by T. J. Quinn
Michelle, don't cry. You're not alone. You don't have to be scared of those rats. You can make them go away with your mind. I can help you.
Gradually, she stopped crying. She no longer felt alone or as scared. He was with her even though she couldn't see him. "Who are you? Why can't I see you?" She said to the voice in her head.
I'm Hankura Narcaza from the Aledan Colony. I'm thinking to you. That's why you can't see me. I'm up in a space ship far above Earth.
Thinking to her? Michelle shrugged. She sensed it was true. She sensed his presence even though she couldn't see him, so he must be real.
"Are you going to come down here?"
I wish I could. I have to go to school on Velran. My parents don't want me to go to the Psi Institute on Aledus, so they're sending me to the University of Learning on Velran.
Michelle looked skyward as his thoughts touched her mind. She could feel that he was scared and alone, too.
"My parents are dead," she said aloud. "Jerry's gonna kill the man who did it. When he's done, he's gonna come back and get me. That's why I have to stay here--so he can find me. But this place is scary. Will you think to me until he comes back?"
Okay. Where I'm going is scary, too. There are lots of strange aliens, and I have no friends there.
"Do they have gangs and overlords?"
No, it's a school. Mother is making me go there to learn the Patterns of Insight so I won't hurt Normals when I think to them.
"But you're not hurting me."
'Cause you're a Psion, too. Anyway, you thought to me first.
"I did?"
Yeah. But, you'd better not let anyone know, or they might send you away to Velran, too.
"Could I bring Jerry?"
Probably not. They wouldn't let me bring Trevin and Capra. I have to go alone.
"Well, there are probably other kids like you at Velran. You won't be alone.”
Maybe, but the teachers are aliens with ugly fangs and scary faces. My use-to-be friends said they eat people.
"Dead people or live people?"
I don't know. They probably lied anyway. After their parents found out I'm a Psion, they weren't allowed to play with me.
"Rats eat people here, sometimes dead ones and sometimes live ones. They wanted to eat me until you showed me how to make them go away. Can you show me how to do that with people?"
It's against Aledan Law.
"Overlord Law?"
Aledan Law.
"That doesn't count here. Show me."
I can't. I promised Mother I would never do that again. Somebody might hurt you if they ever found out you could do that. Besides, you need to learn to use your powers better, and so do I.
"Do they teach you that on Velran?"
They teach everything there; they have a special school for human psions.
"I wish I could go to school with you. I wouldn't be scared if you were there, and we would probably make friends with other kids like us."
I wish you could come, but they won't let me come and get you. When I grow up, I'll come back and teach you the things I learn. I promise.
Michelle sighed. She knew he meant it, but she didn't believe it would really happen. Daddy promised he would come back, and he never did. Mommy promised she would come for her, and she never did, either. She didn't believe Jerry would ever return. Why should she believe Hankura?
The sun's rays peeked gradually over the towering ruins of the ancient city and through the mist rising from the wet streets. Michelle stirred in her sleep and brushed at the big black fly that buzzing over her stringy red hair.
"Mishy? Where are ya, kid? Mishy!" The impatient sound of her brother's voice registered in her mind, and she opened her eyes and blinked.
"Here, Jerry. I'm here," she called softly and strained to hear the sound of his footsteps. She sensed his nearness long before he found her. By then, she had turned her attention elsewhere.
"I have to go, Hankura and pretty soon, I won't be able to hear your thoughts anymore. But it's okay. Jerry's here, now. I'm not scared anymore." She spoke with her eyes raised to the morning sky, wishing she could go wherever he was going, too.
Someday, I'll take you there . . . Or maybe Aledus. I promise.
"But, how will you find me?"
With psi--I'll find you. Believe me.
"I do," Michelle answered softly, and she did.
Jerry frowned. He hunkered down under the stairway in front of her and stared into her eyes. After a moment, Michelle focused on his face and smiled sheepishly.
"Mishy--who were you talking to? Are you all right?"
"I'm okay. I was just talking to Hankura. His parents sent him on a star freighter from Aledus to a school on Velran."
"What?" Jerry frowned and raked a bony hand back through his unruly red hair. "How can he be on a starship when ya were just talkin' to 'im?"
"Well--he wasn't here exactly--not like you're here. I heard what he said in my head." Michelle touched her temple. "Psi. He helped me make the rats go away, too."
"Who told you that word—psi?"
"He did."
"And I suppose he killed that rat over there, too."
"Of course not." Michelle chided. "I told you he wasn't really here. I killed that rat with your knife."
Jerry looked at the dead rat, and the bloody dagger on the ground beside her then grinned and pulled his little sister into his arms. "You did good, kid." He hugged her. "I'm sorry I left you alone so long, but I had to."
"I wasn't alone. Hankura was here—sorta."
"Ah--sure, kid. If you say so." Jerry crawled further under the stairway with Michelle under one arm. It had been a long night, and he was tired. He should never have left the kid alone for so long. Cold and scared, alone all night, it was no wonder she heard things. She still felt cold to his touch, so he cuddled her wiry little body close--to warm her.
"Jerry?"
"What?"
"Is Mommy really gone forever? Forever?" Her voice trembled on `forever.'
Jerry's arms suddenly squeezed her too tightly, and she groaned. He loosened his hold, but he was trembling. It was a long time before he answered.
"Y-yes. She is gone forever." He rasped, tears filling his eyes. Michelle sniffled softly; she had known the answer before he said the words.
#
A few days after the Argus Lu left Earth orbit, Hankura realized he felt less angry and less afraid since his meeting of minds with little Michelle Marlow. From the memories, they had shared through their telepathic connection, it was clear that her life was far worse than his. The situation on Earth was even worse than his Earth history studies hinted. Michelle had never had a real home. Her parents were dead, and all she had was her older brother to care for her. Food was so scarce, they sometimes killed and ate rats just to survive.
What kind of life was that? The kind of life people get after the ravages of interstellar war. They should have known better. About 800 years after Aledus was colonized, some Terran’s ventured into alien territory and invaded an inhabited planet in the Procyon Fegisar system. They killed a lot of the inhabitants to claim the most habitable planet in the system. It was under the protection of a powerful alien race; whose response was to blast Earth back to the level of a third world country of the 20th century.
Most of Earth remained at that level some 800 years later. Their biggest accomplishment was the re-establishment of the Star Port at Farringay on the what was left of the North American Continent. The StarPort was under Federation control, but most of Earth was run by gangs and overlords just like Michelle said.
Hankura wished there was some way to help Michelle and her brother---more than what he had done. She had seen so much danger in her five years, he wondered if she would live to grow up. Would she still be alive when he grew up---in case he really could go back and find her? There was something amazing and powerful that drew their minds to connect. Even at his age, he knew that. They could even be psi mates. Was that what he
had sensed between them? It was so rare for his kind. How could he know? Maybe he could figure it out while he was on Velran. The Wholaskans should know if what he mother said was true. She believed so, anyway. A psion could tell.
Even at ten, Hankura knew what that meant. Psi mates became lifemates, according to the Path of Insight. He might not know for certain until he met her. He wouldn’t I have a chance to do that until he was grown, now that Argus Lu had left the Sol System. Then again, maybe it had only been a dream. At that point, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
During the rest of the journey to Velran, he became friendlier with his primary attendant Lucy. She was the one who had greeted him at the shuttle on Aledus. While he knew not to try to read her, he could sense that she was a caring person. She showed him through the various departments on the ship and introduced him to the crew as much for their peace of mind as his. There were still times he felt scared and lonely, but he no longer took out his feelings on the crew.
Lucy assured him that Velran was a good place for a psion to learn to use his abilities safely without hurting anyone. The Wholaskans were a kindly race that favored human psions. Many young human and non-human psions were sent to Velran for psi training and for education.
CHAPTER TWO
The farther he traveled from the Earth, the more uncertain Hankura became about his mind meeting with Michelle. He only vaguely wondered if he would ever know. After the experience, his anger and despair began to recede about being sent from his home to boarding school. Plenty of kids went away to school, but mostly older ones. The damned Psi Laws made it necessary for him to go at such an early age.
Psion training at the Aledan Psi Institute was a harsh, spirit breaking process. Natar, his mother, made his father promise it would never happen to him. Ludren wanted to move the family to Belderon another planet in their star system. Mother adamantly refused and wouldn’t explain why she opposed the plan.
“Then we should move to Velran,” Ludren countered. “Many families move to keep their psion children out of the Aledan Psi Institute. Then we could all be together. I don’t want to miss ten years or more with my son!”
“No, we can’t. This is our home. What would we do on Velran? It’s going to take ten years or more for Hankura to be trained.”
“Yes, ten years that our boy will be gone---ten years that we will miss as he grows into manhood. Isn’t that more important than staying on a world where psions are treated like undesirables? What is that going to teach Trevin and Capra?” he argued. His voice grew loud, and his temper flared. “I don’t know why you can’t see reason where Hankura is concerned. If you loved him enough, you wouldn’t hesitate to do what is best for him.”
“Ludren, you don’t know what you are asking! I have my reasons, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Natar shouted back at him.
“Fine, then you take him to the Starport. I won’t be part of sending him away. I think what you’re doing is wrong, I have half a mind to go with him!”
Then his mother started to cry and ran to the bed chamber she shared with Ludren. His father had stalked out of their dome to walk among the yarrel flowers in their fields. That’s what he did whenever he was upset and needed to think. Yarrel flowers were used make an exotic wine called yash. They had made his family wealthy and continued to support a luxurious lifestyle. His family could well afford to go to Velran together, but Natar wouldn’t hear of it.
In the days leading to Hankura’s departure, it seemed like his father was angry all the time. Sometimes, it seemed to Hankura that his father was angry at him because he was a psion. Mostly, Ludren was angry with Natar who remained stubbornly determined to send him to Velran. His brother and sister seemed none the wiser.
Natar was hiding something, but Hankura didn’t dare probe her mind to learn what. She was scared about whatever it was, and she didn’t want Ludren to know.
Right up until the day they took him to Salla Star Port, Hankura had hoped she would change her mind, and they would all go together. At least his father relented and went with them. When the whole family loaded into their hovercraft, Hankura dared to hope they were going together. But when they arrived at the hoverport there was only his luggage droid to unload. Then he knew he was going to Velran---alone.
He could barely hold in his hurt and anger as they walked through the starport to the docking bay where the Argus Lu’s shuttle waited to take him up to board the passenger freighter orbiting Aledus. They had been lucky to find a ship with a crew willing to take a child alone that far through space---especially a psion. But Hankura had already dawned with his telepathic ability, and his mother had gotten him a Belderon trained telepath to teach him basic control.
But once he reached age ten, Hankura’s parents had two weeks to enroll him in the Aledan Psi Institute or remove him from Aledus. Until they reached the shuttle in the docking bay, he’d hoped they would change their mind and go with him. They were angry, he was angry. His siblings didn’t really understand what was happening.
An attractive young woman with short dark hair and sparkling brown eyes was waiting to greet them. His parents each hugged him and told him they loved him. They wished he didn’t have to go. Hankura stood there sullenly and didn’t hug them back. He started to walk away when they released him then stopped and turned back to face them.
“You don’t love me, or you wouldn’t make me go alone. I hate you all, and I’m never coming back!” he shouted ran into the shuttle with his luggage droid trailing behind him.
He’d meant it when he said it, but now after seeing the hardships of Michelle’s life through her eyes, his life didn’t seem as bad. With two more months of space travel to go, Hankura decided to stop feeling sorry for himself and learn more about space travel and how the ship worked. He’d even downloaded specs on the passenger freighter to his foldable computer tablet.
The Argus Lu was a tramp freighter, and they got steady work going between Aledus, Earth, and Velran. Lucy was a Velran trained telepath. Supervising young psions from Aledus was one of her primary duties when she wasn’t scheduling passengers and freight pick-ups. She was the reason the captain agreed to take passengers like Hankura Narcaza to Velran for training.
He wasn’t the first angry, sullen boy they’d transported to Velran and probably wouldn’t be the last. Lucy Allen was born on Aledus. Her parents took her and moved to Velran because of the wretched Psi Laws. Their tour of the Aledan Psi Institute had horrified them with the harsh methods they used to train young psions to adhere to the discriminatory laws that treated psions as second-class citizens. The training employed ‘pain therapy’ and brainwashing techniques to make the psions behave.
Unlike the sub-groups of humans that had varied skin pigmentation and subtle differences in physical appearance, psions weren’t easily recognizable. So, psions were required to wear distinguishing patches on their clothing outside their homes so ‘Normals’ could recognize and avoid them or harass them. It wasn’t just the Normals who harassed them, but the Enforcers too.
Lucy’s parents never thought much about their world’s legal system that was designed to protect Normals from mentally unstable psions until they discovered their daughter was a psion. Then their eyes were opened. Soon as they realized what Lucy’s life would be like under Aledan Psi Laws, they sold their agri-complex and moved to Velran where Psions had equal rights.
Whenever the Argus Lu locked into Aledus orbit, Lucy stayed aboard unless she had passengers to meet. If she went ground side at all, she never left the Port, meeting the passengers just outside the shuttle. She wasn’t the only psion in the crew. Pilot Jack Allen was her husband. While the Captain wasn’t a psion, one of his parents was.
Most other passenger liners would carry adult psions, Argus Lu was one of a small number that accepted psion children. It took time for children to learn control of their ability and shield their minds from the noise of other peoples’ thoughts. Lucy and Jack had taken special training on Velran to he
lp children do that if they didn’t already know how.
Hankura did. His biggest problem was emotional. Their efforts to protect him by sending him to Velran left him devastated. It didn’t feel like protection. It felt like rejection. Why didn’t they come with him? They could afford it. Their agri-complex was fully automated. They didn’t need to be there to run it. The crop was sold through a broker. They didn’t have to do anything but watch yarrel flowers grow and wait for deposits into their accounts. He was their problem child, so they got rid of them.
Hankura had felt his father’s anguish as he walked into the shuttle, but he never looked back, or he would have seen the silent tears that rolled down his cheeks. Natar had forced him to make a terrible choice. Knowing it was the hardest thing she had ever done didn’t make it hurt Ludren any less. Now his first-born son was gone for at least ten years, and Hankura hated them for it. Ludren knew it wasn’t Natar’s fault she felt the way she did, but that didn’t quell his resentment for her part in this solution to protect their son. They would be lucky if they ever saw him again.
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