MicroLena
Lena was created for one purpose, to rescue a race that is commonly thought of as extinct. Her body has been shaped to carry out her task, but when she has completed her assignment it is up to her creators to determine her fate. Life as a full sized being, or a minute woman in the tiniest city in the Coalition. (Thumbelina could never have imagined this.)
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Micro Lena
Copyright © 2011 Viola Grace
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Micro Lena
A Trapezium Exclusive
By
Viola Grace
It began…
Raena Sinclair crept through the silent streets of the dead quarter. She kept her body as close to the wall as she could while a security scanner floated past the alley where she hid.
I can't believe I am doing this.
She muttered it over and over in her mind as she struggled through the decay and grime that marked the dead portion of the city until she reached her goal.
A drop of blood opened the door she had been looking for and gave her entry to a minimally lit hallway. "I can't believe I am doing this." She shivered from fear and hope. Fear of the unknown and hope that she would come out of this with a child.
Raena had been looking for a means of having a baby for five years. Her unspectacular genes made her an unacceptable candidate for bearing so she had sought other means of having a baby. Her obsession with a child of her own was bred into the bone. Her mother had been one of nine children and the image of all of those kids laughing and hugging each other in an old photo had haunted Raena for her entire life.
With the population restrictions in full force, her mother's had been the last large generation. No one had been allowed more offspring than one simple child. No single parents, no extra children, and anyone with substandard genes was banned from reproducing. The world was being remade in the image of genetic designers in search of the perfect human.
Raena's urge for a child might endanger her life, might end her freedom, but if she could just hold that little living being in her arms, it would be worth it.
"Ms. Sinclair?" A spectral voice came through the darkness.
"Dr. Rush?"
"Yes, please, come this way." His voice led her into the dim interior of the old building, to a room with no windows to show light to the security scanners outside.
When she entered the lab, she blinked at the lights that suddenly flooded the room. A door closed behind her, blackout shades keeping any traces of light from the hall.
The doctor was sitting on a chair on wheels, his features dark and serious. "Please come and have a seat. I have a few questions to ask you, if you wouldn't mind."
She nervously scuttled forward and took the office chair opposite him. "Fine. Please. Ask away."
"Are you sure that you want a baby?"
"Yes. More than anything."
He smiled. "Are you concerned about genetics?"
"I don't care. I will love it no matter what."
His eyes grew intense. "What about if it was not entirely human?"
She swallowed and paused for a moment. "If it is my child, I would love it no matter what it was. If it had two heads, I would love them both. I
need
to be a mother, it is all I have ever dreamed about."
Dr. Rush smiled in relief. "Will you mind relocating for safety?"
"As long as I can take my baby with me, you can put me wherever you want." A sense of anticipation filled her as he nodded and started prepping his materials.
"Please, get on the table and let's set you on the path to motherhood."
Nine months later…
Sweat was drying on Raena's head as she looked down at her daughter. The crew of the ship was gathered around, looking admiringly at the tiny Nyvil arrival, snug in her mother's arms. "Lena. Lena Sinclair."
Dr. Rush smiled down at the little one. "A lovely daughter and as strong as her mother. How are you doing, Raena?"
She looked up at the physician who had become far more than a doctor to her over the last nine months. She thought about the insemination, the positive result and the harrowing flight from earth into the blackness of space. Pregnancy in the custody of a race she hadn't even imagined just months before had been fascinating, frightening and nerve racking.
Raena caressed the caramel cheek of her little one, ran her finger across the fuzzy little head. "I have never been better."
Twenty years later…
Lena crept along the pathway, the huge tubes blocking her way, forcing her climb over them to reach her goal. "Eww."
The enormous creature was gnawing away, cutting through the tubes and into the soft fluff within.
"Control, it's an Earth rat."
"Micro, feel free to destroy and administer repairs."
"Acknowledged, Control." She clicked off her communicator and drew her sword. It was difficult to use electronics within electronics, and at her size, no miniature weapons packed enough punch.
Steeling her nerves, she attacked the rat, and after a vicious fight of claw versus steel, she leaned over her very smelly and dead opponent. Gagging, she unhooked a canister from her belt and covered the body with spray. It dissolved the creature in seconds, leaving only a fresh scent behind.
"Control, the rat has been dispatched. I will administer repairs and secure the area."
She unclipped another canister and covered the gnaw marks on the wires. The spray separated, covered and hardened around the wires.
Now that the short was repaired, she could spend time backtracking through the path the rat had taken. She crept through the trail, eradicating the other signs of the rat as she walked. She found the point at which he had entered the housing and spray sealed it.
The sealant had a repellent inside it, and when her gauntlet sensors gave her a clear reading, she nodded and returned to her access point.
As she wandered around inside the navigation station, Lena enjoyed her ability to shrink and grow at will. She had been part of an experiment by the Nyvil to combine their genes with those of other species.
Her mother had been one of dozens of human women who were inseminated with Nyvil genes, and to date, Lena was the only successful birth. Why she had been chosen to survive, Lena wasn't sure, but when she looked into her mother's eyes, she had an idea of why the survivor had belonged to Raena. Her mother wouldn't have it any other way.
The thought of her mother reminded Lena that she had to try and make it home for festival this year.
She boosted herself over a circuit assembly and viewed the light streaming through the opening. Carefully, she assessed the expanse of the navigation station and she worked her way out into the open with deliberate attention. She had almost been stomped by a careless foot once and once was quite enough.
Her most vulnerable time was in the shift from small to tall so she took care to verify her environment. Feet passed by with thuds that shook the ground she stood on and she waited only until there was a clear space before she ran forward and shifted, skidding to a stop on the other side of the chamber, up against the wall.
"I removed the inhabitant of the casing, sealed the breach where he got in and took care of the repair. Your station should be fine." She straightened and got to her feet.
Lena stretched and checked to make sure that she was wearing all of her canisters before returning to the maintenance bay. Her skin-tight blue uniform was unmistakable on the ship, the mark of a Nyvil crossbreed, the only one of her kind.
"Hey, Stathos, Norvil." She nodded to the security officers as she returned to her lair. Once inside the maintenance bay, she removed her weapons and kit belt before putting her feet up on the desk and completing her repair log entry.
Days blended into each other on the Reskar NeNyvil. Every day brought minute challenges and tiny operations that Lena had to complete.
She sighed and typed in the details as to the condition of the interior of the casing. Her mother had reluctantly allowed her to accept the position on the Reskar when it was offered, but at times like this, she was wondering if it had been a good idea to take the position. Her life was boring, none of the multitude of males on board were allowed near her, and the women, while friendly, considered her a bit of a freak.
Once her paperwork was done, she sat back and engaged in her favourite past time, looking up the history of the Nyvil.
It was a locked file and the majority of the Feshlin crew would never be able to access it, but as the only surviving crossbreed, she had the right to research her people.
The Nyvil were a graceful race, similar to humans. Lena watched the images of their elaborate cities and bright pastel seas. Formal dancing, stylized battles, she never got tired of watching them move.
They had been amazing technologists, creating and crafting energy fields and genetic alterations that had been the envy of all nearby planets. That envy had made them targets and they were forced to hide all of their creations to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
No one knew where they hid, they only knew that the cities and all their wonders disappeared in one night. The project that Dr. Rush was involved with was a desperate attempt to try and find someone who could think like a Nyvil but so far, Lena was feeling like less of a success than usual.
If only there was someone who could tell her what she was supposed to do next, her life would be a lot easier.
Just as she was muttering under her breath about stupid decisions in her life, she was summoned to the Captain's quarters. No reason was given, the computer simply displayed the request.
"Oh shit." A thousand and one things ran through her head as she straightened her uniform, closed down her station and headed to the bridge.
She had met Captain Moffil twice and the older man had left a certain impression on her. He seemed to have absolutely no sense of humour, but plenty of adventure. It was a conflict of personality that had left her shaking her head. He was devoted not only to the Feshlin species, but the lost Nyvil nations. Lena had no idea what he wanted from a freaky crossbreed.
The door was open and the captain at his desk. He pressed a button as she entered and lights activated to indicate that the sonic protocols were in place.
She stood at ease in front of his desk. "You asked to see me, Captain?"
"I ordered you to my office, yes. Do you know why?" His hair was greying at the temples and the wear lines fanned from his eyes.
"No, Captain." Lena fought the urge to fidget.
He leaned back and sighed. "I can see that you have been accessing the Nyvil archives regularly. Do you know where they went?"
She blinked. "No, Captain. I simply wanted to learn about my other people."
He tented his fingers and scowled. "Many people believe that they ripped a hole in another dimension and stepped through, but I and many folk in a secret society know where the Nyvil went."
He pressed a button on his desk and typed in a code. Half the desk moved and a pillar rose from the floor until it was even with the desk, beneath Lena's field of view. A domed diorama filled the top of the pillar.
"What is that? It is a model, but I am not sure that I recognize the city." She tried to view it from other angles and then sudden recognition seared her. "It's the Nyvil city of Cina."
The captain raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Precisely. You really did memorize the layouts of the cities, didn't you?"
"Yes, Captain."
"It isn't a model." His dark eyed gaze was boring into her.
She blinked, "What?"
"This is the actual city.
This
is where the Nyvil went. They used their reduction technologies to shrink until they disappeared from view. The Feshlin faithful were first on the ground and preserved the cities as instructed."
"So, with the threat over, why didn't they return to size?" She leaned over and looked more closely at the city. If she wasn't mistaken, there were tiny folk living within it. Amazing, the city was still functioning and operating though it had been a very long time indeed since they were part of the Coalition.