Waking Dream [Tales of the Citadel 23] (3 page)

“I will be with you in a moment, then. I am best able to deal with an Uhn.” She removed her hand and returned to her body.

* * * *

Burin turned to Vecho. “What did she mean by that?”

The older man laughed as he sheathed his knife. “I don’t know. Was Wiyra here?”

“She was. She said she was best able to deal with an Uhn. Why would she say that? Their bites are addictive.”

Vecho smiled. “My beloved wife, Naltha, was an Uhn. None of our children inherited her fangs, but they are all immune to Uhn venom. If she doesn’t take care of the intruder, her cousins will.”

Burin blinked. “I see. It was not mentioned when I was first here.”

Vecho looked at the monitors where only one invader was left. “Why should it be? If you are not an Uhn, there is no reason for concern.”

Burin shrugged. “Fair enough.”

A slight noise above him gained his attention, and he watched as two slender legs emerged from an access hatch and the woman of his dreams dropped into his outstretched arms.

She smiled up at him, her hair frayed and fuzzed in a halo around her smudged face. “Hello, Master Tracker Burin. You can put me down now.”

He sighed, her scent assaulting his senses and distracting the hell out of him. “Of course I can.”

She grinned at him, “Are you going to?”

“I am thinking about it.”

The last intruder burst into the command deck with his fangs flashing and venom dripping.

Burin wanted nothing more than to put himself between his woman and danger, but she turned, grabbed the knife that her grandfather threw to her and lunged at the Uhn with a snarl.

His little sleeping beauty turned into a rabid attacker in a moment, and the Uhn was bleeding to death before Burin could do more than step forward. Damn, she was fast. He was going to have to put a lot of focus into watching her move.

Chapter Four

Wiyra cleaned the knife on the intruder’s bodysuit. “I apologise for the suddenness of my movements, but he did attack my home. Grandpa, what was he looking for?”

“He was looking for you, dumpling. There is some kind of Raider recruitment drive, and they wanted you.” Vecho came toward her, and she returned his knife to him.

She smiled as he sheathed the knife then squeaked as he hugged her. “I am fine, Grandpa.”

The moment she was free, Master Tracker Burin replaced her grandfather. His hug was more full contact and less unrestrained joy. “I am very happy that you are back in your body and safe, partner.”

She winced and awkwardly returned the hug. “I am glad to be up and around, Burin. Thank you for helping me.”

He didn’t seem inclined to let her go, but when Vecho cleared his throat, Burin released her.

The feel of his body against hers had warmed her cool skin, and she missed him when he left.

“So, Grandpa, where were they taking you?” She helped haul the bodies to one side. Being pirated was not an unheard of situation for a mining platform, and they dealt with it on their own.

Burin helped her drag, and the collection of dead was soon arranged near the door to the ejection bay.

“I believe that they were hauling us to the Raider stronghold under the theory that you would eventually show up and be in their territory.” Vecho nodded to her cousins as they brought their own dead into the command unit.

Stennar had brought a grav sled, and he picked up the dead after giving Wiyra a quick hug. “Good to see you, cuz. I was worried.”

“So was I, Stennar. I had a thought that you were trying to get me to spook the Dremmak platform again, but then, I realised that you would want to be there to see them scream.”

He laughed, kissed her on her forehead and gathered the dead for disposal.

Vecho was in the process of halting the platform’s progress and changing its direction.

Burin checked the schematics, and he spoke quietly to Vecho, “Have you checked the docked ship?”

Vecho shook his head.

Wiyra stepped forward. “I heard that. I will check it if you don’t mind.”

“Please, dumpling. We will wait here.”

Wiyra nodded at the dark scowl on Burin’s face. “I will be back in a moment.”

She sat in the command chair and sent her astral form to the dock and into the invader’s ship.

The ship was surprisingly high tech. Despite the improvements made to the platform, Wiyra had rarely set foot in a place with this much technology. She didn’t even know what half of it did, but there was no one on the ship.

With a snap, she sat up. “The ship is empty. Super-high tech though. If I were you, Grandpa, I would eject it and let it float loose. You don’t want to try and haul it in for scrap. Not this one.”

She rubbed her forehead and frowned at the pain. She didn’t usually spend this much time exiting and entering her body without the life support in place.

Vecho spoke quietly with Burin, and the tracker left the command deck to verify what Wiyra had seen.

She crossed her arms and glared at her grandfather. “Did you just send him to double check what I said I saw?”

Her grandfather’s cheeks got hot. “No, no. That isn’t what I said.”

She got out of the command chair and walked over to his side. “I didn’t hear what you said, but I know that look on your face. You want any tech you can salvage for sale, but I am telling you, they will come looking for it.”

Vecho sighed and got a cleaning unit. “You are probably correct, I just asked him for a second opinion. There is nothing wrong with a second opinion.”

She snorted and helped him clean up the blood on the deck, the control panel and her own suit. “Oops. I forgot.”

Her grandfather laughed. “You may have scared poor Tracker Burin when you grabbed that knife. I don’t think he was prepared for your physical savagery.”

She snorted and continued to use the scrubber to remove the remains of the small battles.

Ten minutes later, Burin returned, and he nodded at Wiyra. “I cut it loose. There is no way that they will not come for that ship.”

She stuck her tongue out at her grandfather and put the scrubber away. “I told you so.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “I just wanted to recoup the expense of all this fuel.”

“Go back to our claim, mine the three asteroids I explored and you will have more than enough to compensate you for the lost time. Now, turn this platform around and head back to the field. I have to fulfil my contract with Master Tracker Burin.” She inclined her head to her new partner.

He looked surprised that she was immediately admitting to the contract, but it turned into a pleased smile. “Bring only what you can’t be without. The Citadel will provide a suit with body armour for you, as well as any other clothing you need.”

She inclined her head. “I will be back in a moment.”

Wiyra was trying to act like there was nothing wrong, but her platform was more than her place to live, it was her home, her family and her life up until this point. Most folks had planets, countries and towns to call home. She had this chunk of metal, and current events had proved it was constantly at risk. She might never see it again.

Shaking off the personal gloom that had struck her, she entered her quarters and removed a duffel bag that she filled with personal grooming items, hair combs and a picture of her parents. The rest of her family was on a data crystal, but her parents had gone dirt-side one day and had a romantic picture taken with a pounding ocean in the background. It was Wiyra’s favourite possession.

She slipped the duffel strap over her shoulder and left her quarters. Wiyra paused as she exited her room. “What are you all here for?”

Stennar gave her a small smile. “You are leaving us, and we are here to say goodbye.”

She started a gauntlet of hugs that included her cousins, the few platform members that she was not related to and her eldest brother, Wargo.

“I will miss you, little bit.” He hugged her and spoke into her ear.

“I will miss you too, big twit. Keep Vecho on the straight and narrow. He tends to lean to the frivolous side when it comes to safety.” She hugged him back.

“I don’t know if I will be as successful reining him in as you were. He has a soft spot for you.” He smiled and held her out at arms’ length. The dark eyes and lashes that she saw in the mirror looked so much different with masculine features.

She put a hand to his cheek. “Take care of him and this platform. You are next in command after all.”

“Take care, little bit.” He stroked her hair and pinched her nose.

She batted at his hand and entered the command deck with tears stinging her eyes.

Vecho had no restraint. Tears were running down his face the moment he saw the look on hers. “Oh, dumpling. Come here.” He held his arms out, and her tears broke through the control she had on them.

“I want you to keep an eye on your diet and get plenty of exercise. No drinking with men one-fifth your age, Grandpa.” She sniffled against his shoulder.

“No taking risks that we wouldn’t let you take here, Wiyra.” He held her at arms’ length and smiled.

She jerked her jaw upward. “I don’t take risks, I get results.”

They hugged again, and when her throat wouldn’t let her speak, she walked over to join Burin. She nodded to him, and he put his arm around her shoulders, steering her to the port where he had parked his shuttle.

It was time for her to leave home, and she grimly admitted that she was in good hands, even if those hands were exceptionally distracting.

On board the shuttle, she stowed her gear and settled in the navigator seat. The hiss and clang as the tiny ship fell away from the platform burned its way into her memory.

The view of the platform as they floated away was copied by her mind in every detail. Her last look at home was stamped into her memory while Burin shifted the shuttle around and headed back to Citadel Reevish.

Chapter Five

“So, do you go on recruitments often?” Wiyra wanted to fill in the silence so she couldn’t hear her heart pound with every minute further from her family.

“Not that often, no. I usually locate the talent and another recruiter is sent in to lure them into a contract. For some reason, the Citadel doesn’t believe in my people skills.” He grinned, trying to cajole her out of her mood.

She snorted. “I can’t see why. The first time you met my grandfather, you tried to buy me outright.”

He chuckled. “Ah, if only I had known that you came with a dowry, everything would have gone much more smoothly.”

Wiyra stared at him in shock. “What?”

“Oh, didn’t Vecho mention it? He gave me your dowry, and I have transferred it into your private accounts. If you are not using it to catch a husband, it may be useful to do something else with.” He shrugged. “Oh, he told me not to mention it to you until we were far enough away that you couldn’t go back and kick his ass.”

She used the monitors and snorted at their location. They were precisely far enough to keep her from an eye-line which meant that she wasn’t going to be able to get back into the platform without a few hits and misses.

“He said that?” She knew Vecho had. It was the sort of thing he would mention to Burin.

“He did. He told me about your parents and the explosion, your siblings and the difficulties you have had with finding a mate who can deal with your talent.”

She blushed. It was common knowledge on the platform that no other family or clan wanted her on board as a wife or mother. Folk who lived in space were notoriously superstitious, and her ability to leave her body was close enough to repeated death to frighten them. It was unnatural life that she was using to walk around and that was not something that most miners wanted to deal with. Even her grandfather was going to have a much easier time finding staff for the platform now that she was gone.

“There have been issues with finding another clan to take me on, so we simply waited for the right man to come along.” She quirked her lips as Burin’s chest puffed out slightly.

She smirked as she said, “Unfortunately, you came along first.”

He gave her a look through narrowed eyes. “Very funny.”

“Thank you. I live to amuse. It is what I do when I am not jumping out of my own body or reading.” Wiyra shrugged.

“You like to read?”

“It is my only vice. Well, the only one that doesn’t involve pastries.” She chuckled.

“There is a data pad on your right. You can access the Citadel library from there with just the flick of your finger.” He gestured and steered their shuttle toward open space.

She smiled and lifted the data pad, bringing up records of the Hayish miners and their movements in the asteroid fields of the Alliance. She loved reading about her people, even if the Kwintos broke with tradition and courted wives from ground settlements.

All the platforms knew that the Kwintos had mixed blood, but since they appeared to be standard Hayish, no one dared to ostracize them. Their wealth also played a significant role in their acceptance.

Wiyra worked through all the current reported locations of the Hayish and smiled when the Kwinto platform was mentioned.

She didn’t need to look up Citadel Reevish. She had committed it to memory the moment that Burin had left the first time. There was a reason that she had found him without trouble, she had known the exact coordinates of Reevish every time she went into the pod. It was a private obsession with safety that she had not shared with her cousin, her brothers or her grandfather, but she knew that if something happened, Burin would come to her aid. She was right.

“So, what kind of thing do you normally track?” She tried to be casual, but it was difficult at such close quarters.

“Stolen vessels, missing personnel, that sort of thing. Hey, would you be willing to take hunter training?”

Wiyra blinked. “What?”

“Hunter training. Personnel pursuit specialization. I think it would be a natural adjunct for your existing talents.” He smiled brightly.