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She was going to sleep on alert.
    “Good night, Bright.”
    “Good night, Shiver.” He chuckled and settled in the lower bunk.
    She watched as he closed his eyes. The light that he was still emitting shut off when his lids shut.
    Her smile was still on her lips when she dozed off herself. She was home.
     
    The predawn hum woke her, and she slipped out of bed, walking to the door and opening it as quietly as she could.
    Dark lights were her friends. She stepped out and the small insects swarmed around her, touching her skin and skittering away happily. Nathaly had been twelve when she noticed that the insects were attracted to her aura, and many early mornings were spent in the garden with the dark lights visiting her.
    “Hello, friends. It has only been a few days, but I missed you.”
    The light sparks flowed in waves around her and led the way to the Citadel. The light glowed, and she followed the dark lights to the arched doorways and high walls around the delicate and intimidating structures.
    She didn’t touch anything. She walked through the courtyard and up to the path that led into the primary tower.
    It was perfect. It had the design of something important, something that would mark a change on Miikor.
    Unable to resist, she headed out back to where the gardens would be. The raw earth was enclosed just as the buildings were. Her mother was going to have so much fun here; all that Nathaly had to do was get her out of confinement.
    The chancellor would remember everything that was said the night before. The sap didn’t delete memory. Worvin had helped her come up with a plan of attack on their flight in. All she needed to do was to get her parents to sign a Citadel contract and the chancellor would have no recourse. He would have to hand over any citizen to the Citadel whose talents qualified them for Citadel service. Fortunately, Lord Newshot and his mistress both had minor talents. Rema was a sporadic seer, and Newshot had a strain of empathy that made him a very good politician and a great dad.
    She felt the footfalls before she saw Worvin.
    “Good morning, Worvin.”
    “I thought we were coming here together.” He rubbed at his eyes, illuminating the area.
    “The dark lights called me. I had to come.” She held out her hand and a ball of light tumbled into the field she emitted before it cascaded out in more waves.
    “What are they?”
    “Insects attracted by geomagnetic energy.” She smiled.
    “Can we go to the door and power up the Citadel?” He watched the small creatures play in the light beams of his eyes.
    She took the arm he offered her. “Of course, partner.”
    They headed to the front gateway of the Citadel, and each of them took up a position on either side of the door. They pressed bare palms against the glowing stones on the sides of gate, and a hum took over the building. The power supplies came online and the Citadel came to life.
    The doors slowly closed with a thud as dawn brightened the world around them.
    Nathaly looked over. “What do we do now?”
    “Breakfast?”
    She chuckled, and they returned to the shuttle while the Citadel finished getting ready for guests.
    Over breakfast, she asked, “I thought we would have to run wiring.”
    “We would have, but this design accounted for it, we just loaded the spools. The power systems are a light-transfer design, and I have to admire the beauty of it.”
    She laughed at him. “Obsessed by light?”
    “Something like that. I am glad it is completed. The first supply drops are going to begin in a few days. Having a place to put the stores is an excellent start.” He rubbed his hands together.
    Nathaly sighed, and when the dishes were put away, she gave him the directions to the capitol and suited up. The mask, gloves and robes were going to get her what she wanted. The two tablets secreted in her robes would protect the ones she loved.
    Worvin just had to get her there.
    He pulled on his own gloves, but the dark cut of his