“But— How?”
I chuckled at Keldor’s confusion. It was nice to have the shoe on the other foot, for once. “I’ll explain later. But first, what’s wrong with my eye?”
Keldor replied with sadness in his voice. “The damage was too extensive. I regret that we were unable to restore it. We have no experience healing or growing ocular organs.”
“Oh.” Damn. That explained some things, but not why I seemed to be able to see just fine without it. Another trick I’d picked up in stasis?
“How long have I been…here?” I gestured vaguely to indicate the hospital, or whatever sort of place I was in.
“Many months. Your injuries were massive and required the ministrations of many healers, schooled in various disciplines.”
I nodded slowly, trying to process the news. Whatever they’d done to me seemed to work. I felt no pain and except for my eye everything seemed to work—at least, what I’d been able to test while sitting on the table-bed. Even my missing and broken teeth. They could heal flesh and grow bone—amazing! But not my eye. Still, I was in much better shape than I deserved, all things considered. Come to think of it… I flexed the fingers of my left hand—all five of them. The thumb and index finger were back, with nary a scar. These guys were good!
I realized that I didn’t know the third Azarti in the room. “Who are you?”
Again, Keldor answered. I was really starting to wonder why I hadn’t heard a peep from Karsh. “This is Kannara, one of our foremost healers. She supervised your treatment.”
“Greetings, Sunrise. You are a most intriguing case.” Although she looked much like every other Azarti I’d met, she had a beautiful mental voice.
“Uh, thanks. I think. Now who’s gonna tell me what the heck happened at Scar’s place?”
“I think this is a tale best told by Karsh,” Keldor said.
Karsh nodded. Not a mental nod—an actual, physical one. The first I’d seen from an Azarti. Maybe the ‘rubbing off’ process worked both ways.
Karsh spoke slowly and deliberately. “After we left you, we escaped to this planet, Lasharr. We managed to elude the patrols searching for us and found sanctuary here. Lasharr is the Azarti home planet. We thought no one would expect us to flee here. We were mistaken.
“Kannara was sympathetic to our cause and treated us. Throughout the empire, the Brotherhood has suspended most civil liberties. In effect, we are ruled by a military junta under martial law. Resentment, anger, and fear had been increasing for months. Finally the people had enough and civil war broke out.
“A month later, Keldor and I and several others were in the middle of a pitched battle with a squad of Brotherhood soldiers when I felt a tremendous pain in my head. I thought I had been hit. I looked to Keldor and found him holding his head as well. The pain was momentary, and we managed to fight our way out of the Brotherhood trap.”
I sensed wry humor emanating from Karsh. “Sometimes it is difficult being a pacifist.”
I shook my head. “I don’t follow. What does any of this have to do with Lola and me?”
“I was coming to that. We did not understand what caused that sharp pain. Minutes later, it happened again. This time, we sensed fear, revulsion, intense pain, and rage. We could not understand where the mental projection could be coming from. We checked with others in the uprising and it came from none of them. Then we heard from others who had been aboard Galla and they had felt the same pain. The next time it occurred, we recognized your mental voice.”
“You’re kidding. All the way here? How?”
Keldor joined in. “We do not understand that ourselves. At first, we thought you must have been here on Lasharr, although we could not imagine how that could be. Then we caught a mental image of the one you call Scar, and we realized that you were still on Earth. None of us has ever heard of mental projections that could span light years.”
Karsh resumed the narrative. “From your projections, we knew that you and Lola were in imminent danger. We did not know whether we could reach you in time; however, we had to try.”
“If for no other reason,” Keldor interjected, “than to save our own sanity.”
That was the first sign I’d ever seen that the Azarti had a sense of humor. Perhaps it was simply that this more direct form of communication was better at conveying nuances of speech.
Karsh continued. “It took us days to reach Earth. When we arrived, we felt your anguish stronger than ever, but your strength was fading quickly. Four of us hurried to the building where you were being held captive and commanded one of those inside to unlock the door for us. Once inside, we were horrified by what we saw. I could not believe that sentient beings could do anything that barbaric to one another. When I realized what they had done to you and Lola, I was enraged.”
He paused for a moment. “I projected a command at the three in the room. I wanted them to stop what they were doing. I confess that I…overreacted. I projected more forcefully than I had ever done before. I am afraid—” He seemed to choke up.
Keldor filled in the gap. “When Karsh projected the command to halt, his projection was so forceful that all three men were instantly rendered unconscious.”
I was confused. “So, what’s wrong with that?”
Keldor continued. “One of the men, the big one, suffered a brain injury—an aneurism. He hit his head on the corner of the bedframe when he fell.”
I remembered the loud thud, and the trickle of blood. “Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. What about the other two?”
Karsh radiated shame and regret.
Keldor explained. “As far as we know, they were uninjured. You must understand. As one dedicated to the cause of peace, taking another’s life, except in self-defense, is abhorrent. Karsh let his anger get the better of him. A sentient being died as a result. That is not something he can dismiss lightly.”
“I’m sorry, Karsh. I can appreciate how difficult it must be for you. But surely your code of ethics allows for the protection of the greater good. In this case, by accidentally taking one evil life, you saved two innocent ones.” More-or-less innocent, I amended to myself. “Doesn’t that count for something?”
Karsh nodded. “I understand this cognitively; however a lifetime of belief is not so easily put aside. I was raised to believe that the taking of any sentient life is wrong. It will take me some time—and much meditation—to adjust.”
Keldor continued. “When we saw what condition you and Lola were in, Karsh quickly summoned some of Lola’s friends again, and they helped us get you aboard Galla. You would not have survived to reach a hospital. I was not sure you would even live to reach the stasis pod.”
“Keldor sustained your physical being until then,” Karsh explained.
“My physical being? Do you mean—?”
“I mean you would have died on the way to the ship had Keldor not kept his hands on you. Then, once you were in stasis, he remained by your side around the clock until we reached Lasharr. Even the stasis pod might not have sustained you without Keldor’s help. The stasis pods are calibrated for Azarti physiology, not human.”
I looked at Keldor with newfound respect. “Thank you, Keldor.”
He nodded back. “You are most welcome, Sunrise.”
“All right, then, will someone please tell me about Lola?”
Keldor responded. “She was in no mortal danger. Most of her physical injuries healed easily enough. Her mental damage is another matter.”
I swallowed before asking the question. “Mental damage?”
“Her most serious injuries were psychological. Kannara helped with those. However, Lola’s mental state is still fragile. It is too soon to tell whether she will recover fully.”
Damn. “I’d like to see her as soon as I can. Maybe seeing me will help.”
“Of course.”
“You also said that ‘most’ of her physical injuries had healed. What’s left?”
“Did you know she was carrying a child?”
I nodded.
“I regret to say that she is no longer.”
My world went dark.
Not since Cammie and Jeannie were taken from me had my world felt so empty. The baby was lost, and maybe Shari as well.
The flame of hatred burned brighter than ever in my soul. I had yet another crime to lay at the feet of Scar and Weasel, and I was determined that one way or another they would pay for their crimes.
They would pay in full.
Chapter Fourteen
After all I’d been through I should have been curled up in the fetal position whimpering and sucking my thumb. But Dad had beaten it into me when I was a kid that men have to be tough. A man had to protect his family and Shari was my family. I could melt into a puddle of jelly later. Right now, Shari needed me. I’d be damned if I’d let her down!
I followed the three Azarti to Shari’s chamber next door; it was identical to mine. Shari lay on a bed in the center of the room, under a blanket woven of some greenish-brown fiber. I have no idea what it was made out of, but to me it looked like dried seaweed.
Shari was so still, so fragile, staring off into space, that my heart wanted to break. I took her hand in mine and squeezed gently.
I bent and spoke softly in her ear. “Shari, honey, I’m here. It’s time to wake up now. Come on, sweetheart, you can do it.”
She didn’t meet my eyes with hers, didn’t smile, didn’t move. It was as if, for her, the outside world didn’t exist. She breathed slowly and rhythmically, and from time to time she blinked, but that was all.
I straightened and looked at the others. “Have you tried speaking with her, you know, telepathically?”
“Of course,” Kannara said. “However, we have gotten no response.”
Keldor spoke next. “That was not unexpected. We were never able to communicate with your unconscious mind. It always required concentration and focused projection on both ends of the conversation. That is, until now. Somehow, your brain has rewired itself to be better able to receive and, yes, even transmit, thoughts. That is an astonishing development.
“We Azarti have been exploring space for centuries, and have encountered several other races. Some telepathic, some not. I have never heard of a case where a nontelepathic race has later acquired the ability. This bears further study to see whether it is isolated to only you, or if Lola will develop the ability as well, over time.”
I waved off his explanation. “That’s fine for later, but what about now? What are you doing to help her?”
“We have done as much as we can, for now,” Kannara said. “When Lola first arrived here, she was unconscious and having terrifying nightmares. We could hear her mental screams and were able to project soothing thoughts to her. For a while, we thought she was healing. However, we eventually realized that she has withdrawn far inside her mind, so far that we cannot reach her. Without a conscious connection between minds, there is little we can do.”
“Do you think I could reach her?”
Kannara gave a mental shrug. “It is worth attempting. Your human mind should be more attuned to hers than ours are, and you two already share a bond.”
I nodded. “Any suggestions?”
“Be gentle. Soothing. Nothing forceful or aggressive.”
“Of course.” I sat on the edge of Shari’s bed, still holding her hand. I slowly rubbed the back of her hand with my other one. She didn’t stir.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. “Shari, sweetie, it’s time to wake up.” No response. I tried again. This time I looked for her mind first—something to focus on. I called to her. “Shari. It’s me, Don. I’m here to help you. I love you and I need you. Please, speak to me.” I used my free hand to softly caress her cheek as I looked for her. I found nothing. After the better part of an hour, I stopped and opened my eyes.
“I can’t find her. I can’t feel her mind.” I was nearly in tears. “Are you sure there is anything of Lola still there to find?”
Kannara nodded. “Yes. As I said earlier, I was able to touch her mind to soothe her earlier, but since then she has withdrawn. We may simply have to wait until she heals herself and wishes to make contact with the outside world again.”
“That’s not good enough. What if she doesn’t heal herself? What if she stays like this forever?”
Kannara had no response.
“I wish I knew what I was doing. I’ve never had the ability to communicate mentally before. This is all new to me. I’m sure there must be techniques for this sort of thing that I’m clueless about. How do you Azarti learn how to do all the things you do?”
“Some of it is simply ingrained, like swimming or eating. But some is learned in school, much like mathematics.”
“Training is what I need. Is there any way I can attend classes, or get tutoring in the fine art of telepathy?”
Kannara and Keldor conversed for a minute. I don’t think they realized that I heard them. They discussed the options and Kannara wondered whether it was a good idea to do this. After all, I was from a violent and savage race. If we all learned the advanced mental abilities the Azarti possessed, we might become all that much more dangerous once we reached space. Keldor was on my side and argued that this might be their only hope of healing Shari. Karsh finally settled the matter by promising to monitor me to see if I was developing any dangerous tendencies. If so, they could always terminate the training.
“Very well,” Kannara said. “We will find you a tutor to help you learn the proper techniques, as well as the ethics of mind-to-mind communication.”
“Thank you. Thank you all. So, now what?”
* * * *
I soon discovered that the structure in which Shari and I resided was not a hospital. In fact, it wasn’t even in a populated area. Karsh had it built on an uninhabited island far from civilization. I don’t know whether that was the intent, but we were essentially prisoners there with no way to leave the island on our own. As I learned, Azarti cities were located beneath the seas. Other than the occasional scientist in a research facility, the sparse land masses were inhabited only by wildlife.
Over the next weeks, either Karsh, Keldor, or Allara came to visit almost daily, bringing food, clothing, and other necessary items. Kannara visited once a week or so, to see how things were progressing. Two Azarti I didn’t know, Essin and Aboro, stayed with us. Essin acted as our housekeeper and Shari’s caregiver, while Aboro served as my tutor.
Aboro began by testing my mental abilities. She stepped me through a series of drills designed to identify specific strengths and weaknesses. They were the telepathic equivalent of reciting times tables and memorizing how to spell simple words. Some drills were easy, others more difficult. A few I couldn’t do at all. That gave us a baseline to start from.
Aboro verified that I could eavesdrop on tightly focused private mental conversations at short range. According to her, few Azarti had this ability. As a result, its practice was illegal—along the lines of wiretapping back home. I also had the ability to project thoughts forcefully across great distances, as Keldor and the others had discovered while I was being tortured. What none of us realized was that I also had the ability to “bruise” a telepathic mind. Somewhat equivalent to screaming in someone’s ear from inches away, my mental shout could overload mental circuits and stun the listener briefly. Aboro found this out the hard way one day and needed a few hours to recover her mental equilibrium. I got the impression, from the way she described it, that it felt like getting hit in the head with a sledgehammer. Ouch.
The testing proved that I had power, but no finesse. That was hardly surprising, given that I hadn’t mastered the skills yet. After all, I’d only just acquired these abilities. So far, I’d been acting entirely on instinct. Now it was time to begin learning some control.
Over the next few weeks, I worked on techniques for using my mind in new ways. It was funny, though. Here I was, learning to do strange and wondrous things that, as far as I know, no human mind had ever
done before, and I was learning them from the Azarti equivalent of a kindergarten teacher.
Aboro frequently complimented me on the speed with which I picked up the skills, but I couldn’t help wondering how I compared to a halfway intelligent Azarti child. I half expected her to offer me a cookie, pat me on the head, and say: “Good boy! How smart you are!”
* * * *
I checked on Shari every few hours during the day and sat with her in the evenings, but her condition hadn’t changed since the first time I tried to talk to her after awakening on Lasharr. In repose, and without the heavy makeup her “profession” required back on Earth, she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen.
I stroked her cheek and looked into those gorgeous emerald eyes that stared off into nothingness. Her skin was flawless, without a wrinkle yet. She still had a few years for that. I was determined that Shari would never have to return to her life as Lola again.
Once Kannara discovered how strong my mental abilities were, she suggested that I might be able to reach Shari despite her defenses—but not until I learned to use my abilities as a surgeon’s scalpel and not a hammer. I readily agreed. The last thing I wanted to do was to injure Shari’s mind further.
At last, after several weeks of training, Aboro and Kannara agreed that I was ready. The three of us entered Shari’s room and I sat on the edge of her bed. I took her hand.
“Remember,” Kannara said, “Gently. Nibbles, not big bites.”
“Gotcha.”
I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind of distractions. I tuned out the sound of wind rustling the trees outside Shari’s window and the crash of the surf on the rocks below. Next, I focused on the pulse of my heartbeat and tuned that out, too. Then I concentrated on my breathing, not to tune it out but to fall into its rhythm. This was a form of self-hypnosis that Aboro had taught me. It freed my mind from physical constraints and allowed it to wander freely.
I saw the room as from above. Roaming farther, I saw the nine-room structure sitting just above a beach. Birdlike creatures soared in the thermals rising off the hot white sand. I traveled upward and viewed the island as a whole, protected by a reef on the west side, waves crashing and rolling onto the beach. The island receded to a dot in the middle of a huge expanse of ocean, and then disappeared as my view rose above the clouds. Within seconds I had a satellite’s-eye glimpse of Lasharr.
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