Free Tales of the Citadel # 32 - Core Charge by Viola Grace Page B

colour, as were her feet.

    She was wearing a bodysuit, and she had no idea how she had gotten into it.

    A smiling face appeared in the plexi door and beckoned to her.

    To her amazement, she got to her feet and the door opened easily. She wasn’t a prisoner anymore.

    The man with flat feline features grinned and beckoned her to come into the main medical centre.

    “Hello. You must be disoriented. This is Sector Guard Base Morganti. I am Dr. Nywyn, and we took pains to make you comfortable during your healing.”

    “Healing?”

    He nodded. “The physicians at your facility weren’t that careful with your health. It is amazing, considering what they were doing with you.”

    She shivered and walked to stand next to the stranger. “What exactly were they doing with me?”

    “They were using you to power a weapons array. It was a clever design, but you were obviously not the intended occupant of that harness. The life support was an afterthought.”

    Gwiette swallowed hard. “How did I get here?”

    The physician showed her to a seat on an exam bed. He ran a hand scanner over her from a safe distance. “For that answer, you will have to talk with my wife.”

    When he finished with the scans, he gestured for her to follow him, and then, she did just that.
     

Chapter Two

    Relay was a pleasant woman whose features were surrounded by a band of metal that framed her face and held her hair back.

    “Please, Gwiette Lonkastil , have a seat.” Gwiette settled in the chair that was pointed out to her.

    Dr. Nywyn disappeared with a grin and a nod.

    “You know my name?”

    “We do. There was an arrangement to take you from the surface, but their movement to take you early and get you off world caught us by surprise.” The woman smiled sheepishly. “I am Relay by the way. I am the commander of Sector Guard Base Morganti.”

    “Pleased to meet you, I suppose.”

    Relay inclined her head. “Pleased to meet you as well. Do you know what was happening to you?”

    “I was having my charge removed along power lines. I am guessing I was a charging station for something.”

    “You were. As the good doctor may have mentioned, you were charging a defensive shield. One of our agents slipped past the shielding and removed you from your prison. If you like, you can see the recording of your retrieval.”

    Gwiette felt her lips quirked for the first time in weeks. “Retrieval, not rescue?”

    “We were always going to get you out. When someone calls for help, we come running, and your need was definitely greater than most.”

    “You said there was a record?”

    “Yes, when Stop goes on a mission, he records everything so we can get a clear look at what was going on when he entered the space.”

    Relay flicked a switch, dimming the light and cutting out the daylight from the ceiling panel. An image projected out of the table and against the wall.

    The first thing Gwiette saw was the sparking of energy around the interior of some sort of cabin with a console. It was a vehicle.

    She watched the recording as the cameraman landed on the base, locked into a tunnel, and then, she followed along as the person with the recorder made his way through halls where no one was moving.

    It became apparent that he was seeing a moment in time and that moment didn’t change.

    Gwiette swallowed when he finally entered her chamber. She saw herself turn to the camera with agony in her eyes, and then, her expression froze and she was uncoupled from the harness and lowered to the ground. The recorder lifted her and carried her back through the halls, but the folk were now in different positions. They had moved while he was in the room with her.

    She watched him tuck her carefully into an insulated tube, the life support was attached with care, and then, she heard a masculine voice say, “Retrieval complete. Morganti, have medical standing by.”

    The camera went dark.

    Relay turned the lights on again. “Do you have any