Scales (Avery Rome Book 1) Read online

  Eve reached out in a calm fashion and grabbed two small bits of rock or ceramic out of the air. It was pretty plain to Avery that the girls existed inside that space for the moment. Not really connected to anything except their larger selves. Eve passed the things over to her, patting her own side, where Avery had a pocket, but the Vampire didn’t.

  “Just tap those when you want them to come out and they will. It’s based on intent. That won’t be hard for you now. Can you get us back to Yogurt World? The right one, I mean. It’s pretty easy, going to your own world like that, so shouldn’t be an issue. Not after coming here.”

  Avery looked around, but got that they were already inside the fluxing energy of a node point. It just had to be unlocked, so they could travel. That meant slipping the thing open, then wrapping herself around Eve so quickly that it happened in the instant they moved into the void. After that she found the right exit, taking it without pausing for long at all. It barely felt like even enough time for an eye blink. Certainly not two of them. Even in the strange time inside that non-space.

  Stepping out, Eve grinned at her.

  “Nice. You need to get back to your base and report, or whatever. Tell President Samson he can stop breathing down our necks now? We kept telling the Shifters that we’d help them out this way, but all the people they send us keep failing. The vast majority do. Regardless of what kind of person they are to start with. It’s just too long inside for some. Others can take that, but just don’t have whatever spark is needed to travel this way. We really thought the percentage was going to be higher at first, but it looks like one out of every five hundred or so people can actually do it. About one in a hundred of those is willing to try, so… Yeah. At one point we were getting one in ten, but that was mainly a pocket right around the Zacks. The current theory is that they draw certain people to them. Ones that have a real shot at traveling. We totally lucked out with you, given all that. I’ll meet you at your battle camp in about three hours? Then you can help me do the transfers to the right location in the Congo. You’ll need the practice.”

  There was a pause then, but instead of explaining anything, even if it was clear she wanted to, Eve just waved at the pulsing bend in space-time.

  “Here it is, your first solo trip. Don’t die on me. I’ll look ridiculous if you do. Have everything ready in three hours? We have to do pickups from three different locations. Maybe four. If it’s more than that, give me a call first? I hate surprises anymore. I love predictability. You can get me some for my birthday next year?”

  Avery nodded, her mouth feeling just a tiny bit dry suddenly. She had no clue where to buy predictability after all. Not how to make it either. Even getting that it was a joke, she felt a little unsure of what the words meant.

  “I’ll see you then. Three hours. Everything will be prepared, or I’ll give you the call.” Then she stepped into the node, the void touching her almost not at all. It really wasn’t hard to find the other node location again, having been there once already.

  Then it was just a matter of finding the right distortion to walk through, of which there was only one. No one seemed to see her walk out of nowhere when she was back on the base. Even though several of them were standing right there, not thirty feet away. They were all talking, in a slightly excited way. She understood why that was, since most of them were going to be shipping out that evening. Greg was near the edge, standing next to Calley Hale. Ambassador Hale, as it turned out. The rust and copper headed woman waved when she looked up, noticing her first.

  “Avery! It seems like a bunch of these noobs are headed over to the Congo. Guard duty.” There was no questioning her as to if she were going as well. In fact, no one else mentioned that either, or teased her over it.

  “I know. I was just off helping Eve Benson move some gear on Mars, so she’ll have time for us later. She…” Avery didn’t want to brag, but keeping it a secret wouldn’t help either. Unless that was wrong. Still her mouth worked anyway. “She taught me how to walk the node lines. It took about five centuries. I’m not joking on that part. I’ve been gone for a very long time. Commander Hart said I should try to learn about it if I could. I did.”

  The others, all six of them, laughed. Only Calley didn’t, just standing there watching her for a bit.

  “Really? For real, I mean? Not a joke?”

  The others were watching her, so Avery shrugged.

  “I can take you someplace, then back here?” That had to be good proof.

  It was kind of clear that no one really believed her though, not until she stepped with Calley into the small rift, to get to the node that had been used earlier. The one in the hotel. Then the Bat woman made a face at her. Smiling, but also crying a little. Real tears dripped down her face, under her thick, heavy rimmed glasses.

  “Holy fuck, Avery. Holy gob smacking jeebers!” She was a bit calmer when they went to Brand Village, in the same mall that Avery had been to before. That was the Shifter embassy and Hale knew it well enough to easily point out the differences in location to her. Using a similar pink energy line as to what Eve had used earlier, in fact.

  Then, all heck broke loose inside a few minutes.

  Chapter five

  The woman behind the desk alternated her expression. She was a Cat of some kind, Avery thought. There was an energy around her that didn’t exactly hold the shape of her other form, but which held a flavor of it, somehow. It was definitely her tongue that knew what the woman was. Her creepy, serpent, Dragon tongue. It didn’t flick out of her mouth, which was good. That kind of thing would be strange seeming to anyone having to see it.

  “Well! I wouldn’t have picked a child to be our representative, if anyone had asked me.” There was a glare from the woman that hit Calley first, then swept over to Avery. The blonde woman had collar length hair, but it was well styled and cared for. Everything around her was. Her face was a bit too lean, but her clothing was sharp, well pressed and lint free. Mainly because of her important position there, no doubt.

  Being the Shifter Ambassador for that location.

  Calley Hale, dressed in tan fatigues that were a slightly smaller version of what Avery had on just snorted back. Completely un-cowed by the perceived anger from the other woman. It could have been a Bat thing, but the smaller woman was actually being very still at the moment, not flapping or jittering around at all.

  “Does that really matter? The other people we begged to have trained all failed. Nearly a hundred of them already. Jahn has been on the phone with me for months, asking if we could bribe the Human line walker to take someone into the real training, if he wasn’t already. Now we have Avery. That’s a big deal. I don’t think that whining about her being too young is a great idea. She’s older than her years anyway. She was even before the training.” A thin line of intent, pink again, moved from the Bat to the Cat, but then just settled there, not being understood.

  Catherine Peterson managed a nod then.

  “A point, Cal. A real one. Not trying to step on your toes, Rome. I’ve been being hit up by Samson at least once a week as well on the same topic. Speaking of which, if we don’t call this in right now, we’re going to end up in trouble. Let me…” She was already behind her desk, which was a nice enough looking thing, of metal and glass. The top was clear, but gave off blue and green light. Those were reflections from the computer that was on the top of it, bouncing inside the monstrosity the slender Cat was behind. Her bright green eyes glinted a bit, like she was goofing around.

  Right up until she hit the buttons which got a rather annoyed sounding man to answer over the hand piece. It felt easier to focus on now, after her time in the void.

  “Jahn Samson’s office. This is Little. What may I do for you?” The words were polite. The tone simply wasn’t. In fact, he sounded almost like he wanted to yell at someone. It reminded Avery of home.

  Catherine nearly purred at the man.

  “Wendell! I have some great news. One of our people has finally managed t
he line walker training. We’ve got one now. One of us.” Before she’d seemed about ready to growl over the concept of Avery being the one that did that first.

  Now the woman seemed to be ready to actually purr into the phone.

  The man scoffed.

  “Riiight. Who is this?”

  She made her own noise then and rolled her eyes.

  “Catherine Peterson. I’m here with the Sparks Ambassador, Calley Hale. Along with our new line walker. Avery Rome. Dragon shifter…” She didn’t add anything else, just waiting for a response.

  Wendell, if that was his name, spoke then, shocking Avery a lot.

  “Rome? I was just reviewing her file not ten minutes ago. That… Well, she’s solid from everything I just read. Her instructors are impressed with her. So is the training base Commander. Very much so, in fact. This news simply adds to that. Is she willing to work with us still?” Whoever the man was, there was a strained quality to his words. “With a skill like that, since so few can do it and fewer are willing to try due to the extreme nature of the training, we can’t really hold her. As it is, sending her off to the Congo is insane now. We need a different place for her…”

  There was a thumping sound, which after a bit Avery got to be the man tapping buttons on his phone unit. The shape of the sound was different than what Catherine had in her hand. Heavier and thicker, somehow.

  After a bit the same man spoke, sounding more or less pleased.

  “Mr. Samson? I have Catherine Peterson, Calley Hale and Avery Rome on for you? Apparently Ms. Rome is the first Shifter line walker? I figured that you’d want to know about that as soon as possible.”

  There was a gasp from the other side of the thing, then a sound that had to be the man clapping.

  “Really?” The word was accented, sounding more or less Scandinavian, Avery thought. Not that she really knew that kind of thing. Some of the Shifters at battle camp had been from that part of the world however and sounded kind of like this man. “That’s impressive. Are we in a position to…” There was a shifting of papers, then a sigh. “Is Ms. Rome in the room? For that matter, where are you?”

  It was Peterson that explained that part of things.

  “In my office at Westfield. Right next to the node.” It was a hint, which Calley got first.

  “Great plan. We can come to you? I mean, you didn’t have a problem getting me here, Avery. Can you do that with this many?” She was concerned, but relaxed when Avery nodded.

  “One at a time? If you know where to go. Is it near a node? That really is a lot easier? Someone has to know where it is…” She didn’t need to explain that to Calley, since the woman had already known how to do that, having traveled with other line walkers before that day.

  She started walking toward the node, which was just outside the office door. In what was clearly a rather well filled storeroom. They sold clothing there, with an emphasis on jeans and trendy things that Avery had never had before. Catherine called something out suddenly, which was inarticulate being so rushed. Then her phone was slammed down as she ran out to join them.

  At the same time Calley grabbed her arm and concentrated on where they needed to go. A pink, slightly glowing line that only she could see shot off into the void. Without waiting, Avery took a deep breath.

  “On three? One, two… Three!” The void was the void, holding nothing, except the idea of the line she was following. Stepping through the node on the other side led to an empty gray room that held a single chair. That was made of plain wood, settled right next to the closed door.

  Calley smiled up at her, not having to look up all that high really.

  “This is the right place. How are you holding up?”

  Avery got the idea. It wasn’t that much work, except of course that it also was. It took intense focus to manage the trick. On a level that would have baffled her if she hadn’t held that same basic state for half a millennia. Now it was more natural to her than not doing it.

  It took her about a minute to get Catherine through, into the space, in which time four people came rushing into the room. Two men and two women. One of the ladies was older seeming, looking hard and wolfish. Gray haired and with a blocky body that spoke of muscle power that was rare for females.

  The other woman was the one in the back. She was probably four years older than Avery was, or about that. She held a computer like device, seeming ready to write things on it for some reason. It was small, flat and gray, looking like it was probably more expensive than anything that Avery had ever owned.

  One of the men, who even she recognized as the current Shifter President stuck his hand out at her. She took it, trying to act professional, even though she felt underdressed for the place she was suddenly in. In fatigues, like Calley. Everyone else looked to be ready for a nice lunch, if not a finer occasion. Plus, a deep part of her worried for the man. Afraid that his souls might be tainted by being too near her. Even if that was ridiculous and she knew that wasn’t how anything in nature worked. That part was at least equally clear to her.

  “Ms. Rome! I have to say, this is wonderful. I didn’t know you were on the schedule for this kind of training. Did you arrange it on your own?” He sounded polite, compared to the others, as if he were just asking a question.

  She forced a smile, trying to make it seem real, even though her mind was a bit too far away at the moment for that kind of thing. Not at all drifting or distracted, just focused on other things. Eve had mentioned something like that being an issue for a bit. It wasn’t that bad really.

  “Eve Benson, the Vampire? She found out that I could see the nodes and shortcuts so figured that it might pay to drop me inside. I was helping her move some equipment, so she’ll be free later today. Inside the void it took about five hundred years. I’ve been gone for a very long time. Longer than it sounds like.” She didn’t know how to explain it to the people standing there, but Samson nodded at her.

  As if he understood that part already. Then if nearly a hundred Shifters had already tried it, the man just might get the idea. At least now that someone had succeeded.

  “Which you’ll be paid for. You’re currently on active duty and that has to count as hazardous. It has with everyone else that’s tried it. Is there anything you need? A vacation, or perhaps a rest facility?” The man was acting weird, looking at her closely, as if expecting her to actually need that kind of thing.

  Without thinking she shook her head.

  “No, thank you. I need to get with Commander Lewis. She’s in charge of the Congo mission? I’m setting up a kitchen there, as part of a new program. Testing that, I mean.” She looked around, since Jahn Samson was, most likely, in on the whole thing. The other man there, Little, had mentioned her going as well. What he knew about the real mission wasn’t clear yet however. So she didn’t say anything more than that.

  The blond man, who had light colored eyebrows making him look funny, reached out and touched her arm gently. Her natural impulse was to pull away, but she suppressed it, not wanting to be rude.

  “By which you mean that’s the cover operation.” Glancing around he shrugged. “Ms. Rome was to be Gregory’s guard detail for the event. We can just pull him from the mission. I hate to do that to him. I don’t want anyone to think he’s weak, but…” The man seemed a bit worried, which was reflected as rainbow colors coming off of him. Visible things that the others weren’t actually reflecting in particular.

  They were all different.

  The other man seemed calm, compared to how he’d sounded on the phone. That it was the same man was clear to Avery, though how she knew that wasn’t transparent at all. He just tasted the same.

  Catherine seemed slightly proud of herself for some reason, as if she’d had something to do with the whole thing. That… It was hard to tell, but the idea there was probably that Eve was from her embassy location, making it related to her after a fashion.

  Strangely the younger woman in the back seemed very different, drinking in ener
gy from the world, with almost nothing getting out. It was kind of apparent that she was a shape shifter, but the other faces, of which there were many, were all Human seeming. The dark haired girl was better looking than Avery was, which was clear when she stopped tapping on her pad for a second to glance up. The eyes were a deep brown, which nearly bordered on black. The face was a bit heart shaped, but her skin was flawless. That was a Shifter trait, so no one there was going to think much of it.

  That Calley had freckles was kind of strange for their people. The Bats that Avery had met all did so far, however. What she was feeling was different, seeming mixed with a lot of diverse things. One of those was, oddly, sexual interest. Most of it was pride, though. Not proud, like the Cat, but actually feeling pleased that Avery, one of them, had done it.

  The older, steel gray haired woman was even more pure in that, not secretly lusting after half the room.

  She moved in, her right hand coming out.

  “Lang. Lang Peterson.” She glanced at Catherine first, who shared her last name, then Calley. “Cathy is my great niece. Calley here is my granddaughter. We were just talking about reassigning you, given the new developments. I’m not certain that’s the best course here.” She stopped, glanced at the others, then shrugged. It wasn’t very professional, but no one seemed to be standing on high level protocols really. Which made sense. She was just some girl after all.

  The elder Peterson laughed a bit then.

  “What do you think, Rome? You have us bent over a log here. You could walk now, or… I have no clue really. I have to imagine you can do a million things that no one else can now. What do you think should be the order of operations here?” She sounded a bit gruff, but that was directed toward Wendell, not anyone else in the space. Ripples of blue and gold were cast in his direction. Darker, muddy colors mixed in.