Dev’s talent makes her unwanted on her own world so she chooses to join the Citadel in an effort to find another where acceptance will be offered.
Helsin is the physician who tests her talent and when he confirms her strength he offers her a position in the Lowel Citadel, a base that is still in the planning stages.
Dev becomes the first employee of Lowel Citadel, based in the Udell base and trained by the Sector Guard. With a resume like that it is no wonder that on her first assignment she is told that she has a talent for crisis management. Her living arrangements are crisis enough.
More From Tales of the Citadel
She shuffled forward with the others in minute increments until she was finally facing the registration officer.
“Hello, miss. May I have your name?” The woman’s skin was a soft pale pink and her baby blue eyes were soothing.
Dev cleared her throat. “Devani Jarix.”
“Devani, what do you believe your talent to be?” The woman’s fingers were poised over the icons on her data pad.
Dev looked around and relaxed when there was no one near the kiosk. “Um. I am bullet proof and I can lift large weights.”
The woman raised her brows. “How large?”
“Two tons is my current limit.” Dev shifted from foot to foot.
“Are you willing to prove your talent?”
Dev nodded. “Yes. There are also local news reports that should be easily accessible.”
“You have been in the news?”
“Not willingly, but yes. I seem to stumble into trouble.”
“Just a moment.” The woman’s fingers moved rapidly and she raised her brows with an impressed expression on her features. “I see. You will be meeting with a recruiter immediately. Please take this locator and have a seat through those lavender doors.”
Dev took the palm sized disk and walked past the other kiosks, smiling when she realized that she couldn’t hear anything as she passed. The kiosks were sound proofed.
She pushed open the lavender doors and walked into the waiting room with the small disk in her hand.
There were some chairs set along one wall but no one else in the room. Dev took her seat and waited. A door on the other side of the room opened, causing Dev to raise her head.
It was male, tall, and was wearing an armoured body suit in black and gold. “Devani Jarix?”
“Yes.” She got to her feet and noted the width of his shoulders. Two of her could stand side by side and might just be the same width.
He smiled and his scarlet skin darkened against the white of his teeth. “I am Helsin, please come with me.”
He gestured for her to walk with him and she paced at his side as they entered the door he had come through. He spoke again. “While ostensibly this is a recruitment drive for the Citadel, we are looking for those who can work in concert with Udell base. The nearest moon has a new Citadel outpost and having additional members available to help in a pinch is always useful.”
She nodded as if his words made sense to her. They didn’t.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I am taking you for some medical testing to determine the extent of your talent. Most of those applying today are weak talents, at best. To find someone who has your skills is remarkable.”
She spoke, “Don’t be too impressed. The press put it all out of proportion.”
He smiled and his bright yellow eyes sparkled. “And yet you mentioned being impervious to projectile weapons in your initial statement. That shows some pride.”
“It shows desperation. I have no social life here, my friends keep their distance, the requests for interviews are constant and I have no inclination to live my life as a law giver when it has to be a life alone.”
“Why must it be alone?”
“No male of my acquaintance was comfortable with me after I moved the bus to free the passengers. I am regarded as a freak in my daily life and I am tired of the stares and whispers.”
He paused, “So what is it that you seek at the Citadel?”
“I seek to be with exceptional beings who know what it means to be alone in a room full of their own kind. That’s all. Just the company of equals instead of being looked down on.”
