Frisk by Viola Grace

Chapter One
    Lera Douglas shifted in her riot armour. The Nyal Imperium had their Peacekeepers in heavy plates when they wandered into a fight, and as a member of the Nyal-Alliance Peacekeeper-Enforcer exchange program, she had to abide by the rules of her new unit.
    “Private Lera, what are we looking at?” Captain Drular asked her quietly. Their unit was facing the prisoners who had crashed their shuttle perilously close to the city of Feural.
    “Nine handheld blasters, twelve knives tucked into boots, a Delclaron with venom coming out of his claws.” She looked across the approaching field of escapees. “That is all I can see unless I can get closer.”
    A new voice came through her com. “Thanks for that, Peacekeeper. We can take it from here.”
    A skimmer roared overhead, and the Guardians of Jennila dropped into fight formation in front of the ten Peacekeepers. With a rush, Lance, Coma and Shatter wrapped up the incoming wave of violent prisoners.
    Lera flexed her hands and grimaced. On Jennila, it seemed that Peacekeepers were only allowed to handle the bar fights and parade routes. Everything else was left to the Guardians.
    Once the prisoners were wrapped up, the Guardians beckoned the Peacekeepers forward. “A little help with the restraints, please.”
    “Well, Peacekeepers, at least we have something to do.” Captain Drular beckoned them forward, and they stomped out with the cuffs and bindings that would be needed to prepare the escapees for transport back to the prison world they had just left.
    Lera set out with the rest of her unit, and they flipped the unconscious bodies over and cuffed their hands behind their backs. Lera went the extra mile and used her talent to frisk each and every prisoner before they woke. She pulled out wires, knives, a packet of acid and bone spikes in the first three prisoners she examined.
    Looking down at them, she saw their weapons glowing hot. It was something she had always been able to do, and it was the skill that had propelled her into the Volunteers. Now, the psychic frisking was giving her a new set of aliens to search, and she had to admit that her strange talent was enabling her to meet new kinds of people and travel much more than she ever imagined.
    The Guardian, Lance, came up to her. “What are you doing?”
    “I am removing all hidden weaponry so that they can’t pick the locks or stab their pilot on the way home.”
    “How?”
    “I am looking for it.” She paused and looked up at him through the faceplate of her uniform. He appeared to be made of ivory and the palest gold.
    She continued her work, ignoring the shiver that ran through her body at his lithe and athletic appearance. Half of her attraction was pheromones, the other half was the breadth of his shoulders. He was exceedingly handsome, but then, his people usually were.
    He followed her, watching closely as she extracted a vast variety of weapons.
    He cleared his throat. “We are having a recruitment drive in Feural tomorrow. You should come and try out.”
    She snorted. “I am sorry. Tomorrow is my day off. I am not allowed to try out for anything strenuous.”
    She finished and chucked the last weapon into a pouch that she handed to her captain. “They are as clean as I can make them, Captain.”
    Lance was persistent. “Captain, I think your private here has what it takes to become a Guardian. You should insist that she attend the recruitment.”
    “Her private time is not mine to control, Guardian. We were lucky enough to get her here.” Captain Drular was calm. He was always calm, it was his species’ characteristic.
    “Where is she from?”
    Lera blinked. They were talking about her as if she wasn’t even there. Shrugging, she helped arrange the prisoners for pickup.
    Once the situation was under control, she was assigned to stand watch while the pursuit ship made its way to their location.
    She ignored the Guardians and their curious looks as she watched the prisoners for any