Dev leaves her own world knowing that her future lies elsewhere. She joins the Citadel where her strength can be useful, but is useful enough?

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.

Excerpt:

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.”

Helsin smiled. “That we can do, ah, here we are.”

He opened a door, and she stepped into a large space that held a number of medical stations. The one he led her to held a large standing press that was designed to have a living being inside it.

“May I take baseline readings?”

She blinked. “You are a medical tech?”

“No, I am base physician for the Sector Guard Base Udell.” He smiled and flipped the navy blue braid of hair over one shoulder.

Dev hopped up on the scanning table and followed his small touches to place her limbs in the proper position.

“Excellent. Hold still please.” He started the scanner and a beam of light caressed her, coasting from her head to her toes.

She waited until he shut off the scan and asked, “It can read through my clothing?”

Helsin smiled. “This scanner was designed by Fixer and assembled by Tech. It can probably read through time if I find the proper setting.”

Dev chuckled and accepted his help in sitting up.

“Are you willing to test your strength?”

She blinked. “Oh, yes. Of course.”

She removed her shoes and walked to the press, allowing him to set the weight on her shoulders.

“Does removing your shoes help your talent?” He asked the question as the weight increased pressure.

“No, but it keeps them from being crushed under the pressure. Each time I used my talent in public, my outfit was ruined, and I need those shoes to get home tonight.”

He chuckled and the weight continued to press on her.

She felt the pressure, but it didn’t buckle her. Her limbs hummed as her talent surged to the fore, and she stood straighter than she had when the test began.

“Remarkable. You are generating a cellular compression field. Your body will not be crushed and if you tried, I imagine that you could lift the weight from your shoulders.”

She blinked. “Would you like me to?”

“Please, if you can without injur…whoa.”

Dev lifted the pressure plate straight up and stepped aside, lowering it to the ground. “Anything else?”

Helsin quickly moved to shut off the machine. “Um, no. That is quite enough. May I do a puncture test?”

She blinked. “Do you mean a needle?”

He fidgeted. “I have never asked a woman this before, but may I stab you?”