by T. J. Quinn
Orin stared at him rather blankly for a moment and nodded slowly "Do you think - - -?"
"I think we'll have to wait and see. Chelle's powers have grown with her knowledge since we saved your life," the Aledan interrupted. "We have to hope it will be enough, my friend. I may not be able to feel all that you feel but I understand your feelings well. We love Nalina, too. You can't believe we're less shocked and worried."
Hankura rested his hand tentatively on the other man's shoulder and held his troubled gaze and without flinching. "Believe that Chelle will do all she can. Let's take care of the children. There all upset and they need reassurance."
"All right," Orin agreed finally. "Lanimer and I will take care of Lara. I think you should see to - - -your son."
After Orin left the room to join Lanimer in the nursery, Hankura turned back to his wife. "I'll take Jamerin outside for a walk in the field. The open fields seemed to calm him, but I will be with you, beloved, in what you're about to do."
But of course, none of that needed to be said. She was part of him and he was part of her. That's how it was psi-mates. They shared a love as pure as the human mind could comprehend. Now, it was a balm that flowed between them, giving them strength to deal with these problems together. Outwardly separate, but inwardly always together.
As Hankura carried Jamerin toward the left, Chelle turned to her friend and sat down on the sofa beside her. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes to clear her mind and focus her psychic energy. When she opened them again, she reached for Nalina framing her golden oval face in slender white hands. "Nalina - - -" she murmured softly. Nalina…
Nalina… Nalina… Nalina… Nalina… Nalina…
Chelle's own thoughts echoed back to her through the dark, deserted corridors of her friend's damaged mind. Traversing these pathways telepathically was not unlike entering a long a dark tunnel, calling out for lost friend and hearing only they echoes of one's own voice.
There was no instinctive mental shield to bar her way as she extended part of her own consciousness into Nalina's damaged mind. The two became as one, linked mind to mind, enveloped in an aura of psychic energy. As Chelle found broken links in those ravaged pathways she began draining her own physical resources to heal and rebuild them enough so that she could continue the mental sojourn.
Chelle traveled a long this dark tunnel for what seemed an eternity before she sensed the half hidden glimmer of light that was Nalina's soul. The light of Nalina's inner self was cowering just beyond the bend in the tunnel. It reminded Chelle of the frightened little girl who crouched alone and afraid under the abandoned stairway in one of the ruined city of ancient earth so many years ago… Before young Hankura reached out to touch Chelle's inner self that first time.
Closer and closer. Chelle's own feared grew as she sensed Nalina's fear and uncertainty. It haunted her and she pulled back in alarm when that desperate, empty longing threatened to swallow them both in its angry vortex. Chelle was terrified, but she knew if she turned back alone, Nalina would be swallowed up into oblivion.
Chelle couldn't do that. She wouldn't.
Help me Nalina. Reach for me. We can do this together. Let me take you back to Orin and Lanimer.
But with that thought, a mental image of the big Tregan rose up from the vortex, seizing them and pulling them with him into a long dark tunnel, a place with no light and no hope. The three together careened wildly through this black nightmare world. Terror was the only thing that bound them together with this phantom Orin Hart.
No! Chelle's inner self cried against the haunting. You are not real. You can't take us. I won't let you.
Then the phantom Orin was gone. Chelle and Nalina were alone teetering on the edge of a wide, dark chasm to oblivion that waited ominously to swallow both of them.
Come on Nalina. Reach for me let me take you out of here. Let me help you.
Chelle, I can't. I'm so afraid. I just can't.
Yes, you can! I'm scared too. Don't make me go back alone. I need you to help me. Help me Nalina.
Crying inwardly with cold, unnamable fears, Nalina's inner self reached tentatively toward Chelle. Nalina couldn't let her friend be lost, too. Her love was greater than her fear. Soul touched soul as they skirted the rim of the vortex to oblivion together. They ran through the newly reopened pathways as if hand in hand together, rising through level after level until they reached their conscious level.
"Goddess, oh Goddess!" Chelle sobbed, clutching Nalina in her arms as they emerged suddenly into the reality of consciousness. What had happened to them was by then so awesomely unreal that Nalina's mind refused to acknowledge it. Only that desperate fear lingered to remind her of the narrow escape.
But Chelle remembered every last detail. Not since the true healing of Orin Hart had she known the kind of fear that coursed through every fiber of her being like an arctic wind. Yet mingled with this residue of fear, triumphant elation blossomed. This time she did herself. She healed Nalina without losing herself in the process. Her psychic link with Hankura was only a lifeline standing by.
Although she doubted the fear that came with healing would ever go completely, maybe next time she would fear a little less. Now, as she regained control over her of motions, that residue of fear receded, and she comforted Nalina cuddling her and stroking her hair as she might her own daughter.
"It's all right now Nalina. We're all right." She murmured until Nalina's trembling stopped and she fell into an exhausted sleep.
As Nalina closed her confused brown eyes, Chelle smiled fondly and pushed her friend’s ebony hair back from her tanned brow. Then she looked up, sensing they were no longer alone. Orin was standing in the doorway watching them.
"She's going to be all right, Orin," Chelle reassured him. "Nalina is just sleeping now."
"And the baby?"
"She was unarmed." Chelle said. "I don't know what happened, Orin. But I still can't believe that Jamerin maliciously tried to hurt Nalina. He has always loved her. You know that as well as I do."
"Do I?" Orin's eyes narrowed and his humorless mouth tightened. "Maybe before, but I'm beginning to think the kid doesn't love anybody anymore."
"He's a child, Orin. Children are naturally selfish." Chelle replied evenly. "Jamerin's powers are dawning more rapidly and far stronger and Hankura and I ever expected. Dawning is something a normal can't really understand. It was hard for me even though it came gradually in bits and pieces before Hankura and I met face to face.
"But something more than just dawning has happened to Jamerin. The shock of it all has changed him, but we didn't believe he was a danger to anyone. Obviously we were wrong."
"Obviously," Orin agreed sardonically. "He could have killed Nalina - - - or wiped her mind so even you couldn't help her. Damn, Chelle, it scares me to death. Jamerin is dangerous."
"But it's not his fault!" Chelle cried. "My poor child is tormented by a what we did to him before he was born."
"What do you mean we? What are you saying?" Orin demanded.
"When you were dying, Hankura and I couldn't heal you alone. You nearly stripped us of our life force, but our unborn son - - - Jamerin pulled us back from the brink of death with the strength of his budding life force…"
"Are you saying he's like this because of me?" Orin grimaced.
" Not just because of you, Orin" Chelle said gently. "We each had our part in this… It's what I felt when I healed Nalina and it is the only explanation that makes sense."
" Oh, Goddess, I'm sorry Chelle." Orin sighed ruefully.
"So am I, Orin," she murmured gently, "but I'm sorry that my son was hurt, not that you were healed. You and Nalina are family to us. How could I be sorry for that?"
Although the sun was little more than a fiery glow on the horizon, the summer heat lingered. Hankura and Jamerin came to a stop and sat in the quiet shade on are rock at the edge of the field. The silence between them was total.
"Somehow, you and I have to talk about this, Jamerin," Ha
nkura said sternly. He watched closely for any sign of response, but his son continued to stare out across the grassy plain. "Jamerin try to listen to me. What you did to Nalina was wrong. You hurt her very badly. Why did you do it?"
The child didn't respond in any way to the question. But he winced with a start as his father's strong hands gripped his small shoulders and brought him to eye level. "Damn it answer me up! Why did you hurt Nalina?"
Hankura gave the boy a shake. Jamerin stark emerald eyes widened as the intensity of his father's anger pushed back the haunting nightmare for a moment. His eyes began to fill with tears and Hankura's anger waned quickly as the power of the living nightmare returned shattering Hankura's defenses, seizing both father and sons minds in its grip briefly until Hankura was able to pull back from the raging vortex.
"Good Mother of Life!" Hankura muttered unevenly, hugging his child close. Where had it come from? Why Jamerin? The answer slipped into his mind from Chelle's and he swore under his breath again. It didn't seem possible that Jamerin could have such a real sense of something that happened barely a tenday after his conception. He and Chelle had never shared it with him, yet Hankura had lived the nightmare that held his son's brilliant young mind in its grasp. Jamerin was too young to understand and come beyond it. He was too strong psychically for Hankura and Chelle to help him and take it from him much as they wanted to.
Velran was their only hope. Hankura could not even bear to think of the alternatives. Jamerin was part of him, conceived in love and hope from the ashes of disaster. He was part of him and Chelle. There had to be help for him somewhere. There had to be!
Now, just as the bitter pain from the Tregan invasions was beginning to recede and fade into the past, his world came crashing down around him again. As much as Hankura loved his son, he didn't know how to reach a him and it was tearing him apart inside.
Cuddled close in his father's arms, the boy had drifted finally to sleep. Suddenly, Hankura felt very tired, too.
He knew that Chelle had managed to pull that Nalina out of it, this time. Hankura didn't even want to contemplate a next time. Pressing his cheek against the dark auburn head of his son, he sighed wearily, thanking the Goddess silently that Chelle was safe. After a moment he got up a bit awkwardly still holding Jamerin cradled in his arms. He sensed she needed him now, and right now, he needed her too.
CHAPTER TWO
Hankura found Chelle sitting alone in their bed chamber after he finished putting their son too bed. She was in the dark on a plush padded chair in that small sitting area to the left as he entered the room.
He turned the lights up just a little as he entered the room and crossed to where the she sat staring blankly into space. He knew she was aware of his presence on a subconscious level, even though she didn't look up. She was still emotionally in shock.
"Chelle…?" He murmured, dropping down on one knee in front of her. Framing her oval face in his hands he spoke her name softly again and reached gently into her mind. As her eyes came to focus on his distinct handsome features, they brimmed with tears. Then she fell into his arms and they were sitting on the thickly carpeted floor clinging to each other while she wept softly against a shoulder.
Tears filled his own eyes and he felt no shame in them. His pain was as great as Chelle's, and for a time it overwhelmed them both as understood what was happening to their first born son.
Oh Hankura! We did this terrible thing to him. It's our fault that Jamerin suffers now. I should have listened to you. She mused guiltily.
No Chelle - - -you were right not to listen to my fears. We couldn't just stand there and watch Orin die when we knew there was a chance we could save him. We didn't know anything like this would happen to our son.
Yes, but we should have suspected when it was over. If it weren't for the strength of Jamerin's life essence, we would have all died. Yet, it still barely seems possible that this could have happened to him. Jamerin was barely conceived - - - just a few cells. How could he know? How could he remember in such a vivid detail?
I don't know. The only explanation is fantastic, yet it's the only theory that remotely makes sense… The unless we are to believe in divine intervention…
You think the event was somehow etched into his genes? Chelle stirred in looked into his eyes incredulously. That idea seemed almost more fantastic man divine intervention.
I know. But do you have a better answer? Recently been sure that terror with him otherwise. He responded. I believe that somehow this nightmare is tied to the genetic psi factor. If we could find that we could find the answer.
And you think we might find it on Velran?
I think it would be a good place to start. It would also be a good place for you to complete your Physician's certification. You are every bit as qualified as me. I'd say it was about time we made it official.
Right now, nothing seems more important than healing our son. It will be just something to fill my time until he is well and has been taught to control his awesome dawning power. We can't risk him hurting anyone like he hurt Nalina again.
Yes, and the biggest problem will be finding a way to get as all to Velran. Now that the Arius Mran has been sold, we should have enough credits for the journey - - - if we can find passage.
That's going to be difficult because of what we are in because of the children.
Yes. Hankura returned ruefully. Most people aren't as bigoted against psi paths as they were on Aledus, but there are still plenty of people who are superstitious or leery of us. He sighed.
Chelle leaned back to stare solemnly into his stark emerald eyes. It's because they don't understand. That they could only know what it's like to know another human being the way I've known you ---to love the way we have loved each other…
Hankura felt her hand caress his cheek as Chelle regressed from a conscious, verbal level to a more purely emotional one, expressing implicit tenderness and explicitly erotic imagery. He saw himself as she saw him physically pleasing and intellectually stimulating, and she saw herself through the eyes of his love---partner, friend, and lover, mother of his children. Hankura felt the inner warmth of the light shining in her blue eyes and smiled serenely. Then he met her soft seeking mouth with his own, reveling in the miracle that unfolded between them.
Touching her through the bond of their minds as he kissed her and caressed her supple body, he found and gave comfort and reassurance until the pain began to recede for them both. They kissed and caressed for a time on the soft thick carpet. Then they stood and began divesting each other of their hindering clothing. When they were naked, they embraced, pressing his tightly together as possible. The sensation was electrifying and exciting and their kisses deepened sensually. He - she loved the feel of her supple breasts against his chest and his hardness against her abdomen.
Eventually they move to the bed. Chelle lay back and opened her body, urging him to thrust his hardness inside her. The years may have mellowed their passions a little but desire was still a fire that burned hot and brightly between them. He moved slowly inside her, kissing her everywhere he could reach while staying inside her. She did the same, reveling in the feel of him with their hands and her body and her mouth and her mind. How she loved this man! How he loved her!
As their joy in their physical and emotional intimacy exploded inside of them, their physical arousal brought them to climax. Like the water rising high in the fountain of Narcaza they soared, then fell into the pool floating as they lay spent in each other’s arms. Still joined, they kissed tenderly, sharing their love mind to mind.
Because their years together and may not have always been kind, they found strength in the sweet desire that bound them together body and soul. The strength sustained them during the bad times until they could move beyond them.
Sometimes, it seemed like a lot longer than seven years since the horror of the Tregan prison camp almost destroyed them. Other times it seemed more like yesterday. The ominous shadow of the nightmare that threatened
to destroy their son, their own nightmare seemed distressingly close at hand again---lurking, waiting to swallow them up.
Their passionate sexuality was a weapon as well as mutual comfort, and they used it now to hold their own nightmare at bay. Who could have guessed that the events of just fifteen days could have ripped their lives apart with such a devastating force?
They were captured by the Tregans when the exploration ship Searching Star put into orbit at Zevus Mar for crew leaves and supplies. The ship was disabled by a marauding Tregan warship and boarded by force. The Tregans killed nearly half the crew and took the rest prisoners to the surface of Zevus Mar. The men were forced into hard labor in the Verlian mines and the women became amusement for the brutal and sadistic dog soldiers.
For a long time afterward, Hankura loathed himself for all the Tregans he killed to set Chelle and the others free. Sometimes he hated himself, and others he felt guilty for not acting sooner to prevent some of the torment Chelle suffered. For a time, his inner conflict seemed to build a wall of the anger between him and Chelle that seemed unbreakable. It left their life together in a shambles.
Finally, after the Federation stopped the invasion, Hankura and Chelle decided to go back to help rebuild the mining colony on Zevus Mar. It was a kind of therapy that help them put their relationship back together, but there were still too many ghosts and horrifying memories for them to stay. Before Zevus Mar, they were planning to return to Oltarin, and they decided to go ahead with that plan.
Life was good to them here on the high plateau. They had their horses, and a great deal of land and crops overseen by Orin Hart. They grew the feed and hay for their four horses and a variety of food crops for profit. As on Hankura's family agricomplex on Aledus, care of the crops was automated, but Orin liked to tend their kitchen garden himself because other than tending the horses and upkeep of the property there wasn't that much for him to do.
Later, when passion ebbed and Chelle slept, exhausted both from making love and earlier strain of healing Nalina, Hankura lay beside her staring at the ceiling in the muted light. There was so much to be done in such a short time, his mind was just too full for sleep.
