The Aledan PSION: The Aledan Series Book 1

by Myers, Christine

  "Trevin, there are many ways of fighting. Some are more subtle than others," she told him. "You know; I wasn't sure I wanted to come because I didn't know how I was ever going to fit in here. You would shudder to see the way my brother and me were forced to live before he was killed. Even Hankura, my own psi-mate wasn't so sure about all this. But he promised Natar and Ludren. He had to come back, and we had to be together, so here I am. Maybe Natar is right. Maybe I don't belong here." She shuffled to the holocube with the disks, opened the storage compartment, and dropped them inside, closing it. "I'm here though, and I'm going to try to fit in the best I can. Hankura needs to be here to prove something to himself--and I need to be here for him and help him any way I can."

  Shaking his head in disapproval, Trevin glanced at the ceiling and sighed. "If I can't talk you out of it, just remember---you'll have to watch yourself. And you should learn to read minds better. You'll need that skill attending the University."

  He stood up, intending to leave.

  "Why all the concern?" Curious about his motives, she tried to probe his mind.

  I like you. .you're different. . .. He looked embarrassed as he realized what she was doing. "I have to go. My co-mate is expecting me in Salla."

  "I thought you lived with a co-mate." Chelle arched an auburn brow upward.

  "Vera won't live here, and I won't live in Salla. Sometimes, I stay for a while, but this is my home."

  "You have a mate. Why did you---ask me that last night?"

  "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you. That's just the way it is here. You're attractive. I wanted you, so I asked. You refused, and it's your right. I accept that." He raised his chin in a defensive gesture.

  "Good, because it can't be like that, Trevin. It's not my way. Let's just forget it happened, hmm?" she murmured gently. "I'd like to think that we could be friends."

  Trevin seemed to relax, offering a faint smile. "Sure, why not? . . .I really have to go. Good luck tomorrow."

  "Thanks, Trev," she grinned back. "Have a good time."

  He chuckled as he turned and walked into the arched tunnel. "Good luck, Hankura! You're going to need it."

  CHAPTER TEN

  The attendant, Selter, came back to the testing cell with a sympathetic smile and a tiny, foil backed med-dot to calm Hankura and ease his splitting headache. Selter peeled back the foil and discarded it, then pressed that side of the small disk to Hankura's wrist. It left a small, red blotch when he took it away, but Hankura felt no pain as the drug was absorbed into the capillaries through the pores of his skin.

  "You'll feel better in a few minutes," said Selter. "When you're ready, I'll take you back to the lounge. You didn't come alone did you?"

  "No," Hankura murmured, massaging the tense muscles in the back of his neck as Selter released his restraints and helped him to sit up. Trying to clear his head, he added, "You know don't you; what Kodric just did to me would have killed you?"

  "Yeah, well--I try not to think about it too often." Selter's mouth tightened.

  "Does he do all the testing?"

  "Yes. Why?"

  "Damn! My wife is a dawning latent. It's going to be awfully hard on her."

  "She's the Terran?"

  Hankura nodded. "I know it's that or deportation. I just don't want him to hurt her. . .." Selter seemed to understand but made no comment. "I'll go to the lounge now."

  Selter took his arm to steady him as he stood, then led him slowly back to the reception lounge. He left as soon as Hankura was seated on the couch beside his father.

  Stretching out his long legs in front of him, Hankura slid down on the seat and leaned his head back, letting out a long sigh. His head hurt, but not as bad as after the biochip implant. The drug Selter had given him was easing the pain but left him feeling a little groggy.

  "Are you all right?" his father asked.

  "I haven't decided yet," he answered with forced lightness. "That sadistic bastard had me screaming my head off." He took another deep breath and let it out. "It was plain hell. I was beginning to wonder if the son of sludge worm was going to stop--and I was afraid he wasn't." He paused. "I couldn't have taken much more."

  "I'm sorry, Hankura. I wish I could do more to help. We've petitioned against this testing for years, knowing one day you'd have to face it, but it never gets to the Senate Council," he mused with a touch of bitterness.

  "I know, Father. I'm just glad you're here with me now. That helps a lot. I felt very alone in there, and I couldn't really share it with Chelle." Hankura turned his head slowly and grimaced. "Mother of Life, I wish she didn't have to go through this!"

  "I know. I wish I could have spared your mother all she went through, but it was already too late when I came to know her."

  "Father, she's only a dawning latent, and she's so sensitive. I don't know what this will do to her. Kodric won't be gentle. She's going to be hurt, and he will take pleasure in hurting her. .unless we leave Aledus by tomorrow."

  "Is that what you and Chelle want to do?" Ludren looked him with a doleful expression.

  "No." Hankura shook his head. "We have hardly had a visit so far. .and after last night, I know our leaving would make Mother very unhappy."

  "Does Chelle understand the testing?"

  "I've demonstrated the technique to her several times, but it was really no test," Hankura explained. "I couldn't go on with it when she became distressed. I'm only a little stronger than she is, but a lot more experienced."

  "You could ask Natar."

  "No. Not while Mother is resenting her. Besides, I think the strain would be too much for her so soon before the evaluation. She'll be restless enough as it is."

  "Are you still angry with Natar and Trevin?"

  "Not really. Mother is disappointed not to have me all to herself, and I can well understand how Trevin feels. He meant no harm. I was angry because they both upset Chelle---especially Trevin."

  "But free mating is a common social practice here. You know that. Didn't you explain it to Chelle?"

  "As I told her, it never occurred to me. I already knew how her feelings about sex after what Berke did to her before I found her. I doubt she would have even come to me if we weren't psi-mates. . .. She still doesn't trust men entirely."

  "Just what are you telling me. I---don't think I understand."

  Hankura explained what Berke had done in quiet tones.

  "No!" Ludren muttered incredulously. "How did she ever survive in a place like that?"

  "By her wits mainly. She learned to fight at an early age. I won't let anyone---not anyone---hurt her like that again. Right now, though, I just hope Mother will accept her."

  "She does in the logical part of her mind, but emotionally she is jealous, and she can't seem to control it," Ludren told him sympathetically. "I have tried to talk to her about it, and I will keep trying. But she only listens to what she wants to hear."

  "Are you and Mother happy?" It was a sudden question.

  "You mean because she seems to run my life?" His father grinned, and Hankura nodded. Ludren chuckled. "It's true, but only because I let her. I'm not afraid of her power. She is very sensitive to hurting me. I do what pleases her because I love her. It isn't in me to deny her anything---even sending you to Velran. . .. What you just went through in there is only a sample of what you would have suffered had you stayed here. There were many times I wished we could have done things differently where you were concerned."

  Hankura was finally beginning to read his father's feelings again. He sensed his regret and need for understanding. "What could you do? I was the first born son and a Psion in a place where psions are highly unpopular. I gave Mother more trouble than Trevin and Capra put together. . .."

  "And she loves you the most. It shouldn't be that way, but I know it is. Perhaps I'm just as guilty."

  "But, you don't stifle me the way Mother always did. You know, after I stopped feeling sorry for myself on Velran, I was relieved to be away from her. I hated myself for feeling
that way because I do love her. But I don't know how long I can be this close to her without us hurting each other."

  "I'll do what I can," Ludren assured him. "I don't want you to leave right away, either."

  "Thank you," he replied. "It's not only Mother, though." He glanced pointedly at the round, blue psi-patch on his sleeve.

  "You don't have to explain. I know what a psion's life is like here on Aledus. In the meantime," he smiled, "I'll make the most of your stay."

  "Me too." Hankura grinned affectionately and straightened up. "Now that I've been classified and labeled let's get out of here." He stood, wavering slightly. "I promised to get Chelle something of her own to wear."

  "Are you sure you're up to it?"

  "I'm a little shaky, but I'll get over it." He started walking toward the exit, and Ludren fell into stride beside him. I just hope Chelle will. Hankura mused to himself.

  The next morning, two strong tranquilizers did little to calm Hankura's anxious state. He paced the living chamber of their dome over and over, waiting for Chelle's evaluation to begin. It had been another restless night for both of them, and passion only distracted them from their apprehension a little. Just after dawn, they had dozed for a while before Chelle was due to leave.

  Hankura dreaded letting her go; she was so vulnerable and afraid. There was nothing he could do to protect her, and his own uneasiness had not helped calm her at all. He could only pray---something he rarely did---that she was strong enough to stand Kodric's vicious probing. He dared not believe otherwise.

  He stopped his pacing suddenly in the middle of the room. Chelle was making her probes of Kodric. So far so good. That part lasted just a few minutes. Checking his pocket for the tranquilizer dot he'd slipped in there earlier, Hankura went on pacing again. It was too soon to go to her. It was hard enough to keep out of it this far away.

  "Damn him!" Hankura muttered as he sensed Kodric toying with her. As he sensed her increasing mental distress, he hated himself for bringing her to Aledus. Mother of Life, what have I done? He stopped and kicked the sofa viciously, spouting a string of colorful expletives in three languages. "Stop it, you bastard! What are you trying to do to her?"

  He went on muttering angrily as he picked up his adhesive psi-patch and slapped it on his left sleeve. Then he stalked out of the dome to his hovercraft and started it in motion almost before he'd closed the hatch. He chose its highest cruising speed and headed for Salla.

  "Jessa, is Marston in the building?" Selter questioned the receptionist at the Psi Institute. "He doesn't answer his signal."

  "No, he left an hour ago. It was a long night," she replied. "What's wrong?"

  "We've got a bad one here---the Terran," he griped. "Kodric took her clear to critical, and she's in hysterics. We're out of Halcynol---that's the only thing the readouts say she'll tolerate. We can't do anything with her. I'm afraid she may go into psychic shock."

  Ludren looked up uneasily as he heard the exchange from the adjacent lounge. Turning off the holocube, he listened to the conversation closely.

  "Was there any brain damage?"

  "Not so far as I can tell. So, what do I do now?"

  "Do the best you can. I'll---wait a minute. Sir?"

  "Where is she?" Hankura demanded.

  "D-down the corridor, third door from the end on your right." the woman faltered.

  Hankura turned abruptly and strode down the corridor.

  "Selter, her husband, is on his way---that grade eight we had yesterday. He's fuming so watch it," Jessa warned.

  After a long pause, Selter answered, "It's okay. He's just trying to calm her down. Put Kodric on report. He's gone too far this time. Get us another tester."

  Hankura bent over the recliner where Chelle was still strapped down. He took the med-dot from his pocket and pressed it to her wrist.

  "No more! No more! Nooo!" she screamed, hardly aware that he was beside her. The scream faded into convulsive sobbing as she went on pleading for Kodric to stop tormenting her.

  Hankura quickly unfastened the restraints and tried to pull her into his arms, but Chelle struggled against him, pounding his arms and chest.

  "Damn you!" she cried. "How could you let them do that to me? Why did you bring me here to let them torture me? They are no better than Berke was. At least he was honest about it."

  Each word was emphasized with one of her pummeling fists. It was no more than Hankura believed he deserved. In those moments, he hated himself almost as much she did. He didn't stop her until one of her fists would have clipped him in the jaw. He held both of her wrists tightly as she struggled and cursed him.

  As her anger subsided, she began to sob softly, and Hankura pulled her into his arms and held her close. She clung to his neck, sobbing, and pressed her face into the hollow of his shoulder. "She-ell, ah, she-ell. I'm so sorry. Kodric went far beyond any testing. I don't blame you for being angry. I should have never put you through it. You weren't ready."

  "It wasn't me, Hankura. It was him. He---he w-wouldn't stop. I-I begged and begged---him. Why wouldn't he stop, why?"

  He paused to swallow against the lump in his throat before he could answer. "I think he was sick with the pleasure our pain gave him. They took him away, and he's not going to hurt you anymore," he soothed. "Don't think about it. Just try to relax now."

  He stroked her hair and held her close while he waited for the drug to work. In a few moments, her sobbing lulled, and she grew calmer. Hankura began to feel calmer, too.

  "I---knew---it would be bad," she said at length. "I never imagined. He was breaking through; I couldn't hold him out." Tears filled her eyes again and spilled down her cheeks.

  "I know, Chelle." Hankura blinked at something in his own eyes as he wiped her face with a cool, moist cloth that Selter had brought. "He never should have been allowed to do the testing in his condition."

  "I stopped him as soon as I realized what he was doing, Hankura," the attendant told him. "He just cracked all of the sudden. Will your wife be all right?"

  I'm not sure yet. he indicated with a grim look.

  "I want to go home," Chelle said huskily, her nose still stuffed from crying. "Will you take me home?"

  "To Earth?" Hankura asked. Her thoughts were jumbled, and he dared not probe them more deeply at the moment.

  "No! Of course not!" she said slowly. "To the dome. I've had enough of this place."

  "Well, I couldn't blame you if you did want to go back to Earth." He raised his hand to brush her hair back and allowed his fingers to linger on the softness of her cheek.

  "Not after what I just went through so I could stay." she sniffed.

  He handed her a tissue to blow her nose.

  "Can we go now?" she asked when she finished.

  "All right. I'll take you to the lounge so you can rest for a few minutes before we go home." He put an arm around her and guided her out to the lounge.

  "Hankura, I don't want to stay here. I just want to go home." she protested.

  "Please, just rest here for a few minutes." Hankura gently tried to steer her the rest of the way into the room to join his father.

  "No! I told you I don't want to be here." She pulled back and twisted away from him. "I want to go home!"

  "Chelle---" Hankura drawled in surprise as she turned and bolted from him without further warning. He shot a worried look at his father and ran after her. She ran out of the Psi Institute before he could catch her.

  "Chelle! Wait for me," he called after her.

  Drugged and confused, she didn't hear as she stumbled and fell onto the pedestrian beltway. Hankura jumped on at the first opening, but Chelle scrambled to her feet and went on running. It wasn't long before she'd gained a wide lead on him. Soon she was out of sight.

  The beltway was crowded by then. People kept stepping in front of him and hindering his progress. At the sight of his prominent blue psi-patch, some of them deliberately pushed in front of him or tried to trip him.

  Hankura sensed C
helle's nearness, but he could just catch glimpses of her in the crowd. She was frightened and disoriented, and he knew she didn't know where she was going. If he didn't catch her soon, she would quickly be lost in the maze of beltways that ribboned the city.

  Catching her on the crowded belt seemed hopeless when he saw her change belts again, about 30 meters ahead of him. He leaped to that same belt, but Chelle changed belts still again. Hankura surged ahead through another opening and almost caught her arm, but he stopped short, sensing the threat of an Enforcer stunner at his back.

  "Psion, you know the rules on the beltway. You're endangering the other pedestrians by running through the crowd like that." the Enforcer warned. "You can be fined and exiled from Salla for that."

  Damn you!

  "Look," Hankura said, keeping his annoyance silent. "My wife is confused from her psi evaluation this morning. I have to find her before she gets lost or something. She's an off-worlder, and she has never been in Salla before today. She's running scared."

  "She dangerous?"

  "Space, no! She's my wife! I just want to find her and take her home before something happens to her. You damned idiot, with that stupid patch on her sleeve, she is the one in danger. If you don't let me go after her, you will find out just who is dangerous in about one second.

  The powerful looking man studied Hankura for a moment, unaware of his silent threat. He seemed harmless enough, but he was a psion--they weren't to be trusted. But if he were telling the truth, on the other hand, his wife could get into trouble or get hurt, and the Psion might blame him. . ..

  "All right, go on. Just slow down, or I will have you charged," he warned and waved him on, returning the stunner to his belt.

  Hankura strode away and scanned the crowd for Chelle's flame-colored hair. She was not far away, but it was still impossible to pinpoint her exact location without her help, which she wasn't giving.

  He could have kicked himself for not sensing her state of mind sooner. He'd been too busy hurting with her and feeling guilty for putting her through the ordeal. He should have expected her resistance when he didn't concede to her wishes. After Kodric's near success at breaking through her shield, she was bound to feel hostile and assertive on the rebound. Arguing with her so soon after that shock was a stupid mistake; he should have indulged her. In desperation, he questioned a few passers-by and learned she'd been seen; although no one knew just where she had gone. When some of them tried not to answer, he simply read their minds and got his own answers along with a few insults to his anatomy and his intelligence for daring to bother them. He scanned a few others with about the same dubious results and soon gave up. Instead, he turned his powers of concentration to seeking out his father's thought patterns instead.