Blazing Serious (3 page)

“Oh. Well, pleased to meet you on that front. Outfitting, you said?”

He grinned. “Welcome officially to Citadel Ypra.”

“It is a pleasure to be here.” To her surprise, she meant it. Together, they went in to get her dressed to wear fire.

Two months passed with her spending every day working out, studying and working on her control of fire, with occasional forays to the local worlds to watch other specialists in action. Without fear of burning her suits, she could generate a bit of heat on her own and pull heat from a multitude of sources.

Today, she was working on shattering rock by heating and cooling it rapidly. When the rock burst, she jerked back and ducked. The shattering stone cut through the skin on her cheek, which was the only part of her body exposed. Her armoured suit took care of the rest.

She pressed her fingers to her cheek and came away with blood. “Damn it.”

“You had better get that seen to.” Viika, her trainer, looked at the wound.

“I am going. Save my spot.”

Viika snorted and started brushing together the shattered chunks of onyx.

With her hand clamped to her face, she headed to the healers’ offices, and she collided with a man entering the offices at the same time. She kept her hand on her face and scowled. “Excuse me.”

He looked at her and shook his head as he brushed past her to the check-in desk. He spoke to the receptionist in low tones, and she nodded.

She came up behind him and waited her turn with blood running down her glove. The receptionist glanced at her and dismissed her for a moment before she took a second look.

“Oh, Specialist Artu. I did not see you there. What can I do for you?”

“I have had a training accident and need to have my face fixed.” She pulled her hand away from her cheek and turned her head.

The woman flinched and quickly called a healer.

The man turned, and when he saw the wound, he stepped back. “Apologies, I did not realise you were injured.”

“Why else would I have been heading into the healers’ offices?” She sighed.

He frowned. “I don’t know.”

A healer came out and saw the wound, taking her by her free hand to one of the cubicles.

As the curtain was drawn, Jimra saw the man head into one of the rear offices with a Minder. He really might not know which way was up if he was in need of a Minder.

She sat still while the healer trailed fire along her face, and she took what was left to store for later.

“You are doing very well here, Specialist. I have admired your ability to adapt to our customs.”

“Thank you. I do try.” She took the slight prickle of pain and stowed it away with the fire.

Her cellular ability to store heat and use it for her own purposes had finally been determined by intense investigation. Yoris had a similar setup, but his body generated the power by hormonal exchange.

Her relationship with her DNA donor had gotten to a friendship that she still found surprising. Orden wasn’t surprised; she knew exactly how charming Yoris could be.

The healer finished and wiped his hands. “Done. You heal remarkably well.”

“I could have cauterized it, but then, it would scar.”

He smiled and nodded. “That probably would. I am shocked that you didn’t scream.”

“Fire and I are old friends. I can tolerate a lot of burn before I scream.”

The shout from the back of the offices indicated that not everyone had a high tolerance for pain.

Her healer looked nervous. “Do you mind if I check that out?” he headed out of the room.

She went to the sink and washed the blood out of the uniform as best she could. “Please. Go ahead. Let me know if I can do anything.”

The sounds of pain turned into a fight.

“Specialist Artu, help!”

She ran to the back, following the noise and found the Ypra man holding the Minder up by the neck while her healer tried to pull him away.

She reached out, touched his neck and pulled his body heat. She took just enough to knock him out and guided his falling body toward a couch.

“Thank you. He is a recently released Negotiator who still has an issue with agoraphobia, but when I touched his mind, his frustration overwhelmed him and he exploded into panic.”

She looked at the man who didn’t look like he could be afraid of anything. He was tall, wide at the shoulder with a sharp jawline. His midnight blue hair was waving back from his forehead, but she couldn’t see his eyes.

“I have him under control. Can you help wake him up?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I can, but it isn’t my favourite thing to do.”

“Please.”

Jimra walked around the couch to the man’s head, and she pressed her fingers to his temples. With focus and concentration, she warmed his blood up in small increments until his body took over.

She pulled her hands back and stepped aside as the medic and the Minder moved around him, addressing him as Huros and helping him sit up.

She had no reason to stay, so she slipped out the door and headed for the practice grounds. The moment she was outside and clear of any interaction with another living being, she burst into flame to burn off her blood.

“Viika, your day isn’t over yet. I am up for a second round.”

Her trainer looked up from her book and rose from the bench she had been reading on. “Better?”

“Better and in a fighting mood. Let’s turn this up.” She grinned and started to set up the stones in a circle.

Viika grinned and waved the rest of the blocks into position. “What do you have in mind?”

“I am going to break each and every one of those, and I am going to do it in a matter of seconds.”

“Really?”

“Stand back. This is going to get a little dangerous.” She didn’t know where this energy was coming from, but she used it.

She stood in the centre of the ring, and she began to raise the temperature of the rocks, using sunlight and vibrating it until it was enough to make the stone glow. Just as they glowed white hot, she pulled all the heat out of them and dropped to the ground.

The explosions were tremendous. Her suit caught the chunks of stone, and the arms she had wrapped over her head kept her from any damage. When the last fleck of broken stone stopped tumbling, she lifted her head and grinned. “Well, I think that worked.”

She stood and shook herself until all the stone was off her suit.

Viika was behind her telekinetic screens with wide eyes. “How did you...that was...You carved up the wall.”

Jimra turned and looked at the wall where chunks had come away and pitting was extreme. It was a blast wall and had taken quite the beating.

“Wow. That was interesting.”

“What got into you?”

Jimra shrugged. “I have no idea.”

* * * *

“Specialist Huros, how are you feeling?” the Minder was checking his mental stability; he could feel the touch on his mind.

“Better. Calmer. It is strange. I haven’t felt this relaxed since I first went into the armour.” Huros felt something on his temple, and he touched it. Blood coated his fingers. “Did I hit my head?”

The Minder looked at the healer, and they shook their heads.

“No, you were a little enraged, so we called for help. A specialist was nearby, and she helped sedate you.”

“She? Are you sure it was a she?”

The Minder scowled. “Of course. Why?”

He showed them the blood. “It is an old tradition, and the odds are against us finding each other, but the woman who touched me is
sympathetic.
I can feel her mind against mine, bleeding off my frustration.”

The Minder smiled. “I guess you don’t need that Yaluthu. Too bad, it is already on the way.”

Huros rubbed the blood between his fingers and his thumb. He raised it to his nose and inhaled. He looked up in shock. “She isn’t Ypran.”

The healer inhaled. “That is correct, but if she is getting your frustration, I believe that she is now in need of therapy.”

The Minder caught on and straightened. “I believe that I should do an assessment immediately.”

Huros smiled. “I think that would be a good idea. I would like to meet the woman who is keeping me sane.”

Jimra was busy sweeping up the chunks of rock; she was humming a song her mother used to hum while she was administering stitches.

She shook her head now and then, the frustration and fear kept surfacing, but she blasted them away with her logic. She had no reason to be frustrated and no reason to be afraid. Heck, she didn’t even need to breathe half the time. When she used her talent, her body manufactured the oxygen she needed.

Viika continued to help her sweep up, and they had shovelled everything into a bin when a strange parade came out. The healer that had treated Jimra, the Minder who had worked on the other patient and the other man himself.

All three men were staring at Jimra, and her mind took it as a threat.

She burst into flame and stared at them; Viika moved to intercede.

“Gentlemen. What are you doing here?”

Jimra was fighting with control. She didn’t produce flame; she redirected it. This was exceptionally strange.

“Instructor Viika, my patient has found that your trainee is
sympathetic
to him. He is coming to her for a formal introduction as their minds are already meshing.”

Viika stared at the man in question then turned to Jimra. “Did you mix blood with this man?”

Jimra scowled. “No. There might have been some blood on my hands from the cut, but I burned it off after I left the healers’ offices.”

“And you touched his skin?”

“Yes. I had to knock him out, so contact was required. If I got some blood on him, I am sorry. My suit covered the colour of blood.”

Viika sighed and rubbed a hand along her black-red hair. “It isn’t that simple. If you two are
sympathetic,
you have compatible brain rhythms. The blood acted as a keying mechanism. His mind dumps into yours, and your mind locks to his.”

Jimra’s flames flared white. “There was nothing in the documentation about this. I read all I could about Ypra physiology, and there wasn’t anything about that.”

Viika groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. “It isn’t something we talk about. We like to think we have moved beyond our more base reflexes.”

“So you pretend they don’t happen?”

Viika shrugged. “Something like that.”

The three men were staring at Jimra in shock as the two ladies carried on their conversation.

Jimra sighed and dissipated her fire. “So, how does this get undone? I am tired of being irritated and scared.”

The man she was linked to jerked his chin in surprise. “It can’t be undone.”

“Why not?” She scowled at him. Jimra walked to him with long strides and poked him in the centre of his chest.

“My mind is linked to yours. It cannot be undone without damaging one or both of us.”

“Aha! So it can be undone.” She smirked.

To her surprise, he threaded his hand through her hair and he kissed her. Jimra froze in place and felt the surge of lust and pleasure from his mind into hers.

She paused for a moment before she returned the kiss, touching the side of his neck with her hand. Her gloves covered her fingers, but she stroked his neck with her fingertips while she learned the taste of him.

They stood in that moment for minutes, minds linked and lips touching. When he finally released her, she blinked at him. “What is your name?”

“Huros. Master Huros, analyst. What is your name?”

“Specialist Jimra Artu.”

“That isn’t an Ypran name.” He said it as if he already knew it.

“It is not. Well done.” She smiled and backed out of his reach. “Now that we have introduced ourselves, I think I need to go and fly off some of this tension.”

She took two steps back and flew up and away, burning off some of the fire that was roiling inside her. She got up beyond the cloud layer and let her fire go.

Oh, that’s better.
She began a slow descent in a spiral, and she saw Yoris approaching her on a matching trajectory.

He flew next to her, and they slowly came down. His body language was protective as he escorted her back to the practice yard.

They landed twenty metres from the yard, and he turned to her, “What is happening, Jimra?”

“What do you know about
sympathy?
”

He leaned back. “Who mentioned that to you?”

“The Minder next to the man I just bonded to. I got a little clumsy with my blood.”

Her father flared white hot. “You bonded to a man without him coming to me first?”

“Hey, I just learned about this. It isn’t in any of the literature I have been reading on the Ypra.”

His flames dropped into a manageable flicker. “We are not proud of it, and it is very rare. Only certain families have the genes to manage it.”

“Let me guess that your family line is one of them.”

“Our family line.”

She made a face. “Right. Our family line.”

“This makes meeting the family a little more urgent. I believe we can schedule a dinner this weekend. Of course, Huros’s family will have to attend as well.”

She made a face. “I am suddenly hoping for an assignment.”

“You have managed nine visits to other worlds during your training period. I am going to ground you until you have met your grandparents and we have met his family. He is not the man I would have chosen for you.” Yoris scowled.

“No one chose him. I had a cut on my face, I touched it, and then, I had to help them restrain him. The blood was on my suit and no one could see it.”

“So, you touched him and the link was made.”

“Yes, I know Wyorans do it, but I never realised that it was something that happened to the Ypran.”

“Blood is necessary for the link with our people, but as I said, it is rare. Less than one in fifty thousand matches use
sympathy.
It used to be the matchmaking means of last resort, but we use computers to test the blood for compatibility.”

“Do you know Huros?”

“Yes. He has had an issue adjusting to his return to the waking world. He has funds enough from his service to Ypra to last him the rest of his life. He is from a good family with solid connections. You could do worse, but I would have chosen a man for you who has a stable mind.”