by Chris Reher
“Can you feel them?”
He turned his thoughts to the Homeworld, allowing himself to float farther through nothingness, looking for something, anything, that felt human and conscious. He was only dimly aware of Aletha’s body pressed to his, but her thoughts stayed with him, supporting and guiding his attempt. “Nothing,” he said, disappointed. “There is no one there.”
“Can you take a little more?” she said, now also fascinated by this journey. She channeled more chi’ro to him, holding back only when he winced.
“There!” he said suddenly. Indeed, there was now someone out there, down on the planet, whom they were able to feel. Faintly and bewildered, but someone perceived his touch. “There are others.”
They swept over the planet, finding a number of people who felt their presence, some more distinctly than others, some barely there. Galen learned from these encounters and was soon able to delve more deeply, gauging each adept’s mental abilities by the strength of their surprised response. “I know this one,” he whispered finally. “Rangii.” He moved on, looking more closely at this area. Surely, Rangii was either in the reservoir tower or nearby. Surely, then, other prime adepts were also there.
“Can you talk to that one?”
Galen was certain that he could. Even as children, he and Rangii had been able to connect and doubtlessly he could do so now. He also knew that he carried with him enough of Aletha’s strength to seriously damage the man. He had learned about the merciless destruction of Vankrug’s enclave during those delirious moments when he had possessed La’il’s mind in the conduit. She was to blame for that, but Rangii had been a part of it, no matter how reluctantly, and Galen felt a little lacking in forgiveness. “No,” he said.
“Why are there so many of them?” Aletha said. “You told me that not a lot of you had this gift.”
“We don’t. I think these are mostly children. The next generation of prime adepts. La’il was working on this, trying to breed into them whatever Dazai found was happening on Chenoweth naturally.” He smiled as his thoughts moved on. “Ah, there’s a friendly face. Caelan. Interesting. He’s not a very strong adept but I can feel him more than the others. Maybe we’re related somehow.”
“You think so? That one?”
“Can you feel him?”
“Yes, and he can feel us. Talk to him!”
“No. I want a higher ranking adept. There, that one is strong, too.” Galen honed in on a bright presence not far from where he had felt Caelan, certain now that they were in the tower. He nudged her carefully, feeling Aletha’s guarded presence hovering nearby.
“Shai?”
Predictably, they received a startled, frightened reply. “It’s Galen Chor,” he said. “Don’t worry, all is well.” They waited patiently until Shai overcame her surprise and sent a hesitant question. There were no words, but her meaning was clear enough.
“Yes, I’m on Thali. The adept is here with me, but she is not La’il’s sister. Chenoweth is no threat to the Homeworld. Tell me what’s happening on the planet.”
They waited for Shai’s response. It was a jumble of emotions and imagery but eventually they were able to piece things together. Yobar had been found dead and the La’il had disappeared in a terrible surge of chi’ro that had left the continent’s reserves nearly depleted. The primes had moved quickly to secure all risers, sending any adept capable of it to guard them with their lives, if necessary. But things were coming apart. Without La’il’s iron control, some of the more powerful adepts were seeking alliances among lesser talents and the primes were now divided. Chi’ro was still distributed through all major nodes but the reserves were jealously guarded by primes who laid claim to them by virtue of their presence in the area alone. La’il’s inner circle had retained possession of the tower but infighting had begun to fray their allegiances.
Galen sighed, his worst fears confirmed. “They’ll rip each other apart over this,” he said to Aletha. They strained to receive a question from the woman on the planet.
“Yes, we know how to open the seals,” he replied. “But I can’t come back. La’il tried to destroy Thali. She’s dead now. Listen to me, Shai. And then you must get the others to listen.” He bit his lip, wondering how to proceed. “Chenoweth understands chi’ro better than any of us. You don’t need more chi’ro. You don’t need to fight over it. I wish you could meet these people. They’ve evolved far beyond us. They don’t have more chi than we do; they just use it in different ways. They live completely inside their heads. They have nothing because they need nothing. We can all get there, Shai. You have to stop building roads and bridges and wasting chi’ro on digging for ore and on flying planes. You don’t need to breed more powerful adepts. Those will only need more chi’ro. Stop using chi’ro like it was a hammer and start using it to look into your minds. It’s already begun on the Homeworld. You, Rangii, Ciela, those kids. Talk to the people who selected our parents. You have to continue what La’il started. You have to breed a different mind. A different talent. You can accomplish much in a few generations. You’ll never have to fight over chi’ro again, or ration it, or hold it at ransom. You’ll have all you need! Are you hearing me, Shai?”
He shook his head. “She can’t possibly understand what I mean. I should go down there, or bring her here, to see for herself.”
“No!” Aletha said at once. “Absolutely out of the question. That place is ready to collapse! I won’t open the seal again. I won’t bring the giants back up here. Not now. Your adepts are far more powerful than anyone we have here and they’ll have their hands on Chenoweth in an instant. They’ll murder us all just to finish what La’il has started up here. And I’m not letting you go back, either. You’ll be a tiny little man there and they’ll take you hostage in a moment to get us to open the seal. Or they’ll hurt you for killing La’il.”
“All right,” he said. “All right. I hear you. Tiny little man, indeed!”
“Well, don’t frighten me like that!”
“Was just an idea. I just wish we could do more for them, or show her what I mean.”
“Hmm, maybe we can.” Aletha turned her attention back to Shai. Carefully, gently, she touched the woman’s mind, whispering an instruction, instilling an idea, until the adept signaled her understanding and gratitude.
“What was that?” Galen said.
“A little gift. I showed her how to make those bubble houses that I showed you earlier. It takes so little chi’ro. If things go bad down there, at least they won’t freeze to death. I remember how you talked about your winters!”
He smiled at her and kissed her face. “You’re sweet, but we don’t have objections to burning wood down there.” He sent a few thoughts of reassurance and affection to Shai before breaking their contact. “She’s a bright person. She can get the others to listen. I suppose this is all we can do for them.”
“Once those kids grow up we’ll be able to talk with them more easily. We can teach them. They’ll be fine.”
He smiled. “You’re right. Let’s go home. I’d like to stay in bed until you run off to Chenoweth again.”
“I’ll be here for a few days.”
“Then that’s how long we’ll stay in bed.”
* * *
Shai walked slowly out into the circular aerie that had been La’il’s favorite room in the tower. It was still encased in a thin shield of chi’ro allowing only the gentlest breeze to flow through the arcing pillars that carried the roof of the building. Soon, this needless luxury would end, but without La’il this room had lost its meaning, anyway. There were dozens of people here, waiting for Shai to seat herself on the raised couch where no one had dared to sit since La’il’s disappearance. Some of them watched this with trepidation, convinced that some sacrilege was being committed here.
Shai did not sit, but she did ascend the two steps to stand above her audience as she addressed them. Most of them were telepaths of varying ability and almost all of them were adepts. There were a number of
primes among them while a few had barely any talent at all. All occupations, all ages, many of them children. Three were non-adepts, summoned here because they knew the ancestry of each person in this room and guided the parentage of the next generation. Shai nodded to Fromm and Ciela; both knew why they were here. She saw Caelan, Ciela’s daughters, Rangii’s brother and many others she now knew to be related, sharing the gene that was to be passed along. Galen Chor’s youngest son, already displaying signs of significant talent, played on the tiled floor with something he had found among La’il’s things.
“There is no need for preamble here,” Shai said. “Many of you felt Galen Chor’s touch on this planet just a few days ago. He sends a message from Chenoweth.” She waited until the startled murmur running through the crowd had ebbed again. “Yes, Galen found the moons much like La’il described them. They can break through the seals whenever they choose. La’il is destroyed and Galen cannot return to us. But his is a message of hope. A new breed of adept will rise from this calamity! We are that breed. The years that follow now will be difficult. It will be a time for us to change the way we use our gifts, and to pass them on to the next generation. We need not use chi’ro to create energy. To us, chi’ro is energy. It is power.” She paused to find Rangii in the crowd. “To demonstrate what lies ahead for us, La’il’s sister on Thali has touched my mind and shown me something new. A weapon. I’ve already passed this knowledge on to some.”
Rangii stepped forward, as did Karyana, a strong telepath but one with little talent for wielding chi’ro. They faced each other across the open area at the bottom of the steps on which Shai waited.
“Kill her,” Shai said to Rangii.
As expected, the surprised crowd reacted with cries of protest and worried questions. Some voiced their fears loudly; others merely watched in apprehension to see if La’il’s policy of unthinking obedience was to continue in this place. Only Karyana seemed entirely indifferent.
“What are you doing, Shai?” Caelan raised his arm across Rangii’s chest as if to stop him from physically attacking Karyana. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Don’t worry, Calie,” Rangii grinned. He stepped away from his companion and raised a hand. A shred of chi’ro danced over his fingers which, incendiary or not, would seriously maim anyone less able than he. Few people in this room matched his abilities. “Just watch.”
Karyana waved her hand diagonally across the space in front of her to create a shield and did not even blink when Rangii hurled his missile across the small space separating them. Panicked, some of the others surged back. But Rangii’s attack failed, its result no more spectacular than the fumbling attempts of the lowliest novice just coming of age. The chi’ro burst struck the shimmering wall in front of Karyana and dissipated. She merely rocked on her feet for a moment and then steadied, her pleasant smile unwavering.
“What happened?” someone shouted. “Where did it go?”
“Absorbed,” Shai said. “Thank you, Karyana.” She winked at Caelan. “She should have been knocked through that wall. Instead, she took that blow as if her rank was equal to Rangii’s. She is not a great talent, but she can be harmed in battle no more easily than he could.” Shai looked over the astounded faces surrounding her. “This is just the beginning. Look how that screen of chi’ro obscures her! With shields like this we can hide our numbers and our intentions. We’ll learn to talk with each other the way Galen Chor showed me. We’ll learn to see into our opponents’ thoughts.”
“Will this protect us from Chenoweth?” someone else wanted to know.
“This isn’t about Chenoweth! Here, on the Homeworld, is where we’ll make our stand. We are of a new breed created by La’il and we will continue to grow and evolve.” Her gaze moved to Caelan to see him stare open-mouthed in bewilderment and growing, horrified alarm. “We will control every riser, every adept, every wisp of chi’ro on this planet. It will not be long before we can start to replace the old order of prime adepts. We will be the new guard on the Homeworld. This planet is ours.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~
Dear Reader:
I hope you enjoyed this story. There are many more to come.
Click here if you want to be notified about new releases.
You can find information about my other books at
http://www.ChrisReher.com
You may enjoy my sci-fi Space Opera series The Targon Tales involving the adventures of Nova Whiteside, an Air Command pilot who hunts rebels in the service of the Commonwealth of United Planets in a distant, future part of this galaxy. Fast-paced adventure, action and a dollop of romance.
Sky Hunter
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EXV57LO
The Catalyst
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQBDYD8
Only Human
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009QAIRT6
Rebel Alliances
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C02FBR8
Delphi Promised
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DNMDR7U
Quantum Tangle
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IPZSWWU
Terminus Shift
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MP1IFEU
Entropy’s End
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SUPS1OY
Table of Contents
(Untitled)
Flight to Exile
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen - Epilogue