Chapter Six
L itha woke up, had some coffee, and started to putter around her tiny farm. The seasons were changing, and it was time to get the seeds in the ground or, at least, in the barn.
She hummed and puttered around from dawn until noon and then wandered back to have lunch. She took her sandwich out to the porch and sat out there, looking at the sealed barn that seemed to be mocking her.
She finished her sandwich and some iced tea, and with a deep breath, she crossed her yard and went to the barn. She opened the locks, one after the other, lifted the crossbar, and set it aside. She opened both doors and let the light in. The floors were dusty, and the barre was ready. The mirrors were covered with cloth, and she smiled at the serene aura of waiting that her studio had. She bit her lip and debated whether or not to do what she was about to do, and then, she grinned. Time to get back to the barre.
She was sweating but happy when she finished. She could have done most of the work with a light wave of heat, but it would have damaged the wood.
Now that her studio was ready, she needed some new pointe shoes. Her old ones had disintegrated.
She checked the time and saw nineteen messages. Shrugging, she took off and headed for the shoe shop. They were still open, and she still had time.
The fitter had wanted her to try on more than one shoe, but time was limited, so she bought the three pairs he had in mind and headed home again.
While her dinner heated, she sat and sewed the elastic onto her shoes. She wasn t performing, so she didn t need to break them in much.
She was happy. She had forgotten how much just the routine of preparing the room and the shoes made her happy. It was a forgotten joy, and she was reclaiming it.
She put on her shoes, started the music, and began a slow warm-up.
It turned out to be a really good night.
There was a knock on the door to the barn. Litha slowly completed her movements then turned and walked over. Hey, Kritz. Hey, Arcady.
Arcady was standing in the doorway and staring. You are a ballerina?
I was.
Kritz came forward and said, You are in a better frame of mind.
Dancing always lifts my spirits. I had forgotten how much it helps actually to move my body.
She took a towel from a hanger and blotted at her neck and cleavage. She looked at Kritz. What s up?
We have an active with a containment issue. She says she knows you.
Litha blinked. What s her name?
She calls herself Feral.
Litha paused. I will just shower and change. There is iced tea in the fridge.
She took off her shoes, put on her fluffy boots, and walked back to the house. Arcady followed and asked, Wait, so you really do that?
Yes. I used to do it for a living.
Wow. I have been to the ballet a few times with Kritz, and it always made me want to learn. I love the shoes.
The shoes come after your training when your ankles and feet are strong enough. Those who try it early end up injuring themselves. She entered the house and walked straight to the shower, hanging her shoes up on their peg on the way.
The shower was quick, and since her hair was already rock solid, she was ready after a quick rinse. She grabbed one of the water bottles she stashed in the house and walked to her bedroom, drying by heating her skin.
She dressed quickly and kept drinking as she slapped a sandwich together and pressed it between her palms. Heating it into a grilled cheese in seconds.
When ready, she looked to a stunned Arcady, who muttered, I didn t know you could do that.
Litha smiled. I have been in complete control of my activation for twenty years. You think I can t make a sandwich? She took a bite.
No, I just... they said you leaked radiation.
When I was fourteen. I did that when I was fourteen. I have been in control as long as you have been alive, Arcady.
But, the BDC register-
Went off the initial training scans and considered it too dangerous to test me again. She shrugged, ate her sandwich with quick bites, and washed her hands. Kritz had come in and was looking around her home with wonder. It s a farmhouse.
Yeah. It was my grandparents . It s why it was so easy to get me to Aksalla.
Kritz stared. I didn t know that either.
She chuckled. I have been around, and most of my history is concealed from the public or active searches. It has to do with me being a public disaster as a minor. There was a public outcry, and the courts urged them to free my parents and pardon them for their actions. But, despite that, they remained incarcerated until I first took to the sky to mitigate the effect of a meteor shower. There wasn t a stellar guard then, so I just went up and did what I do.
Arcady s eyes were wide. Whoa.
Kritz nodded. Yes, what she said.
Right, should I follow you to the lab?
Arcady paused. Feral isn t at the lab. She s at the detention centre.
Litha s eyes went white-hot. Right. Out of my way.
She left her home and burned through the sky until she saw the detention centre.
The defenses trained on her, and she landed at the edge of the safe zone and stalked toward the high gates.
Halt. Stop. Be identified.
Dr. Litha. Here to see Feral. Open the gates or lose them.
She isn t cleared for visitation.
She powered up, and the gates began to buckle. Lose them it is.
Wait!
Torun dropped near her. Wait. Open the gates.
Vikor pulled up with Drin and got out of his car before he could let her out. Drin said, Litha. Let them open the gates. Let Vikor go first.
Drin paused, and Torun didn t touch her, but he stayed close. Drin walked around to face her. You were just going to walk in?
Sure. Energy weapons can t hurt me. My friend is in there, and she needs to talk to me. I would do the same thing for you or Zera, Drin.
Drin blinked, and her elfin features looked sweet. Really?
Don t worry. Unlike everyone else around you, I don t want to see you naked.
Drin chuckled. Thanks for that.
Someone has to keep you humble.
Are you radioactive right now?
No. Just irritated. It s standard heat right now. I just have a lot of it. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked at Torun. He was blinking at his hand.
Huh. I always thought my hand would turn black if I touched you.
Missed your chance. She sneered. Coward.
He blinked, and his cheeks darkened. I still could request you.
Nope. I resigned. I am now living a life of solitude and withering like the old maid I am.
Vikor came out and waved her in. Litha only.
Litha stepped forward and walked through the gates and into the detention centre. Vikor murmured, They have her in the holding area as she hasn t been charged yet. She s in rough shape.
Yeah, she has to be if she s here.
They walked past the guards who had weapons drawn. Litha rolled her eyes. She hadn t been shot since she was fifteen. Her body melted any projectile that hit it.
She offered herself for a pat down, and the officer declined. Ma am, will you go through the scanner?
She stood in the scanner and then passed into the next section, where cells were lined up. She ran to Feral s scent and opened the door.
Vikor sighed. Was it open?
It was for me.
Feral sat there with her scaled tail no longer in evidence. Her skin and scales were patchy, and her claws were snapped and broken.
Oh, honey bunny. Litha sat with her, and Feral leaned against her and started to cry.
Feral sniffled, and she groaned. Litha checked the heat signatures of Feral s body, and she hissed. She opened her com. Zera. I have a badly injured active female in heat who needs immediate medical attention. She is in the detention centre, and I am not leaving her side.
Zera blinked. Oh, shit. Torun thought you were going berserk. She s an omega?
She is. She s one of Xeva s kin.
Fuck. I am pushing the paperwork through. Stay with her.
I am. I am going to start listing her breaks while you type.
Right. Go.
Wrist, forearm, ankle, three ribs, three fingers, two vertebrae, and her orbital socket on her left side. She dragged in a deep breath. Collapsed lung, internal bleeding, a chunk of her scalp missing, and burn damage to about thirty percent of her dermis.
Shit. Why didn t they get that on intake?
Feral has an electrical interference projection that makes seeing her on scans difficult. I just looked for hot spots.
Oh. The prefect has the request, and I am also sending it to Khytten as Grandma is visiting the triplets and twins right now. Zera sighed and then perked up. Khytten has seen it.
Litha stroked Feral s head. The killings she is accused of are for Urradan war criminals who escaped the purge. She suffered more at their hands than most.
Feral was still crying, but now, she was sniffling and pressing her head to Litha.
Zera paused, Is she touching your skin?
Yes. I haven t been a contact radioactive in about twenty years.
But, your file said-
I know. After I was a teenager, they stopped scanning me. I broke the equipment because I didn t like it, and I was already grieving my parents. She muttered, It was really the wrong time to try giving me a pap smear.
Zera stared. That was... oh, my god. So, you are perfectly safe for contact?
Yes. I tried to tell you when I applied to the BDC. Stop looking so surprised, Vikor.
Fuck. I am sorry. We do sweeps of your office when you aren t there, but they are always clean. Zera paused. Right. The prefect is sending the medical release order. We will keep her until a hearing can be arranged. Medical is standing by.
Feral clutched at Litha. She s a little wary of medics, so I will be with her the entire time.
Understood. Okay, they will be with you soon.
Litha stroked Feral s head. It s okay, honey bunny. We ve got this.
They waited for ten minutes, and then, a group of guards came toward them. We will escort you out.
Litha smiled. I ve got you, bunny.
She lifted her friend carefully, but the panting and distress were still there. Vikor said, I can take her.
I have her, and her limbs are as supported as they are going to get. When we are free of this place, I will fly directly to Z-Tech.
Right. Why did I forget you can fly?
Litha muttered, Because you think I live in my office.
He chuckled. So, what is going on with you? Drin said you are avoiding the office.
Just working through some things. My plans fell through, and I am having to pivot.
I see.
She chuckled as she passed through the checkpoints as a bunch of law enforcement glared at her. She looked at what seemed to be the man in charge. After she is getting medical treatment, I can come back, and we can discuss my decorum while my friend gets her life-threatening injuries treated.
The guard looked at her, and she let her eyes flare white. Look me up, junior. I have saved this world half a dozen times and only endangered this facility once.
Feral chuckled weakly, and the guard shook his head. Not necessary, ma am.
They got past the front desk, and Vikor went to Drin while Torun nodded to Litha. Kritz sent his vehicle home. She walked outside the distance marker and took off, flying carefully with her friend in her arms.
The medical team gently took custody of her, and Kritz was waiting and said, We will take care of her.
Feral muttered, Don t leave me.
I won t. I will be within shouting distance. Promise, but they don t need me there freaking them out.
Litha walked with them, gave Kritz Feral s medical history, and explained that while she was a candidate for Kritz s creepy nanites, she couldn t use Khytten s contribution. She violently reacted to certain things, and people milk was one of them.
Kritz nodded, and Arcady made notes as they went down to the medical lab. They got a fluid line in, and Litha mentioned that Feral had difficulty with painkillers. They won t hurt her, but you have to use enough for someone four hundred pounds.
Kritz blinked. Right. We will turn it up slowly until she s comfortable.
Good. Watch her vitals. She will lie and say she s fine.
Feral chuckled. You are telling all my secrets.
No secrets when you only have one lung working.
The wheezing was still there, but Feral didn t seem to notice it. As they started to move through the checkpoints, Litha kept an eye on her friend s features.
They got to the lab, and Litha stood back as she watched the hive of action around her friend.
When they relieved the pressure by piercing tissue between the ribs, Feral dragged in a wet breath and started to breathe evenly.
Litha smiled and watched as the pain was slowly relieved, and Arcady came back with a case that Kritz removed an injector from. He pressed it against Feral s side, there was a hiss, and Feral slowly closed her eyes.
Litha spoke. Those nanites will leave or die and be absorbed, right?
Kritz nodded. They are on repair and record right now. What is she?
Multi-shifter with complete control.
She copies things?
She is an at-will shifter. She just has to think of it.
Right. Wow.
Zera arrived and said, Litha, how did you meet her?
She came to me. Damaged and bloody. I wrapped up her paws, got her eating again, and then came in from lunch, and there she was, sitting at my computer. I looked at her, she looked at me, and I saw the marks on her hands and stupidly called her bunny.
Feral chuckled. Litha gives me the cutest names.
Rest, you scaly moron. We are going to ask you about what happened when you wake up.
I got the last one on my list. Filled my Bingo card. She chortled. What s my prize?
Rest.
Zera asked, What is she after?
I told you, Urradan war criminals and torturers who didn t make the lists. Feral is feral for a reason. She was dropped in jungles and set to burrow out of sand to destroy vehicles. She s a one-woman destruction crew if she wants to be. But she also loves gardening and baking.
Feral was slowly relaxing as the treatment took hold.
Litha walked over and used a light wave to clean Feral s front. The medics rolled her to her side, and Litha cleaned all the gnarled whip marks and blade carving and helped settle her on clean sheets.
Now that she was relaxing, the scales were fading, and she looked like herself again. Her hands were messed up, and the tingle of her heavy pheromones in the air made her heat more apparent.
When Feral was out, they moved her from the central lab to a quiet room and settled her into bed, and Litha tucked her in with a sad smile.
You ll be fine, Feral. I am going to go and talk to my coworkers.
She left the room and walked up to Zera.
Where did they find her?
On the road about five kilometres from your home. The peacekeeper took a look at her and hit her with a stunner to drop her. From there, it was a call to detention, and he hauled her in. Do you think he assaulted her?
No, she was attacked by someone else. That is why she tried to get back to my place. She wanted somewhere safe, and I wasn t there.
You are here now, and the detention centre wants you reprimanded.
Litha smiled. For what? I offered them options the entire stretch of the way. I abided by the law. As her legal guardian and requested representation, they had no reason to halt me. Them being scared shitless isn t a legal excuse.
Zera blinked. I have to apologize. I read the initial report, and I thought they were accurate. You were never reassessed?
Nope. Not once.
So, I have fucked up.
My guess is yes.
And this is why you snapped.
Correct. It is one thing to be alone at the farm and another to be alone in a room full of partnerships. You are lucky I didn t snap and torch you all.
Zera blinked. Yes. I am getting that idea. But you have other friends?
Sure. I was friends with Nelith, with Feral, a few others here and there around the world. Xeva s duality was always known to me, as was her frustration after she recovered from that accident. Same with Drin s. No secrets. The heat signature always tells.
What would happen if I copied your skill set?
We would be standing here, and everyone would be dead, and the building would be on fire. I have met a copycat before. Their body wasn t built to handle it, and they didn t have self-control, so spontaneous human combustion, here we come.
Zera nodded. Right.
When will the legal idiots descend?
The government is willing to take a tribunal approach.
Okay. We can work with that. When they want her to speak, we need a projector.
Doable.
Good. Vikor is a good representative. He reminds everyone we are dealing with actives.
Zera nodded. I will keep him on retainer. She paused. Do you think you are going to stay with Z-Tech?
Working from home, perhaps. Drin makes an excellent saleswoman. She needs more acknowledgement of her efforts.
Zera nodded again. I think we can look into something along those lines.
I don t even need to stay here. I can get a place in the islands, on an arctic platform, or work from the moon if I can set up a signal. The world is available to me if I am not trying to maintain relationships. I have realized I can be happy by myself, but I need to stop yanking myself back into socializing.
What if I find a match for you?
I am out of the BDC. It doesn t matter anymore. I was borderline unmatchable, and now, I am off the roster. It s done. I am creeping up on forty, and having a child has been blocked from my level of possibility. I won t beg, and I won t pretend to be less than I am.
Zera nodded. Right. Sorry, I hadn t grasped how frustrating that would be. I thought it would be nice nights at the opera and stuff.
It would have been, but he took the escorts he was sleeping with to the opera. I got picnic after picnic after picnic like he was afraid to be seen with me.
I see. She brought up the after-date reports that Litha had dutifully filled out. There it is. Went out, listened to him talk about other women, and returned to base after a picnic. Too much cilantro in the food.
More like that. Over and over. I don t need the money, but I did need the companionship, and that wasn t being offered, which became more obvious over time.
Right. I haven t fucked a situation up like this before.
Litha smiled. Give yourself time. It will happen again. The universe is filled with limitless fuckups. There are more destined for you.
Zera blinked. Why do I feel like I just got spanked?
Litha looked at her deadpan. Oh, you know, that feels different.
Zera grinned. Yeah, it does. This is less fun.