THE ALEDAN'S CHILDREN - Chapters 1-2 (Book 5 of the Aledan Series)

CHAPTER ONE

     Hankura kissed Chelle one more time before he pressed her up so she could stand as their post coital bliss faded.  She smiled at him and gave him a hand to help him up from the floor pad of the Sential Trader's observation deck. It wasn't their first time making love in front of the stars there, but it would likely be the last time because they were almost home.

    They laughed softly together as they stood naked in the observation bubble, both remembering the last time they had made love in the sand on a beach by the Tharn Sea on Aledus. That was one of the most carefree days they'd spent on Aledus, Hankura's home world and no place any self-respecting Psion would want to live. Psions were treated like second class citizens and brainwashed as children to submit to the discriminatory Psi Laws.

     Those days were far behind them---almost fourteen years. Now they laughed, standing naked in front of the entire Universe far away from the troubles they faced in the past. Even though bad things had happened to them, there were some wonderful memories as well. They came through together, sustained by the love that brought them together in the beginning. It was that unique and special love of psi-mates that sparked when they were just children and grew to the bond they still shared a little over sixteen years since they first met face to face.

     They had discovered Oltarin while they were with the explorations.  It was just a fledgling colony lost to the Federation when the colony ship went off course and settled on a planet far from where they'd been headed. Only one of several continents had been settled and most of it was still wild and untouched.  Chelle was drawn to it because of the horses the clans bred and rode.  Hankura was drawn by the freedom of that world---no psi laws no discrimination. It was a world ripe with possibilities. Additionally, they'd made friends among the mountain clans in helping to make peace among the clans as well as saving Brandt McKell. 

     Making their home there was the right decision.  If not for Jamerin's problem dawning they would never have left. Thanks to the Tregan attack that almost killed him, Chelle healed his psionic anomalies when she healed his injuries before they even got to Velran. By the time, they got home in just a few days, they would have been away almost three years.  They had left with two children and came back with three.

     Chelle had officially earned her physician's certification, and Hankura had  made a startling discovery about psi factor. One that he never intended to share with the scientific community.

     Chelle slid her arm around her husband's waist and he draped his arm across her shoulders and gently squeezed her upper arm. Neither could take their eyes from the view of the stars.

Remember when we took your mran from Earth to Aledus? After the first day we almost never wore clothes until we got there, she slipped the thought into his mind.

     Those were good times---just the two of us. Convenient too, since we could get enough of each other.

     We still can't. Chelle laughed aloud. She knew he was ready to go again without looking. But it wasn't as easy to get the alone time with two small children and a nursing baby. She sensed Hankura was looking at her breasts that had grown two sizes larger since her pregnancy.  He had always admired them, but they were magnificent now.

     They still had almost an hour before feeding time and baby Calan was still sleeping peacefully. Chelle turned to Hankura and leaned into him sliding her arms up around his neck, telling him without words that she wanted him again. She knew from his thoughts that pleased him and that he was delighted to oblige her. 

     They were psi mates. There were no words to express the magnitude of love that flowed freely between them as they pleasured each other relishing their passionate climb toward orgasm, and none were ever needed. Somehow it never ceased to enthrall them and likely never would.

     Blissfully sated they returned to their suite as baby Calan was waking for his evening feeding.  He was only a little fussy as Hankura changed him and cuddled him for a few moments before handing him to Chelle to nurse him at her breast. He smiled serenely as he watched his son suckle. Life was good and especially good to be almost home after the six-month space journey from Velran.

 #

     Sential Trader was on final approach to Oltarin orbit in preparation for landing at Mari-Sanna Starport. Unlike the journey to Velran, the trip back was uneventful. A huge Tregan cell on Velran had been contained and deported from Velran with the help of the Wholaskans.  That fight wasn’t over.  It might never be over for the Federation, but Hankura, Chelle, Delmran and Lishaad would be making their stand on Oltarin if it came to that.

They had already avenged the torture, rape, and murder their crew had suffered on Zevus Mar.  Hankura although a physician escaped by killing two Tregan officers and every other Tregan who got in his way in his bid to rescue his psi-mate Chelle. He killed the monsters who tortured and raped his mate and killed many more Tregans.  But it didn’t take away the pain or the memories for any of them. Time and distance, love and friendship helped put it behind them as did building a new life on Oltarin. The memories no longer intruded into their lives daily.  They couldn’t change the past, but they no longer let themselves to dwell on it.

     The Oltarin system is on the opposite side of the Federation territories from Velran and almost as far from Zevus Mar. But the long journey was worth taking to have their children trained in using their psionic abilities by a Wholaskan expert. It was extremely important because their children were more powerful psions than they were. They hoped that would be enough.

     Eight-month old Calan was born on Velran, conceived in vitro as part of Hankura study on the genetics of dominant psi factor. The implications of the results had so terrified him that he had erased them from all his computers and the study itself. Hankura and Chelle were the key, and Calan was the proof. Only psi-mates and the children of psi-mates can produce psions with genetically dominant psi-factor. Hankura and his family were full of the genetic material that could produce genetically dominant psions.

     This was why the Tregans had tried to capture them on the way to Velran.  Three crew members of the Sential Trader were killed; several were wounded along with Hankura who almost died from his wound. Jamerin, their eldest son was also mortally injured.  Only Chelle’s psionic healing abilities saved them.

     Hankura's friend Delmran had served on the Searching Star with Hankura and Chelle when it was captured by the Tregans. He'd returned to Velran, his home world, a few months before Hankura and Chelle arrived with their children.

     He had gone there to take over as security chief at the Federation Embassy on Velran, which was actually a covert unit.  He went in pursuit of revenge against the Tregans who’d escaped their home planet just before the Federation put it under martial law for their attack on Federation colonies. There he met Lishaad who was one of his agents.

     Physical attraction grew into love. As part of their covert activity their eight-month old baby girl was conceived in vitro as part of Hankura’s psi-factor study.

Delmran made it his mission in life to make the Tregans pay until he fell in love with Lishaad. The he realized he wanted more out of life than revenge.

     The Wholaskan Mesgar had charged him with protecting the Aledan Hankura.  The best way to do that was to start his new life with Lishaad on Oltarin where Hankura and Chelle made their home after the Explorations. Their new home was waiting for them along with a new job for Delmran as head of the Federation Embassy on Oltarin. They had never been happier.

     There were three children who were not so happy to be coming back to Oltarin: Jamerin, his sister Lara and Parei.

     “We are psi-mates,” Jamerin said to Parei. “We will be life mates.  We should stay together.”

     “And you’re my best friend,” Lara added.  They were alone in the tiny playroom of the Sential Trader.

     “And you both are my best friends,” Parei replied.  She and Jamerin were eight and Lara was five. “But Mommy says we are too young.  We have to be grown up to be life mates.”

     “Our parents said the same thing,” said Jamerin. “But, I already knew that. Mesgar told me. He knew we would meet and said that we would be together forever---someday. But I want it to be now so we can play and do school, ride our horses, and have fun together.”

     “I know,” Parei sighed. “I want that, too. But we can’t.  Mommy said that your Dad told her we will still be connected in our dreams when we are apart---like your dad and mom.”

     “That’s not enough,” Jamerin asserted. “We can take you with us and they won’t even know you’re gone.  I know how we can do it.”

#

     “Parei is so upset.  I don’t know what to do,” Rona mused.  “She wants us to let her stay on Oltarin with Jamerin.  They’re only eight. I don’t want to be apart from her that long. We only come around here every two years.”

     “We feel the same way,” Chelle said. “Jamerin and Lara are upset too.”

     “We reminded him of Mesgar’s teachings and told him about our psi-mating,” said Hankura.  “Chelle and I never met face to face until twenty years after we touched minds. I even shared the memories with him. He said it was different because we didn’t get to spend six months playing together and then get split apart.”

     “He’s right,” Chelle agreed.  “We were never quite real to each other until we met.”

     “So, what do we do?” Parei’s mother asked. “Put them into stasis until they turn eighteen?”

     “That would only solve one problem and restrict their natural development.” Hankura said with a rueful grin. “We could sedate them for a few days to give them time to adjust to the separation.”

     “What about stasis for just a couple months?” Captain Otian, Parei’s stepfather suggested.

     “Their separation anxiety would still feel just as fresh as it does now,” Chelle said. “Mild sedation could take the edge off. Then after a few days taper it and encourage them to connect with telepathy.  Psi-mates can do that.”

     “We should start the meds today since we only have three days until we touch down.  I’ll bring you enough for a few days before we turn in tonight.” Hankura said.

     “I don’t think we have a choice,” Parei’s mother said.  “They can’t be together for ten more years.  It’s bad enough they will only see each other every two years---but Otian’s life---our life is out there. She gestured toward the stars.”

     “It will be fine,” Chelle told her, “this is different than for Hankura and me.  They have us to take care of them until they can be together.  It will give them something to look forward to.”

     “Earth hasn’t changed much since you lived there,” Otian put in.  “We didn’t leave Farringay Starport when we were there on our way to Velran.  It’s still a very dangerous place with the gangs and overlords.”

     “You don’t have to tell us. That was like another life,” Chelle said. “It was probably wise that you didn’t venture out into the city.”

     “That was where we had our first encounter with a Tregan,” Hankura remarked.

     “And he almost killed you…”

     “But I knew you wouldn’t let me die,” he smiled faintly at her.

     “Not after I waited twenty years for you to come back for me.  I wasn’t about to let you die. Certainly not this last time either.”

     “Hurting you was a mistake,” Delmran said.  “They were supposed to capture you, not kill you. If you and Otian hadn’t killed them, Emperor Renid would have had them killed.  That whole operation was a fiasco from beginning to end.”

     “Almost everything that could go wrong did,” Hankura said.

     “And I would have been a dead man if not for Mesgar and your kids,” Delmran added.

     “I wish I could have seen Renid’s face when he found out you weren’t dead,” Lishaad said.

     “He only slipped a little when I walked into the room,” Delmran put an arm around his life mate’s shoulders. “I don’t want to think about him anymore.  We’re starting a new life here---new home, new job.”

     “I can hardly wait to see it,” added Lishaad. “And I have an interview with Territorial Planning and Land Management. They have quite a waiting list for colonization of the uninhabited continents on Oltarin.”

     “What about Beyonna?” Delmran asked.

     “We will need a nanny, but I will be working from home much of the time---if they hire me.  When not, there are office suites with child care rooms. So I can supervise her care while both at home and at the office.”

     “Doesn’t the Embassy provide similar accommodations?” Chelle asked.

     “Actually, I believe so---if not they will.” Delmran replied.  “What about you, Chelle?  Now that you have your physician’s credentials?”

     “My job isn’t going to change that much.  I will make rounds to the five clans villages see patients in the Blue Summit Clinic once a week.”  She said. “It’s going to be good to be home.  I missed the horses so much.”

     “Oh, right,” said Lishaad. “Delmran told me about the horses.  I am looking forward to seeing them for real.”

     “I’ll even teach you and Delmran, how to ride, if you like,” Chelle offered. “Even Hankura has developed a liking for the horses and he rides too.”

     “I can honestly say I’ve missed our rides on the mountain trails,” Hankura added.  “It’s so peaceful and beautiful.”

     “I did a little riding on that first trip to Oltarin---when we visited Tallis Falkner.  I wonder how he's doing.  He was an interesting character.”

     “He's not collecting wives anymore or trading in women anymore,” Chelle said.  “Once the women found out that females in the explorations had the same rights as men they rebelled. Eventually, women in all the clans demanded equal rights.”

     “Sounds like a lot has changed in the twelve years since we first touched down there,” Delmran commented.

     “The social dynamics have changed but otherwise, life is still much the same in Blue Summit as when we first landed there,” said Hankura. “Things have changed the most down by Sapphire Lake and near Mari-Sanna Starport.  The main difference in the mountains is increased ownership of hovercrafts and development of efficient power,” Hankura told him.      “The ranchers still use horses to move their cattle and short trips.  There are more modern settlements on the other continents.  That’s what brought Casir and company to Oltarin last year while we were at Velran.”

     “It’ll be good to see him again. I missed him on Zevus Mar, so I haven’t seen him since Velran,” said Delmran.

     “We should have plenty of time.  He seems to think he will be busy here for several years,” Hankura said. “Jana and Delara and the children are with him as well.”

     “That’ll be great,” Delmran grinned. “I haven’t seen them since Velran when we were all in University.” He didn’t even want to think how many years.  It was too many.

 #

 

     The three children remained quietly sullen for the rest of the flight to Oltarin.  They said their good byes on the ship in private. Lara hugged Parei first, sniffling as tears ran down her face, “I can’t wait ‘til you come next time.  They said then you could stay longer and come to our house.  You are like my sister now and I wish you didn’t have to leave.”

     “Me too,” Parei sniffed.  “I will think to you with Jamerin every day.” She let Lara go and turned to give Jamerin a hug. “I will miss playing with you and Lara, but we can think to each other any time.”

     “Me too,” Jamerin said after a brief hug.  There were tears in his eye as well.  He gave Parei an imperceptible nod. 

     She backed away, crying in earnest, turned and ran from the passenger entrance of the Sential Trader in the direction of her cabin. Rona gave her friends an apologetic look and followed her daughter. She found her daughter in her bunk, crying into her pillow. Rona sat down on the edge of her bunk and took out a med dot from the pack in her pocket and pressed it painlessly to her arm.  She sat rubbing Parei’s back and spoke soothingly to her.

     “Baby, I know you feel bad now. You are going to miss Jamerin and Lara.  We’re all going to miss them and their families. They have become good friends after all the time we’ve spent together.  But it’s not forever, honey,” she soothed.

     “I know, Mommy,” she hiccuped. “I just need to be sad now.”  She sobbed for several minutes then calmed and finally fell asleep. Rona left her in the room, dimmed the lights, and closed the door.

     She sighed as she headed to the cargo bay to help supervise the unloading of the passengers’ possessions on to the droid trams---one for the Aledan’s family and one for Delmran’s.

 #

 

     Lara was still sniffling after Parei ran to her cabin.  Jamerin took her hand and they followed their parents down the exit ramp with Delmran and Lishaad bringing up the rear.  Lishaad carried baby Beyonna and Delmran carried the baby’s supplies. The two families parted company at the hoverport where each had a hovercraft waiting to take them home.

     Hankura’s and Chelle’s home was high in the Cerulean Mountains set on a large agricomplex.  It was built by their friend Casir and his construction company from stone and wood found on the property.  It was essentially a huge log cabin, made from a unique type of tree which hardened to the constancy of granite as it cured. It included an apartment with a separate entrance for Orin and Nalina who served as farm manager and housekeeper/nanny respectively.

     Jamerin and Lara remained quiet and withdrawn during the thirty-minute flit to their mountain home. Still angry with their parents separating them from Parei, they kept their thoughts to themselves and blocked their parents’ attempts to soothe and console them.

     Hankura, what are we going to do? They won’t let us in and we can’t make them. Everything was going fine until they met Parei.

     I know. It was bad timing all around. They’ve had six months to bond and now we want to separate them and they are resisting---punishing us for keeping them apart.

Should we have let Jamerin stay with Parei?  They’re only eight---not ready for a psi-mate bond.

     We can’t break the psi-mate bond….

     We wouldn’t if we could.

     Perhaps we can convince him to put it away for when he is older.

     First we have to get him to listen to us and neither Jamerin nor Lara are letting us in right now. And he is stronger than both of us combined.

     Damned bad timing for psi-mating.  Everything was under control until this. I think we should sedate them at bedtime for the next few days and then try to reason with them. We can’t force them to do anything. Medication is a temporary solution. Jamerin must remember that psi-mating is for mating and having children which must wait until he is an adult. He’s years from puberty, I doubt he is motivated by the mating instinct.  I never felt it until I became sexually active at nineteen.  Only then did I start having sex dreams about you.

     But we never met face to face as children. There was no time for the bond to strengthen before you were whisked away to Velran.

     This was so unexpected. We shouldn’t have let them spend the last six months together. Then, how long would we have waited for another transport back to Oltarin. Besides, we already have millions invested in the Sential Trader.

     …And been through so much with Otian and the rest of the crew. They are our friends. They came back to Velran just for us.

     We should have foreseen the problem we’re facing now.

     We just wanted to come home.

And here we are.

     Jamerin and Lara were apparently asleep when the hovercraft set down at their mountain home.  They were still blocking their parents’ telepathy, so they couldn’t be sure.  It was past their bed time.  Orin Hart, the big Tregan they’d saved on Zevus Mar was waiting just inside the hoverport when they touched down. He carried Jamerin, Hankura carried Lara, and Chelle carried baby Calan into the house to put them to bed. They had been dressed in comfortable lounging clothes in anticipation they would fall asleep before arriving home.

     Hankura and Chelle decided to administer the sedatives to blunt their emotions temporarily until they could resolve the issue of separating Jamerin from his psi-mate.  Once they put their children to bed, they fell into bed exhausted. They didn’t discover anything amiss until breakfast the next morning.

     Neither Hankura nor Chelle surprised that Jamerin and Lara didn’t wake up to share the morning meal with them due to the sedative administered.  It was Orin Hart’s question that puzzled them.

     “Where is your hovercraft?”

     “It’s not in the port?” Hankura frowned.

“Nope.” Orin shook his head.

     “But everyone is here. Lara and Jamerin are still asleep,” Chelle said.

     “Did you check on them?” Orin asked.

     “I did,” Hankura said. “Go see for yourself,” he added, suddenly not so sure he actually saw what he thought he saw.

     Orin nodded and strode down the hallway, stopping first at Jamerin’s room then Lara’s. “They aren’t here,” he called back.

     Both Hankura and Chelle jumped up from the table and ran to their children’s rooms.  They saw two beds occupied with sleeping children.  “Orin, they’re right there,” Hankura insisted.

     Orin shook his head, uncertainly. “They are not.”

     Though he couldn’t read the Tregan’s thoughts, he could tell by his facial expression that he wasn’t joking.  Hankura went and looked again into Jamerin’s room and still saw his sleeping son in the bed.  He blinked and shook his head, but the vision didn’t change.  He knew that Chelle was seeing Lara sleeping in her room. A frisson of fear crept up and down their spines as they suspected what was happening.

     Jamerin!

     Their son was using mind control to make them think he and Lara were still there. Because telepathy didn’t work on Tregan’s, Orin could see that the children weren’t there.

     “Goddess, what have they done?” Chelle gasped.

     “There was an empty opened container on the droid tram as well,” Orin added. “What the hell is going on?”

     “Jamerin and Lara are using psi on us,” Chelle replied.  “He met his psi-mate on Velran.  She’s the daughter of Otian’s new wife.”

     “She and Jamerin became very attached to each other on the journey back,” Hankura added.  “I have a feeling they took the hovercraft and wherever they are, Parei is with them. If they don’t want to be found, we aren’t going to find them.”

     “We thought everything was under control,” said Chelle.

     “Right. It looks like everything is under Jamerin’s control. …Doesn’t seem like Velran was much help at all.” Orin said dryly. “How are we ever going to trust him?”

Both Hankura and Chelle looked stricken as Orin verbalized just what they were thinking.

 #

      “Otian, have you seen Parei?” Rona asked as she stepped onto the bridge of the Sential Trader.  “She didn’t come to first meal.  I thought she’d slept in because of the sedative, but she was not in her room.”

     “She must be here somewhere,” he smiled reassuringly at his wife. “I’ll go on the overhead and call for her.”  He swiveled back to his console and asked for Parei to report to the bridge. 

     Because of the difficulty of separating eight-year-old Parei from her psi-mate, Otian and Rona decided it best to leave Oltarin as soon as passengers and cargo had unloaded.  They were just leaving the Oltarin system when Rona discovered Parei wasn’t in her room. Now Rona paced the bridge behind her husband, waiting for her daughter to come to the bridge.  Ten minutes later, Parei still hadn’t come.

     “Attention all crew members,” Otian spoke into the microphone for the overhead.  “Please report. Has anyone seen Parei? Please check your work stations and the observation lounge.”

Within minutes, all stations had reported back. Nearly every nook and cranny had been searched.  Parei was nowhere to be found on the ship. As the last report came in, Otian looked pale beneath his red hair and freckles, his green eyes were troubled. “She must still be on Oltarin. There is nowhere else she could be.  Norsen, take us back to Oltarin.”

     “Captain, I have Hankura on channel three,” said Jake. “On screen?”

     “Sure,” said Otian. He waited for Hankura’s image to fill the main com screen, then he said, “Hankura, what can you tell me about my step daughter?  She seems to be missing.”

     “Jamerin, Lara and our hovercraft are missing as well.  Chelle and I think they are probably all together but we don’t know where on Oltarin.  Jamerin and Lara used psi to make us think they were here while they were getting away.” Hankura told him.  “We’re tracking the hovercraft on the New Demus continent.  There is not much else we can do.       They won’t answer the com and they are blocking our telepathy.”

     “Now what?”  Otian shook his head.  “How are we going to get them back?”

     “That’s the problem. They are stronger psions than we are---stronger than most human psions ever known.  We can’t make them do anything and they know it.” Hankura made frustrated sounds as he blew out his breath. “I’m at a loss.  What they’ve done goes against all their training. Such manipulation is exactly what the psi-laws on Aledus were designed to prevent.”

     “We knew they didn’t want to be separated, but I never thought they would do anything like this,” said Rona who was standing just behind Otian. “What are we going to do?”

     “Chelle has an idea, but we will need help.  We’re going to take our other hover craft to New Demus.  Our friend Casir is there.  When you touch down, com Delmran.  I’ll com him after we’re done here and ask him and Lishaad to pick you up and meet us at Casir’s.”

CHAPTER TWO

     The hovercraft set down gently in a small meadow by an empty house.  The house was built of local stone and wood for new settlers who would not arrive for several months.  Jamerin had picked it for that reason. It had been simple for Jamerin to take the hovercraft.  It basically piloted itself on voice command.  All he had to do was choose the coordinates of his destination. Despite his age, he had an intellect superior to many adults, but only the maturity a little above his eight years.

     “Jamie are we going to live here without Mommy and Daddy?” Lara asked him.

     “We have to Lara.  It’s the only way Parei can stay with us,” Jamerin said.  “We are just going to stay here until we can find someplace else.”

     “Can’t Parei just stay here and we can come visit her?”

     “Not alone, Lara.” Jamerin retorted. “She’s my psi-mate.  We will be pledged when we grow up.  She will be like your sister, then.”

     “But Mommy and Daddy will miss us.  I can feel them worried about us,” Lara said. “We hurt their feelings making them think we were home when we were running away.”

     “And we scared them too, because we can do that,” Jamerin said a bit smugly.

     “Scaring people is mean,” Lara disapproved. “Mesgar told us that.  I love Mommy and Daddy.  I don’t want to scare them.  I want to go home.”

     “Don’t be a baby, Lara. We can’t go back.  They will make Parei go back to Otian and Rona.” Jamerin snapped.  “Come on, let’s go inside and see if the food processor is working.  I’m getting hungry and I’m kind of tired after staying up all night.”

     Jamerin opened the canopy and the door of the craft and they climbed out.  Parei took Jamerin’s hand and then Lara’s and the three of them walked up to the main entrance of the house.  It was locked, but Jamerin used his growing telekinetic skill to force the lock.  The door opened and they walked inside.  It was beautiful and completely furnished, including the food processor.  Jamerin programmed the food processor to accept his voice commands and ordered breakfast of protein bars and hot sweetened cereal.

     After breakfast, they found the bedroom with the largest bed and laid down on it together sharing the two pillows. Parei had been fairly quiet ever since they freed her from the shipping container.  Though she didn’t share her thoughts with Jamerin, he sensed that she too was troubled.  It bothered him.

     Parei was conflicted in her loyalty to him and to her parents.  He didn’t really understand why even he felt conflicted.  The thought of being separated from Parei for years at a time was distressing to all of three of them. But Lara was right. What they had done went against the most basic practices of psionic ethics that Mesgar had taught them.

     Jamerin knew it was wrong, but Parei was his best friend, his future mate. He loved her already as a child loves a favorite playmate.  He knew about sex and mating, but he didn’t have those feelings yet. They would come when he was older. He didn’t want to wait ten years to be with her or twenty years like Mommy and Daddy.

     His eyelids felt heavy and he soon fell asleep despite his inner musings.

 #

     Thirteen-year-old Lanimer had gone to bed before his guardians Hankura and Chelle had returned to their mountain home. He woke up and dressed eagerly that morning expecting to find them in the dining room for breakfast with their children.  He frowned as he started down the hallway from his room.  He didn’t sense anyone in the house except his adopted family---Orin, Nalina and three-year-old Saleah.

     “Where is everyone? I thought they were coming late last night,” he said.

Nalina was setting out food as it came from the processor.  “They went to find Jamerin and Lara.  They ran away last night with a little girl from the ship---Jamerin’s psi-mate.”

     “I went to unload the droid tram and one of their hovercrafts was missing.  Jamerin and Lara were gone, but he used psi to make his parents think they were in bed sleeping.” Orin told him.  “I wonder if taking him to Velran did any good at all.  They weren’t even home one night before he pulled something.”

     “But why would he do that?” Lanimer asked.

     “The little girl from the ship is his psi-mate,” Nalina answered.  “Her parents won’t let her stay here and Hankura and Chelle won’t let him go on the ship.  Psi-mating makes them do crazy things. “

     “It’s not like they’re old enough to mate,” Orin muttered.  “They’re just kids.”

     “Psions are different,” Nalina said. “They get attached mentally. You know Jamerin has always been very sensitive.”

     “And undisciplined,” Orin grumbled.

     “But he saved your life before he was even born.” Nalina reminded.

     “And he almost killed you!” he countered. “Goddess, when I found you lying there like that, I thought you were dead!”

     “I am fine, Orin. He didn’t mean to hurt me, I know he didn’t,” Nalina said. “His mind was damaged.”

     “Well, I’m not so sure it’s fixed now. He used mind control on his parents for Goddess sake!”

     “Oh, man!” Lanimer exclaimed. “Is he in trouble now!  I didn’t have to go to Velran to learn Psion Ethical Protocols.  My first mother taught me that when I was four.”

     “But you didn’t dawn as strongly as Jamerin and you were receptive,” said Nalina. “Chelle says it’s the psi-mating.  The little girl’s mother married Captain Otian so she lives on the ship with them. They were together every day for six months.”

     “I think he’s just a bad seed.  I don’t see how we can ever really trust him,” Orin said.

     “Orin, he’s just a child! You have to give him a chance to adjust.”

     “No child should have that kind of power!”

     “Maybe not, but he does. We have to help him understand he must be careful.” Nalina said.  Despite what he had done, she still loved Jamerin. It wasn’t his fault that healing Orin had somehow damaged him. She could never forget that Orin had been shot trying to protect her and Lanimer---because despite his kindness to them, he was bred a Tregan dog soldier….

#

     At barely twenty, Nalina was orphaned during the bombardments at Lake Lessat. The village had been razed while Nalina was working at Mikal's agricomplex. She lived there with him and his two young wives, serving as governess for Lanimer. Mikal's two wives worked---Lania as an interpreter at Medrin Starport, and Merris worked in the mine outside of Elran. Mikal had been a Master Technician at the Elran Medical Clinic. He'd been hoping one day to complete his physician's training so he could become a physician like his old friend Hankura.

     "All those dreams are gone now," Nalina's voice was thick with emotion. "He and his wives were all I had left. I think Mikal was beginning to care for me---maybe enough to make me his third wife. I could have been house mate for all their children. Merris' baby would have been born just before winter solstice. Maybe next year I could have born a third child for Mikal." She sniffled. "Now they're all dead. No one even buried them."

     "I buried them---side by side," he told her. "I'm sorry they died. I thought they would make it, I wanted them to make it."

     "So you buried them to salve your conscience?" Nalina's tone was sarcastic.

     "I'm not like them! I hate them!" Orin asserted.

     "If you hate the Tregans so much, why do you wear their uniform? Why do you look like them? What makes you different from those murderers?"

     "My genes may have been strung together in the same pattern as theirs, but Nalina, I wasn't raised as an animal and conditioned to become a ruthless killer from childhood as they were.”

     "I grew up in Veldis Lar before the Tregans took it. My host mother and her mate raised me with the same love they would have given a naturally conceived son. We were warned in time for my parents to escape, but the soldiers found me. Because I looked like the other soldiers, the Commander General had me dragged from my home in chains. They tried to break me on Tregas. Two months of brainwashing and survival training and they thought they could make me into a soldier. Ha! That kind of brainwashing only works with the young ones before the mental shield is fully matured. They figured pain would work instead."

     Orin shuddered. "I pretended to be like them so they wouldn't kill me. I didn't want to die. Then, they sent me here to kill people who never did anything to me. But, they're the ones who made my life hell, so I killed them."

     He fell silent for time, staring out into the darkness through the doorway of the bunker. The things he had seen since he came to Zevus Mar gave him many sleepless nights. He could still hear that Zevian girl screaming in his dreams as Damon tortured her. He should have killed      Damon then--before he had the chance to hurt anyone else. But then, they would have killed him on the spot.

     Orin wished he could stop feeling guilty. At least he had saved Nalina and Lanimer. They were safe now, and they could take care of themselves.

     "You won't have to worry about me anymore, Nalina. I'll be gone by sunset tomorrow," he said abruptly.

     She gasped. "You're just going to leave us here?"

     "Do you want me to stay?" Orin's eyes mocked her and he laughed. "It's been a tenday and a half, and you're still terrified of me. You've been scared so long; you see only a soldier---not a man. You'll be glad to see the last of me."

     Even in the darkness, Orin could see that she wasn't glad at all. But she was too proud or too stubborn to say so.

     "Do you want me to stay, Nalina?"

     "I don't know," she murmured with a defensive shrug.

She gave a sharp cry as Orin seized her arm and forced her to look into his eyes with his other hand. "Don't you, Nalina," he demanded in a hushed whisper? Her eyes went wide with fear and she shrank from his grip.

     Orin let her go before his emotions took control of him. He jumped up and stalked out of the bunker into the cool night air. What had he expected? He might as well face it now as later. That's how they would all feel about him.

     As a deserter, he was a lost man with nowhere to belong and no one to care….

     But Nalina had cared. It just took her awhile to figure that out. Orin would have left that next day, but the Tregan’s came back looking for him.  He’d protected her and Lanimer by killing them all. Not until he came back wounded did she realize how much she had come to care for him. She also realized how much he cared for her and Lanimer because he had risked his life to save them.

     He had been trying to protect them when he shot Casir and was in turn shot by Bren. He would have died except for Lanimer. Lanimer was the son of Hankura’s friend. Because Orin had saved him and Nalina, Hankura and Chelle had risked everything to save him….

Hankura completed every procedure flawlessly, but it wasn't good enough.

     He took the scan readings twice to be sure there was no mistake even when his gut feeling told him they were right the first time.

     "Mother, I don't know what else to do," Hankura muttered, looking up at Casir and then to his wife beside him. "I've outdone myself as it is. It would have been easier to clone him another body and switch brains---and they don't teach that on Velran or anywhere else I know of. The son of a bitch is still dying and I can't bring him back."

     But--maybe I could. Her thought whispered itself in his mind.

     "No!" Hankura pulled off his surgical mask and gripped her shoulders. No, Chelle. It isn't worth the risk. He's just a fucking Tregan. You can't risk your life and our son's for him. I sensed the fault in his mental shield, too... but you can't. He could take your life....

     I know that, Hankura. It terrifies me, but he isn't like the others. We can't forget about           Lanimer and Nalina. He saved them at the risk of his life. Can we do less?

     But, his killings cost Kaara's life and nearly yours.

     But he didn't know. Hankura, he was thrown in the middle of this the same as we were. Who are we to condemn him to death when we can save him? He is a man and we have sworn to preserve human life if it is within our power. We went against that once---we have a choice this time.

     Mother of Life, Chelle! I could lose you in the process. His life is not worth yours to me ... you are everything to me--the essence of my life. I can't lose you.

Then, help me, Hankura. Help me save him and keep my life's essence. We could do it together---together our wills must surely be stronger than his.

     Hankura stared deeply into her shining blue eyes, torn by the stirring of his conscience and his love for this woman carrying his child. She believed that his love was the key, the controlling factor in her healer's power. If they could keep Orin Hart alive, make him whole again, it would in some small way pay the debt they felt they owed for the killings in their escape.

     Hankura prayed that the key would fit the lock.

     Hankura and Chelle stood alone with the silent form of Orin Hart, his life slipping away, second by second. Hankura became enveloped in a wave of emotion as he gazed down into his wife's sparkling blue eyes. He understood more clearly than ever that this would be a healing for them as well. He brought his hand to her cheek in an exquisitely gentle caress as he touched his lips to hers. How he loved her!

     We are one like the water that soars in the fountain. Your love is my love. Your sorrow, my sorrow, your joy, my joy... my life, your life. We are one on the Path of Insight. We are one as the water that soars in the fountain. Your soul is my soul---we are one in life...death...eternity. Thus, is the Circle of Life. Together, we seek life for us, for Orin Hart, and for the son in our womb. We, as one spirit, seek the light of life.

     Eyes held eyes, mind held mind, and then Chelle turned to the silent form on the table. The silence was broken only by the soft gurgling sound of the life support machine. In their singleness of purpose, Hankura and Chelle didn't hear it.

     Hankura stood close behind Chelle as she held her hands poised over Orin Hart's massive chest. He moved still closer, molding her body against him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Pressing his cheek against her hair, he lost himself in her spirit. Chelle leaned into his strength, immersing herself in the warmth of his love, and they became enveloped in the psychic aura of their life's essence. Slowly, Chelle lowered her tingling hands to touch the body and soul of a man called Orin Hart. Mentally, she approached the tiny fault in Orin’s natural mental block.

     They-one---she and Hankura---were instantly plunged into a chasm of darkness. At first, it seemed like an endless dark tunnel with no light to guide them. Were they too late? No nightmare or reality could have prepared them from the cold, stark terror that gripped them on the blind journey. Falling, falling, falling with no sense of up or down.

     Then, as if through a window, they sensed a tiny ember glowing in the distance. It beckoned them---the life essence of Orin Hart. There was a deathly stillness as the ember faded. They-one crawled through the window at the end of the tunnel by the faint light. Their light filled the darkness and touched the fading glow. In their light, Orin Hart glowed brighter and stronger, drawing energy from their light until they-one began to dim in his light.

     His ember grew brighter and brighter. Flames grew up all around them, threatening to swallow up they-one. Orin Hart pulled at their light, hungry for the warmth that his essence lacked. But they-one stood bravely among the flames against his pulling and tearing until they-one nearly drifted into he and she again. He and she drew near death's ridge, the thread of their bond taut and thin.

     Then the bond was strengthened by the tiny entity that was to be their son, and they were enveloped in the warmth of his essence which strengthened their bond and drew them together--three one. They came back from the edge of the chasm, taking back from Orin Hart some of their waning strength. They fled back through the window, into the black abyss.... back into the light of he and she.

Orin Hart lived. He and she lived. The unborn child lived.

     It was some time before Hankura became aware of the light inside the surgical cell again and the warmth of Chelle's supple body gripped tightly against him. She gasped for breath against his crushing hold on her rib cage. Slowly, he realized and loosened his hold so she could breathe more easily. She was limp in his arms, but her deep, even breathing reassured him. He pulled the surgical cap from her head and blotted the dampness from her face. He tenderly caressed the soft, cropped hair that framed her face in wispy curls and smiled. The healing had been theirs as well. He didn't have to look at the readouts to know they had won.

The quest had weakened their bodies, but Hankura felt his spirit soaring with hers. After a time, he found the strength to lift her in his arms and carry her out into the cool of dawn.

     Casir met them outside. Med-Techs were arriving to transport Orin Hart to a sealed life support chamber at the Elran clinic.

     "Thank, Goddess!" Casir sighed. "He almost took you. I sense you're both very weak."

     "We are," Hankura whispered. "She was right, you know. Love saved us in the form of our child. I never dreamed...."

     "Nor I." Casir shook his head in awe, his pale cat-like eyes filled with relief. "Let me help you." He held out his arms and together they carried Chelle to the waiting hovercraft. Casir helped them both inside and stood watching until the craft lifted and slowly glided away.           Then he smiled. They were going to be all right.

#

     Not until a long time afterward did Nalina and Orin learn how close they had come to losing all their lives. Because of Lanimer, they had saved Orin after all they had suffered at the hands of the Tregans.  They made Nalina and Orin part of their family because they loved Lanimer and Lanimer loved them.

     They would have taken Lanimer to Velran with him, but he didn’t want to leave Nalina and Orin for almost three years.

     Sensing Orins’s musings remembering the day he found Nalina after Jamerin had inadvertently blasted her with psi she said, “Well, at least Jamie didn’t hurt anyone this time, so he must have learned something on Velran.”

     “Thank Goddess for that,” Orin said grudgingly.

     “And I bet he felt bad when he found out what he did,” Lanimer added. “He liked her before the dawning of his psi messed him up.”

“Of course, that’s my fault,” Orin sighed.

     “It wasn’t something you meant to do. It just happened when Jamerin was at a vulnerable stage in his prenatal development.” Lanimer explained.

     “How’d you get so smart,” Orin teased.

     “I been studying. I’m going to be a Master Tech like my father and go back to Zevus Mar to live at our agricomplex. I know they still need techs and physicians there.”

     “When did you decide this?” Both Orin and Nalina gave him a troubled look.

     “Just been thinking about it lately. My inheritance is there and we liked living there before the Tregans came,” Lanimer said haltingly. “I just feel like it’s what I’m supposed to do.  You and Nalina could come.”

     “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Orin said. “I am technically still a fugitive. If they were to figure out I am Tregan, I can still go to prison.”

     “But you only killed those bad Tregans. You only shot Casir by mistake. He helped get you off Zevus Mar.”

     “They don’t know all that on Zevus Mar. I look just like those other Tregans and they’re never going to forget what they did there. I probably wouldn’t even live to see prison if I went back there.” Orin said. “I don’t blame you for wanting to claim what’s yours, but I can’t go back there.”

     “I can’t either Lanimer. Our life is here, now,” Nalina added. “But Orin is right. When you are a grown man, it’s only right that you go back to claim your inheritance.” She paused and smiled warmly at him. “We don’t have to worry about that for a few years yet.”

Lanimer smiled back at her and started eating his pancakes. “Right. I can’t start tech training at the clinic until I turn sixteen. That’s going to take five years.”

     “I sure hope Jamerin is planning on leaving, too,” Orin said stubbornly. He reached for his cooling jern and took a careful sip.

     “Orin! Not in front of the children,” Nalina admonished.  “Chelle said it’s the psi-mating that has his feelings all mixed up---then spending the last six months with the little girl. It’s probably separation anxiety.”

     “Do you think I will ever be psi-mated?” Lanimer wondered.

     “If you are, I hope it’s after you grow up,” Orin said. “It sounds like it might make you a little crazy when it happens.” He cut off a small wedge from the stack of pancakes and syrup on his plate, speared them with his fork, and put them into his mouth.

With everyone served, Nalina sat down to her own breakfast. Three-year-old Saleah was finally learning to use a fork and spoon to eat. Now more food went into her mouth than on her face.

     Nalina was glad Saleah was normal. She couldn’t imagine raising another psion like Jamerin. Lanimer was never the trouble Jamerin had been. But then, she had to remember why. The child wasn’t to blame. She hoped when his parents got this straightened out, he would be all right.