get your assignments on record.” He gestured for her to come with him, and she followed him gratefully.
They were quiet, and he finally asked, “Rough conversation?”
“More than I am used to. Yes.”
“Did you have your check up in medical at the base?”
“I did. I am on strict leave to do nothing but soak up sun and rebalance my body.”
He nodded. “You have lost most of your pigment, but we will discuss this in my office.”
They discussed everything, from her work with Harken, his treatment of her while on assignment and his efforts to extricate her safely.
“Would you partner with him again?” Shivak had added a weight to the question.
“I would. We got along well enough, I suppose. I am not a good judge of interpersonal relationships.”
He blinked, “Why not?”
She explained about her ten years in the Dome, the suits that kept the physical talents from having sexual reflexes and contact and her visits with her parents. “I went into the Dome before I started any of the normal social rituals of my kind, and so, I have no idea what is going on from one moment to the next.”
Shivak smiled and patted her on the back of the hand. “None of us do when it comes to love, Kiiki. You just have to accept that there is someone out there for you and someone here knows all about it. You can’t get around it when talents surround you. There are empaths, telepaths, matchmakers, seers. All of them can see what you can’t.”
“It isn’t fair.” She pouted and flopped back in her chair.
“How is it not fair? They can’t call the light and turn it to power. They can’t soar on the winds and the electricity they generate. Their bodies can’t save millions by doing what you can do.” Shivak was earnest, his red features twisted with sincerity and his horns gleaming.
“Did you have anyone back on Dhema?”
His face blanked for a moment before he shook his head. “No, not once it was known that I was a talent. The Dhemans have tried to extinguish the lines of power. We tend to get a little more aggressive than the average citizen in battle and business. Talents on my world are politely asked to leave.”
“Ouch. Well, it’s nice to know I am not alone in being rejected by my own people.”
He chuckled. “That is how the Citadel was founded. A race locked up their talents, but when disaster struck, they had to ask the talents for help. The talents agreed, but they turned their prison into an icon of strength. They spread across the stars, finding those who needed training and help controlling their talents, and some, like you, who needed a place where they could use it freely.”
Kiiki thought of all that had happened in the last two months and smiled at the dispatcher. “I guess I am once again in the right place at the right time.”
He laughed. “Go rest or return to the dining hall and listen to Rolland and Roha tell dirty jokes. You have ten days to recover from your last assignment before you are available again. Have fun. Learn a language, watch some vids. That’s an order.”
She giggled and left his office with a heart vastly lighter than it had been when she returned from Feliancour. Steeling herself for a round of furious blushing, she returned to the dining area and joined Saru-Rolland and his sister for an afternoon of off-colour jokes and innuendo that she was shocked to understand.
An afternoon with friends was a great way to start her time off.
Chapter Eleven
Four days later, Kiiki had taken up jogging, weight lifting, learned Ikthian and watched nine vids on the Nishans. Roha had put her in touch with Reset and Mist on Teklan base, and she had been able to ask very pointed questions at a comfortable distance. Knowing he was Nishan made Kiiki far more comfortable with the Kozue appearance he wore. Resicor and the Kozue had a history, and it was bloody, to say the least.
With the information gleaned on interspecies relationships from Roha, Saru-Rolland, Balen-Zenina,
They were quiet, and he finally asked, “Rough conversation?”
“More than I am used to. Yes.”
“Did you have your check up in medical at the base?”
“I did. I am on strict leave to do nothing but soak up sun and rebalance my body.”
He nodded. “You have lost most of your pigment, but we will discuss this in my office.”
They discussed everything, from her work with Harken, his treatment of her while on assignment and his efforts to extricate her safely.
“Would you partner with him again?” Shivak had added a weight to the question.
“I would. We got along well enough, I suppose. I am not a good judge of interpersonal relationships.”
He blinked, “Why not?”
She explained about her ten years in the Dome, the suits that kept the physical talents from having sexual reflexes and contact and her visits with her parents. “I went into the Dome before I started any of the normal social rituals of my kind, and so, I have no idea what is going on from one moment to the next.”
Shivak smiled and patted her on the back of the hand. “None of us do when it comes to love, Kiiki. You just have to accept that there is someone out there for you and someone here knows all about it. You can’t get around it when talents surround you. There are empaths, telepaths, matchmakers, seers. All of them can see what you can’t.”
“It isn’t fair.” She pouted and flopped back in her chair.
“How is it not fair? They can’t call the light and turn it to power. They can’t soar on the winds and the electricity they generate. Their bodies can’t save millions by doing what you can do.” Shivak was earnest, his red features twisted with sincerity and his horns gleaming.
“Did you have anyone back on Dhema?”
His face blanked for a moment before he shook his head. “No, not once it was known that I was a talent. The Dhemans have tried to extinguish the lines of power. We tend to get a little more aggressive than the average citizen in battle and business. Talents on my world are politely asked to leave.”
“Ouch. Well, it’s nice to know I am not alone in being rejected by my own people.”
He chuckled. “That is how the Citadel was founded. A race locked up their talents, but when disaster struck, they had to ask the talents for help. The talents agreed, but they turned their prison into an icon of strength. They spread across the stars, finding those who needed training and help controlling their talents, and some, like you, who needed a place where they could use it freely.”
Kiiki thought of all that had happened in the last two months and smiled at the dispatcher. “I guess I am once again in the right place at the right time.”
He laughed. “Go rest or return to the dining hall and listen to Rolland and Roha tell dirty jokes. You have ten days to recover from your last assignment before you are available again. Have fun. Learn a language, watch some vids. That’s an order.”
She giggled and left his office with a heart vastly lighter than it had been when she returned from Feliancour. Steeling herself for a round of furious blushing, she returned to the dining area and joined Saru-Rolland and his sister for an afternoon of off-colour jokes and innuendo that she was shocked to understand.
An afternoon with friends was a great way to start her time off.
Chapter Eleven
Four days later, Kiiki had taken up jogging, weight lifting, learned Ikthian and watched nine vids on the Nishans. Roha had put her in touch with Reset and Mist on Teklan base, and she had been able to ask very pointed questions at a comfortable distance. Knowing he was Nishan made Kiiki far more comfortable with the Kozue appearance he wore. Resicor and the Kozue had a history, and it was bloody, to say the least.
With the information gleaned on interspecies relationships from Roha, Saru-Rolland, Balen-Zenina,
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