by Drew Seren
Skylar knew enough about what she was saying to understand that she was trying to look into things like his blood type, skin and hair color and other things that made him human, and find the family he belonged to. He also understood that would be difficult since a lot of people, particularly wealthy corporate types, tended to use illegal gene splicing techniques to make themselves and their children the best, the prettiest, the strongest they could be. It wasn’t a search he deemed worthwhile, but if she wanted to adopt his parentage as her pet project he wouldn’t worry about it.
A gentle electric current went through him. He sat a little straighter in the chair. “I thought Del said there wasn’t going to be any electrified needles.”
“An electric field helps us know what’s active and what’s not,” Ms. Grissom said as she went back to the middle panel. “It’s low level enough that it shouldn’t hurt humans.”
“What about non-humans?” He wondered if some species were tortured to see if they had any powers.
“We have other techniques for the ones who are overly sensitive to electricity.” She made an adjustment on the panel. “This is odd.”
“What?” Skylar leaned forward, then felt like he hit a force field. “Hey.”
Ms. Grissom made a dismissive gesture. “You’re safe. Don’t worry about that.” She stared at the screen in front of her. “We knew you were a strong feeler. Level five is a good starting point. You’ll never reach level ten, can go a few more levels with practice, but based on your genes, there should be more.”
Skylar did his best to not freak out in the chair. He kept telling himself that Phil wouldn’t have taken him somewhere he could get hurt or worse. Although he’d been emotionally manipulated at the time, he still felt Phil had his best interest at heart. Talking helped him stay calm. “If you’re basing so much off my genes, then why can’t they show you what’s active and what’s recessive?”
“Because psi genes don’t exactly work like other genes,” she replied. “Sometimes they need the right stimulation to become active. It looked like you’ve become emotionally active, but nothing else.” She stepped away from the panel. “It’s amazing that there’s nothing else active.” Her voice rang out in his mind and something pulled at him.
Was she was trying to do something to make another gene activate. “What makes a gene activate then? You make it sound like it’s some kind of electrical circuit.”
“In many ways, it is. There are a good number of documented cases where a gene didn’t become active until it was needed.” She walked over to the first panel and tapped something.
The humming in the chair stopped and Skylar relaxed a little bit. He didn’t try the force field, but waited for Ms. Grissom to continue.
“More than a few movers activate when something is falling toward them, or readers when they are trying to reach out to a lost loved one. Adrenaline is very useful in activating genes.” She took out a set of virtual reality goggles and gloves that looked like a newer version of the ones Skylar had used when gaming with Teir. “Unfortunately, it’s not acceptable to put people into real-life dangerous situations.”
She handed the rig to Skylar. “These simulations are the best we can do.”
“What kind of simulations are there?” He felt a lot calmer once it appeared Del was right and he wasn’t going to get poked. VR, he could deal with.
“A couple of different ones.” Ms. Grissom walked back to the panels as he put the goggles and gloves on. “I’ll set up the first one.”
The goggles came to life and Skylar found himself standing on the edge of a cliff. A swarm of Belsomic Honey Bees flew at him. He ducked and envisioned a glowing shield in front of him. The simulation was close enough to Galactic Explorers that it responded the same way and the giant red bees bounced off the shield.
For the next hour, several similar scenarios played out. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be using his gaming knowledge to protect himself or not, but it made sense to use what he knew to stay alive, or at least keep his avatar alive, so he dodged rockslides, flew over lava pits and blasted slavers until Ms. Grissom ended the simulation. Being immersed in VR was the most fun he’d had since being at Stars’ End.
As she took the VR rig from him, Ms. Grissom was shaking her head. “It really doesn’t make any sense. You should be more than just a feeler, but that’s all that’s active.”
“But that can change depending on my situation?” Skylar wanted to ask to keep the VR, but hadn’t been told about the academy’s regulations on gaming, if it was even allowed.
“That’s right.” She put the VR equipment in the storage cabinet between two of the panels. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on you. Regardless of anything else showing up or not, we’ll need to teach you to shield, to block out the thoughts and feelings of others and to keep them out of your mind. Most of our students learn shielding before anything else. I’ll decide which teacher would be best to teach you that skill.”
If it meant he could learn to protect his thoughts from the prying minds of people like Ms. Grissom, Skylar wanted to start those lessons as soon as possible.
“I’ll let you know about your lessons once I get them set up.” Ms. Grissom walked around the room tapping the screens. “I think it’s about time for you to get to lunch, then on to your afternoon classes. If anyone asks, you can tell them you’re a level five feeler.”
Skylar got out of the chair and headed for the door. “I guess that’s something.” It was a lot more than his mother would’ve been comfortable with. He just hoped Del wasn’t going to be upset about him ranking higher than Del did.
9
Staying In School
AS THE school week progressed, Skylar fell into the pattern of his roommates and classmates. The space station had panels that opened and closed at set times during the day to simulate a Sol Three twenty-four standard hour pattern of day and night most humans found comfortable. Since the days on Hummassa had been twenty-six standard hours, it took Skylar a few days to get used to the shorter routine. He felt like time was flying past, and the end of the school week showed up too quickly.
“So, what do we do on the weekends?” Skylar asked as he settled into his chair at the lunch table next to Del and across from Solaria. It hadn’t taken them long to develop a pattern of eating together. Although she had other friends in school, just like Del did, Solaria had latched onto the two of them for reasons she never explained, and Skylar didn’t want to pry. Even if she was a bit moody at times, she was fun to be around and people tended not to piss her off.
“That depends,” Solaria replied as she cut a piece of belesk, a small antelope native to Pantheria. Like a lot of her food, she ate it raw, something Skylar was slowly becoming accustomed to.
Skylar waited for her to continue, but she popped the meat in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “On what?” he finally asked after she swallowed.
“On what you want to do and what kind of credits you have. They normally have a shuttle that goes to Aranack, the one human-habitable planet in the system, or sometimes they send the school ship to the Galaxeria if there are enough of us who have signed up to go.” She frowned as she cut her next piece. “I’m not sure they’d let you go yet.”
He set down his fork and stared at her. “What is the Galaxeria, and why wouldn’t they let me go?”
Del came to his rescue as Solaria started chewing her next bite. “The Galaxeria is a massive shopping center that takes up one of the largest space stations in the galaxy. They have everything you could ever want for sale there. I’ve only been twice. It’s a huge adventure and we should definitely try to go sometime, although it can also be extremely overwhelming. And they probably won’t let you go yet because you haven’t mastered your psi shielding yet. If you go out without mastering shielding, there’s too much of a chance that you might pick something up that can upset you, or you could start broadcasting your emotions and influence the people around you.” He shook his head.
“You’re a little behind the rest of us. They wouldn’t want an untrained feeler loose in the galaxy.”
It was Skylar’s turn to frown. Ever since they’d tested him for psi skills and he came back high in feeler, they’d put him in special training classes. So far, he hadn’t proven overly adept at any of the classes, particularly the shielding class. Shielding was supposed to keep a psi from picking up too much and from broadcasting too much.
“So, I’ve got to wait until I’m good at shielding before I can even think of leaving the academy?” The idea made him feel trapped. He wanted to master every skill so he could go do things the normal kids did without worrying about stuff like being overwhelmed by strong emotions.
Solaria shrugged. “Either that or wear a dampening bracelet. That’ll mute your powers to the point you’ll be all but useless. Unless you get upset and short it out.” She smiled and looked at Del. “Remember that one field trip when the Volarian kid shorted out his bracelet and gave everyone in the spaceport his fear of spiders? That family of arachnoids was so terrified of each other that they had to undergo therapy before they could get in their ship and leave the port.” She rolled her eyes and giggled. “That was priceless.”
“And,” Del sighed, “that’s why they don’t like to let the untrained psychics off the station without being sure nothing will happen. As I recall, it took over a week of therapy with a level eight reader to get them over it, and the academy had to foot the bill. Old Fussy Pants was mad for weeks.”
“Old Fussy Pants?” Skylar asked as he set his fork on his now-empty plate.
“Oh yeah, you haven’t met the principal, Mr. Fuspatula, yet,” Del said. “When you meet him, you’ll understand why we all call him Old Fussy Pants. It’s part irony and part funny.”
Skylar knew how kids tended to give teachers and school administrators strange and often rude nicknames. “Okay, now you’ve got me both intrigued and repelled.”
Before they could continue, Ms. Grissom appeared at their table. “Skylar, can I interrupt your lunch? I need to talk to you.”
Something in the counselor’s tone caused Skylar’s heart to skip. He nodded. “Sure.” Standing, he glanced at his friends. “Catch you guys next class.” He hoped it wasn’t anything major. Maybe it was good news, like they had found a long-lost family member who had lots of money and was prepared to take care of Skylar… but for the first time since he arrived on the station, he thought about leaving his new friends and didn’t like the idea. He liked Del and Solaria and wanted to keep them around.
Solaria gestured farewell with her fork as she chewed another bite of meat.
“Sure,” Del said. “I’ll even throw your garbage in the recycler.”
“Thanks.” It made Skylar feel good having friends willing to clean up after him when something unexpected came up.
Trailing Ms. Grissom, Skylar tried, unsuccessfully, to push back the fear of uncertainty that rose up in him. There were too many possibilities for what she might want. He had no idea about that might influence how things were going to go.
“It’s good that you’re making friends,” Ms. Grissom said as they cleared the big double doors of the cafeteria. “And Del Aduncus and Solaria Uncia are excellent students. Although I didn’t realize they were friends.”
“I don’t think they really were before I came this week,” Skylar said. “But they’re both really nice. Well, Solaria is a bit moody.” He reminded himself that psychics really appreciated everyone being honest and could tell when people weren’t being so.
Ms. Grissom chuckled. “She’s a Pantherian. They tend to be rather fluid in their emotions. But don’t worry. Once one befriends you, you have a friend for life. They’re extremely loyal.”
“That’s what Del said after he got over the initial fear of being her friend.” Skylar had also been a bit afraid of her too, but the fact that her uncle Phil had been the one who found Skylar had opened the way to their friendship, and that made all three of them happy.
“Yes, the two of them as friends seems a bit odd, but I think you’re a good influence on them.” She held the door to her office for him. “I’m getting good reports from your teachers. They all find you very intelligent and quick on the uptake. There is concern that you seem to have some mental blocks about mastering your psi skills, and that might be why you’re having trouble learning to shield. I figure this has to do with the fears your mother instilled in you, and you’ll overcome them soon and blossom. Most of the psychic teachers claim you’ll have great potential once you embrace your powers.”
She walked around behind her desk and Skylar sat in the chair he’d occupied his first day.
He wiped his sweaty hands on his pants as the feeling of unease grew. “Is that why you asked me in here?”
Ms. Grissom shook her head. “No. It appears that you’ll be staying with us here at Stars’ End Academy. And ‘how’ is a bit of a mystery.”
Skylar straightened in his chair, his heart pounding furiously. “You’ve found my family?” If his mother never mentioned them, but the academy found them in just over a week, he wondered why his mother had been hiding from them and not the other way around. The more he thought about that, the more he thought it might have been her running from his father’s psychic abilities.
“We’re not sure.” Her fingers danced across her desktop computer pad. The shimmer of a holographic projection formed over the center of the desk. The projection showed what appeared to be a bank transfer notice. “This morning, we received a deposit in your name. It’s large enough to cover your next three years here at Stars’ End.”
Large enough to cover his next three years? Who would do that for him? Was his family rich or something? Skylar gulped and he rubbed his hands on his pants again. “Three years? Who sent it?”
“That’s where the mystery is.” Ms. Grissom’s fingers continued to dance across her desk. “The deposit was made via a credit transfer from the Central Galaxy Bank. Mr. Fuspatula has been in conference with his contact at the bank and was assured that the account it came from is a legitimate account and that all the codes for the transfer were correct. But it can’t be traced beyond that.”
Skylar slumped in his chair as the implications of the announcement registered. “So, we don’t know who sent the money?” His future was safe for the next three years, but his past was still obscure. For a moment, he thought he might get some answers.
She frowned, and a wave of soothing energy flowed from her to him. “Yes and no. We received a coded transmission about the same time as the money was sent. I asked our IT guy to try to trace it back to him, but so far, he hasn’t had any luck.”
“Him?” Skylar sat up straighter again. Could this be a grandfather or uncle?
“Yes. Based on the message, we’re assuming it’s from a man.” Ms. Grissom nodded. “Here’s the message that was sent. It was text only, but I had it synthesized for you. The principal and I both felt it would be better if someone was with you when you got the message. I’ve had the original text forwarded to your account so you’ll have a permanent copy.” She tapped on her desk and a message began to play.
“Hello, Skylar,” said a clear electronic voice. “I didn’t know of your existence until a few days ago, when your DNA profile came across my desk. I’ve had the DNA cross-referenced to my own and your mother’s. It is conclusive that you are my son.”
The blood drained from Skylar’s face. Son? His father was still alive? Why had his mother lied to him about the man dying in a shuttle accident?
The electronic voice continued. “I’m sorry that your mother is gone. I believed that she died in a shuttle accident nearly sixteen years ago. That’s why I never looked for her or you. Even though I cannot openly acknowledge you, I’ll do what I can to make sure you have a good basis for life from this point on. The Stars’ End Academy is a very fine establishment and known for helping some of the galaxy’s best psychics reach their full potential. You’ll be in good hands there. Hav
e a good life.” The message ended.
Skylar sat numbly staring at Ms. Grissom’s desk without really seeing the counselor as she got up and came around to him. So, his father was still alive, but wouldn’t acknowledge him. What did he mean by that? What was Skylar supposed to do now? His father wanted him to have a good life, but he was all alone.
Ms. Grissom touched his shoulder. “It’s a hard message. I understand that.”
Skylar looked at her. For a moment, her calming aura pushed at him, but he rode his anger and pushed back against her efforts at manipulation. “Don’t try to control me!”
She yanked back her hand with a shocked look.
“How can you understand? I bet both of your parents are still alive and love you. My mother is dead! My father wants to pay me off and leave me out here on the edge of space so I don’t get in the way of his life! There’s no way you can understand what I’m going through. I’m all alone! He made it perfectly clear that I’m going to stay that way until I make my own way in life and can find a family of my own!”
He stood and ran from the room. He ignored the stares and complaints from his fellow students and the academy staff as he ran from the office in no discernible direction. Around him, people began shouting. It seemed like their voices were everywhere. There wasn’t anywhere he could go to get away from the sound.
He clamped his hands over his ears, hoping to block out some of the background noise, but it continued just as loud as it had been before he covered his ears. Skylar lost all sense of direction as he sought a place of quiet, where he could escape from the clamor. There was just so much shouting. He had to get away, and he ran until he couldn’t run anymore.
10
Here There Are Cows