The Way It Is

secret mission - part 2

He is staring at me staring at him—Yup, classy as always. Hey, I said I am good at assessing people critically, not that I am super clever about it.

Thankfully Sica comes to my rescue as she glides in like a predator on the prowl with Nekkal just a few feet behind her.

"Good, you are all here. We are getting ready to warp any time now, so we need to get you two on your way. I take it you two have met?"

I just look at her. Still recovering from being caught in my apparent scrutiny of the guy, I find my tongue is refusing to move.

"Ah, no. Sorry Lady Secretary, I am afraid we have just arrived ourselves." Mister top-heavy gives a dashing smile to Sica.

The new guy is smooth. Voice a deep purr like warm butter melting on toast.

Ugghhh. I groan inwardly—charming males with large egos. I barely contain my eye roll.

Practised smoothness like that doesn't put you in my "liked" category, ever. Too much smoothness usually leaves a slime trail.

But Sica smiles back at him. Granted, it isn't a friendly smile. It's more predatory, like she wants to eat him. And not in a kinky kind of way either. Maybe his fluency in bullshit bothers her too.

"No problem." Purposely ignoring him, she focuses on me. "Marshal Zea, this is Ufrik." With that, she looks pointedly at the Commander, daring him to correct her. Or does she want him to add something?

Whatever. I don't care. My rank isn't going to save my ass from death. They will probably be finding a new Marshal soon either way. But who names their kid Ufrik? Poor bastard.

I take note that Ufrik has no rank, or at least it isn't being offered. That is interesting. Merc? Independent pilot for hire? I can figure it out later. Doesn't matter right now.

I notice Sica hadn't bothered introducing me to Ufrik. She doesn't like him. I make a mental note. Just one more thing to make me question my new partner.

"Nice to meet you, Ufrik." I decide to play it cool.

Doing my best to act like I hadn't been giving him the once over just a few minutes ago, I extend my arm in greeting. He takes it to my surprise. I had wholly expected him to snub me, thinking he is better than me. He has that air about him.

Yet, I am even more surprised when a jolt of energy shoots up my arm when our skin makes contact. It sends pins and needles through my body, starting from my forearm. I can feel my arm hairs standing up straight.

What-the-fuck!?

His eyes widen ever so slightly as he registers his own shock for half a second. He quickly collects himself and purposely releases my arm, being careful not to pull back too fast.

Huh. So that caught him off guard too. In a way, this is good news. Flexing your power like that with someone you don't know is either a warning or a threat. Or foreplay, but we aren't exactly there yet, and I doubt we will ever get that friendly.

I don't want to deal with this at the moment. He might not even know he is an energy bender. That's scary.

There are a lot of species that can harness the many different energies in the Universe. Many learn to harness their own individual energies too. Perhaps this is where the folklore of magik comes from in some species.

These people can only bend one specific type of energy, and it comes naturally without guidance. Energy benders call these people Natives. They are born native to one particular strand of energy.