Free Molten by Viola Grace Page B

you can wear over a nude suit.”
    She chuckled. “Thanks for thinking of my fashion sense.”
    He toasted her with his teacup. “You are my pupil; I live to make sure you are well prepared for whatever comes your way.”
    She smirked. “Are all of your people so thoughtful?”
    “No, I am the heart of gold in the body of stone. One of a kind.” Remak smiled.
    His skill with stone was genetic, but his flair for manipulating it was pure talent and separated him from the rest of his people, just as her talent did for her.
    “Of that I have no doubt.” She laughed and enjoyed tea with her tutor for one last time. It was a memory that she would treasure.
    “Can you visit W’lyn?”
    He grinned. “If I can, I shall, just to check up on my favourite student.”
    “I am currently your only student.”
    “And therefore my favourite.” Remak smiled.
    Their banter had covered seven languages as a matter of daily practice. The more she used alien languages, the easier they became, so their conversations rotated through the different dialects at Remak’s cue.
    “I will miss this.” She gestured to the practice room and the tea.
    “You will get plenty of practice on W’lyn. Disaster cleanup is a noble profession. You will be a one-woman crew for now, but there will be another who follows that can and will assist you with your issues. We just can’t get her ready in time. She just started her training, but she will follow you as quickly as she can.”
    The prospect of company made her smile. She would not be housed with the Guardians; they were a separate entity from what she was about to embark on. Her skills would necessitate that she be called upon after they were. She needed her own dispatch centre and her own vehicles. She was about to become a one-woman industry.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    The bodysuits of W’lyn were actually comfortable. Nanette settled into her new quarters and waved off her armoured escort. The dispatch centre was ready for her first call and her cloud rider was waiting for her.
    The legal matters had been attended to. She had full self-defence dispensation and the equivalency of a citizen for as long as she remained on W’lyn.
    Alone with no one to speak to, she had the ultimate in compensation. A garden, rocks to play with and a workshop to do whatever she pleased.
    Nanette’s small home was on the edge of a mountain range, and she could see an incredible vista around her.
    She stepped out onto her patio and looked out at the view. The moons were rising as the sun faded, and she had to smile. She was not on Earth anymore.
     
    It took three days before she got her first repair call. The Guardians had mixed things up with some folk in mech suits. They had been near a sculptural garden and damaged a few of the displays. It was time for Nanette to go and meet the city people that she had only seen from a distance on her first day.
    Using the instructions she had been given, she put the coordinates into her small vehicle, and she straddled the scooter-like construct before taking off. The cloud runner steered itself up and out over the water, heading for her assignment.
    She had a contact image and tried to calm her sweating palms. Focus. She was here to fix what she could and return to her new home.
    The site was obvious as she approached it. There was rubble, dented vehicles and scorch marks on the ground.
    She took over control and found a position to park that kept her out of the way. She headed for the peacekeepers and cleared her throat.
    “Who are you?”
    She took a deep breath. “I am the stone and metal repair specialist looking for the local representative. I believe his name is Ahken.”
    The peacekeepers looked her over and took in her bodysuit, the pallor of her skin and the badge attached to her neckline. That was what caused the man to point to a conservatively dressed man who was speaking with a fellow in a tight suit that outlined every inch of his musculature.
    His hair was