Guarding Forever by Viola Grace Page A

This is why we chose you out of school and not one of our military monitors. You don’t have any secrets to lose.”
    The commander left her there to watch the nine silent stations where the only actions were blood samples taken from the sleeping Edinar as the plague was halted inside them. Everyone on the floor was wearing heavy medical gear, except the monitors. Ohra would get the same anti-plague shots that the Edinar did. It would hopefully stop her from being infected and dying before her charge was awake.
    She paced as she waited. The unspoken reason for her being chosen was her lack of family to mind her absence. She knew it and they knew it, but everyone was too polite to say it.
    For now, she just had to wait.
     
    Ohra settled into the support of the medical gel and watched the heavily suited figures plug her in. The link attachments clicked onto her temples, and she nodded when she felt the internal buzz that indicated she was getting a signal.
    She felt sleepy and gave a thumbs-up sign to the medics before she slipped into her coma. This is what she had trained for.
     
    The world stopped spinning and Ohra opened her eyes. The world around her was a stone monument and a star scape above. She was in the ruins of a mountaintop city.
    She slowly got to her feet and ran her hand across her scalp. To her shock, her hair was back.
    Ohra took a step and fabric brushed against her legs. She looked down and a pale blue gown wrapped her from just under her arms and trailed out behind her. It was the prettiest thing she had ever worn, in any plane.
    She looked around her and sighed. “Why couldn’t he just be standing out in the open where I could find him?”
    Ohra saw movement and followed it. Two huge white peacocks were trailing along and leading the way to the edge of the ruin where it looked out over the stars.
    Sitting on a cracked column was a man wearing nothing but a short skirt of leather and sandals.
    “Hello. Pardon me for not cleaning up. I was not expecting company.”
    She circled around and picked her way across the rocks. “That is all right. I wasn’t initially dressed for a visit.”
    Despite the dimness, he was all tan and muscles with the leather skirt for modesty. It was probably for her modesty because he was gloriously handsome.
    “You have been sleeping up there for a while. Your uniform didn’t do you justice, so I improvised.” He smiled and hopped down on the rubble from the rock facing her. “I am Forin Thanloss of the Edinar defense force.”
    She tried to curtsy, but she wobbled. “Ohra Ianic, monitor for you during your plague treatment.”
    “How many of us are there?”
    She blinked. “Across the galaxy, I don’t know. But, here, there are two hundred of you being treated for plague and rehabilitated.”
    General Thanloss smiled. “Is that what they are calling it?”
    “As far as I know. Twelve Edinar have taken government postings and are being very active in Horalthian politics.”
    She felt a delicate touch on her mind before he nodded.
    “It appears that it is so.”
    Ohra looked around. “So, what would you like to do for the next few months?”
    He waved at the surrounding plane. “You tell me.”
    She tried to alter his landscape, but it was difficult. She gave up and took a seat on one of the ruins. “What is this place?”
    “The ruins of Caleyon. Even in my time, they were rubble. My brother and I used to stand on the edge of the cliff and look out at the stars. He said it was like guarding forever. It would be safe in our hands. I wished that he was right.”
    Ohra nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. “It is a beautiful sentiment. That is the motto of this project by the way. Guarding Forever.”
    He stiffened. “Those other Edinar, do they have families?”
    “One or two. Young families so far. It will take us a while to get all of the Edinar up and running. The healing for the plague takes a long time. They will tell me when you are