Ava has gotten used to the solitude of being a contact healer, but when she is stolen before she can get to her next assignment, she is up for sale to a very specific clientele. The folk of Nafki need her for her healing abilities, but the raiders who stole her want her for her ability to create a toxin for any species she has ever healed. Her talent successfully helps pause the plague rippling through the population, but once she has a grasp on the dark elves of Nafki, she knows that being used as a weapon to kill them is the next step in the plan.
Avaneer sat up and stretched. The gravity was slightly heavier than she was used to but not enough to cause her any distress. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed one very important thing. She was not in the Alliance high-gravity station.
Instead of a medical bay, she was in a very well appointed apartment with a balcony overlooking a city of elegant architecture.
“Where am I?”
A shadow moved on the far side of the room. “You have been sold to us for the purposes of stopping a plague.”
Avaneer blinked rapidly. “Sold? I am a trained contact healer of the Citadel under contract to the Alliance. I can’t be sold. It is illegal to own me.” She scrubbed at the back of her neck and climbed out of the pod.
“Nevertheless, you are here now, and we need your help.”
He stepped into the light, and she fought the reflex to rub her eyes. She had seen pictures of the dark elves of the Admaryn before but never one made of a hard, glittering black. He appeared to be made of jet and mother of pearl, but his skin flowed and flexed as he moved.
She sighed, “Fine. I will help, but when I am done, I want to contact the Alliance. They will be looking for me and finding me on a strange world with no transfer order will cause your government problems.”
He blinked. “Just like that? You agree to help just like that?”
Ava laughed and moved toward him. “Of course. My particular skills are only of use if I can use them. What do you have here?”
She began to walk toward the door, her robes swaying.
“Where are you going?” He moved astonishingly quickly to block her from the door.
“I thought to go in search of my patients. You would not have brought me here if they were not nearby.” She smiled brightly and extended her gloved hand.