Free Molten by Viola Grace

Chapter One
     
     
    Nanette worked on the gate she was welding and put the finishing touches on the last joint. She removed her mask and turned off the torch.
    “Are you done yet?” Toby Grandix called out.
    “Just finishing up.” She made a show of filing some of the joints, but they didn’t need it. The molten metal was her element. Control of it was never an issue.
    She wiped her forehead with the back of her arm. She couldn’t tell anyone about her affinity for heat and metal and so mimicking being sweaty was important.
    “You know, you took too much time on that side of the gate.” Toby crept up next to her and scowled at her work.
    Nanette pointed at the wall. “I did both sides. It is finished. You can have it powder coated tomorrow.”
    “What about the Walker repair?”
    “The leaves are back in place, and I have reinforced them for the next time their teen climbs over at two in the morning.” Nanette looked at her workstation. “I guess I am done.”
    Toby twisted his lips. “What about the Palmer job?”
    “Not mine to work on. That was Andrew’s screw up on the original work. He has to fix it as per the contract. You know that.”
    She didn’t tell him that she had already reinforced and repaired the damage to the fire screen. He was stalling.
    Nanette headed for the sink and scrubbed her hands before grabbing a clean shop towel and scrubbing her face and neck. “I am leaving, Toby. You had a chance and you blew it. At least have the guts to accept it.”
    He ran his hand through his hair. “You are seriously leaving this world because I refused to make you an equal partner?”
    “No, I am leaving because you offered the partnership to Andrew his first week here, and I have been here for three years.”
    Toby blustered, “But you had no experience with this kind of welding when you arrived.”
    “And yet, I still did better work than Andrew did with his so-called five years of experience. It doesn’t matter. I am going and you are going to have to live with your skewed judgement.” She nodded and slipped her bag over her shoulder. She held out her hand. “My final paycheque?”
    He hesitated then he deflated and slunk to his desk. He signed off on her pay and handed her the cheque with a grimace. “Thanks for working the full two weeks. It helped.”
    She took the slip of paper and checked the dates and signature. “Thanks for the job. It helped me work some things out.”
    Toby nodded. “When do you leave?”
    “Monday. Just enough time to cash this, send my furniture to a charity and forward the money there as well.”
    He blinked. “What?”
    “Where I am going, I don’t need money. It will be donated to a natural-disaster fund and do some good for folk displaced by volcanic activity.”
    “Why did you demand your pay then?”
    She grinned. “Because I worked for two weeks and you are not going to benefit from my labour more than you already do. Have a nice life, Toby. I certainly intend to.”
    Nanette Trews left the shop with a swing in her step and her shoulders back. She headed to the bank before it occurred to him to put a stop payment on the cheque. It was her money and not his, and he was lucky that she wasn’t going to make him pay in any other way.
     
    * * * *
     
    “You are here today as volunteers from Earth. Your aptitudes have been confirmed and each of you has had a job placement take place already. We are here to train you, to make you the best you can be and to bring out any hidden talents. Ask us questions and you may be surprised by the answers.” The soft-blue woman spoke with an amused smile and sparkling gold eyes.
    “You will be given your class lists or assigned to your tutors. Pass your hand over this scanner and it will direct you down the correct hall. Simply follow the colour displayed and you will be led to your destination. The rest will begin as soon as you find your class or tutor.”
    Nanette looked around at the other dozen Volunteers. No