and after your shift, so this suit should be able to take the change.”

“Should be?”

“Nothing is certain until it is tested. Now, if you would get out of bed and try this suit on, we will begin the fitting process.” Cadiela smiled.

Priina flipped the covers aside and walked to the suit. “I am guessing that it goes on over skin.”

“That is best. It is fully lined for comfort and insulation when you are as you are now. As you grow into your Lyran shift, the same lining flexes to become an armoured under layer.” Priina wasn’t sure how to get into the armour, but as she approached, it opened up. She turned and leaned into the suit, and it closed around her body, leaving her head exposed and unencumbered.

“The suit recognizes your bio-signature and opens to let you in. Even if someone were able to get between you and the suit, the armour would not close around them. Now, try to walk.” It felt so peculiar to have something pressing on her at all points that her first steps were mere shuffles. As she continued to move, the suit loosened up, the sticking points became smooth and it eventually transformed into something no more restricting than her scar-concealing bodysuit.

Cadiela had beads of sweat on her forehead, and she looked weak. Priina went to the food unit and got some tea and sandwiches. “Here. You look lightheaded.”

“Fitting the armour always takes it out of me.

Until I see you in it, I can’t tell how close the fit is.

Thanks for the food.” Cadiela sat and gratefully ate the snack.

“Can I try a shift?”

“Please. I will get to it the moment I am not so feeble. I have the same skills as other members of the Sector Guard, but I am not designed for repetitive motions. I do better designing the armour than I do fitting it.” She smiled weakly.

Priina took a deep breath and shifted to her Lyran form, the armour fought her for a moment but eventually gave way to surround her in silk and metal.

Cadiela paused with a sandwich halfway to her mouth. “Wow. You are really impressive.” She shifted back to her other form. “Haven’t you seen a Lyran before?”

Cadiela chuckled. “Of course I have but not one like you. There is something in you that radiates power. I am surprised that you don’t know it.”

“How would I? I rarely watch myself while I am in any shape. This one is all scarred up and the other is still frightening to see in the mirror in the morning. It makes brushing my teeth an adventure.”

Cadiela laughed out loud, spluttering as she sipped her tea. “I can imagine it would. Can you try shifting again?”

Priina shifted over and over as Cadiela made minor adjustments until the feel was almost as natural as her own furry skin.

“How does your talent work?” Priina fixed herself a meal, as Rhanos was nowhere to be found.

Cadiela was idly fiddling with her onyx hair and nibbling at her second round of food.

“I key my talent to one suit and compress or stretch the molecular bonds as needed. This suit was particularly difficult as I had to factor in elasticity for your thirty percent increase in height and breadth, not to mention your claws.”

“So, what can strike me with this suit on?”

“You are proofed against most projectiles and the majority of energy weapons. For now, you have the one suit, but after you test it out, another can be made to the same specs. Tech and Phase designed the basics, and I was left to finish the details with material provided by Balen and some minerals pointed out by Saru. So, this suit was a group effort.”

Priina sat comfortably in the armour and smiled at her companion. “This is the first suit? Who made Rhanos’s suit?”

“Rhanos’s suit is based on Lyran designs executed by Tech. He does not have the same resistance to power weapons that you do, but as you are much faster, you will be meeting the enemy long before he arrives. You are wearing the prototype shifter suit for the battle base.

Surprisingly, there are not that many shifters in the Sector Guard or the Citadels.”

“Not that surprising. I am guessing that most shifters just want to stay home and raise little fluff balls of their own. We are fairly environmentally dependent.” That she was referring to herself as a shifter showed her how far she had come in a few days.

“It makes sense. I pity you living at Lowel. It will be barren and there is nowhere to run.” Cadiela’s eyes flashed gold for a moment.

“You are a shifter.” Priina blinked. There had been no clue before now, just a feeling of instant camaraderie.

“I am. I turn into a large cat. It isn’t particularly useful, unlike my secondary talent, but it does mean that I know what you mean about environments. If it hadn’t been for Balen opening his world to us, I am sure I would have gone nuts long before now.”

“Are you stationed at the new base?”

“I am. It is far more appealing than life on the station. Far quieter too. I love running in the moonlight and feeling the light on my fur.” She sighed happily.

Priina smiled and leaned back. “That sounds wonderful.”

“It is. I hope you can visit again. I sense a kindred spirit and would like to talk to you after you have seen some more of the universe. I am guessing that you would have a very interesting take on the situations you are being sent to.” Priina flexed her arm and smiled. “I am sure that my suit will need your expert repairs, and as you mentioned, there would be a second suit required in case of damage or emergency.” Cadiela lifted her teacup. “To meeting again and learning what you are capable of, two things that are very important.”

Priina lifted her own cup in a toast. “To learning how to get out of this suit. Equally important.”

Cadiela laughed, sipped and then set about explaining how to release the metal casing that Priina was currently wearing.

She stepped out with a sigh of relief and walked to the wardrobe to grab a robe. “Oh my.” She pulled out a gown and slipped it over her head, pausing to twirl. “I didn’t know they sent this with me.”

Cadiela was admiring. “You had a l’nal seamstress on Thoola?”

“We did. She taught spinning and weaving to those who had a talent for embedding and empathy.” The wide sleeves were open and draped over her arms when they were still, sliding out of the way when she lifted them. The scars didn’t even look too bad against the deep blue.

“It seems they sent you off with a care package.

Were you an instructor?”

She shook her head. “No. All I know is farming.

I was a student, and I helped out in the barns when my inner beast wasn’t raving for attention. I learned to throttle it down when I was around the herd animals. After a while, they stopped running when I appeared.”

Cadiela whistled softly. “Wow. That must have been tempting.”

Priina shivered. “It was. Twice, I broke free and worried the herd until they were able to calm me down.”

“I can’t be anywhere around herds. It is a relief that Balen is waiting to put forest creatures in this area. I don’t know if I want to be caught up a tree with something fluffy in my jaws.” Priina snickered. “I can empathize with that.”

“I thought you might.”

They sat and chatted in a comfortable manner before Cadiela showed her how to collapse her armour into a carrying shape.

Suddenly serious, Cadiela said, “Always put this on before you leave the shuttle. We have literally had locals fire missiles into the shuttle the moment the door opened.”

Priina felt a chill of warning in that tone. “I understand. Thanks. You have brought me back to reality with a thud.”

“I am not meaning to scare you, but I want you to remain safe so that we can talk again.” Priina reached out and took Cadiela’s hand. An image of a large golden feline with matching gold eyes came to her mind. “You are lovely in your other form.”

Cadiela blushed. “I can see your beast in my mind’s eye as well. You can be far scarier than you give yourself credit for and far more wise. Take care, Priina of the Cial of Drevvin.”

“Take care, Cadiela of Balen Base.” Cadiela cleared up her casings, and after one hug, she left Priina alone.

Priina looked around and went in search of her mate. It was time to step into her new suit and start doing what she was meant to.

A
fter finding Rhanos and Argen in the empty dining hall, she saw something in Argen’s eyes that she had never thought to see. Masculine interest.

Rhanos was on his feet and had his arm around Priina in an instant. “Argen was just telling me that there is an urgent request for our assistance.”

“If the request is urgent, we should go. I will grab my new suit and meet you at the shuttle.” Argen raised his hand. “May I say—before you change—that your dress is truly flattering, much more so than your Citadel robes. I had no idea that you had such a figure.”

Rhanos scowled at him. “I knew, and you keep your gaze to yourself.”

Priina chuckled. “Back in a moment, I will meet you outside.”

She lifted her skirt and darted up toward her rooms. She met Veera in the hall and nodded with a smile before rushing past.

Out of reflex, she entered through Rhanos’s door and rushed to the wardrobe, selecting a bodysuit and boots for her first assignment. A new Citadel robe was hanging, and it made her smile.

It was no longer an apprentice robe but, instead, the deep forest green of a Shift Master. She slipped it on over the bodysuit and grabbed the formed handle of the battle suit. It was not as heavy as it appeared and came easily to her hand.

Whistling happily, she made her way down the stairs and out the doors to the expanse of the plateau. She sighed softly as she mentally waved farewell to the forest where she had learned to release her control.

With a stiffened spine, she walked to the shuttle where Argen was waiting. “Rhanos is inside checking his armour. Apparently, I will be dropping you in one hell of a situation.”

“How far is it?”