Free CalltheMoon by Viola Grace Page A

exit to the dome. If there were a newbie coming in, they would all know about it by the end of the day.
    Naka stretched, the weird feel of her suit still taking some getting used to. The facemask that framed her features was the most peculiar part of it. Something told her that the wraparound had a purpose, but she had no idea what it was.
    Running in bare feet took some getting used to, but as she started out with a slow jog, she had to admit that her feet felt better than they had in years of running on the coastlines.
    She waved at the other talents who were out tending gardens but kept her head straight.
    Her first two days in the dome had been full of fear and frustration. Hahvi, the fire elemental, had suggested that she seek out a form of leeching her physical energy other than using her talent. Running was something that had always come easily to her, so she picked that as her workout.
    The first day, she had made it through the occupied area of the dome before she limped back to her quarters. The second day, she was only able to make it a quarter of the way through the dome.
    Eventually, Naka had been able to see parts of the dome that few of the inhabitants ever bothered to look for—abandoned parks, dry fountains, trees that struggled to thrive in the arid environment. Naka saw them all.
    The wonder of the domed city was that it had been designed to be completely contained and support itself in the worst of conditions on Resicor. It was a monument to the past and the urge to survive that her people had enjoyed in their history. Its current use as a prison for psychic talents with physical effects was a sad statement to the modern generation.
    Her route this morning took her past the old city centre, around the empty fountain, back through a residential neighbourhood and, from there, to her quarters.
    Naka spent her afternoon working on her small, personal garden. The only foods she could identify easily were herbs, so that is what she planted.
    She was on her way inside when her suit spoke to her.
    “Naka Gwyn, please report to the entrance. You are being recalled.”
    “What?” She blinked at the herb garden around her.
    “Report to the entrance immediately. You are being moved to another holding area.”
    Naka looked around to see if one of the others was using a voice talent to throw her off. There was no one near her plot.
    She washed her hands quickly. No sense having dirt under her nails when she went wherever it was that she was going.
    Wahli was in the lane when she walked past. A sobbing young woman was leaning against her. “Naka, where are you off to?”
    “I just got a notice from my suit that I am needed at the entrance. Something about being reassigned.”
    Wahli stopped in her tracks and stared, “Are you sure?”
    “I haven’t been here long enough for the walls to talk to me. It has to be my suit and that means the guard. Either I will be gone or I am facing a move, not that I have heard about any other facility on Resicor to house physical talents.”
    Wahli frowned. “There isn’t. Can you wait?”
    A voice emanated from Naka’s suit. “Naka Gwyn, report to the entrance immediately!”
    Naka winced. “He sounds pissed. A hug for good luck?”
    Wahli put her charge aside and gave Naka a quick hug. Her huge eyes got even wider as their skin connected arm to arm. “That explains it then. Good luck and long life. You deserve it.”
    Naka grinned and waved goodbye as she passed the first and last talent to greet her in the dome. The archway was ominously silent. She entered the narrow hall, reaching the electronic curtain swiftly. Her touch on the screen let her hand pass through, and closing her eyes, she rushed the rest of her body through the tingling barrier.
    When she was in the normal air again, she opened her eyes to see a world-weary stranger waiting for her. Behind her, the barrier whined into full strength, so she stepped quickly into the antechamber where she had protested