by Layla Stone
She thought about it for a moment. The Cerebral turned his eyes back toward the door before she asked, "Ansel took away your telekinesis and telepathy?"
Touching the side of his head, he said, "He shut down the part of my brain that controls my telekinesis. My telepathy is still intact, but everyone on the ship has been fitted with a telepathic blocker."
Bringing up the blocker made Sasha unconsciously scratch the hard, plastic device fitted to her head. She also refrained from telling him how that was a reasonable response, considering those weren’t normal abilities. Combined with his telepathy, the telekinesis made him dangerous. "Does it bother you that you can't hear everyone's thoughts? I mean, I can imagine it would get really annoying. I know what kind of thoughts I think, and I wouldn't subject anyone else to them." A truth.
His lips twitched in amusement, but he didn't respond for a moment. Then he said, "Your thoughts annoy you?"
"Sometimes." She shrugged, picked a lint ball from her blanket, and flicked it in the air. It slowly descended and delicately bounced off the dark grey floor. She missed flying. She could be riding her hopper all over Turtta, especially over the long drops near the waterfalls. Snapping out of her reverie, she inhaled loudly. "So, what about you? Are you worried about what the Federation is going to do to you? It pretty much boils down to them returning you to your planet or you remaining in a cage forever."
"The Federation is not one of my concerns."
Sasha couldn't help but smirk. He spoke as if the Federation were infinitesimal. Was he trying to impress her? Flirt? He didn’t have to do that, she was already interested. He was fascinating, attractive, and made her time on the ship more exciting. No doubt there was an inherent risk here, but no matter how much she wanted to resist, she simply couldn’t stop talking to him.
Picking at the lint on the blanket only to watch it fall she said, "The Federation has you in custody. You're a hostage, and you aren't concerned? That's bold."
"You are afraid of the Federation. I…am not." He gave her an unconcerned shrug. His expression remained blank after that. It definitely seemed as if he were unaffected by his current imprisonment. Which was probably just one big bluff. Who the hell didn’t care that they had been kidnapped, sold, and then imprisoned by the Federation?
A guy who could control minds, apparently.
Whipping away the fuzzies with her socks, she leaned back against the metal wall, looking at the male sitting stiffly in the middle of his cot. His face was shaded due to the shadows cast by the utility light. "How can you say that? You've been mentally handicapped." He didn't respond, and that didn't sit well with her. Perching all the way up and tucking her ankle beneath her, she continued, "Then what are you concerned about? Who or what scares you? I'm honestly curious."
He blinked. "Yes, I know." He picked up his cup and emptied the contents in the cleaner’s pull-out toilet with the door open. When he returned, he put the cup near the bars without touching them. Still hunched down, he said, "My brother. I am concerned about my brother. More specifically, what he will do now that I'm gone."
Intrigued, she asked, "What are you afraid he will do?"
He stood up, remaining close to the bars as he gazed down at her. "He will look for me."
Taken aback, she said, "Why is that a bad thing? If I had a sister or brother and I went missing, I would expect them to look for me." Then she dropped her jaw, "Oh, you're worried because he will come into Federation space. Yeah, that would be bad for him."
The Cerebral tilted his head in an inquisitive way. "You enjoy making assumptions about others. That is…an odd quality."
"What? No, I was making a deduction. It was a logical one based on what you said."
"No. It wasn't."
Sasha didn’t like it when people talked down to her. Being a slave, it was commonplace, but she ignored it because she had to endure it. It was life on Nexis. But here, on the Federation transporter, she was a pilot. He was a prisoner.
In that moment, she thought of shutting up and following Rannn’s order. She was taking a giant risk. She looked around and thought about any recording devices that could have been installed. All Federation brigs had them.
But the Cerebral was in a makeshift brig, so maybe there weren’t any.
Should have thought about that earlier, she chided herself.
The Cerebral returned to his cot without answering. Considering their conversation over, she lay back down, rubbing her face into her pillow. She couldn't help but add one more barb to the unsatisfying conversation. "It's not like your brother could find you anyway. Federation space is vast."
Quick and sharp, his reply was, "My brother will find me. But it's what he will do when he learns how I was abducted that concerns me. My brother is not as…understanding as I am."
And just like that, she was fully awake, needing to hear more. Was his brother dangerous? What made him so? What did the Cerebral think could happen?
Moving back up, she said, "I'm not sure what you mean when you say, 'my brother will find me' or that you're worried about what he will do once he learns about your abduction."
Leaning forward so that his elbows touched his knees, he said, "Would you like me to explain?" His tone was smooth, but Sasha felt like he was being sarcastic.
Biting her lower lip and leaning forward off the cot she said, "I’d love to hear your explanation.” And she was back to breaking the rules. Her desire to know everything about the male in front of her was much more intense than was prudent. “Especially if you tell me your name and can offer up an explanation in paragraphs instead of one short sentence at a time. It’s like you’re trying to drip feed me information so I’ll stay interested.” She hadn’t meant to add that, but it was true.
Sitting back in his seat, he said, "My name is Sci.”
Sci? Interesting name. She wanted to say it out loud, get a taste for it.
“Cerebral, my planet, is not close to Federation space. The day of the incident, my hopper malfunctioned and electrocuted me, leaving me unconscious. I woke up on a Rastos ship. Hearing the thoughts of those around me, I realized they wanted to kill me, and a few wondered how much money they could make if I stayed alive because my kind is so rare in the Federation. Then, something hit the back of my head, and I woke up on this ship with Ansel telling me he’d cut off all my abilities."
The fact that he was rare, and she was sharing a room with him made her feel ridiculously special. Even though it was not ideal—for him. She still liked that no one else would have the opportunity to be around a male like Sci. Especially since there was a no-talking order.
Breaking a single rule had never felt so intoxicating and all-consuming.
Oh, the things she could learn from this guy. "If I were going to be abducted, I'd choose for it be Rastos. Those thieves treat their plunder well, and they sell them to high-end procurers on the black market, not pirates or Numans," Sasha pointed out. He was lucky. It could have been worse.
"To be abducted from Cerebral is…impossible. We are telepaths. No one can come onto our planet without at least one person knowing. Seeing it would have entered into their consciousness and it would be broadcast to everyone else. What bothers me is how I got from being unconscious on my planet to being inside a lifepod out in space."
There were several minutes of dead air.
Sasha didn’t really know what to say. If that had happened to her, and she was in his place, she wouldn’t be so calm. Since she didn’t know what it was like with his abilities, she settled on imagining what it would be like to be taken hostage on a Federation ship just for being Terran.
“I’m sorry about what happened to you. I can’t imagine what that was like.”
When he still didn’t comment, she slapped her thigh. "That's it! You're afraid your brother will find the Rastos?" When he didn’t elaborate further, she realized that was probably all he was going to say to her for the rest of the evening.
&nbs
p; She’d take it.
Sasha jumped up, set an alarm on the large Minky screen mounted to the wall, and waited to see if he would say anything else. He sat on his bed, his head facing in her direction, and his focus still on her. Drinking her in. She imagined that he noticed every breath and movement.
She decided to ask one more pressing question. "What do you think your brother will do?"
He looked away, and she wanted to move closer. Wished the bars were gone and she could curl up at the bottom of his cot and hear all about his brother. He understood loss, and she could feel the urgency in his still form.
He was worried about his sibling. She was concerned about her mother. Kindred souls.
She re-arranged the blankets, adjusting herself on the bed. There was nothing she could do to get closer to him. Looking at the bars, she hated them fervently. The male on the other side of the room was suffering, and all she wanted to do was hold him—or better still, have them hold each other.
"Chollar, my brother, will lose his temper," he whispered. And those were the last words he spoke that night. His eyes returned to her. This time, she held them. Keeping him close in a way and letting him burrow into her soul.
Chapter Eight
Schedule Change
The next morning, Sasha was awoken by the alarm she had set the night before on the Minky screen. After taking care of her bathroom needs, she grabbed her boots and paused. Her cup. It was tipped over and several inches from her footwear. She stared at it, wondering how that had happened. She thought she’d placed it on the shelf, not by her boots.
Peering over at the Cerebral, she saw that he was lying on the cot, hands on top of one another at his waist, his eyes closed. His cup sat in the same place as it had when she closed her eyes.
Why didn’t his cup tip over, too?
Turning back to her cup, she leaned down, picked it up, and placed it on the storage shelf. Quickly, she slipped on her boots and made her way to the bridge.
***
"Reporting in…" she said to Rannn when he stood up from the pilot seat. She didn’t know if he was going to ask her about talking to her cabin mate. The captain still needed her to pilot, but would he do something drastic if he knew?
Adjusting his uniform, he said, "I spoke with Ansel about the Terrans’ circadian rhythms. Your kind runs on a twenty-four-hour cycle, with a need for nine hours of sleep. With that in mind, we will begin twelve-hour shifts."
Confused, she watched him leave, wondering what the hell he meant. What rhythm? Looking at the seat she was about to spend the next twelve hours in, she grimaced. Twelve hours…yikes.
She settled in and soon recalled Sci's story about his abduction. Now that she was awake and alert, she kept returning to it. Hoppers were not wired for electricity. They had a small computer chip to work the control panel, but that would not have been enough to knock him out.
Sasha stewed on all the possibilities where a hopper could have managed to create enough electricity to render someone unconscious, and she still didn't see how a hopper could have knocked him out. Unless they were using the same word for a different craft. She would make sure to ask him when she got back to the room.
She would also ask if he had been able to pick up on the minds of those in a ship outside his atmosphere. The Rastos would have had to be close enough to pick him up after he was unconscious.
There was also the nagging thought of what exactly his brother would do when he lost his temper. That was the scariest detail of all. Unanswered questions and thoughts of Sci swirled in Sasha’s head while she stared at the front screen that showed her the immeasurable expanse of space.
Chapter Nine
A New Purpose
Sci opened his eyes as soon as the cabin door had closed. She’d noticed the cup. He had been trying to return it to its original spot for hours, but his head ached, and his telekinesis ability was running on empty.
Memories from primary school flashed in his mind. It had taken him so long to strengthen his abilities as a kid. He was not a fast learner. Being back at the starting point was a hit to his ego in a big way.
Turning away from the bitter memories, he watched Sasha’s consciousness. The stars weren’t as comforting to him as they were to her.
He relaxed on the cot and replayed her thoughts from last night. She’d pictured herself next to him. Holding him.
It made no sense. Sci was not injured, but Sasha believed that he was. She thought he was suffering, but he wasn’t.
She wanted to hold his hand through the bars. It was a dangerous idea, but…he wondered what it would be like. Had he ever held another’s hand? He didn’t think so, not even his brother’s.
If she wanted to hold hands, he would accommodate her. But he would be the one sliding his hand between the bars.
Sci jerked up. The most profound moment had hit him like the electricity from the hopper—albeit less painful.
He had mentally, without any teaching, chosen to put himself in danger to protect her. It was so natural, this line of thinking. To keep her from harm.
He understood!
He could understand why Pax was worried about her. The Red Demon’s threats no longer held the same weight in Sci’s mind. Sci could never hurt Sasha. And with his connection to her, he wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her.
His heart suddenly sank. How would he protect her if he couldn’t use his abilities? Seeing inside her mind was one thing, but to defend her, preserve her, he would need his telekinesis.
Resolve like never before flooded his blood.
He left the cot and cut all thoughts except his mind and connected with the cup as he pulled it into the air and held it.
The light object was still, several feet in the air. It was an exercise that would hone his focus and increase his ability. He was no longer the lost boy who suffered in school. He was a male with a purpose.
Chapter Ten
Hot Damn
Her mind felt numb when Captain Rannn walked back in hours later. If he weren’t the captain, she might have mouthed off a little. She stood on shaky legs, barely acknowledging Rannn’s condescending smirk as she hobbled out of the room. Stopping quickly to grab a large cup of the vegetable slush, she made it back to her room, pushing open the door and closing it again. Her utility light was still on, and she saw the Cerebral exit his cleaner. His hair was wet, and the black shirt he usually wore was gone. His pants were on, but his feet were bare. She was riveted in place. Unable to stop herself, she watched his every movement. His body was firm to the point where she could see the prominent V at his hips where his pants met flesh. His skin was smooth, no marks or tattoos. He didn't look at her as he reached down, picked up his shirt from the bed, and pulled it on.
He ran both hands through his hair, pulling the thick strands back and out of his eyes. A slight gasp left Sasha’s lips. Turning, his gaze caught hers. There was nothing in his expression that told her what he was thinking.
Sci’s eyes didn’t narrow, and he didn’t smirk at her. Any other guy who’d caught her checking them out would have done something to acknowledge it.
His non-reaction didn't stop the pink blush from suffusing her cheeks, her embarrassment at being caught and staring wantonly at his chiseled frame burning through her. "Hi."
"You were gone longer today," he said.
His casual tone didn't do anything to calm her lust or dull the ache in her middle. His body looked magnificent. Now that she had seen it, she couldn't un-see it. Good thing he couldn't read her thoughts. She didn’t want to just hold his hand anymore, she wanted to touch every inch of his body. Taste it and bite it, leave her mark. Brand that beautiful, unblemished skin.
"Captain Rannn changed my shifts from ten hours to twelve."
Which reminded her of all her questions. First, she walked to the Minky screen on the wall and tapped it to activate. Setting her slushy aside, she typed in a search for the definition of the rhythm R
annn had referred to. After four failed attempts to spell it, she asked, without looking at him, "Do you know what a sar-kay-dee-an rhythm is? Or how to spell it?"
"C-I-R-C-A-D-I-A-N is the spelling. It's the cycle that tells a body when to eat, sleep, and rise."
“Thanks for filling in the blanks.” Next, she searched all the hoppers available and pointed at a screen while turning back to Sci. "Which hopper were you flying?"
"Cragar. It's not on your screen."
She turned back and did a search for a Cragar hopper and pulled up the specs. It was not used by many in the Federation by the reviews, but the specs didn't lie. "This hopper doesn't have enough electricity to knock you out."
"I know. "
Leaving the screen on, she picked up her cup and took a sip, giving her cabin mate her full attention. "Who would have put you in a lifepod?”
“I don’t know. That's the biggest thing that concerns me.”
“Do you have any guesses? Could someone else have messed with your hopper while you were gone?"
He hesitated. "Yes. My telepathic bandwidth does not extend that far, but an Elder or Master Elder could have done it, however unlikely. Our culture is not violent, and hurting one another is historically unheard of."
Conversation had never been more exciting for Sasha. What did it mean to have bandwidth? What was an Elder or Master Elder? Were those the old men who ran the city? What did their city even look like? So many questions…she was bursting.
Moving to the ground by the bars to get a front row seat, she felt something push at her stomach.
Sci had moved so fast, his hand outstretched. “Sasha, don’t get too close to the bars.”
He moved to the ground to sit directly in front of her on the other side of the bars, his eyes boring into hers.
She looked at the cage and moved her hand to slowly slide it through the bars, taking his hand.
