Free Geared Up by Viola Grace Page B

scary?” She gripped one of his hands.
    “Yeah, but, at least, this time, we don’t have to send her off world. We can be here to help if she needs it.”
    Mlina thought about calling her family to intervene if Niad ran into trouble. They hadn’t spoken to her since she ran off with Nmir, but her father had sent messages via a third party over the last few years. He wanted contact with her but not her husband or child. That was the only reason they hadn’t spent the last three city festivals together.
    Her family had kept her from entering a permanent spouse contract with the man she loved, so she was not happy at the thought of rejoining them and pretending that Nmir wasn’t the best thing that had ever happened to her. She had determined to hold out until they accepted all of her family and let them formalize it or live her life with her convenience-contract husband and their daughter.
    That plan might need to be chucked out if her daughter needed family help. They could and would help her. She was their only granddaughter, even if she was a mechanical talent.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    Niad was working on the riot runner that her dad hadn’t managed to put together when she heard her name being called.
    “Niad Wyfirth? Excuse me, sir, but can you tell me where I can find Niad Wyfirth?”
    Niad rolled out from under the suspended vehicle and looked at the three officers and the bureaucrat that were ridiculously out of place in the repair shop.
    “I am Niad.”
    The first officer took out a pair of restraint cuffs. “We need you to come with us.”
    The woman in the suit nodded nervously. “Please come peacefully. We are here to arrest you for interfering in a Guardian mission to rescue the children at the Markwith Skarrow School.”
    Niad nodded. “I guessed as much. Please, allow me to scrub my hands, and I will come with you.”
    “Of course, miss.”
    She got to her feet and turned off the air cushion that had held her off the floor but let her slide. Her father told her stories about the rollers that he used to use, but this was better by far.
    Niad watched them observe her as she crossed the room. It was as if they thought she was a criminal, but in their estimation, she was.
    She scrubbed under her nails, dried her hands and held them out for the dampening cuffs.
    Her parents were in the office, but they had already had a conversation. If someone came for her, she would go. If this was going to work, she had to cooperate fully.
    She let them march her out the front door like a criminal. Neighbours from nearby businesses came out to watch as she was tucked into the government vehicle with her hands cuffed. She went without a word.
    They pulled up at the courthouse instead of the jail. That was something at least.
    She stumbled leaving the vehicle, and her officers drew their weapons on her. Well, that explained their attitude toward her.
    Niad straightened, and they walked with her past checkpoints and entered a courtroom where a Guardian was signing autographs and a judge tried to look as if he cared.
    Her escort with the data pad scuttled to the judge’s bench and whispered frantically.
    Niad was put in the defendant’s position, and she chose to remain on her feet. The Guardian stood next to the prosecutor, and he inclined his head toward the judge.
    The gavel struck and the courtroom quieted.
    “Niad Wyfirth, you are charged with acting in the capacity of a first responder during the incident earlier today. How do you plead?” The judge smiled in a bored manner. This happened all the time.
    “I plead accuracy. I was not acting as a first responder. I am a first responder.” She inclined her head.
    The judge blinked. “I beg your pardon.”
    Niad looked around at her lack of representation, eyed the court recorders and nodded. “Well, I am Citadel Mechanical Specialist Niad Wyfirth. By the Citadel treatise, I am allowed to pursue my training on any world that accepts me as a citizen. I was born