She smiled.“For real?”
With a grip on her hip, he sent her inside the cage.“Would I lie to a blind woman?”
She didn’t get to answer when the cage cranked upward.Oh, Lord, she hoped he was sincere.Quitting would break Maddy’s heart.The woman had been nothing but kind to Tiny but leaving would save Celestial a security upgrade.
She danced by rote as excitement pinged through her.She was giddy, unable to draw deep enough breaths while she considered the possibility of being a doctor.It had been her dream for so long, and if she could find her place in the universe, perhaps her life could return to normal.
She’d never be the Tinika she’d been pre-blindness, but she might recover her lostjoie de vivre.Her heartbeat scattered when the cage lowered.This was it.
Tonight, she might be packing.
Or sobbing.
Would her hero save her for the third time?
Chapter Six
Three Solar Cycles Later
The Senate
Planet of Ivoy
Nennpeeredofftheplatform surrounding the med-tech spire.With his chores and studies attended to, he had time for what he loved to do.Far below the Amikar Cliffs were endless waterfalls and rivers, all enshrouded in gray-lilac mists.Only on rare days, when the rain didn’t threaten to fall, was the beauty revealed.No matter how many times he tried, a pressing task always ended his descent too soon.He had yet to reach the bottom.A sensation in his bones said that was about to change.
He sat with his feet off the side.Chuckling at what the next hour held for him, he flipped around and caught the lip with his fingers, dangling with his arms bearing his full weight.Down he shimmied, from toe-hold to finger-hold.He zigzagged, crimping ridges, scars, grooves, and mini platforms as a way to descend.The wind whipped at his hair and cooled the sweat on his brow and bare torso.The lilac sunlight offered warmth between the breezes.
At ease, his symbiotes thrummed, but his armor remained hidden.As a maed, though his symbiotes had been manipulated to form Ivoyan armor across his skin, he hadn’t gotten to use it for protection.In moments of extreme emotion, they appeared without thought.While he inched down the cliff, he practiced masking and unmasking, training his symbiotes to rise to the surface and harden.
The Qaldreth way was to dismiss the armor when in the company of other warriors.His inability to do that was a sign he hid something from his ‘brothers.’Suspicion could lead to him returning home with shame upon his shoulders.
A zalziki swooped and flapped around him, squawking in dismay.Its elongated snout, the beady eyes, and meters-wide wingspan made it intimidating when it dove for him.A glance to the left confirmed he was too near its nest.
He chuckled.“My apologies, my flying friend.Let me move away…”
Under the bird’s vigilance, he crossed to the right in a diagonal decline.A cooling mist tickled his bare feet.The familiar tumble of waterfalls thundered in his ears.He’d yet to reach the bottom.Moisture glistened on the moss-covered rock, making his holds slippery.Today, he persevered, choosing his path with care.Sure, a river may be beneath him should he fall, but who knew what beasts lurked in its depths?Nor did he know how to swim.
He hoped an island or beach offered safety and a chance to see what the mists obscured.
“Nenn,” Caah snapped via the nodule embedded in Nenn’s neck.
He groaned.No, this is not happening.He shoved his hand into a crevice, formed a fist, and hung there.“What, Caah?”
“Where in hell are you?”His voice crackled, implying the distance was too great for clear communication.
Nenn huffed.“Where do you think?”
“I knew it,” Caah cried out.“Give me…a minute.”
A muted whir reached Nenn’s ears moments before bright lights blinded him.He shielded his eyes and peered over his shoulder at the velorx hovering too close for comfort.
“There had better be a valid reason for your intrusion,” he said, glared at Caah, then glanced down in search of his next hold.
“You’ve been tasked to attend to an arrak with a faulty nodule.”
“Not another maed available?”Nenn locked his arms in place to rest his temple on the warm rock.
“Would I be here if there were?”Caah had the right of it.It had to be serious to send an arrak to track down a maed.
