Free Negative by Viola Grace Page A

handed her over to the state in an effort to save themselves a mountain of debt. When she came out of her coma, she had no emotional attachment to any of them. The faces were as familiar to her as images once seen in a book or magazine.
    She wished she could feel their loss, but there was nothing where her family should be. Empty memories of laughter flitted in her mind when she woke; the dreams were of a time when emotions ruled her brain.
    The meditation techniques that she had been taught had increased her ability to see what was coming and had been useful. They allowed her to learn and study at an increased speed. She could identify everyone on Luna Base by species, name, title and occupation. She had done introductions for two arriving shuttles of Terrans, and none of them had known she was one of their own.
    “Aster, are you ready?”
    The voice belonged to Nadiel, her movement instructor.
    Aster moved easily to her feet and turned to bow. “I am ready, Master Nadiel.”
    “Your ship is waiting. Your clothing is onboard. You are ready for this, Aster.”
    Aster bowed again. “Thank you.”
    “I look forward to watching your career.” Nadiel smiled.
    With her hands at her sides, Aster walked with head high through Luna Base. She cruised to the shuttle and nodded to the pilot. Her robes marked her as a hidden one. Her appearance was designed to avoid attention, to blend in with the walls and shadows.
    She strapped herself in to the seat in her quarters, and the shuttle took off, whisking her to her assignment.
     
    The lady was late.
    Aster stood in the hall, her pack at her feet, and she waited to be collected like a lost puppy.
    Lady Abrieth arrived in a cloud of perfume and a barely-there gown. Six guards accompanied her, and the guards looked far more worried than she was.
    “Ah, my hidden one. Welcome to Rekfa. I think. I am pretty sure that we are on Rekfa.” The lady waved it away.
    Aster moved toward her and the guards shifted to block her. “I am no threat to the lady. I am here to make your lives easier.”
    The guards advanced on her, and Aster sighed as one went on the attack. She knocked him to the ground, and he lay stunned. Aster moved toward the second with all the grace and speed that she had been taught, but when he moved aside, she stopped.
    Lady Abrieth blinked in surprise. “You are such a quiet thing. What is your name?”
    “Aster. I offer myself as your etiquette liaison, lady.”
    “I accept. Sorry about Tobr; he is a stickler for protocol. No guard can be accepted without being tested.”
    Aster paused. “You are aware of the conditions of my employment?”
    Lady Abrieth made a face. “I am aware. Come, we will deal with that at my apartments. It isn’t safe in the open.”
    Aster walked next to the woman with the exorbitant price on her head and a political job to do. The lady may act like an airhead, but she was a negotiator of the highest order who had the misfortune to get caught in a love triangle with a Nyal royal family member and their Presku lover.
    The situation would have been awkward enough, but their boy losing his virginity to the good lady upset the family of the Presku, and the Nyal family was outraged at the loss of the alliance they had wanted to forge.
    The result had been that honour could only be satisfied by the death of Abrieth. It was not a great situation. The lady’s family had gone looking for someone who could keep her alive and let her do her job.
    It seemed a situation tailor made for Aster’s peculiar skill set and the timing had ended up being perfect.
    Aster floated along next to the lady; with the guards around them, they made their way into a private transport, and then, they were being whisked through the city.
    Aster carried her bag when they left the transport, and the rest was a confusion of arrangements until she was given the adjoining rooms to Lady Abrieth’s apartments.
    It was more space than she needed, but if Lady Abrieth was in any