Void's Psionics

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  “So all you have is the names of individuals and what families they are liked to?”

  “Amend thinking. I hold them, yes, but have knowledge of locations of the five castles protected by the five Elder Queens of Andromeda, Shalek, Beli, Natio, Jattea and Fru. It was by their command all birthing centers cease operation and transfer all vital information.”

  Jessica noticed Andrea had stopped cleaning and listened intently. But she kept recording and asked “Can you show us on which planets the Queens rule from and why they shut you down.”

  “Second inquiry: Unknown. First one is possible, but my energy it too low for accurate representation. Power required.”

  “Where can I channel it?” Renee wondered.

  “Surface of sphere directly.” Renee got up and laid her hand on it, but rather than keep the shield up she pushed it all into the clear boulder. It quickly started illuminating the dark room and soon beams of light started shooting from the walls as well as the sphere to create five completely different planets and climates. One seemed like a giant ball of fire, the others were covered in ice, ocean, mountain and last being covered in endless forest. Inhospitable and rugged to say the least.

  The three woman studied in silence for minutes before Andrea asked “Can you show un in which solar system they are in conjunction within this galaxy?”

  “It is within my parameters.” The soft voice said.

  The five worlds shrunk into different solar systems below a representation of the Andromeda galaxy thirty thousand years ago and five pulsing stars showed their location back then.

  Renee and Jessica turned to each other, coming to the same conclusion to the planets. “Valley Prime And Zerika!” they chorused. Zerika being the forest planet and Valley Prime being the mountain one. The Drake home world.

  “Can you now show us approximately where the castles are of the Queen in relation to the planets?”

  “Unknown position. Not in current memory, General Reten.”

  “Then show me my family tree with General Mantiv.”

  The visual changed to show Renee, with her eyes unfocused to read, the names of all Oliver’s children and their descendants in English. “How many are of his line?”

  “Currently through your ideal male, you have sixteen billions five million and nineteen descendants, but no child born of your loins has been able to compare in prowess to the powers of you and your match, General Reten.”

  “How long will it take to download the genealogy stored within?”

  “Ten minutes, General. Visual aid only. Your access cannot copy my files, but you may access it.”

  “Then begin.” Faster than sparks exploded like fireworks in the room as the Solarian family tree was recorded. For the whole duration the three women sat and enjoyed the show. As they watched, Renee heard Sparky say he and Rose were going to explore the upper levels and she was alright with it.

  Above, Oliver heard a chiming ‘beep’ followed by a familiar voice. “Brother Oliver, it is about time I can contact you.”

  Grandest Vanishing Claw, eldest living Hunter in humanity spoke and it had Oliver tap behind his ear to respond. “It is good to hear from you, what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “Why do you sound different?”

  “Sparring accident. Stone Callicko kicked my mouth and I lost all my front teeth.”

  “Damn, not fun.” The seemingly unassuming man laughed from far away. “I’ve been trying to contact you for over three and a half months. Seems I was right to try it at this time.”

  “Why now?”

  “Oh, I and Talon are watching breaking new on GNN as we speak and are listening to my old friend Jake Dorgen showing off yet again. I tried now because I can put the pieces together after listening to why I couldn’t get hold of either of you two. Talon is riveted and listening to Jake’s sister-in-law lecturing on her most recent results. A Solarian battle cruiser, eh? Not bad, but I know Jake is keeping a certain person out of the spotlight. If he couldn’t get inside the ship centuries ago I can see why he only allowed you a month with us on Zerika. You’re a Solarian aren’t you?” it was spoken as a fact.

  “I won’t lie, but it is the best truth so far. My memory loss isn’t helping.”

  “Say no more. I mean it. Tell no one. Jake said he sent a full report to Emperor Coleson on more private matters the scientific community doesn’t need to hear, is this true?” Vanishing Claw sounded serious.

  “Yes, I gave my permission and agreed with the Captain that the Emperor should know as they too are old friends.”

  “Then expect a visit soon from the imperial battleship and a personal face to face. I’m going to contact him after I finish with you so at least I’ll be a buffer between you two. He can be rather forward, but when I’m near him he seems to behave. Outside the spotlight he’s easily excited.” Thinking of Andrea Loke had Oliver chuckle. “But now that I’ve got your ear I have to say I can’t approve the ligament enhancement similar to yours. I had to fine tune an adequate amount because human muscles cannot handle the strain. I found out several painful times as I tore my own muscles, but at twenty percent of yours, it is ideal. The other Elders are currently experiencing the splicing modifications and already the reports are favorable. Our speed and striking abilities are much more efficient. It is still in trial phase, but the other Elders are doing real world hunts while I continue to heal. I just wanted to let you know and to be safe. Emperor Coleson is good at keeping secrets and won’t tell even me, but he doesn’t know I have an association with you and won’t tell me even should I drop your name. Just keep safe and we’ll be in touch. Again, keep your head down, factions will want to dissect you if they knew. Trust few. It’ll keep you alive.”

  Grand Elder Talon, Vanishing Claw’s wife entered the conversation. “He’s right. Stay safe, Elder Void. The interview has lost my interest with all the jargon. Lover, I’m going to contact the Emperor and plot a course to meet up with him right away.”

  “Thank you. And good luck, Elder Void. See you soon.” With that the connection cut out.

  “What is going on?” Steven asked.

  “Vanishing Claw and Talon just heard the breaking news and told me about the ligament trials. They warned we’ll likely be seeing the Emperor soon and will be tagging along.”

  “Hanging around you seems to have many perks.” The Hunter chuckled. It stopped abruptly as he narrowed his eyes then put on his helmet. The plated head cover locked in place.

  Put on alert, Oliver laid a hand on his sword and reached behind to take hold of the shield.

  “False alarm, thought I saw something. I didn’t detect anything.”

  “We’re done.” Renee called out as the three women came out from below.

  The barest chang in the breeze brought along a strange and unfamiliar human scent. Oliver sniffed again and observed a barely noticeable shimmer behind the nearest ringed bench and then another over a ways. “Shit! Defend YOURSELVES!” he called out too late as Bell the wolf suddenly yelped once in pain as a hole suddenly appeared in the broad side of her chest and exploded gore on the other side to fall lifeless beside Deegen’s leg. Sorrow filled eyes met her partner to close and lose their inner light.

  Chapter 3

  It seemed to the others as if Oliver was standing tall one moment and in the next he was crouched and yelling, but had instantly drawn the cutlass and shield. The death yelp of Bell had everyone pause for a moment, but none had taken it as badly as Deegen who’s eyes flew wide with terror as he gripped both sides of his head, losing her presence within his mind they had shared for the past nine decades hurt like nothing else. Their eyes met and her last thought before leaving life was clearer than using her physical voice. “Sorry.”

  “BELLLLLLL!!!!!!!!” his scream ripped from him and he drew his chakram from either hip. “BASTARDS!!!”

  Oliver noticed a hazy ripple in the air behind Deegen, but before he could say a word a slice opened up as an invisible blade was drawn across D
eegen’s throat before the helmet could rise up. Blood flew as it sprayed from the severed arteries in the neck, the cut so deep it reached the spine.

  Steven was closer and stabbed behind Deegen as Visor took off and barely dodged a focused Kinetic blast that shot from a different angle, alerting that there was more than one hostile. Steven’s thrust of his spear met only air as the invisible assassin had backed away. But before Steven could summon power to slice the air, there was a flash of light. Out of honed reflexes he placed a barrier in front of himself, but it was destroyed as it was met by a kinetic blast at close range.

  The brunt of the overwhelming force was defected, but it was still beyond anything Steven could resist. The blindingly bright explosion had enough detonative force to pick him up and slam him back into the pillar. Though the helmet he wore still covered, it smacked hard enough into the wall at such an angle to make him go limp as he crumpled into the floor.

  Renee saw how badly things were going and heard the two women behind her scream and reacted protectively. She threw her arm back, erecting a telekinetic barrier which pushed the two women forcefully and they fell backwards to painfully tumble down the stairs.

  She ignited her full power, noticing Oliver speed around inhumanly and though his helmet was on, she could almost see he was using his superior sense of smell to track the invisible assailants down. She though had her own tricks and through her great power she began to dimly see psionic energy cloaking more than twelve highly trained assassins. She watched Oliver’s great size tear ass after a fleeing ball of electricity flying via levitation, but wasn’t fast enough. He charged after the one who sliced open Deegen’s throat and who also knocked Steven out cold. The flying individual fired a kinetic blast straight for his head, but the giant’s jerky motions brought the deep blue shield in its path and reflected it harmlessly before he spun. The cutlass sang through the air as it came down, cutting a person in half with the edged blade itself over using a slicing energy wave.

  Renee’s blazing green eyes locked onto three heading directly for Oliver, but they noticed too late as Renee lifted her hands to unleash a bolt of concentrated lightning of a magnitude that shredded through their flimsy defenses and vaporized them.

  So caught up, she hadn’t checked behind for enemy numbers and it was her downfall. One cloaked person had snuck up and cracked her in the back of her skull with above average force. Her eyes dimmed down to normal, losing psionic light. Then her eyes rolled up into her skull as she went unconscious before crumpling down onto the ground.

  The attacker said “Package secure. Pull back. Pull back.” and extended the invisibility field to cloak not only himself, but Renee’s unresponsive form.

  Oliver looked around, sniffing for more. Already one was cut in half and three more corpses were little more than charred piles of ash blown and scattered.

  Then came the most subtle sounds of humming in the unexpected pandemonium of battle. It was out of place and as he searched for the source, the forearm covered shield flew up and ready, he noticed something so disturbing he felt fear unlike anything that coursed through him in all of his experiences.

  The sole anchor of his life wasn’t there. “Renee!!!” the scream tore so loudly coming out it, cracked his voice enough to bleed slightly. A single bound brought him to where she had stood, but she wasn’t there, but he followed her scent.

  Quickly his legs blurred, but that strange hum had revealed itself to be a small cloaked shuttle. He noticed a hatch open out of nowhere and a dozen hazy shimmers in the air sped soundlessly to it by flying. Before he could reach it a set of six blue-white lights all the size of his torso grew bright.

  The ship’s thrusters slammed into Oliver, his armor transforming to reflective silver as unbearable heat would have cooked him thoroughly had it not done so automatically. Regardless, the law of motion dictated that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. By pushing the hovering ship forward inside the building, the opposing thrust crashed into Oliver to send him flying backwards to bounce and roll across the ground before taking control and getting instantly to his feet, but as he did so he saw that the ship had escaped.

  Terror had Oliver yell just as powerfully as before. “Renee!!!”

  Knowing he’d never catch the fleeing vehicle on foot wasn’t an issue as he blurred down the two kilometers of nursery and leapt three stories up onto the parking area, dropped in the Flare and was airborne in under a minute and a half. He ran scans and was angry, but angry didn’t quite cover it. He was far beyond murderous. They had taken his woman and he would not stop till heads roll by his personal hand.

  “Wake UP!” Visor mentally screamed in Steven’s mind again and it finally brought him to. Steven was disoriented for a moment, but it all came rushing back and he jerked upright just in time to see the silvery cape of Oliver flicker in a metallic way far away and then looked down to see Deegen still twitching beside the unmoving Bell. Steven summoned his lance psionically as it had rolled away from him after the explosion. It quickly grew to crackle with power. He wanted to go to Deegen’s side, but didn’t know if the threats remained. He couldn’t help if he was struck too.

  With a mighty roar, Sparky slammed into the ground completely alight with anger as the glowing traits of the Drakes were in full swing within him. Right behind was Rose, also murderous.

  “Where is my Renee!” Sparky growled, slit eyes scanning as his arched neck was coiled to strike.

  Visor swooped down and chirped “Taken. I saw her get hit and disappear. Oliver just charged off in pursuit. I saw the attackers somewhat as they disappeared in a ship able to fit in this space.”

  Sparky close his eyes and tried feeling out his bonded companion. He could feel her physical pain as if it were his and not at the same time. Her emotions were muted which meant she was completely unconscious, but using her connection he sought out nearby minds to break into and control so great was his fury. Drakes never take over someone as it breaks them, but he didn’t care. He growled and his talons loudly screeched on metal. “The kidnappers’ minds are shielded from me. They wear telepathic scramblers… but they are fleeing.” Focusing further showed him right where Oliver was as no moving mind could be so erratic and controlled in the air. He inserted his thoughts to say “Oliver, you go in the wrong direction. I will guide. Turn and head out of the atmosphere.”

  Taking the advice, Oliver flipped around and floored the Flare’s maximum thrust. He heard Sparky’s livid, but controlled voice within. “Starboard three degrees. Lift the nose twenty. You’re gaining.”

  Carefully Oliver turned the stick to the right and pulled back on it. He saw nothing visually nor on radar, but he felt Sparky’s need to get Renee back as great as his own.

  Meanwhile Steven had hurried to Deegen’s side and helped to stop the bleeding, but he had seen lesser wounds kill comrades in combat and the slice was fatal. He wasn’t a medic, but even Renee would see it was too late. Even with nanites working, the cut was too deep and wide and the arterial spray had pumped out too much blood. Crimson covered the Hunter, his dreads sprawled out. Steven’s brow came together and his lips were so pressed together they were white. No one saw it as the helmet stayed on. “I’m so sorry, Brother. I cannot fix this…”

  With what life remained, Deegen used one hand to grab the hollow collar of Steven’s vest and glared. Unable to speak he moved his mouth easily enough to have Steven read lips. ‘Rose.’

  “Rose!” the glowing female Drake turned her head from her mate and suddenly noticed one of the fallen was Deegen beside the already dead Bell. She leapt around and looked to find Deegen tapping his head as Steven’s hands tried staunching the slowing flow of blood. “He wants to be Read. Hurry, he’s got just seconds.”

  Rose easily found a way in as Deegen opened himself completely. She didn’t need to touch to fully read someone. She was one of the best telepaths of all Drakes. What she saw left her completely speechless, but still she continued.

&nbs
p; Right up to the last moment when his body completely failed. It took just another five seconds for brain death, but she pulled away. Reading the dead, even so fresh, was taboo. Nevertheless she got what she needed and said without a trace of emotion “Steven, there is a crystal disc no larger than a coin in his left posterior pocket. Take it and put it away till I tell you otherwise and do not let anyone know about it. Keep your helm on as well.”

  Steven was confused, but rolled his dead teammate over and found the crystal easily enough. He wanted answers, but knew when the immediate crisis was over he would get them. Afterwards he pressed a button on Deegen’s wrist and the armor moved him into burial position, covering his head in a helmet before shutting down.

  Oliver continued following Sparky’s instructions further and further out into space. His worry seemed to find new heights along with anger to keep him in check and focused. When it seemed Sparky was sending him out on a wild chase towards one of the moons he at last saw six plasma streams. “Got ‘em! Thanks…” Fear found a new level as soon as Oliver saw a window open in space. It was shaped just like turtle’s shell with longer lines for fins. FTL made a window in the exact size and shape of any ship and Oliver knew he couldn’t pull the trigger, even with his pinpoint accuracy to knock out the engines. If he did, the ship would disintegrate the moment it makes contact with the colorful rainbow. Damn. My only chance is to follow in their wake and hold on. Their ship’s bigger than mine so maybe I can piggyback. He thought and corrected, speeding to full. Distance between shortened as they slid into subspace. Come on… make it… don’t… “Nooo!!!” He yelled and jerked on the stick when the space closed too small to fit the Flare. “Renee!!!” he yelled impotently as tears flowed down his cheeks behind the mask as it began pulling back.

  “It is too late.” Sparky spoke with no hope. His rage replaced with loss. The barest of sensation is all he could know Renee lived.