Mindspace - Complete Series

by A. K. DuBoff

  “Elric and I spent some time looking into your condition while you were away,” he said at last.

  “Right, that.” Since her more controlled transformation on Mysar, she felt a new sense of confidence in the abilities, at least insomuch as she wasn’t going to accidentally kill her loved ones. The agony she’d felt during the recent transformations, though… that was a problem.

  “I have good news and bad,” Leon continued.

  “You know me. Always the bad first.”

  He nodded. “To put it bluntly, I don’t think we can remove the nanites from you.”

  Kira’s heart skipped a beat. She’d suspected as much, but part of her had been holding out hope that she could be free of the modification entirely. It was a much easier decision to walk away than to decide if she should take advantage of enhancements that were so unpredictable and painful.

  “What are my options?” she asked, trying to remain objective.

  “Well, though we can’t remove the nanites, it might be possible to deactivate them.”

  “Would I go back to how I was before, then?”

  He drummed his fingers on the countertop. “I’m honestly not sure. I ran a model using the equipment we got from the MTech lab, and the results were inconclusive.”

  “So, I’ll be a freak for life.” She sighed.

  “But you’ll be my freak.” Leon smiled at her.

  “You’ll still love me when I have fangs and claws?”

  He chuckled. “Well, I might have to kiss you more carefully under those conditions, but yes,” he stepped forward and stroked the side of her face, “I’m in this with you. It doesn’t change a thing.”

  Kira pulled him in for a hug and leaned her head against his chest. “I’m glad I don’t have to go through this alone.”

  He held her close. “You’ll never have to again.”

  After a minute of quiet reflection, Kira pulled away. “How would this suppressant thing work?”

  Leon walked across the lab and grabbed a vial from a rack. “I don’t know how effective this will be. It’s just a first attempt. It’d be administered through a standard shot.”

  Kira nodded. “One time or ongoing?”

  “Depends on how you respond,” he replied. “There is another option. You could be paired with an AI.”

  She wasn’t sure if the suggestion was just Leon spit-balling or if he’d talked with the Guard’s leadership about it already. True AI pairs were relatively uncommon, especially on the core Taran worlds. While certain Taran planets had adopted a more tech-saturated culture, the current Taran vogue was to keep bodies in a more natural state. Having an implanted AI would make Kira even more of an outsider than she was already.

  “I don’t know.” She crossed her arms. “It might be a little much to have another voice in my head on top of the whole telepathy thing.”

  “I don’t doubt it, but an AI could help regulate you—probably a whole lot better than the suppressant we came up with.”

  Kira nodded. “Yeah, maybe. What would you do in my position?”

  “I haven’t felt what you’ve felt. It’s not fair to say.”

  “From a medically objective standpoint, then,” she prompted.

  He sighed and leaned against the counter, facing her. “If I suddenly had super-strength and speed, I think I’d want to learn to master those abilities, even if it was painful. Those kinds of skills could come in handy. If an AI could help you achieve that, it’s worth serious consideration.”

  “I’m glad to know there are options.”

  “I’ll support you, no matter what you decide.”

  She took her free hand and drew him in for a kiss. “Those decisions can wait.”

  — — —

  Kaen leaned back in his office chair. He was almost back to his usual routine, but there was still the unresolved issue of the alien threat.

  It wasn’t the Empire’s way to wipe out an entire race without exhausting every other option—especially not under the new High Dynasty leadership. While the aliens’ possession of autonomous individuals was heinous by Taran standards, the alien beings had their own perspective. If they could open a dialogue, perhaps there was still a chance the two races could find common ground. If not, they would take appropriate action.

  A knock sounded on Kaen’s office door.

  “Come in, Major,” he greeted Sandren. “Thank you for joining me.”

  “Of course, sir. What was it you wanted to discuss?”

  Kaen steepled his fingers. “Now that we’ve identified the source of the alien signal, Guard command has authorized a recon mission to get a lay of the land.”

  “Kira’s team?” Sandren prompted.

  “Do you think she’s ready to be back in the field?”

  Sandren let out a long breath between his teeth. “She’s not her old self, but she’s been cleared by Medical.”

  “What about your gut instinct?”

  The major folded his hands in his lap. “Given what we’re up against, I think she’s the only person for the job.”

  This is the end of Mindspace Book 2

  THE STORY CONTINUES IN OFFENSIVE…

  OFFENSIVE

  MINDSPACE: BOOK 3

  CHAPTER 1

  Kira saw the punch coming as if it was in slow motion. She dove aside, easily avoiding the swing. “You’ll have to try harder than that,” she needled her sparring partner.

  Ari, the weapons specialist on her covert ops team, grunted. “I’m going easy on you.”

  Kira smirked. “Sure you are.”

  In the week since Kira had been exposed to the experimental nanites developed by MTech, she’d experienced a new level of physical ability unlike anything she’d dreamed was possible. Strength, endurance, speed, reflexes—her years of physical training and conditioning hadn’t come close to granting such mastery. But, thanks to her new nanotech upgrades, now she could even rival someone of Ari’s substantial stature in combat.

  The odds are evened.

  With a determined glint in her eyes, she got a running start to slide across the floor toward Ari. Her legs deftly wrapped around his, and she snatched ahold of his right wrist while he toppled to the side.

  She pinned him. “I bet you let me do that, too, huh?”

  Ari struggled against her with no effect. “I’m not sure I like this new you.”

  Kira released him. I’m not sure I do, either.

  She had come to terms early in her Guard career that mental prowess was the greatest asset she could contribute to a team. She had been able to keep up in training and combat, but being a living tank was never a consideration. Now, her sense of identity was at a crossroads. Her new physical abilities had a catch—a big one.

  Whenever she became too agitated and lost focus, she would transform into a Robus. The hybrid alien form shouldn’t even be possible, and yet it was her new reality. While she had remained lucid during her latest transformation, the technology was unstable; she had no control over the timing of the form shift. In addition, the agony she had experienced during past transformations didn’t exactly encourage her to make it a regular occurrence.

  Moreover, it was the enemy who wanted her to master the form. The Guard soldier in her screamed that she should run away from the enemy’s designs for her fate, but she couldn’t avoid what was inside her.

  “Hey, I was only joking,” Ari said when Kira didn’t reply.

  “Yeah, I know.” She took a slow breath. “This is weird for me, too.”

  Ari stretched out his shoulder. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”

  “Unless I decide not to.”

  He eyed her. “You mean that suppression therapy Leon invented?”

  “You heard about that?” Kira raised an eyebrow.

  “Word gets around. I mean, our team does specialize in information gathering.”

  “Fair point.” She shook her head. “Yeah, he came up with something, but I’m not crazy about trying more experimental shi
te.”

  “Don’t blame you. Plus, there’s that whole part about you now being able to take me down.” Ari grinned.

  “Not a bad side effect, not gonna lie.”

  Ari shrugged. “You haven’t randomly transformed since Mysar, so maybe—”

  “It’s not that I don’t think I could gain control of the shifting,” Kira interrupted. “I’m even willing to deal with the pain of the transformation. But there are some other really big things that we keep overlooking because aspects of this seem good on the surface.”

  “Such as?” Ari prompted.

  “Well, the obvious thing: that psycho-bitch doctor, Monica, intentionally did this to me. Those aliens in Gaelon want me for something, and I don’t particularly want to find out what they’re planning.”

  “Admittedly, that part isn’t ideal.”

  “You think?” Kira groaned. “But let’s pretend for a minute that we can thwart their plan and I don’t somehow become a weapon for their dastardly ends. Best-case scenario, I have enhanced strength and speed, and I can transform into the Robus form at will. But, whenever I try to transform, my track record is either having a seizure or entering into a temporary blind rage. Either way, in a battle scenario, that means I’d be a massive liability to the team.”

  “Regardless of that, Kira, the bigger question here is what you’re comfortable doing. You need to decide if you want to embrace your changes or have them go away. This half-committed thing is probably what’s causing most of your issues.”

  “The threat those aliens in Gaelon pose isn’t in my head.”

  Ari chuckled. “Well, they certainly would like to be.”

  She sighed. “Okay, that was poor phrasing for a comment about telepathic beings. But you know what I mean.”

  He nodded. “They want you for something, and we don’t know what that is.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So, when are we going to go find out?”

  Kira laughed. “Aren’t you jumping ahead a little?”

  Ari evaluated her. “Rumor has it that you traced the telepathic signal in Jared before you evicted the Nox entity.”

  Only a handful of people were privy to that information. “How did you…?”

  “You might want to talk to Leon about keeping his mouth shut.” Ari gave Kira a playful smile.

  And this is why we don’t typically have civilians work with the Guard. Kira nodded. “What if we did trace that signal back?”

  “That’s obvious. You’re going after them.”

  She’d already said too much to outright deny what she knew. “Maybe. The signal trace confirmed that Gaelon is where the beings are camped out, but I haven’t heard anything from the Guard leadership yet about next steps.”

  “Maybe they needed to run it higher up the chain.”

  Kira shrugged. “Or maybe they decided that it’s a remote enough system that it’s not worth the trouble to investigate.”

  “Did one of my punches actually connect with your head today?” Ari asked. “Since when does the Guard know about a threat and not do something about it?”

  “Maybe it’s just wishful thinking.”

  “I thought you wanted this?”

  “I do.” Kira crossed her arms. “It’s complicated.”

  Ari leaned against the wall and tilted his head.

  “I want to go after the bad guys that did this to me, don’t get me wrong,” she explained. “But I can’t shake this feeling that this was all part of some master plan, and we’d be walking into a trap.”

  “You’ve overpowered both of the beings we’ve encountered, and you can do it again,” Ari tried to assure her.

  “That was when they were remotely projecting themselves,” Kira countered. “Going to Gaelon, we’d be on their turf. And that is precisely where Kaen tried to take me while he was subverted.”

  “It’s risky, yes, but we can’t ignore a threat in a system that neighbors a Taran Empire world.”

  “I know.”

  “And that’s why you’ll have us with you.” Ari smiled.

  “I really don’t like the idea of you walking into a trap with me.”

  “It’s not a trap if we can avoid it together.”

  Kira nodded.

  The training room door opened, and Nia poked her head inside. “Colonel wants to meet with us.”

  Kira came to attention. “About what?”

  “Sandren didn’t say when he relayed the order, but I got the impression it’s for recon.”

  “Sounds like they’ve made the decision for us,” Ari said to Kira.

  “It does.” She grabbed her water bottle from the rack and took a swig.

  “You know what this is about?” Nia asked her.

  “I’ll give you one guess.”

  The soldier nodded. “Right. I should have known.”

  Kira looked down at her mussed shipsuit from the sparring. “I don’t suppose we have time to clean up?”

  “Meeting is ASAP,” Nia replied.

  “Classic.”

  Kira smoothed her suit and re-styled her short, red hair as best she could while they walked down the hall to the designated briefing room. It wouldn’t be the first time she showed up to a meeting directly following a workout, and it likely wouldn’t be the last.

  When they arrived, Kyle, Major Sandren, and Colonel Kaen were waiting for them around the table.

  “Sirs,” Kira greeted the two officers.

  “Thank you for the prompt arrival, Captain,” Kaen replied.

  “Of course, sir.” Kira took the chair closest to the door.

  “I’m sure you’ve already guessed why we’re meeting,” Sandren stated as soon as everyone was settled. “We need to address Gaelon.”

  Kaen nodded. “We’ve rolled out testing for the telepathic receptor—or TR—neural structures Leon and his team identified, but Guard leadership has deemed future telepathic assaults to be too big a risk for us to move past this incident without further investigation. We’re authorizing a recon mission to Gaelon so you can see what we’re up against.”

  Kira’s chest tightened. “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ll accompany you on the Raven,” Sandren continued. “Our long-range scan indicates that there’s at least one, or possibly two, planetary bodies in the system. There’s some strange radiation that’s made it difficult to get an accurate assessment.”

  “So, we run an in-system scan and report back?” Kira asked.

  “This might require an on-the-ground investigation,” Kaen replied. “You mentioned that the alien, Reya, shared a vision of a planet with you. If you do find a world matching that description, biological samples might shed more light on what kind of being we’re dealing with.”

  Kira exchanged glances with her team members. “Sir, none of us are trained botanists.”

  Sandren smiled. “Considering your skillset includes hacking into complex computer systems while under enemy fire, we figured picking flowers would be within your ability level.”

  Kira smiled back. “So long as you don’t require an aesthetically balanced bouquet in a vase, sir, we should be able to manage.”

  “Hey now,” Ari interjected, “I’ve been known to make some lovely arrangements when the situation demands.”

  Kaen sighed and shook his head.

  “We’ll keep that in mind,” Kira told him. That’s very good to know. She added the tidbit to her mental file for the practical joke payback she had been planning.

  “Stand by for departure details,” Sandren stated. “You’re all dismissed—except Kira.”

  She remained seated while the rest of her team departed. “Sir?” she said when she was alone with the two officers.

  Kaen folded his hands on the table. “Major Sandren and I discussed your condition while we were planning the upcoming op. After reviewing the mission report from Mysar, it appears you’ve gained some control over the abilities granted by your new nanites, but not enough to be reliable.”

  “Yes,
sir,” Kira acknowledged.

  “We understand that Leon developed a suppressant for you, though the side effects are unknown,” Kaen continued. “Frankly, we don’t have time to go through proper trials to see if that’s a viable solution—especially given that we don’t know how the nanites are coded to you, specifically.”

  Kira nodded. “I agree.”

  “For that reason, the best option seems for you to be paired with an AI,” Kaen concluded.

  Kira’s heart skipped a beat. “Sir?” Leon had already suggested that option to her after she returned from Mysar, but she hadn’t yet given it proper consideration.

  “I did. We’ve identified an AI on Lynaeda who seems like she’d be a perfect fit for your present situation. She received an excellent recommendation from one of Doctor Elric’s colleagues.”

  Sharing my head with someone else… Kira took a slow breath. “Do I have time to think about it?” she asked.

  “We’ll need to know before we depart for Gaelon, and we can’t delay that mission for long,” Sandren replied. “You can have an hour.”

  “And if I don’t want to move forward with the procedure?” Kira questioned.

  “Then we’d have a discussion,” Kaen stated.

  They either convince me, or reevaluate my role on the mission. Kira took a slow breath. “Yes, sir, I’ll let you know.”

  CHAPTER 2

  As soon as she was dismissed, Kira sent Leon a message to meet at her quarters.

  They’d had little alone time since she returned from Mysar, so the notion of heading out to Gaelon so soon didn’t thrill her. However, she wouldn’t rest easy until she was certain the alien threat had been neutralized. In the meantime, she could use a sounding board for the decision about getting an AI.

  Leon was waiting outside her door when she arrived. “Hey,” he greeted.

  “Hey. You made it here fast.”

  “I was already on my way back from the lab.” He looked her over. “You’re going to Gaelon, aren’t you?”

  She nodded. “Order just came down.”

  He sighed. “All right.”