Psyched Out (2 page)

“What then? Will I be free then?” It was a question that needed to be asked.

“No. But you will be able to use your mind in the defense of others.”

“I suppose I will have to settle for that.” She glanced over and watched the small figure hopping just in her peripheral vision.

She turned in her chair and beckoned him forward. “Come on, Spot. If I am going to be stuck with you, I want to get to know you.”

He didn’t need to be asked twice; he scampered over to her and hopped up and down until she lifted him up and into her lap. He snuggled against her chest and chirped wildly with his stubby black wings flapping.

“His name is Spot.”

“Of course it is.” Veera laughed. “He must have been broadcasting it.”

He wiggled when Wimsah scratched his head.

They sat together for a few minutes, and then, Veera got to her feet. “Well, I will be returning to myself now. If you have accepted Spot, he will do what he can.”

“What can he do?”

Veera grinned. “That is up to him and up to you. Let him help.”

Veera disappeared and her aura remained for a second before she evaporated.

Wimsah looked down at the pale, intelligent eyes in the sea of black fluff. “What do you want me to do with you?”

She got an image of her cuddling him to her chest and her global landscape slowly drawing inward.

She scowled. “How long would that take?”

He shrugged his little wings and leaned against her, sitting with his stubby feet poking out on her thighs and his toes wiggling happily.

Well, she wasn’t alone in her own mind again, so things were looking up.

* * * *

Benliar ki’Huntrag stepped off his shuttle with the air of a man in a hurry. Veera met him with Stanik at her side and Fixit on her shoulder.

He was brusque. “Where is she?”

Veera matched him with a scowl. “Credentials please.”

The weight of a world pressed on her mind, and Fixit screeched in protest. Stanik put his hand on her shoulder, and she used his mind to help her push back. “Enough.”

Benliar retracted the pressure. “Good enough?”

“Well, you are who and what you say you are. That will help.” She beckoned to him.

He scowled at her. “Where is she?”

“We have placed her at a secure facility with shielding to make her stay easier. From what we have learned, she has been held in a coma for close to a year now. For six months, she was used to hold a planet’s consciousness with others of telepathic abilities.”

“I read the file. When the planet woke fully, her mind was wide open and at close proximity.” He waved it away. “Where is she?”

“Come with us.”

Stanik flew while Fixit glared at Benliar.

Veera kept her mind calm and tranquil. For an Avatar to travel was a fairly big deal and Benliar had been offered up by his world. She had felt the power of Roden, and he was excited by the prospect of a third member to their union.

Hiding her thoughts from the Avatar was something she had practice with. Stanik kept her guarded and Fixit acted as a buffer for her when he wasn’t around.

She was protected from her own open mind, and she wanted nothing more than to provide that same comfort to Wimsah. Hopefully, she had chosen the right man and the right Yaluthu had chosen Wimsah.

When they arrived at the facility, there was silence. The healers were all dismissed, and there was no one to see Benliar.

Veera led the way into the facility that used to be an ancient city. Balen had offered it to them, and Zenina had helped arrange for supplies and equipment. It was the ideal environment for complete mental privacy, and the fact that Balen had let them use it was humbling. His Avatar probably needed it more than they did, but he had offered it anyway.

They were just outside Wimsah’s room when Benliar pushed past her.

Veera stifled her urge to smack him and followed him to Wimsah’s side.

“What is that?”

“It is a Yaluthu. It is an empathic healing companion. He has bonded to her psyche and can’t be separated from her.”

“There was no mention of him in the file.”

“We didn’t know that he had stuck himself to her until after I sent the request out. By then, it was too late.”

Benliar reached out and took her hand. “She is smaller than I thought she would be.”

“She is average height for her species.”

He smiled slightly and held her hand. “I can feel her mind pushing free. I need to be alone with her right now.”

Spot sat up and looked at him with his crystal eyes.

“Fine. Alone with them. I am about to open her mind and seal it so it can begin healing.”

“You think it can heal?”

“Your little friend here has already begun the process, but she has been wide open so long that it would take a century or more for her to heal that way.” Benliar looked at them with one of his eyebrows raised. “Privacy?”

Veera took Stanik’s hand, and she hauled him out of the room past the first level of shielding.

“You are sure that she will be all right?”

She remembered the calm compassion in the waves of power that had pressed in on her. “I am sure. He has never been called on for something like this. It is a new experience for him, and he is out of his element. When they are back on Roden, he will be fine.”

He put his arms around her and soothed her when he knew she didn’t believe her own words completely.

* * * *

Benliar carefully lifted the woman into his arms and sat on the bed with her across his lap. Her companion hopped off while he moved her and jumped back on to her lap when she was settled against him.

“I am not going to hurt her.”

The huge crystal eyes glared at him, and it chirped defensively, puffing up.

Benliar blinked as he realized that he had a competitor for the attention of the woman in the coma. The smile on his face was not something he felt frequently. He looked at Wimsah and stroked her cheek lightly. Her mouth parted, and he took the invitation, ignoring the irritated squeaking.

His mouth pressed the cool curve of her lips, and he exhaled power into her. His mind caught hers as it woke and gathered in the edges until her mind was awake.

She blinked slowly as she came too and then her hands pushed at his shoulders. Her eyes went from a hot violet to the same rainbow that he wore. The energy of Roden continued to flow for a moment, and when he let her push him away, her mind held together.

She licked her lips, and he focused intently on the small gesture. It took a few tries but she whispered, “How?”

“Do you remember a woman telling you that she had found a match for your mind?”

She nodded slightly, her silver hair moved on his arm in a silky stroke.

“I am that match, and we must return to my home as soon as we are able. All your training will take place on Roden.”

“Training? I can’t feel anything right now. I am cured!” She smiled and it turned her solemn expression into brightest daylight.

“You are not cured. You are controlled by me. I will not always be able to reel you in, so you must learn to do it for yourself. That must be done on my world as I cannot commute to and from Balen.”

“I am on another world?”

He smiled and got to his feet, carrying her through the halls with her Yaluthu on her chest.

When they reached the light, she smiled and turned her face toward the sun. It was an image that he would carry in his mind.

“Saru appreciates the worship.”

The headmistress of the Balen Citadel was smiling and her beast and her mate were staring at them.

“I am sure he does. She is awake and I am returning to my ship and then my world. All paperwork will be filed from Roden.”

“Fine, we will fly you back, and I will make a call for your ship to be loaded with rations for Wimsah and the Yaluthu as well as a round of enzyme shots for her.”

“Will that be done before we arrive?”

“It will. Our loading crew is very effective and most have advanced speed. They will get it done.”

* * * *

Wimsah looked around and smiled, stroking Spot out of reflex. The man who had woken her held her. “This is an actual new world and you are actual aliens.”

Veera turned and smiled.

“I know you. You came to visit.” It was all she could come up with by being cradled in the arms of a man she was afraid to look at.

“I did. You are waking up well. Much better than anticipated. Have you been able to keep track of what is going on around you?”

“Of course. That is the annoying part of the open mind.” She smiled slightly. “How is it that I can understand you?”

Veera made a face. “We pried open your lids and gave you the flash download that works so well on your species.”

That explained the bright light she remembered. She looked around her language library and found shelves full of information that hadn’t been there before.

The man she was sitting on was quiet, so Wimsah pointed a thumb at him and said, “Why isn’t he talking?”

Veera covered her mouth as she laughed. “He is focusing on keeping you from blowing wide open on the surface of Balen. Your mind is still spread wide.”

“It feels fine. It feels normal.” Wimsah tested the borders of her thoughts and felt them give slightly. She pulled back immediately. “Maybe not normal.”

“Your normal is an open mind that covers a continent. After the rising of Resicor, it now covers a world. We don’t want you covering Balen when you take off. It was hard enough to get you off Resicor. Three of us pushed your mind together and held it while we took off. We nearly lost you twice.”

“It was so quiet, so dark for a moment.”

“The jumps through space. We nearly lost you, because when we shifted between locations in space, your mind flared out. You sought the darkness.” Veera’s tone was solemn.

“What about here?”

“You were content here. Spot started pulling you together. He has worked hard to heal you.”

“What happens now?”

Her carrier finally spoke, “I take you home and you work on pulling your mind in. Once you have control of it, I will release my hold and you will be able to use your talent or not, as you will.”

She slowly looked up at him, and his rainbow gaze was firmly fixed on hers. “Well, then. When do we get there and are there clothes?”

His sand-coloured skin brightened, and he smiled. “Only if you promise to behave.”

She took a deep breath at the amusement in his expression and responded honestly. “I promise nothing.”

Wimsah spent half the travel time feeding Spot and the other half staring out at the stars.

Benliar was quiet during the flight, but he gave her a data screen, which contained information on Roden and its people.

He was the perfect representative of his people, from the rainbow eyes that were found in half the population to the rich red-brown hair and sand-coloured skin. All members of Roden were intelligent, which led to their greatest export being their own people.

“What?” She muttered it in the silence.

She went back and read it again.

“What are you confused by?”

“Your people are your greatest export?”

He smiled slightly. “They are. The people of Roden are in demand as negotiators, translators, court recorders and consuls. As we all carry Roden within us, we are incorruptible. Our world keeps us centred and it desires nothing so we desire nothing. If that ever shifts, we are recalled home and a new emissary is sent.”

“You have done time off world?”

“I have. I was a negotiator and personal assistant to the Duke of Jer-ikalo. I was on a five-year contract before I came home and assumed the mantle of Avatar.”

“How were you chosen for that?”

He smiled briefly. “One hundred candidates were voted for by their hometowns, and out of those representatives, Roden took his Avatar.”

“What happened to the old Avatar?”

“He has passed on and his children and grandchildren work in their local governments.”

“How long have you been the Avatar?”

“Fifty years.”

“Oh.”

“Aging is suspended while I am Avatar. I have another four hundred and fifty years to go.” He smiled.

“I see. That is considerably longer than my lifespan.”

His lips quirked. “It is longer than most species’ lifespans, but it gives a certain amount of stability to a government if the consulting head has the foresight to see the future and the hindsight to know the past. Having lived in the past is even better.”

“Why did the previous Avatar only live a few years after he retired?”

“He was older when he was initially selected. When he was released, Roden gave him as much life as he could, but when he had run out the clock, that was it. We had a memorial for him and his children were there. His wife survived him and asked for him to be buried at the cemetery in his birth city. She will join him there when she passes.”

“Oh, so you have to plan that far ahead?” She tried to continue reading, but her mind was locked into her inevitable death.

“No, of course not, but you can choose.” He shrugged.

Spot made a strange cooing noise and started snuffling in her lap.

She moved carefully and paged down the document she was reading.

Benliar asked, “Is he snoring?”

“No. He is wheezing gently, possibly snuffling a little.”

“Can you sleep through that?”

She gave him a droll look. “With enough sedation, I can sleep through anything. Right now, I am not tired at all.”

“Were you aware the whole time you were asleep?”

“I was. I could feel the world turning under me, the thousands of talents who were panicked and living in fear of discovery on Resicor, and I felt their relief when Trala set them free. Then, their fear turned to fear for their families. That was eased as well.”

“It was quite the manoeuver to set part of a population free with all that outside influence.”

“She had been working on it for centuries.”

He looked at her sideways. “How do you know that?”