Quell (2 page)

Her instructor chuckled softly. “Don’t apologise. Fire healers are the best. They don’t miss anything, and folks don’t seek them out unless absolutely necessary. Solar is one of the best that we have had out of your world.”

“Thank you, Solar. I appreciate your effort. Now, for my next beating, but at least it will be a little less physical.”

Yimtoa got to his feet, still munching the fruit that he had been consuming. “Come along, Amylia Caxton. Smith is waiting.”

The other instructors inclined their heads at the mention of her tutor. Amylia fought her way to her feet, stabilized and nodded. “Right. Lead on.”

He continued to eat his fruit while he led her through the halls of the station, and then, he showed her her next destination. “This is the silent hall. I would recommend you keep your mouth to yourself. You will learn fast enough, but I think avoiding some pain might be in order.”

He winked and left her.

The urge to remain silent was with her from the moment she stepped through the doorway. Smith was sitting by a large viewing window and sipping at tea. There was another cup sitting across from her.

As Amylia approached, she took in the designs of the teacup and the pattern on the side. She inclined her head, knelt stiffly and placed her hands on either side of the cup.

When Smith replayed the gesture, Amylia took the cup in both hands and sipped.

Everything had been completely silent until this point when Amylia set her cup back on the table. When the minute click was heard, it reverberated around her and returned in a crushing wave of sound that made her cover her ears.

Smith was unmoved, as were the other four people in the room. Apparently, if you made the noise, you suffered it.

Amylia drew in a quiet, shaking breath and nodded. She got the hint.

Three hours of pantomime and mental push and pull had her ready to work on a volunteer. When Smith raised her hand, a young man knelt next to them, and his mind pushed at Amylia’s. She acted on reflex and shut him down.

Smith smiled, and they repeated the exercise over and over.

A few of the volunteers cried out, but when the room punished them, they passed out in silence.

At the end of the exercise, Smith smiled, got to her feet and gestured for Amylia to come with her. When they were out in the hall, they walked back to Amylia’s quarters.

“You are getting the hang of this. Three more days of intensive training and then your ride arrives. I think you will do very well in your new job, but remember that your mind depends on your body and vice versa. Keep them both in fighting shape.”

“Why are you here? I mean, why are you tutoring me?”

Specialist Smith smiled. “Because you wanted to know more, and there is more. So very much more. I want to make sure you don’t only see it, you revel in it.”

To both of their surprises, Amylia hugged her. It was her first step off the edge of the world, and she had a friend with her.

* * * *

Six months later, Null Caxton got up and got ready for work. She braided her hair in a coronet around her head, pulled on the star-studded, armoured bodysuit and headed to the mess hall for breakfast.

Nothing she wore could be used as a weapon, and no one could get near her if she didn’t allow it. She was the first shift of Nulls in the talented section of Janial Prison, and it was a task that had taken getting used to.

She wasn’t allowed to make friends with the inmates, but she could speak with them at select intervals.

The other Nulls were all of differing species, and they didn’t enjoy being around each other, so when Caxton saw two other Nulls having breakfast, she nodded politely, got her food and sought her own table.

She ate quickly and got to her feet the moment she was done. After her null shift, she had to be in court, and that was one part of her job that she actually enjoyed.

Her first few months in her position, Null Caxton had been nervous when appearing in front of the High Court of the Nyal Imperium. Her presence kept a few of her more aggressive prisoners from burning the judges or freezing them, for that matter. Caxton was still amazed on a nearly daily basis that she was able to quell power and emotion for a living.

She headed down the halls and went through the ocular and genetic scans as well as a proof-of-power station. Null Caxton entered her block, and an exhausted Null Kormingate greeted her with relief.

“You are early. Thank you.”

“Go, get some rest. You look like you need it.”

Kormingate nodded and walked out with her slow and careful pacing proving her exhaustion.

Caxton settled in the monitor’s chair and elevated it to view her block.

She activated the announcements. “Good morning, ladies. Caxton is online. Please behave accordingly.”

A few called out morning greetings, and Caxton settled in with her mind broadcasting a calming wave.

Checking the logs, she sighed. Kormingate had neglected to speak with her assigned prisoners. That added them to Caxton’s roster.
What was she doing all night?

Caxton took a closer look at some of the door hinges and grimaced. “Maintenance bots, please attend cells seven, eight, eleven, fifteen and twenty-two. Full assessment on containment and structure is requested.”

Bots were the only safe method of repairing the building while the prisoners were in the common area.

It took her an hour to work through the maintenance that should have been done by Kormingate. Forced retirement was not too far away, but Caxton had no idea what retirement for a Null entailed.

She settled the chair and got out of it, locking it down before she went for a walk through the block. Everyone was out and in the common area. Food had been consumed and implements accounted for and put away.

“Good day, ladies. How is everyone today?”

Her three dozen inmates looked at her, some scowled and a few smiled.

“Juara, you were on the schedule for counselling regarding your court case. Would you care to speak with me, or would another Null—”

Juara leaped to her feet and smiled. “You, please. Now, please.”

Broadcasting a five-hundred-metre radius was now par for the course. If anyone got closer than three, her mind tripped into failsafe and everyone dropped.

For now, she just messed with talents and kept folks calm.

She took the rich purple woman to a nearby table, and they spoke of what Juara hoped to get from the court and what had prompted her initial infraction.

Caxton listened and compared what she knew of Nyal law with the acts of piracy that Juara was guilty of.

“If you plead to be sent to a colony world, it will be your best bet at survival. The plea is up to you, but killing Imperium troops is not going to go down well. I cannot make a judgment for you, but a colony world allows you hope at future freedom.” Caxton spoke calmly with emphasis on the last two words.

Juara frowned, blinked and smiled slowly. “Got it.”

“That said, if you do reoffend, the penalty is death without trial. Do keep that in mind.” Caxton nodded with a tight smile.

Juara got up, and Caxton turned to collect her next prisoner.

She went through the Kormingate’s prisoners and then focused on her own, checking on their pleas and how they were planning on representing themselves.

Kreatha Mrkadu was as lean and elegant as always when she finally sat across from Caxton.

“Have you given thought to your plea?”

“I have. You are correct. While the Imperium’s ambassador claimed that he had the right to insult my family, Rohul never authorized an embassy on its soil. He had no power, no right, and I was within my rights to have my trees rip him apart.”

Caxton winced, but she nodded. “If you are ready to enter the plea, we will be going to the trial later in the day.”

She frowned. “I thought Null Iolo was coming with me.”

Caxton chuckled. “It seems that there is something making the Nulls ill. I have been pegged for your court hearing.”

Kreatha frowned. “Will you stay next to me the whole time?”

“Of course. That is what I am there for.”

A flicker of relief brightened Kreatha’s features. “Good. That’s good.”

Something about the way she said it kept Caxton on edge for the rest of her shift.

When Null Yoplia took over the block, Caxton grabbed a meal and returned to pick up Kreatha at the court exit.

Kreatha’s striped features looked tense.

“It will be fine, Kreatha. Ambassadors that grab other men’s wives get torn to pieces all the time.”

Kreatha chuckled. “They do on Rohul.”

They were both relaxed as they left the cellblocks and walked the halls to the courthouse built into the station.

The observation windows let the prisoners see nothing but space all around them. It was an interesting feature.

The judges were seated on their raised dais, and it was time to start the show.

Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judges all spoke before Kreatha made her statement. She stuck to her guns. Rohul was not officially part of the Imperium. It had neither been surrendered, conquered nor bound by treatise. There was no reason for the ambassador to have attempted an assault on Kreatha and every reason for her to defend herself.

The judges were about to rule when a flicker of shadow caught Caxton’s attention. The windows exploded, men with guns came running through the open wounds in the station, somehow making headway against the vacuum that was removing all the air.

Caxton felt Kreatha grip her wrist a moment before a fist struck her. Damn, she didn’t see it coming.

Her talent spluttered and another jolt struck her. This time, it was power, and it fried her nervous system in short order. She was down for the count.

Kreatha woke with a breather on in the med bay of her flagship. Her husband was at her side.

She pried the mask away and pulled him in close for a kiss. “Artruo. I missed you.”

He chuckled. “It has been six months, love. I have more than missed you, but this was the first time that they let you out where we could get you.”

He gripped her waist, and she wanted nothing more than to lose herself in his arms, but something was nagging at her. “How long have I been out?”

“Three days. We set course for home the moment that we had you and that guard of yours.”

She sat up so fast, she cracked into his skull. “Caxton! Where did you put her?”

He gave her a sly grin. “Your brother had an excellent idea for dealing with the Null. He put her in an SRT on unlimited repeat. She hasn’t been a problem.”

Kreatha felt like throwing up. “She has been in the machine for three days?”

“Yeah, the men keep taking bets on how long she will last.”

She shoved him out of her way, got off the bed and ran for the research bay.

She looked at the men watching the vid and readouts and barked a command. “Out!”

They scattered. Her brother tried to explain his master plan, but she backhanded him.

She went to the machine and lowered the settings slowly, with tears tracking down her face. Caxton had been beaten before she was put in the machine.

Her one friend in that hideous place, the one person who wanted her freedom as much as she did, who treated everyone with fresh eyes and no inborn prejudice was barely alive.

The machine had offered rudimentary medical treatment and life support, but Caxton’s pulse was so faint it was nearly undetectable.

Kreatha opened the unit but couldn’t look at the raw and torn mess that her friend had become. Death by forced pleasure was a joke to the men, but the invasive methods of the high settings were a brutal and cruel way to go.

Artruo came in, and he grunted. “What a mess.”

“Get a medic. Get them all. She needs healing, and she needs it now.” Kreatha hauled at her to free her from the machine. The blood made her skin stick.

Artruo went to the wall and ordered every medic and healer to the research bay.

“Why does it matter? She was one of your captors.”

“Matter? She was my friend, Artruo. She kept me safe. Kept all of us safe. Other Nulls would play with us, but for six hours a day, we could relax. She talked to us. Walked with us, and they did this.
This!
” Her tears were coming fast and thick.

“Let me take her, love. You can barely walk. I will take her to the gurney, and she will get help. I promise.”

Kreatha reluctantly stepped aside and let her husband pick up her friend. Their attachment had been sudden, without the undercurrent of sexuality that other Nulls had encouraged. Equal and different. It had been a very basic equation. Neither of them were native to Nyal space and laws, and it had bound them together.

Artruo lifted Caxton, and her limp body appeared devoid of life. He settled her on a gurney as the medics and healers came in.

Kreatha yelled, “Fix her! You broke her, fix her!”

Artruo came and held her tight as the men moved around her and the healers began to work. When the screams started, Kreatha cried again. It was going to be a long road back for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Iolo had deserved to die, not Caxton.

* * * *

The Sexual Reflex Test was not a test, it was a computer program designed to stimulate a person to orgasm. Amylia had had one before, and she wasn’t a fan.

When Kreatha’s brother sentenced her to die by SRT, she knew it was going to be slow, painful and humiliating. Apparently, that was the desired effect.

Every orgasm weakened her until she started blacking out. The machine would wait, and then, it would start again. At a certain point, pain tipped into the equation and became part and parcel of her release. She cried, she screamed but she didn’t beg. There was no use in begging. They were enjoying this too much.

She could smell her own blood, feel the raw nerves and tried not to move. The machine started over if she moved.

She heard Kreatha come in and heard her confirmation of what Amylia had thought to be a friendship and then more pain.