Psychogen (Galactic Syndicate Cycle Book 1)

by N. C. Madigan

  “Thank you,” she whispered. Ren nodded his head, then made a ‘shoo’ gesture with his hands.

  “Go on, and remember what I said,” he said. Vely nodded, slipped the metal card into a pocket of her jacket and hurried away.

  23

  After Dom found out about Liza’s increasing anxiety and inability to control her powers, he gave her a longer list of tasks to complete every day, to work off her extra energy, and hopefully put her to a more restful sleep. Liza took to the development without feeling. She’d always worked on the Moon and was glad of something to do on the ship. Liza resumed her daily task of cleaning the dishes and galley after meals, which left Corbin to other tasks he’d been neglecting, though he was vague about what exactly those tasks were.

  Liza picked up another dish and shoved it into the microwave washer. Most higher tech ships and colonies had cut back on the amount of water they used, and instead used high pressure steam or microwaves to clean and sterilize most items. It was more efficient, and the high-end washers recycled their own steam, for the most part.

  Liza scraped off the leftovers on another plate into the disposal, grimacing at the task. She didn’t mind work, no, but she very much minded touching other people’s dirty dishes. Liza had bargained with Vely back home for different chores, just to avoid this task. She pushed the dish into the rack of the washer.

  An idea knocked into her head, as if she’d been hit with a metal rod.

  “Why didn’t I think of this before?” she asked herself. She was alone in the galley. Liza took a step back from the counter and wiped her hands on the towel she’d slung over her shoulder. Reaching out with her mind, Liza directed her power towards the pile of dishes. The whole pile began to shake on the counter, the plates all trying to lift up in different directions and speeds. Pieces of leftover food dropped onto the counter and floor. Liza snatched back her power, and the pile clattered back onto the counter in a disjointed mess. Liza scrunched up her nose in irritation and tried again, reaching out this time, focusing on just one plate.

  This time, the plate on top of the pile lifted without much effort, but it was unsteady, and looked like it would fall to the ground at any moment. She held out a hand, channeling her mind through her arm to the plate, and it steadied. Using her other arm to direct her power, she lifted the rough sponge she’d been using to scrape the plates. Bringing her hands together, she reached again, pressing the sponge to the plate, and with a wiggle of her fingers, scraped the food off into the disposal. A grin spread over her lips. The action was clumsy, but she’d managed to scrape the food off the plate. She used a hand motion to direct the plate to the washer, but she was too clumsy. When she tried to fit the plate into an available slot, the plate simply flipped horizontally and landed with a loud clatter against the other plates. She reached again, lifting the plate, but the plate fell at an odd angle, missing the slot. With a grunt, Liza stepped forward and shoved the plate into the washer by hand.

  But she’d accomplished part of the task with her power. A sense of pride and confidence swelled inside of her, feelings she’d rarely felt at any other point in her life. With her mind once more, she lifted a plate and scoured it into the disposal and tried again to fit the plate into the washer, but her aim was still terrible. As she picked up the plate by hand and stuck it in the washer, she mused, that with practice, she’d be able to perform delicate tasks with her mind. It must be possible.

  Liza continued with her task, scouring the plates, and at least attempting to fit the plate into the washer, but each attempt seemed as clumsy as the last. While she was absorbed in thought, she didn’t notice that the door behind her slid open.

  “Liza!?”

  Liza let out a squeak, and the pile of dirty dishes and utensils on the counter exploded with unseen power, clattering all around her on the floor in a cacophony of metal against metal. Liza pressed her hands to her ears until the noise stopped. Slowly, she lowered her hands and turned around. Corbin was standing in the doorway, amusement lingering on his face.

  “What in the stars are you doing?” he asked, stepping into the galley. Liza dropped quickly to a knee and began to pull the dishes together into a pile.

  “Uh, practicing?” she answered. Corbin chuckled and moved to help her pick up the mess on the floor.

  “Your ability?” he asked, and Liza nodded. Corbin shrugged his impossibly broad shoulders. “Might as well, I suppose. As long as you don’t break anything.” He winked at her.

  “I will try my best,” she said with a smile.

  By the time she finished Corbin’s chores, she could maintain two objects at once and steady enough as if she held it physically. She didn’t know if it was progress or not, but she felt good about herself. The fear she’d been holding onto - the knowledge that she could be a force of absolute destruction - finally began to ebb away. With power came the necessity to control it, and if she could control it, she could wield it.

  As she wandered the corridors of the ship, her body felt electric. Her hands tingled with the sensation of power. In one darkened corridor, she stopped and held out her hands. Arcs jumped back and forth between her fingers, almost anxiously. She wondered what would happen if she released it.

  But she closed her eyes and willed the sparks to calm. Not on the ship. Somewhere else maybe, where there was no chance of blasting a hole and killing everyone on board. When she opened her eyes again, her hands were back to normal, and the tingling was gone. She removed her gloves from her back pocket and replaced them over her hands.

  Liza felt a little guilty for what she was going to try. She was hiding just outside of the doorway to the twins’ junk room, and they hadn’t noticed her. They were busy raking through their heap of junk they’d gathered at the last Rad Station. Liza recalled something Becce had mentioned when she first met the twins, that they might be telepathic with each other. It had made her wonder if they would be more susceptible to her ability.

  Liza took a deep breath and released her mind towards Weed, at least she thought it was Weed. She hadn’t yet figured out how to tell the difference between the two. Into the mind of maybe-Weed, she sent the command throw up your hands. She could feel a bend in his mind. Weed threw his hands up in the air. Speed stopped sifting through the piles and looked at Weed.

  “What are you-”

  “-don’t know.” Liza watched Weed struggle to put his arms down, but they were held in place by Liza’s command.

  “Can’t move,” Weed said, his body twisting around under his arms, which stayed in place.

  Drop your arms. Unfortunately, Speed had been stepping towards Weed at that moment, Weed’s arms dropped down and hit Speed on the head.

  “Hey!” Speed cried out, rubbing his head with his hands.

  “Sorry,” Weed said, but he sounded more confused than apologetic.

  Dance. She sent the command to both, and in a moment, the twins were writhing around in some semblance of dance. Liza supposed that her power couldn’t impart skills to someone. They danced as badly as they knew how.

  “Why?” the boys shrieked together.

  Stop dancing. They stopped, toppling over each other at the abrupt cessation of movement. Liza pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

  I can see you. Liza sent the message into the room, not expecting them to hear her. They turned towards the open doorway.

  “Liza?” they asked together. Liza stepped into the room with a grin on her face. The twins’ faces lit up with smiles as well.

  “Her power is useful-”

  “Very…”

  Liza shook her head. “I’m not getting into any trouble here,” she said. “I don’t want the Captain to shuck me off the ship.” The twins shrugged their shoulders.

  “He’s kept us,” they answered together. Liza chuckled and shook her head.

  “We can cause trouble somewhere away from the Captain,” Liza promised. Their twin grins widened.

  “At least show us-”


  “What you can do.”

  Weed and Speed hurried to a corner and lifted a box full of junk. Without preamble, Weed pulled a broken device from the box and hurled it at Liza. More out of instinct, she threw her arm up to protect her face, but her movement forced the device up, where it crashed into the ceiling. The twins laughed and cheered. Without warning, Speed threw another piece of junk, but this time, Liza halted its movement towards her and forced it back at the twins. They dodged, laughing.

  “Does Captain know?” they asked together.

  “That I can do this? Yeah, but not that I have been practicing,” Liza answered. Their wicked smiles remained on their faces, but Liza shook her head again. “Next stop, I promise.” They pouted for a moment and shrugged. The twins went back to their junk table, and Liza took a seat on one of the high stools to watch them. “What are you making?” They had several devices laid out that almost looked like old watches but had no clock face.

  “Communication devices,”

  “Specially made.”

  “Private channels-” they finished together.

  “Are you giving me one?” she asked jokingly, but the twins nodded seriously.

  “After we fix them-”

  “So, they don’t shock with every message.”

  “Ouch,” Liza commented, rubbing absently at her wrist.

  Liza watched them work for several more minutes. They worked quickly on their devices, speaking in low tones in some sort of language that Liza couldn’t understand. They were certainly the strangest siblings she’d ever met.

  Lying on the table among the piles of junk was a projection toy. Liza remembered having one as a child, but it had been lost when her family was forced to move to a new apartment. She drew it towards herself and pressed the power button. Nothing happened. From the pile of tools in the middle of the table, Liza selected a narrow chisel and began to pry apart the toy. She could feel the twins’ gaze on her as she worked, but she ignored them. As she took the toy apart, she could see that the tiny wires were fried. She was about to ask for new ones when Weed pushed a box across the table to her, which was filled with odds and ends. She drew out some wire and began to splice the new together with the old.

  As she worked, she saw little arcs crawl from her hands and disappear into the toy. The toy didn’t blow apart, like she might have expected, but she began to know things about the toy. The speaker was loose. The circuit board was old but still worked. The projection lens was dirty. Liza followed these instructions, and after about an hour, the toy was put back together again. She set it down in front of her and pressed the power button. A small projection of the planet Earth appeared above the toy, rotating in space. A woman’s voice began to talk about Earth and the different animals that lived there. Weed and Speed smiled in appreciation.

  “You have talent,” they commented together. Liza shrugged.

  “I’ve always been good at fixing things. I tend to just know what’s wrong,” she said. Now she knew why. Her kathokinesis was telling her.

  A low tone coming from the speakers above them preceded an announcement. Dom’s voice came over the system.

  “We’re approaching the Cove. Prepare for docking.”

  “Finally,” the twins said together, and dropped their tools. Liza turned the toy off and the three of them left the room together.

  24

  Vely watched as Denny lay on the ground of the cockpit, his head and shoulders underneath the control console. Every few moments, Denny would swear loudly, then his hand would reach out from under the console, palm up.

  “Hand me that screwdriver again,” he said, and Vely dropped the tool into his waiting hand. Anxiety built inside of Vely; she was ready to speed off towards the Cove and find her sister. But the installation of the device that would give them the Syndicate code was taking longer than Denny had anticipated. Vely’s anxiety was very unlike her, and it was unnerving. She usually left the excessive worrying to her sister, while Vely would take control of whatever situation came their way. But ever since leaving the Moon, Vely had lost the chance to be in control. There was nothing to do now except sit beside Denny and hand him whatever tools he needed.

  Vely wondered if her powers would work on herself. She’d never tried but knew it could be potentially dangerous. She’d almost put Cedrick out cold when she wasn’t being careful.

  I just need a bit to calm me down, she thought to herself. That shouldn’t be out of the question; after all, the power came from within her. Vely made herself comfortable on the chair and closed her eyes. She imagined her power, the blue mist that filled Cedrick’s apartment when she made it safe from the hounds. This time, she just imagined the mist floating through her body, weaving its way into her muscles. But she knew right away that she’d gone too far. Her body went heavy and her mind went dark.

  When she opened her eyes, Denny was staring down at her with an amused expression on his face. Vely blinked several times, and registered that the back of her head hurt. She pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed the back of her head. A bump had pushed its way out from her skull, where she must have hit her head on her way down to the floor. Denny clapped a hand to Vely’s shoulder.

  “Trying to relax yourself?” he asked, and Vely nodded. “You have to be careful with that. I knew a Tranq once who was addicted to his own power. He wasted away, eventually, because he never ate nor drank. But I suppose he was calm and happy when he died.” A dark look passed over Denny’s face, and he quickly rose and stepped back to the control console. Vely felt her stomach twist around unpleasantly at Denny’s story. She had seen the look in his eye - it was obvious that this person was someone he had known well.

  Vely rose, steadying herself with a hand on the nearest chair. Her vision swam for a moment and the bump on her head throbbed. At the very least, some of her anxiety had melted away. Keeping Denny’s warning tucked away in her mind, she resolved herself to keep learning to use her power on herself, which felt a little more ethical than using it on other people.

  “The box is installed and ready to go. The vendors are staying here, so it’ll just be the three of us,” Denny said, turning back to Vely. “Tell Cedrick. We’ll be taking off in about ten minutes.”

  “Okay,” Vely replied and left the cockpit. She wandered the corridors of the ship until she arrived at the room that Cedrick had claimed as his own. The door was open, and peeking inside, she could see him sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands. Vely frowned and stepped inside, but he didn’t stir at the sound of her boots on the metal floor.

  “Ced?” she asked, her voice a whisper. He remained still. He’s having a vision? “Cedrick?”

  She stepped in front of him and touched a hand to his shoulder. His head jerked up, and he inhaled deeply, like he hadn’t been breathing the entire time. His chest heaved with the effort, and his eyes shifted around frantically, never settling on one thing. Vely dropped to a knee in front of him and took his hands. She allowed a bit of Tranquility to seep into him, enough for his eyes to stop darting around so unnervingly.

  “Vely?” He finally met her eyes. “I was having a vision - a horrible one.” Vely gripped his hands tighter.

  “What was it?”

  “Liza was in pain, and you were in pain. I tried to help you, but I couldn’t. Something was keeping me back.” Cedrick shuddered with the retelling, and looking down, Vely could see that his skin was covered in goosebumps. She laid her hands on his arms for warmth. He was trembling under her touch. “I could feel the pain you were in, too,” he continued. “Like it was being passed through you and into me.” Cedrick dropped his face back into his hands.

  Vely sighed and released a bit more power into his veins, until his shoulders relaxed.

  “Thanks,” he mumbled. Vely rocked back on her heels and rose.

  “We’re taking off soon, in a few minutes,” she said. “Denny installed the code.”

  “You go on ahead,” he said. “I’ll come to the cockpi
t in a moment.” Vely nodded once, turned, and left the room. She threw back one more glance at him over her shoulder and continued on her way.

  She was troubled. The uneasy feelings she was having about Cedrick had remained in her mind, nagging at her that something wasn’t quite right. And Ren’s warnings weren’t helping either. And all of that contradicted with the feeling she had when they kissed, that it was okay.

  Vely entered the cockpit, sat in her seat and pulled the buckles around her. “Cedrick will be here in a moment,” she informed Denny, who was going through his pre-flight routine, and nodded, barely hearing her. Vely settled back and closed her eyes. What would Liza say? Or do?

  Liza would remind me that the kiss with Cedrick was my first kiss, and that I should never base anything on a first kiss. But she was cynical, wasn’t she? Most boys were too afraid to get close to Liza. Vely knew there had been boys she’d liked, but so many ended up dead, one way or another. But she’d never seen Liza cry over a boy or show emotion when she found out they were dead. Vely had suspected, well before she should even know or care about any of those things, that Liza was desperately seeking physical touch with someone, but wouldn’t allow it to happen. Vely was never sure of the reason, and she wouldn’t ask her sister. It seemed too personal of a thing for Liza to ever share. Thinking of her sister made her heart squeeze painfully in her chest. They were so close to seeing her again, Vely could barely stand it.

  Cedrick entered the cockpit silently and took a seat, buckling the straps. Denny nodded to him, and in a moment, the ship's engines rumbled to life. Vely stole a glance at Cedrick; he looked more haggard than he had when Vely left his room a few minutes before. She reached across the space between them and gave Cedrick’s arm a squeeze. He gave her a weary smile.

  Denny undocked the ship from the station on Mars, and soon, they lifted up quickly away from the red planet, higher and higher until the life sustaining domes disappeared from view.