Free Negative by Viola Grace

Chapter One
     
     
    Aster Marquis met the punch with one of her own, but hers made contact. Her opponent was driven back with the force, and she raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t realised he was really trying to make contact.
    “Again.” Recruiter Norz was on the sidelines and watching her as she fought with his bodyguard.
    Again, he struck and, again, she countered.
    “Amazing. Each and every attack is met with precisely the same pressure to counter it.” Norz walked toward her and handed her a towel.
    She passed it to his guard and took the second towel.
    “I tried to explain, but it isn’t something I get to use on a daily basis.”
    “When did this start?”
    “After the accident, during physiotherapy.”
    He nodded. “Your physique is impressive for a woman of your age.”
    She grimaced. “It is a side effect. If someone puts weight on me, I push it. Anything seen as an attack is matched with equal force, and since my trainer kept adding more, my muscles kept building out of self-defence.”
    “So, you are a completely passive defence system?”
    Aster shrugged. “You tell me. I know that I react before anything happens to me now, but my strength is completely normal for a woman of my body type most of the time.”
    Norz frowned; his silver skin and dark eyes showed he was obviously working on something. “I don’t know of a place for you, but with your other skills and with your eidetic memory, I believe we can find you a position in the Alliance or elsewhere.”
    Aster smiled. “Do you think so? I don’t want to presume if there is a space that someone else could occupy.”
    Norz inclined his head. “Your position would be yours and yours alone.”
    Aster finished drying the sweat off her neck and cleavage and smiled at her sparring partner. “Thank you for the workout.”
    He inclined his head to her and Norz. “It was my pleasure.”
    He took the towel from her, and he left the gym.
    Norz inclined his head. “Change your clothing and I will meet you for further discussions. As far as I am concerned, the moment you sign the contract, you are a Terran Volunteer.”
    She smiled shyly and inclined her head. A spiral of excitement unfurled in her. She had changed when her skull was cracked and her brain rewired itself, and now, she would have a chance to use what she had become. Her joy threatened to spill over, but she kept her face as calm as she could.
    Outer calm gave her the starting point for everything that came after, and she was getting the feeling she was going to be doing a lot of learning.
     
    Two months later, she was pronounced fit to act as a hidden bodyguard. Her assignment would be as a companion to a wealthy, young noblewoman, but it would put her squarely in the trade courts of the Nyal Imperium.
    She knelt on the observation deck with her gauzy grey robes around her, the filter over her eyes dimmed the view, but she could clearly make out the rising of the Earth above her.
    Being swathed from head to toe in grey silk chiffon had been hard to get used to, but after weeks of training, she finally could move as easily in her disguise as out of it. Etiquette liaison was her title, but it was moving in her clothing that had been her greatest challenge. The knowledge of protocol came easily, which was absolutely bizarre.
    Aster breathed deeply and spread her sleeves wide, pressing her hands to the floor and staring up at the stars.
    Change. She was in a constant state of change, and it was hard to accept some days and a gift on others. A simple fall at work had nearly killed her, caused a brain bleed that should have ended her life. Her recovery had been remarkable, but as she relearned everything she had ever known, her mind did not stop. She had started to consume books and all information she could get her hands on. Her brain created new paths and new connections to make up for those broken by her accident.
    Her family was a distant memory. When she had been injured, they had simply