Gadget by Viola Grace

could come up with. Sometimes, she thought they were just out for the thrill of the sport.
    “Here we go. This one will track you, this one will put a stress-activated protective shielding around you until we can come to your rescue.” She held up two objects the size of cufflinks.
    He blinked. “That is it?”
    She laughed. “What did you expect? You can attach them to your clothing or I can do it before you leave. Did you want a recorder as well?”
    He frowned. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
    “Just one thing though. To truly hide these objects, they have to bite you. They will register as your own biology during scans, and from what I know about miners, they will be scanning you.”
    He looked uncomfortable. “Bite me?”
    “A small insect sting, a little of your blood.” She grinned. Nitza had the same aversion to being bitten. She had been one of the first guinea pigs during Toby’s vacation. “Nitza managed it.”
    He stiffened. “Fine. I will change into my formal clothing and return to you before I disembark.”
    “You are aware of mining colony dress codes?”
    “I am. This is not my first time out of the house, Tobitha.” He chided her for treating him like a child.
    “I apologise. It is a force of habit. I have all the arrival customs of worlds I visit in my mind, and I forget that other folks are just as capable of remembering. It makes me a bit of a know it all.”
    “I forgive you, now please excuse me.”
    She gathered a few extra gadgets and placed them on a tray.
    Shatter peered over her shoulder. “What are those?”
    “This one is a pheromone inhibitor, this one is a live two-way com, this one is a passive monitor complete with all infrared and heat-signature recording and this one is a panic button that will place him in a gas-permeable bubble until we can get there.”
    “Are you sure that he will wear all this?” Shatter poked at the objects with interest.
    “He might, he might not, but he will be given the option. Everyone should have the option to defend themselves by what means are available.” She locked in and closed her eyes while she jumped the ship to the star system where the mining was taking place.
    “That is important to you, isn’t it? The control over the body should belong to the person inside it.”
    She blinked as she looked at him but also saw the surrounding stars at the same time. “It is everything. When you lose control over your body and you have to fight to do the simplest of tasks, keeping your ability to choose what does and does not enter or sit on that body becomes paramount.”
    “So, it must really have been an invasion to have the ship run your body.”
    His logic was sound, but he didn’t understand.
    “The Fairy is a part of me, but it is like having your hands moving without your knowledge. It is a disturbing occurrence to think that part of yourself could have a separate agenda from the rest of you.”
    She got some powder blue and purple in her mind. It was an apology. Until she had verbalized it, the Fairy hadn’t realized how invasive she had been, nor had Toby really corralled the frustrated emotion into something that she could express until now. The distraction of a naked Guardian in her room had pushed her betrayal aside until she was ready to deal with it.
    They would need time to heal the hurt that the ship had caused. There was a lack of trust now that had never been there before, and if they didn’t deal with it, it would continue to grow.
    She got the hail from the colony, and she sat up straight. “I hope Naroz is ready, because we are going in.”
    The platform loomed in front of them, perched on the edge of the asteroid field. They were waiting for their dignitary and for the opportunity to get the prisoner off their hands, as long as they didn’t hand him over. Talk about mixed signals.
     

Chapter Ten
     
     
    After she had docked and tested the seals, she emerged wearing one of her non-descript suits behind Prince Naroz and