by A. K. DuBoff
“Right, yeah.” Tess flushed slightly.
“But Kaen isn’t Valtan,” Jack interjected. “How would he have been exposed?”
“I don’t know,” Leon admitted. “But if we’re right about this neural structure being made out of nanites, we can develop a test to see who might be under telepathic influence.”
Tess stared at him solemnly. “But if that structure is some kind of receiver, doesn’t that mean Kira is susceptible to control herself? And you?”
Leon hadn’t wanted to consider that possibility, but he couldn’t ignore the potential. “We can’t rule anything out. But we do know that Kira has faced off against the alien presence and not been subverted. Maybe being a telepath herself changes the dynamic. As for me… I’m Valtan, but I’m definitely not telepathic, as Kira would be quick to tell you. So, I don’t know. I’ll need to be tested like anyone else.”
Jack nodded. “Okay, one step at a time. First, we’re looking for evidence of these neural structures in people who aren’t Valtan. Should be easy to cross-reference with old medical exams.”
A message popped up on Leon’s workstation. It was from Kira: >>Sandren agrees we should interview Jared and see what he knows. We could use your expertise to ask the right questions about the neuroscience.<<
>>I’m in,<< Leon wrote back. >>Where should I meet you?<<
Kira sent a map to him, detailing the destination and an optimized route.
Leon looked up at his team. “We got the go ahead to talk with Jared. Can you two try to work out an automated way to check for that telepathic structure?”
“Sure,” Tess agreed, “but we really need to give it a name.”
Jack nodded. “We do. I already can’t stand ‘the structure’ as a nickname, and I’ve only been using it for five minutes.”
“What about ‘telepathic receptor’, or TR for short?” Leon suggested.
Tess and Jack looked at each other and shrugged.
“Works for me,” Tess said.
Leon smiled. “It’s got a name, so now you can define it.”
— — —
Kira glared at Jared across the interview table. He was being entirely too calm for the situation. He should be afraid right now. What happened to the twitchy man from Valta?
Behind her, Sandren shifted as he leaned against the wall next to Leon. “You may as well talk, Jared,” the major urged. “You know what Kira can do to you.”
“Do your worst,” the scientist replied.
Kira could sense Leon’s concern. Even though they’d grown up together, he had never witnessed the darker side of her abilities up close. Part of her didn’t want him to see that side of her, but if they had any chance at a future together, she needed to bare her full self—whatever that self was now.
Ignoring those around her, Kira spread her hands on the tabletop and stared into Jared’s eyes. “Tell me what you know about the Valtans’ telepathic abilities.”
“There’s not much to tell,” he replied.
“We saw an artificial neural bridge between the left inferior frontal gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus,” Leon interjected. “What do you know about the expression of telepathic abilities in that region?”
“We saw it in a number of Valtan creatures but never on other worlds,” Jared explained.
Kira glared at him. “Is that how the aliens were controlling Monica?”
The scientist laughed. “Monica? She was never under telepathic control.”
“So, she was a willing participant?” Kira prompted.
“Most of us were. It was important work. We were the ones willing to do what no one else would.”
Kira shook her head. “That kind of thinking has always led Tarans down a dark path. You’re just as bad as the Priesthood was.”
Sandren stepped forward. “Some collaborators were willing participants, but these aliens have taken over others against their will. Who are they? What are they after?”
Jared stiffened in his chair. “I only know about our work.”
“You’re not telling us everything.” Kira stared into his eyes.
“I’ve said all I care to share.”
“You know I don’t need your permission,” she cautioned.
He glared back at her.
“Suit yourself.” Kira bored inside, peeling back the layers of his consciousness that so thinly veiled his inner mind.
The information she sought was there for the taking, if she could locate it. A lifetime of memories and knowledge spread out before her. Random connections led to tangents of the mind, with the timeline of experience having no bearing on how the history was organized. She would have to dig, and the more Jared resisted, the more it would hurt him.
He cried out in pain as she began the process. She was vaguely aware of Sandren’s and Leon’s discomfort in the distance, but that wasn’t her concern. This was her job, and she was good at it.
Minutes passed as Kira dug through the disjointed archive of Jared’s experience, seeking the time when he was at MTech’s lab on Valta. He had to have seen something, talking about something with Monica, which would offer insight into their present predicament.
In time, she found an impression of Valta and traced the thread back to a bundle of memories. Flashes of Monica came to the surface, of working with her in the MTech lab and committing their atrocious experiments on innocent people. Jared had been a willing participant in it all.
“Jared didn’t come to Valta until later,” Kira said aloud to the observers. “I don’t think he arrived much before me.”
“He seemed to know an awful lot for being a latecomer,” Leon said.
“Yes, he was definitely involved in some way before,” Kira agreed. “I’ll have to do some more digging to find out where.”
She returned to her prodding, searching for another thread that would lead her to earlier in Jared’s career, when he had first been corrupted. He had been a willing participant with the aliens—she could feel it. When she’d probed Kaen’s mind earlier, she felt the strife of his situation. Here, though, Jared was all-in.
He had handed himself over to control years ago, even if he wasn’t an active host. She should have sensed that when she controlled him briefly while back on Valta, but it wasn’t something she had been looking for. Now, though, understanding the context, she was struck with a pang of pity for how misguided he’d been.
Kira tugged on the various threads leading from Jared’s time on Valta, searching for the one that would yield the answers she sought. Eventually, one caught her attention: a connection straight to MTech’s headquarters on Mysar.
She separated her mind from his just enough to relay the information to the observers. “He worked for MTech at their headquarters. Someone in the senior leadership brought him in—a man. They told Jared he had a special part to play.”
Kira watched the memories play in her mind’s eye as she lived through Jared’s eyes. His recollection was hazy, and she struggled to make sense of the images and feelings passing through her.
“A man gave him an injection,” she continued. “Jared couldn’t see it, but he felt it. That must be how they transfer the nanites.”
“Like when Monica stuck you with that syringe?” Leon asked from behind.
Kira relived the memory again. “I think so. The strange man handled it like a precious commodity. I don’t get the impression that it’s something they give to just anyone.”
“That limits the number of potential hosts,” Sandren assessed. “Good for us.”
“Yes,” Kira concurred, “but this also means we have a bigger issue on our hands. Monica didn’t just go rogue on Valta—MTech’s leadership is involved.”
“I wonder…” Leon mused. “I saw a man with the Mysaran chancellor on Valta. What are the chances it’s the same man you just saw in this memory?”
Kira shook her head without breaking eye contact with Jared. “Pretty high, and I bet you he’s an MTech exec.”
Sandren gr
oaned. “So, MTech and the Mysaran government are both compromised. What a foking mess.”
“Fortunately, the Guard just happens to specialize in fixing that sort of situation,” Kira said with a slight smile.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” the major cautioned. “We know how they get the nanites in, but how do we get them out?”
Kira combed through more memories, seeking any indication of a weakness. “Tell me,” she demanded of Jared, echoing the thought throughout his mind.
“They’re always so hungry,” he replied at last. “They feed on the darkness within us.”
She almost dismissed the thought at first, thinking it too ridiculous, but she sensed truth in his statement. They thrive on suffering, she realized. No wonder Monica had made such a perfect ally.
“Then how do you drive them out?” Kira pressed.
“You must starve them,” he replied. “Change the neural chemistry. So long as there is stress and loneliness, they can survive. In a serene mind, they can be driven out.”
Something stirred underneath Jared’s consciousness, just out of reach. It snarled at Jared as he revealed the secrets that were never supposed to be shared.
Kira’s heart jumped into her throat as she felt Nox’s presence. “Shite, it’s here!”
“What?” Sandren demanded.
“Nox,” Kira explained. “I can feel it.”
“How did it get out of Kaen?” Sandren questioned.
Kira began to connect the pieces in her head. “If it never was physically in Kaen, it can jump bodies… but maybe only to an extent.”
“My team is developing a test for the neural markers that indicate the telepathic receptor—or TR, as we’ve dubbed it for now,” Leon cut in. “Jared will make the perfect test case.”
Sandren took a step toward the door. “Then there’s no time to waste. Let’s get him to your lab.”
“I suggest we bring Kaen, too, sir,” Kira said. “If we started to drive Nox out, it may start jumping between potential hosts.”
“What if there are other hosts?” Sandren asked.
“It’s unlikely there are others in this base,” Kira countered. “If I were an alien looking to gain leverage, Jared—a captive—is the last person I’d jump into. When it left Kaen, I’d wager it only went to Jared because it had no better option. Its ability to take control has to have something to do with that TR Leon’s team identified.”
The major nodded. “I’ll agree with that logic.”
“And this is going to sound weird, but the key to beating these guys is to be… happy,” Kira said tentatively.
Sandren eyed her. “Please explain, Captain.”
“The nanite structure that they build requires a certain neural chemistry to remain intact. It’s the kind of chemical cocktail that comes from emotions on the negative side of the spectrum. If you’re happy, the chemistry shifts.” She glanced at Leon. “This would explain why they could never get ahold of me. Despite all the craziness going on, I have the new—or, renewed—relationship bliss thing going on.”
“Then why do you still have telepathic abilities?” Sandren asked.
“Well, just because this TR appears in the same place, that doesn’t mean the mode of creation is the same,” Leon replied. “There’s still some mysterious ‘X factor’ with Valta. Whatever alien nanotech is in Kaen and Jared right now likely isn’t identical to what enables abilities in Valta’s Readers.”
“Yeah, no one is going around sticking mopey Valtan kids with syringes full of nanites, I’m sure of that,” Kira added. “Whatever causes those abilities is a more natural means.” She looked over at Jared. “He doesn’t know, but Nox does.”
“I don’t think our alien friend is in a sharing mood,” Sandren said.
Kira stared into Jared’s eyes. “What do your people want with me, Nox? What makes Valtans so special?”
The alien didn’t reply.
“Tell me, Nox!” Kira demanded. “Are you from Valta?”
The alien resisted, but she cut into the entity’s mind until she found the answer she sought. There were more of the beings, but not in a sense of life Kira understood.
She felt the alien’s memories—shared across the consciousness of many. They had been one with the network of life on Valta long ago. It had allowed them to expand their consciousness in a way they’d never dreamed. But the process left something behind. Even after they left Valta, their remnants remained, and those had changed the people on Valta. Those remnants were the source of Kira’s telepathic gifts.
Her heart caught in her throat. “Where did you go? Back home?” She was desperate to know more, to understand how she came to be.
Nox ignored her pleas, but her determination drove her deeper into its mind. Eventually, she saw an image of a vast, empty space.
“Valta was not the first, and it was never meant to be the last,” Nox finally admitted. “When Tarans came along, we saw a new opportunity to venture as autonomous beings. They were our chance to once again be among the stars. They took us to a new system where we could grow.”
Kira shook her head. “Gaelon. And you told your hosts to spread the word for no one to ever go there, so you could multiply undisturbed.”
Nox tried to hide its thoughts from her, but Kira could sense the affirmation.
“Why?” she pressed, focusing her telepathic might. “What did you need from Mysar and Valta?”
The alien’s resolve buckled, and it submitted it. “We sought a new vessel to carry us so that we could exist beyond this physical plane, even as we move through it in an isolated body. And soon, we will have the template for that new vessel.”
That’s what they want me for, Kira realized and broke the telepathic link. She relayed what she’d seen.
“That explains it!” Leon exclaimed. “Kira, I think you’re immune.”
“Why?”
He stroked his chin. “Think about it, the aliens can exert control over great distances, but you require eye contact to initiate a Reading. The TR connects the right neural pathways to enable telepathy, but it’s like an offline version of it.”
“What about Kaen’s influence over others here?” Sandren asked.
“My guess is that the alien could exert close-range telepathic control through direct eye contact, like Kira. But beyond that, it’s limited to a host with a suitable TR—something formed through whatever augmentation Jared and Kaen were given,” Leon replied.
Kira nodded. “That seems to be the case.”
“Got it,” Sandren said. “But, how does that impact Kira’s susceptibility for control?”
“To extend the analogy,” Leon replied, “she has an incompatible receiver. To put it bluntly, if the nanites Monica gave you, Kira, were capable of modifying your existing TR to function as a receiver, then I’d expect Nox to be in your mind right now and not Jared or Kaen.”
“True,” Kira agreed. “So, I guess we need to get everyone in a good mood until we confirm that no one else has a TR.”
Sandren chuckled. “Great, so the solution to all our problems is to play love ballads over the station’s loudspeakers.”
“Yeah, pretty sure that would horribly backfire.”
“But in all seriousness,” Leon interjected “if this is a matter of neurochemistry, that’s an easy fix. We can try a few neural cocktails and see if the TR in Kaen dissolves.”
“That sounds like a genuine plan.” Kira cracked a smile.
“That it does,” Sandren agreed. “Let’s save the colonel.”
CHAPTER 15
Kaen’s sense of self was just out of his grasp. Before, when Nox had taken control, Kaen had remained aware of his surroundings, his body, his individual thoughts. Now, he was adrift.
He had no idea how much time had passed in his bizarre state of nothingness, or if he was within himself or outside. As much as he searched for a sense of direction, there was nothing to see.
So, he waited, as patiently as he could, for a
sign.
I’m still me, he tried to reassure himself. I wouldn’t be thinking these thoughts if I weren’t. But where am I?
The waiting was torture, but he had no choice.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the darkness began to clear.
Kaen strained to orient himself in his surroundings, as though looking through a thick fog. Sights and sounds were distorted, but he was able to make out enough to determine he was somewhere within the Orion Station base.
Good, I’m among friends. Relief flooded through him, startling him with the sensation. I can feel again!
It was a very promising sign, indeed.
Too much was still indistinct for him to draw conclusions about his present circumstances, so he continued to wait in the fading blackness.
Then, a warm presence brushed up against his thoughts. “Colonel, are you there?”
Kira. Kaen could feel her. “Yes, I’m here!” he replied.
“Nox jumped into Jared,” Kira explained. “I was able to find out some more about how the aliens maintain control. They manipulate your neurochemistry. We’re trying to counter the effects now.”
“Tell me what you need me to do.”
Kira chuckled in his mind. “This is going to sound ridiculous, sir, but I need you to think happy thoughts.”
“Pardon?” the colonel replied in a skeptical mental tone.
“The aliens thrive on negative energy. We’re giving you a healthy dose of the happy brain drugs right now, but you’ll need to help the process along.”
“I never would have guessed that.” Kaen soaked in the information. “How did you figure that out?”
“We were able to get some information from Jared. Turns out his bad attitude was by design.”
“Come to think of it, Nox’s power over me waned whenever I held a strong sense of hope.”
“Love, hope, it all undermines their strength.”
Kaen laughed in his mind. “I knew being in love with my work would pay off.”
“That’s the spirit, Colonel. I’ll be right back. We’re going to up the dose.”
