Empaths (Pyreans Book 1)

by S. H. Jucha

  “Okay, you can do that, but you’ll have to wait and take it down later,” Nunez replied.

  “Why?” Sasha asked. She hadn’t formed an opinion of this man, whose emotions felt warm to her.

  “Because I have a major and a sergeant downstairs right now, and they’re very, very busy.”

  “Doing what?”

  Nunez leaned over conspiratorially to Sasha, who tilted her head to listen to what the man had to say.

  “They’re busy arresting Governor Andropov and Giorgio Sestos for the crimes committed against you and your mother,” Nunez whispered.

  Sasha smiled and laughed delightedly, although the sound had an edge to it. She dropped her load to the side and skipped back to her room to help with the packing. Those in the living room were struck by a powerful, mental force. It wasn’t dark or bright in sensation. It felt more like the onslaught of a strong wind, which had suddenly blown up.

  When the team’s final transfer of personal items was ready, Sasha asked Nunez, “Now?”

  “Now,” he agreed, and Sasha wound the ends of the coverlet in her hands and slung the heavy load on her back. She struggled through the doorway, never looking back. Nunez kept pace with her, and the pair followed the other privates to the back stairway.

  Sasha paused and looked down the steps’ steep pitch.

  “Stairs,” Nunez said, his heart breaking at the thought that the young girl lived in this house for more than a decade and never got to use them.

  “It’s okay,” Sasha said, setting down her load and taking the man’s hand.

  Nunez nodded numbly, as warmth filled him. He picked up Sasha’s load, transferred it to his left, and gripped Sasha’s hand with his right to help her down the stairs to the next level. Sasha never let go of his hand until she saw Markos and Giorgio standing with Liam and Miguel. Then her hand slipped out of his, and she stalked toward the men.

  “Sasha, no,” Helena called out sternly and ran forward to embrace her daughter. “Remember what I told you. If you hurt these men, you’ll affect everyone around you, even those who are helping us.”

  Sasha paused and looked back at the man, who felt so deeply for her. She tossed off her anger with a quick, “humph,” and walked back to take Nunez’s hand. When she passed Markos, she said tersely, “We’re leaving,” and enjoyed the rush of pleasure it gave the people, who had arrived to free her mother and her.

  “The two of you,” Cecilia said, to Bowden and the other officer, “support Sergeant Rodriguez. Major, a word outside, if I may?”

  Liam hid his smile at the manner in which Cecilia was taking charge. Out on the porch, he watched Nunez holding Sasha’s hand, as the girl examined the flowering trees and waved happily at the bees. “What’s up, Corporal?”

  “Major, Sasha is a powerful and untrained empath.”

  “Okay?” Liam replied, not sure where this was going.

  “No, Major, Sasha is a young girl, who is upset at being kept imprisoned for her entire life in a set of rooms, and she has the capability to drop this team on the deck with one outburst of anger. We might even attempt to harm ourselves if we thought it would relieve the terror she unleashes.”

  Liam watched the girl playing with his officer. She looked like any happy child. “Nunez seems to have formed a quick bond.”

  “My suggestion, Major, is to get a transport for the women’s things. Commandeer three e-trans vehicles. Sasha sits in the front car with her mother, Nunez, and me. It’ll be a treat for her.”

  “You realize that if Sasha acts out, I might have no choice but to shock her. I’d prefer a trank, if needed, but I don’t see us getting a chance to use it.”

  “I understand, Major. I think if Nunez and I can keep her entertained until we get her to Harbour, we’ll have been successful. I can tell you one thing, sir. She’ll have to be in Harbour’s care for years until she learns to manage her emotions and control her power.”

  “Okay, Sergeant Lindstrom, set up the vehicles, and let us know when you’re ready.”

  Cecilia crooked her head at Liam, giving him time to acknowledge what she’d heard.

  “We’ll make it official tomorrow,” Liam said, grinning.

  “Yes, sir,” Cecilia replied, smiling in return, and took off to arrange the transportation.

  Cecilia collected the first e-trans car that passed and directed it to the front of the house. She entered her priority code and requested three more vehicles, two e-trans, and an e-cart. The major returned to the governor’s side, which freed her and the privates to load the e-cart with the women’s belongings. When all was ready, Cecilia signaled the major.

  “Helena, will you and your daughter take the first vehicle, please?” Liam requested.

  “Certainly, Major,” Helena replied. She paused in front of the governor. “Markos, in case there’s no opportunity, in the future, to relay to you my infinite pleasure at my imprisonment, let me say this.” Then Helena swung her open hand as hard as she could at Markos face, and it struck with a resounding slap. The governor stumbled against the corridor wall, and Helena shook her stinging hand. She hadn’t expected it to hurt that much, but she wouldn’t have missed the opportunity for the universe.

  As Helena marched out the front door, Markos suffered the added indignity of the major and sergeant’s delighted smiles.

  -20-

  Rescued

  Outside the governor’s home, downsiders had gathered to watch. Not knowing how Sasha would react to them, Cecilia ordered them to retreat to the far side of the ped-path. The crowd was reluctant to move until two privates advanced on them with hands on shock sticks. While they were indignant at the threat of force, nonetheless, they hurried to the far side.

  Cecilia signaled Nunez, who whispered to Sasha. The girl glanced toward her, and Cecilia encouraged her with a wave of an arm. Sasha took Nunez’s hand and strolled her way. The child was in no hurry. She was enjoying every moment of her newfound freedom.

  But, as a mother of a young girl, Cecilia wasn’t fooled. She’d suffered her child’s outbursts and tantrums alongside moments of joy and love. The difference was that her child wasn’t capable of turning someone’s mental state to mush when she was resentful.

  “Would you like to ride up front with me?” Cecilia asked, standing beside the lead e-trans.

  “Where do you ride?” Sasha asked Nunez.

  “Oh, I like to be chauffeured,” Nunez replied, without missing a beat.

  “What’s chauffeured?” Sasha asked.

  “That’s where we sit in the back like bigshots and make people drive us around.”

  “I want to be chauffeured,” Sasha exclaimed, and climbed into the rear seat.

  Nunez grinned at Cecilia and announced loudly, “The El car, Corporal, and make it snappy.”

  “Yes, make it snappy,” Sasha echoed.

  Cecilia sketched her best imitation of a bow. “Yes, your ladyship,” she intoned solemnly.

  Helena hid her smile behind a hand and ran around the car to climb into the seat next to Cecilia.

  Of special interest to the onlookers was the sight of the woman and the child, whom they had never seen before, and comm units recorded every moment. More shocking to them was witnessing the governor and his chief security officer led out of the house and loaded into e-trans vehicles. Conjecture flew among them, and rumors spread by comm calls throughout the domes.

  When the two privates finished loading the women’s baggage into the e-cart, they split up and climbed into the console seats of the last two e-trans cars. Liam sat in the back of the second vehicle with Markos, and Miguel shared the rear seat of the last car with Giorgio. Unlike the major, who sat relaxed beside the governor, Miguel had pulled his shock stick and activated it. The subtle whine of the charging circuitry was not lost on Giorgio, and Miguel underlined his intent by locking eyes with the security chief.

  Liam signaled Cecilia, and they were whisked quickly away from the governor’s house. Traffic was stopped in both dir
ections for the priority-driven vehicles. As soon as they were underway, Liam tested his connection to the JOS and was pleased to find that Devon had restored the link. Good man, he thought before he placed his call.

  “Devon, we have the woman, her daughter, the governor, and his security chief,” Liam said.

  “Wow,” Devon said in a rush. “And I missed out.”

  “Better safe than sorry, Devon. I’ll let you arrest the next governor.”

  Markos stared at Liam. He attempted to appear belligerent, but it was a desultory expression.

  “Do you want me to notify the commandant?” Devon asked.

  “Negative, with capital letters, Devon. I need Harbour to meet us as we exit the El. Is she still aboard the JOS?”

  “Affirmative, Captain. Is everything all right?”

  “What would you consider the level of intelligence of someone who locked up an extremely powerful empath?” Liam asked, and he switched his device to speaker mode so that Markos could hear the answer.

  “I’d consider the man an idiot, at best,” Devon replied.

  Liam switched his comm unit back to private for the remainder of the conversation.

  “Is it the mother?” Devon asked.

  “No, it’s about a ten or eleven year old with little emotional restraint and massive anger issues.”

  “Oh, for the love of Pyre, are you sure it’s safe to bring her topside?”

  “Not really, but I’m not leaving her down here with these people. That’s why I want Harbour onsite at our exit. I do have good news. Corporal Lindstrom has been invaluable. Good choice there, Devon. Tomorrow she’s promoted to sergeant.”

  “That’s good news, Major. She’s deserved it for a while.”

  “The other good news is that Sasha, the daughter, has formed a quick attachment to Officer Nunez.”

  “Understandable. Have you not met his family?”

  “Afraid I haven’t.”

  “His daughter is bright. I mean really smart, and she’s a handful. Nunez and his wife are kept on their toes with her, and he’s a great dad.”

  “Good to know, Devon.”

  “I’ll make the arrangements with Harbour. See you topside.”

  Liam closed his comm. Protocol demanded he inform the commandant of the discovery and arrests, but he was loath to tell Emerson anything that might potentially interfere with his transport of the women and his prisoners. Then it occurred to him the commandant wouldn’t bother checking the timeline of events. He could say that the downlink from the JOS to the domes was cut to prevent warning the governor, and he hadn’t thought it had been restored. Undoubtedly, Emerson would receive a call from Lise Panoy before they made the JOS. Liam was interested to see if the commandant inadvertently leaked information about what happened downside before Liam informed him.

  The train of vehicles moved swiftly through the domes and airlocks, arriving only minutes before the El was scheduled to depart. Cecilia ran ahead to inform the manager that they needed ten seats and needed crew to unload the e-cart baggage into a cargo container for transport.

  “Ten seats,” the manager squeaked. “But we’re full up, and we depart in a few minutes.”

  “Get your cargo crew moving, sir, or you’ll leave even later. I’ll take care of the ten seats,” Cecilia replied.

  The manager called the cargo chief on his comm unit, and Cecilia ran up the ramp to the passenger level. Meanwhile, the security team and their passengers waited in their e-trans vehicles. Passengers, who had disembarked the El, were surprised the vehicles weren’t being made available but wisely chose not to ask. Instead the queue moved down the line to take the empty e-trans cars, which had arrived behind the e-cart.

  An El cargo member drove a container next to the e-cart and crew crawled over the baggage, transferring the contents in a matter of minutes. Then the container was loaded into the belly of the El car.

  “We’re going to ride in that?” Sasha asked. She’d begun to fidget, and Nunez exchanged quick glances with Helena.

  “Yep, it’s going to take us into space, and I need to tell you something important,” Nunez said, turning toward Sasha and adopting a serious expression. When Sasha did the same thing, it took great self-control on Nunez’s part not to smile.

  “When the El car rises, it leaves the gravity of Pyre,” Nunez explained.

  “I know that.”

  “And I was sure you did,” Nunez allowed. “But, here’s the important thing. Many people find becoming weightless, for the first time, to be difficult, and they get sick.”

  “If they yuck in zero-g, doesn’t that stuff go everywhere?” Sasha asked. Her little face screwed up in disgust.

  “It could. That’s why there are special bags for everyone next to their seats.”

  “Do you think I’m going to yuck?”

  “I don’t know. I did the first time I felt weightlessness.”

  “You did?”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay, if you can, I guess I can.”

  Nunez glanced up to see a line of disgruntled passengers coming down the ramp, and he glanced back at the major, who stepped out of his e-trans. The team followed, disembarking and assisting various individuals from the cars.

  In the El passenger cabin, Cecilia had considered asking for volunteers, but she knew who she would get — hardworking stationers. Instead, she picked out downsiders and wealthy stationers and informed them they would be giving up their seats for a JOS security emergency. She heard all manner of objections and accepted none. The ten passengers were sharing their anger with one another, as they disembarked, until they passed the security team accompanied by the governor, his security chief, and two other downsiders.

  When Liam boarded, he found Cecilia had already rearranged the passengers to allow the group to sit together in one of the quieter areas.

  “Don’t know, Major, maybe you should promote the corporal to lieutenant,” Miguel whispered, spotting Cecilia’s arrangements.

  “I don’t want to give her ideas, Sergeant. She might be after my job. Did you notice whom she bumped off?”

  “Sure did … only Pyre’s best. Had to work hard from snickering when we passed them by.”

  The group settled into their seats after Cecilia and Nunez ensured that Helena and Sasha were comfortable and belted. The two officers bracketed Sasha, and Nunez kept up a conversation with Sasha, as the El car rose.

  Cecilia belatedly realized that neither the prisoners nor the women were dressed properly for the JOS environment. She sent a quick message to the captain, which read, “Our four individuals are without skins and deck shoes.”

  Liam’s message to Cecilia said, “Thought of that too, Corporal. Devon is scurrying to find proper clothes. We’ll have these people change in the El restroom.”

  When the El reached the JOS, Liam had the manager unload the other passengers first. Soon after, a security officer hurried aboard with a duffel bag full of clothing and deck shoes. The two security women helped Helena and Sasha out of their seats and towed them to the restroom.

  Sasha was giggling. “Look, Mommy, we’re flying,” she shouted.

  The clothes were poor fits, more so for Sasha. Cecilia did her best to deal with the oversized skins on the child. Sasha couldn’t care less. She was more intent on practicing walking with her slightly big deck shoes, forcing Cecilia to stay close to her. The thought crossed Cecilia’s mind that she should have had the major request some safety line and hooks. Markos and Giorgio refused the undecorated, black skins but accepted the deck shoes.

  With Cecilia and Nunez accompanying Helena and Sasha and leading the way, the group made their way off the El passenger level to the transit ring. Liam sent one of the privates with the four who were in front and ordered the group to wait for him on the other side. Before their capsule left, he ordered another one.

  Inside the cap, Cecilia reached out to grasp Helena’s hand. The mother was shedding quiet tears of relief at her return to the station, a
nd she smiled at the security officer’s consideration.

  * * *

  Harbour was browsing in some stores, killing time, when she received Lieutenant Higgins’ urgent call.

  “Where are you, Harbour?” Devon asked anxiously.

  “I’m here on the JOS, waiting for an update.”

  “Good, good. The major has found Helena and another daughter, Sasha.”

  Aurelia was telling the truth, Harbour thought, but what she said was, “Is the major bringing the women to the JOS?”

  “The women, the governor, and his security chief.”

  “Even better news, Lieutenant.”

  “I agree, but taking the men into custody is only the first step.”

  “I quite agree,” Harbour allowed, but she knew Devon was thinking about the upcoming trial, while Harbour was considering the power vacuum created by toppling the Andropov family and the opportunity it represented for many of the other families.

  “Harbour, the major has requested you meet him at the JOS El passenger transition gate. There are indications that the daughter, Sasha, who is probably about ten, is a powerful empath.”

  “What kind of indications?”

  “The major wasn’t specific, but I could detect some heavy concern in his voice, and he doesn’t frighten easily. He did say that the girl has some anger issues.”

  “Not surprising, considering she’s been locked in a house all her life. Not to worry, Lieutenant, tell the Major I’ll meet the women at the exit gate.”

  “Thank you, Harbour,” Devon replied. “With their priority transports downside, they should catch the next El lift. I place them aboard the station in about fifty minutes.”

  There had been time to get a snack, but despite having missed lunch, Harbour was too unsettled to eat. If anything, she wanted to talk to Jessie. He was the catalyst for the events that were unfolding, whether he wanted to take credit for them or not. She thought, if they could talk, they might devise a plan that would accomplish more for Pyrean society than simply accepting the downfall of the Andropov family only to be replaced by another group of wealthy downsiders.

  Harbour perused a few more stores, scarcely registering what she was seeing. Thoughts of the women, Sasha’s power, the governor’s arrest, and the commandant’s treachery tumbled through her mind. The chime of her comm unit interrupted her musings, and she hurried to the El exit gate. The feed over the gate counted down the minutes until the El car docked.