Gaze by Viola Grace Page A

coordinates.”
    “Dossier as well?”
    “Of course. You will get a complete upload of everything we know about him. He is acting as ambassador for the Guardians and attempting to get strategic worlds to accept them and set up an outpost.”
    “Nice. Oh, I have to go. Naturan made it to the shuttle.” She grinned as she disconnected the call and sent the signal for the Blue Fairy to open the door and lower the stairs.
    Naturan stumbled onto her decks, and she filed for flight clearance while sealing the ship. Just for good measure, she electrified the surface of the shuttle in case one of the pursuing crowd decided to strike at her baby.
    Her guest made his way up to the command deck. “Where were you?”
    “What do you mean?” Clearance came through and she started to lift off.
    “You were supposed to protect me!”
    She laughed and looked at him through her lashes. “No, I am supposed to transport you. You were the moron who decided that since I am a cyborg, I am built for battle. Surprise. I am not. I saw you preparing to insult the gathering of farmers and supply coordinators, and I went to get the ship ready for your escape.”
    “You knew how they would react, and you still let me go in?”
    He was bristling with energy, and she was pretty sure that if she had been in Blue’s sister ship, the Green Fairy , stuff would be blooming everywhere and vines would be trying to kill her. It was Naturan’s only power. He could make plant life aggressive.
    She kept her gaze passive but looked directly at him. She used the optic zoom that every device back on earth had built in. When they had asked her if there were any features that she wanted, she had opted for the optic zoom. Now that she could see, she knew what the fuss was all about. She could see right into his pores.
    “Stop staring at me, freak!” He snarled and lunged for her.
    The ship wasn’t having any of that. The Blue Fairy cut the gravity.
    Naturan clutched at the command chair and missed. He floated loose, tumbling end over end.
    Gaze snorted. “I hope you had a light lunch, because the Blue Fairy has decided that you are going without gravity until we get to the station and drop you off.”
    Naturan gripped the ceiling and pivoted around. “You are supposed to be my transport.”
    “Change of plans. I only transport Guardians in good standing. You now have a price on your head and are being moved to a safe world where you can patrol the peas and trees to your heart’s content.”
    “You can’t do this to me.”
    “I am not doing it. The Fairy is doing it; I am simply not requesting that she stop. Plant life is not the only sort of life worth preserving. Intelligent life is all around you and worthy of respect if you just get your head out of your ass.” She hummed and sent a jet of oxygen through the centre of the command deck, blowing him along the wall and back toward the staircase. She got a silent update from Nitza about destination and sighed with relief.
    “I can’t spend the trip like this, Gaze! Put me down!”
    “Gravity will return when you have locked yourself in your quarters. The moment you are in, we will route power to the food and beverage station. You will be able to live comfortably and file all the complaints with my dispatcher and the Nyal Imperium that you wish. I will be getting you to Cahroosikan Station. They are expecting you.”
    He muttered as he pulled himself along the walls and down the staircase.
    Gaze smirked. She was firmly attached to her ship and strapped down by means of the implants that linked her to her ship. Gravity didn’t mean much when you were already tied down, and since she has suggested this tactic to her baby, she had had a light lunch.
    Having a portion of her mind blended with a ship had seemed insane, but it was part of her life that she not only got used to, but also enjoyed. The ship’s mind loved to look out through her eyes and experience life through her touch. It learned and