Gaze by Viola Grace

Chapter One
     
     
    Gwyn Gwendolyn stood at attention in the conference chamber. She was acting as world-to-world transport for the Guardian Naturan. He was convinced that everyone needed to eat nothing but vegetation and live a life of harmony.
    To Gwyn, he was nothing but a pain in the ass.
    She idly flicked her vision with every blink. Her eyes were her favourite part of the adjustments that the Nyal Imperium made. The world was full of colours and textures that she had never imagined before they had taken her out of the darkness and brought her the light.
    After creating the optic connection that nature had not provided her with, the researchers had wired in heat vision, night vision, weapon sensing and a life watch. As she blinked, she could literally switch from regular to exotic sight.
    As for her regular sight, it had been amusing that after a lifetime of being useless and dark, she was near-sighted. All those implants and she still needed Lasik surgery.
    It was perverse that one of her first sights was the red and yellow of the laser across her eyes, correcting the shape of her lens and making the rest of the enhanced vision adjustments work like they were supposed to.
    Naturan finished his lecture about sustainable green environments, and the representatives from local worlds looked at each other. One raised their hand. “What if we cannot afford to reduce our production? My people are supplying grain for worlds that are on the fine edge of starvation. Should we embrace your new methods to repair our world in the short term and kill them?”
    Gwyn started walking, putting her Gaze expression on her face. She was putting her hand on the door when Naturan turned the seminar into a mob.
    Naturan lifted his face. “True harmony with nature has no price.”
    The crowd started to move, so Gaze headed through the door, trotting toward her ship. The Blue Fairy had told her that this was a bad idea, but they had to obey orders.
    Gaze grabbed a public-use skimmer and used her security override to lift it twenty feet above regular traffic as she made a beeline for the star port and her patient ship.
    Naturan was on his own. He had made no secret of his consideration of her as an abomination of science and a perversion of the natural order. He could take the beating they were going to hand out, and she would get him to his next destination.
    Whistling to herself, she landed the skimmer next to the security desk, ran through the departure regulations and headed for her glowing blue and silver darling.
    The door opened and a stairway extended. She patted the ship as she entered. “Afternoon, baby.”
    The ship retracted the stairs and locked the door behind her.
    Calmly, Gaze headed up to the command deck and took her throne, patching into the security cameras. Naturan was running for the spaceport, his clothing was torn, his eye was bleeding and he was clutching one arm while a mob surged after him.
    “Huh, he is a nimble little minx.” Gaze admired how light on his feet the odious Guardian was.
    “This is Gaze to Dispatch.” She waited.
    “Dispatch, go ahead Gaze. How is Naturan?”
    “Running from an angry mob. Should I intervene?” Gaze added. “He has been injured.”
    Nitza cleared her throat. “Protocol dictates that you cannot leave the spaceport once you have begun takeoff procedures, so we are going to abide by the rules. I am sure he would be delighted that you were law abiding. However, prepare to lift off the moment he is inside.”
    “Understood. Where am I taking him?”
    Nitza rapidly entered information. “The med centre on Orbital Wenya, and Gaze, I am so sorry you got stuck with this ass.”
    “Thanks, Dispatch. I am hoping that my next transport assignment will be more entertaining and less of a pain in my implants.”
    “I have an interesting one for you next. He’s a Nishan shapeshifter and has recently joined our ranks. Shiver is his name, and I will send you the pickup