Page 46

Niika looked around and waited. The grass in the meadow was ruffling lightly and the trees bent and swayed as wind moved them in rhythm.

Niika crouched down and held her breath as the hoof beats of one of Gaia’s rarest creatures brought it close to her.

The beast broke free of the forest and its thudding feet brought it into the open. Niika couldn’t stop the grin on her lips as it lifted its head, shook out its mane and horn and its nostrils flared.

Niika held perfectly still as the beast came toward her. Her heartbeat was slow and steady, but he sought her out with alarming accuracy.

The horn speared through the brush and stopped an inch from her chest before it eased in to touch her. She held perfectly still until the horn retreated and the lovely equine head nudged her. “Hello, love.”

She felt the warmth of his mind in hers, and she laughed. It had taken her years of running through the Archives with Daphne, but she had found an obscure reference to a mythical beast. A unicorn was here on Gaia, and it made for an excellent companion.

Niika came out of cover and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He rubbed her back with his chin and snorted.

“Who’s a good boy?”

He made a peculiar chortling sound and stepped back into the centre of the meadow. He bounced up and down on his hooves, waving the deadly blade of his horn around.

To Niika’s surprise, another one of his kind slowly came out of the green shadows and moved to stand at his side. She was lovely, a silvery black to his blue and ivory. He rubbed his head along her neck, and Niika smiled. She sent him warm wishes, and he trotted back over to her, placing his muzzle against her palm.

His mate looked at her with shy curiosity. She came up and carefully extended her muzzle to Niika.

Moving carefully, Niika held her other palm out and let the female touch her. When the light contact was made, Niika curled her fingers and stroked the underside of the female’s jaw slowly. The unicorn’s lids lowered in enjoyment, and she leaned forward in silent demand.

A sound in the distance brought her head around, and she stared with the two beasts at her side. “I am sorry. It seems my survival group has woken up. I look forward to seeing you again when I am in your territory.”

The male shook his long, glossy mane out and steered his female back into the cover of the trees.

With the last look at their swishing tails, she turned and walked back to the campsite. Time to take her city folk back home again.

They were scuffed, they were grubby and they were ragged, but her group of survival-training enthusiasts were alive and very glad to return to their homes.

Niika dropped them off at the outfitting station and headed for the com station to get her messages.

Her eyes widened as she heard, “Sorry you missed it, Niika, but I was sort of in a hurry.”

Emharo was framed in the screen and smiling brightly. “Yes, Nik, I have gotten married to a member of the Nine. Rivvin is one of the Water Folk, and he is as crazy about the ocean as I am. Come by the habitat, and Mom and Dad will fill you in. I knew you would be gone a while and you wouldn’t begrudge me this, but I want you to meet him as soon as you can get some free time. Love you, Nik.”

Niika sat through the notices from her aunt and uncle, as well as a greeting from a male with a decidedly green tint.

“Greetings, Niika Baker. I am Rivvin Sequelar, and your cousin Emharo and I have become mates. Know that I will take good care of her when she needs it and get the hell out of her way when she doesn’t.”

His smile said that he had already experienced that particular phenomenon at least once.

Niika chuckled.

“I look forward to meeting you. My wife says that you do on the land what she does in the ocean, and those are skills that are in desperate need at the moment. Ambassador Leoraki is assembling a gathering of those who wish to learn more of the wild, and he will be requesting that you lead them in their education. From what Emharo has said about you, there is no one better on all of Gaia.”

She blushed and looked from side to side to see if anyone was paying attention to the praise she was getting from her cousin’s new alien husband.

“Contact the ambassador or his wife when you are able, and they will have your next course ready to go. Again, I look forward to meeting you. Emharo speaks of you every day. She misses you.”

Niika swallowed. She missed Em as well. It was part and parcel of the residue of the Tokkel attacks that kept her moving through the woods, learning and seeking out whatever random idea sprang through her mind. She had sought out minerals, rare plants, animals that no Gaian had imagined, and she had done it all for the sheer joy of movement and life.

After all, she had almost lost everything with that one blast to the spine.

When the folk who wanted to take her course had been forwarded to the organizer, she made the call to Daphne Leoraki. “Hiya, Daphne.”

Daphne was wearing a lovely shirt embroidered with layer upon layer of vines and leaves. Her dark hair swung heavily down her back and over her shoulder. “Hiya, Niika. You look disgustingly fresh after your three weeks in the wild.”

Niika shrugged. She knew how to keep herself tidy. If her student’s couldn’t figure out how to shower in the woods after she had explained it to them three times, they could return home stinky but alive.

“Thank you. I do try. So, I hear you have a group for me?”

“Yes, some biologists and historians. Stone and Wilders for the most part. Are you free?”

Niika cocked her head. “Not free but reasonably priced.”

Daphne groaned. “That joke was old before you said it the first time. I will have the money transferred to your account immediately. I am guessing that two weeks in the wild will suit them. Will that suit you?”

Niika mentally grunted. “As long as I can have one day to shower and get a change of clothing, I should be fine. What are they looking for?”

“They will have to tell you. There are some things that even the Nine don’t admit to.”

Daphne winked.

They finished their pleasantries, and Niika spoke to the coordinator, completing the reports on her students before getting her air-cycle out of the shed and heading for home.

The wind in her hair tasted of summer. It should be easy to find whatever the Nine needed, but first, she needed a tune-up.