Chapter Four
Kiala looked down at the three hundred-foot drop that she was about to engage in. It was just as creepy as she had imagined it would be.
On the wrist unit that Doo-linth had given her, she heard the Guardian’s voice as he stated that he would no longer try to catch the jumpers. He could not save lives that didn’t want to be saved. The interviewer asked him if he felt guilt about the women who had died. He replied that he was in agony, and if he couldn’t save them, he couldn’t save anyone.
Ki heard the pain in his voice, and she watched the direction that he would be coming from.
Her plan involved him making an absolute declaration of intent then his carrying out the ultimatum.
When she saw the flash of his wings, she gauged his speed and climbed over the edge of the balcony she was waiting on.
He was approaching the area where she was staging, and when the distance was right, she jumped.
She saw a few lenses aimed her way, but she counted on her clothing to hide what was happening.
The Guardian swooped toward her, and she met his gaze. “Swerve away. I will be fine. No matter what you hear, I am fine.”
The air was pushing on her, and she pulled her stone around her. His eyes widened as he saw her face taken over, and he flew away, continuing on his way as she fell.
It was not her first fall; it was not even her seventh. Kiala watched for markers, and when she was three stories from the ground, she tucked into a ball with the blood packs on her back neatly lining her spine.
The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, and she bounced. This was the critical moment. She had to let the momentum of the impact carry her into a suitable position.
The blood packs burst as she flopped bonelessly on the ground and thickened the skin over her body, just enough to deter any attempt to read her vital signs.
Now, she just had to lie motionless while videos were taken of her and the med services took her to a hospital.
It was awkward to lie passive while they tried desperately to find out where her heart was. They didn’t find it, but she had had enough blood that could have been hers on her back, their guess was she had simply shattered on impact. She was declared dead and sent to the morgue.
Doo-linth cleared her throat. “It worked. He has what he wanted, but now, they are calling him a monster.”
Ki opened her eyes and sat up. “That was always going to be the result.”
“Yeah, but now, he isn’t too happy with me. He is convinced you are dead.” Doo-linth sighed.
“Did you recruit him?” Kiala got off the metal rack and twisted and turned, the scent of blood surrounded her. “And did you bring me clean clothing?”
“He has locked himself into the base and is not speaking to anyone. As for the other, you can refresh yourself in the staff changing area. The staff here have been slightly stunned. They won’t look at features for the next hour. I have a suit for you when you are clean.”
“Great. Which way to the showers?”
Ki followed Doo-linth’s directions and found the staff showers. Once her clothing was discarded and the water was running clear, she used the air dryer to make it possible for her to put on the small packet of clothing that the recruiter was holding out for her.
The moment that Ki unfurled the packet, she saw the bodysuit of a specialist. Reinforced segments would make the fabric form fitting and other portions expanded to cover her more ample assets. She was being dressed like a member of the Citadel.
The recruiter was standing with her back to Ki, and when she finally had the suit in place, she cleared her throat. “This is a little more than I normally show to the public.”
“I am glad it fits so well. Our next stop is the Guardians’ headquarters.”
Ki groaned. “Of course. Can we at least get something to eat? I have been dead for quite a few hours.”
“I will get you some snacks from the commissary. Come on.”
Ki chuckled and followed Doo-linth. The hospital was quite large, and no one paid them any mind.
Ki’s skin was a lighter tone than those of the locals, but it was Doo-linth that should have caught a lot of attention.
“So, you are invisible?”
The recruiter turned and smiled as they walked. “I am merely unremarkable. It is a side effect of my body chemistry. I am coloured brilliantly, but no one remembers it. At least they remember me once they have spoken to me. I know of a Citadel member who is forgotten once she passes you.”
“You remember her.”
“I was taught about her before we met. After we spoke, she gave me the primer that would allow memory. It is a painful effort for her, so I appreciate that she thought me worthy.”
“It sounds awkward. I just have folks pass me by because they think I am part of the scenery.”
“Difficult, but you can revert to a form that is more social.”
Kiala blinked. “Huh. You were right. I can learn a few things from the Citadel.”
Doo-linth was still laughing when they finished at the commissary and left the hospital for their transport. Kiala ate her snacks.
“So, why are we going to the base?”
“You need to convince the flying wonder that you are not dead.”
Ki paused and gave her a look. “I have to convince him? How?”
“Figure it out. We have clearance to enter their airspace and will be there within the hour.” Doo-linth lifted off and directed their craft into the traffic stream.
Ki scowled and finished eating, drinking the tea she had gotten at the hospital. She had to come up with a plan.
The landing protocols were complicated, but when they were on the ground, Ki had the perfect icebreaker.
Four surly Guardians came out to greet them, and she walked up to the stunning man with the silvery grey wings. “Hello.”
“You are dead. I saw—the news vids—the pictures—the blood.”
She smiled brightly and patted him on the cheek. “Very vivid, I am sure. You can show me the pictures that freaked you out and I will explain what was going through my mind at the time. First, I have to ask you one thing.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Where is your bathroom? I wasn’t really allowed to drink anything while I waited in the morgue, so I made up for it when we were on the way here.”
His drawn and shocked face twisted, and a slight smile crept over his clearly cut lips. “This way, Specialist.”
“Thank you.”
Her mother would be horrified, but her dad would be proud that she was able to achieve her goal of jostling him out of his miasma in a few sentences.
Once she had used the facilities inside the base, she finished tidying up and finger combing her hair into a loose braid. Feeling a little better and very relieved, she headed out into the hall where Luzor waited.
“Ah, hello. I am guessing you have questions?”
“Yes. How are you alive? How did you recover?”
She started to walk back toward the common area. “I was never injured. Blood packets were strapped to my back, and I actually bounced on impact before settling in my dead position.”
“But, how?”
“Ah, tissue manipulation. I thicken the surface of my skin into a very dense and nearly stone-structured appearance. I get heavier and my body is basically a rock. I could have done a direct dive into the ground and been fine.”
“So, why did you do it?”
“I was asked to find a way to have women stop chucking themselves off buildings. This was the fastest way. You now have a reputation for not catching strange women outside of an emergency situation. There you go, less jumpers.”
Luzor stared at her before muttering, “You couldn’t have told me that?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I was pressed for time. Being chatty wasn’t an option.”
He frowned. “What?”
“I was falling. I needed to concentrate for the moment I hit the ground.”
He grabbed her arm. “So, you mean to say you actually did die?”
“No. I suffered a lightly bruising landing from four feet above the ground. Knocked the wind out of me but made for a very accurate splaying of my limbs.”
He tightened his grip on her, and he hauled her to the vid display in the common room. He let her go, and his fingers jabbed through the light emission control panel. Images of her, wide eyed and bloody, chalky skin and unmoving, filled the screen.
“That is how I saw you. I had no idea that you could survive it. I have spent the last twelve hours thinking that my inaction killed you!”
Ki looked him over. “That was the plan. It had to look like you were drawing the line with an alien. I was the safest target. The women would hesitate to drop out of the sky and you would be free to attend your other assignments.”
Luzor scowled. “My reputation as a Guardian is ruined.”
“No, just your reputation as a leading man in their fantasies.”
He gave her a dark look. “You have a heart of stone.”
She leaned in and patted his chest with her right hand. “No, Guardian, that is my skin.” She altered her skin and watched his eyes widen as he registered the change in temperature at the contact point.
“Specialist, are you molesting the Guardian?” Doo-linth’s voice was amused.
“No. I am merely making a point.” She resumed her normal skin texture and smiled tightly. “Guardian, I apologize if you were upset by being called cold and unfeeling. I get it all the time. I am used to it already. I had not thought that it would make such a difference to you.”
A Guardian who was wearing a charcoal suit a shade darker than his skin was standing next to Doo-linth. “He is so used to everyone loving him that the idea that he has engendered contempt is beyond him. It hurts his soul.”
“Ah. That makes sense, I suppose. That is the kind of man who would have women flinging themselves off buildings on the off chance that he would catch them.” She glanced at the Guardian in question.
Luzor looked confused and then embarrassed. “I am not as bad as that.”
She shrugged. “Not for me to say. Recruiter, when do we leave?”
Doo-linth grinned, “Don’t you want to have a look around? It isn’t often you will be able to see an actual Guardian base.”
Ki shrugged again. “It is a building. Nothing exciting or fancy about a building.”
The two Guardians in the room looked offended. The one next to Doo-linth said, “We have all the advanced tech for working out that you could want. Any talent can get the stress testing they need here.”
Ki crossed her arms, which obviously brought the male attention to the fit of her suit. She sighed and remained in her position. “What can you do to me?”
The man next to the recruiter grinned, but the winged idiot behind her flexed his wings, creating a wall at her back.
Doo-linth chuckled. “Well, that sounds like a challenge, but only try her with one mechanism... in case it breaks.”
The men both laughed at that, and despite knowing what she had told him about her skin, Luzor set her up in a machine designed to test how much pressure she could withstand.
Standing with her arms raised above her while the plate came down was boring, but the moment that it made contact, she pushed back.
It was fun to feel the push of tons of weight on her and her body revelled in getting resistant but flexible enough to move the pressure from one cell to the next. It was a rolling cascade of energy that turned her skin black and shiny. It was a new look. Normally, she didn’t need to get stronger than granite.
Doo-linth finally called out, “It is time to leave, Kiala. Please, finish up and we can go.”
Ki pushed upward and rolled her shoulders. The machine buckled and metal squealed. The pressure plate went loose and floppy, so she stepped out from under it. “Ready when you are, Doo-linth.”
The Guardians had all gathered to watch, so Ki walked past them, and at the recruiter’s side, they left the base.
In their transport, Ki asked the question, “What was that actually about?”
Doo-linth grinned as the took off, “I was proving a point. The Guardians in this sector believe that the Citadel is for feeble intellectuals. I do believe that you just proved them wrong.”
Ki rolled her eyes and watched the countryside whiz past as they returned to the spaceport. There were other planets to see and more Guardians to impress. It seemed she had just found her calling because laughter was welling up at the thought. She hadn’t felt this much anticipation in years.