PSION Preview

The Aledan
PSION

The Aledan Series Book 1

Christine Myers

PREVIEW

 

CHAPTER ONE

"Michelle!" Hankura had been thrashing around for quite some time before he bolted upright in his bed. His heart was pounding, and his body was soaked with sweat. He groaned softly and tried to catch his breath.

His roommate stirred in the bed across the room and roused as he sensed Hankura's agitation. "You dreamed about her again, didn't you?"

Hankura nodded his head. "It was more than a dream, Casir. She needed me. I felt her needing me, and I wasn't there. She nearly died. We were in limbo, and I touched her soul. Then she found the will to live," he murmured. "I didn't want to let her go."

"How long has it since you first mind-linked with her?"

"Almost twenty years standard." Hankura sighed.

"Then Mesgar must have been right. She is your psi-mate."

Hankura shook his head. "That’s the only explanation that makes any sense."

"That’s why you’re the only one who feels her in your dreams light years away. That only happens with psi-mates," Casir said. "Carianne believed it, you didn’t renew, and she left.”

"I kept telling myself psi-mating was just a myth dreamed up by that madman Malkan."

"Maybe Malkan was crazy, but the prophet Narcaza wasn't. He was your own ancestor, and he believed it," Casir pointed out. "Mesgar believes it, too."

"Space! I have to go there and find her, Casir. I could feel her reaching out to me as she was dying. I didn't want her to die. She wanted me to help her heal her brother, too. But she was too weak. If I'd pushed her too hard, she would have died, too, trying to save him. I had to break contact because I couldn't stand her pain. Her brother is dead now, and she's all alone. I promised to get her out of there a long time ago. I'm afraid she might not make it until I get there. I've got another two years in the program, and I don't know how long she can stay alive without Jerry to help her. Half the time she thinks I lied to her, and half the time she doesn't think I'm real. I feel her pain, Casir, I feel her despair like she's part of me."

"Because she is. I feel your dilemma," Casir empathized. "What are you going to do?"

"Take a bio-chip implant for the last two years," he said. The computerized organic implant would feed information directly into his brain over a period of three months. By taking the last two years of medical school through a biochip, he could leave Velran with his physician's certification in three months.

"But, can you handle the headaches, Hankura?" Migraines were a side effect of such implants, which is why most students didn't use them.

"I know it can be pretty painful, but I can't wait any longer. I have to find Michelle before those barbarians kill her. Maybe once I know she's safe, I can get on with my life."

"Not without her. You don’t just get over being psion mates."

"I know. I just didn’t want to believe it because I loved Carianne. But, part of me has always been drawn to Michelle.  I’m going to Earth to find her then I have to go back to Aledus."

"Are you crazy?  You know what they will do to her there." Casir frowned.

 “The same thing they will do to me.”

“Yes, but you were trained for it. From everything you have shared with me, she is a latent. It will be torture for her.”

 “Maybe not.”

“Care to make a wager on that say fifty thousand chips?

"I don't think so. I don't like the odds."

"Going back to Aledus is even crazier than going to Earth to find her. They never recovered from the Procyon War."

Hankura shrugged. "Maybe it is, but it’s what I have to do."

After three months’ preparation, Hankura was ready to leave on his journey. Casir went with him to the hangar at the Velran Starport to see him off in the Mran spacecraft that was waiting to be launched.

"It sure is a beauty," Casir said, admiring the sleek triangular shaped craft.

"At a million chips, it ought to be. It's nearly new."

The two men stood looking at the silver and blue craft in silence. Hankura was dressed in a shiny silver flight suit, and Casir wore a loose-fitting white suit that was currently fashionable among human males on Velran.

Casir spoke finally after a long silence. "You remember the first few days after you got here when I wouldn't even talk to you?"

"Yes." Hankura grinned wryly. "I was ready to choke you just so you would say something. I didn't know what you were trying to do because you were so good at blocking everybody."

 "Well, when you came walking into our quarters that day, I had a feeling we could be good friends. I didn't want that. I knew that one day you and I would be standing here like this, and I'd be losing my best friend.

"You were lucky, Hankura. Your parents sent you here because they thought they were doing you a favor---even if you didn't think so at the time. My family sent me here with 5 million chips and said don't come back. That was pretty hard to take . . .."

"I know," murmured Hankura. "It took me awhile to figure that out." He paused. "You know you could come, too."

Casir shook his head. A stark contrast to the Aledan, Casir was as fair as Hankura was dark with platinum hair and amber eyes. The Aledan held his gaze, studying those familiar features.

"I've done a lot of crazy things in my life but going to Earth with you after your dream girl is not going to be one of them . . .. Besides, with you gone, someone will have to console Jana and Delara. It might as well be me." Casir grinned suddenly.

Hankura grinned, too. "They always liked you better anyway--"

"--Except for Carianne until she realized that Michelle kept flashing in my mind when we were having sex. It wasn’t like I could control it, it just happened. I would never have hurt her like that on purpose," Hankura shrugged. "I loved Carianne. But I feel like Michelle is wrapped around my soul. Mesgar said I had best learn to accept the mind-link because I can't change it."

 "My sympathies, friend.”

"This could be the best thing that ever happened to me or the worst." Hankura sighed. "Going to Earth these days is an effective way to get myself killed. It scares the hell out of me, but, I know I'll never have any peace until I find her."

Casir swallowed hard. "What happens if you do find her? You're not planning to stay on Earth, are you?"

 "Certainly not! I promised my parents two years ago I'd return to Aledus after I finish here."

"That’s crazy! How can they ask you to do that? I thought you finally decided not to go."

"Mother changed my mind. It means so much to her, I didn't have the heart to refuse her again. But that doesn't mean I'll stay forever. What about you? What are your plans?"

"I'll let you know when I decide. ...if I can find you."

"I'll leave word with my family . . . if I make it back to Aledus."

 "You will. I have faith in you." Casir held out his hand, not fooling his friend at all. Casir was worried. Earth was a dangerous place ever since the Procyon Wars. This might really be the last time they ever saw each other.

They both knew it.

Hankura shook Casir's hand and turned to board the ship. He stopped abruptly and turned back to embrace his friend, briefly. No more words were necessary. After one last look into Hankura's dark green eyes, Casir nodded, and Hankura turned without looking back to board his ship. Casir watched the hatch close behind him then turned and left the hangar.

Although he couldn't watch Hankura go, he was glad he had finally accepted Hankura's friendship. The Aledan was the best friend he would ever have.

The glaring sun warmed the freshly turned earth as Michelle knelt planting her seeds in the small groove she had just made in the dirt with her fingers. She paused in her work for a moment to brush at the perspiration beading on her forehead. Her stomach growled with hunger, and she glanced over her shoulder toward her cabin and then out over her garden patch. Some tiny seedlings were already sprouting in the rows she planted a few weeks ago. One more row and she would be finished planting for the season. Then she would eat and maybe cool off in the nearby stream while she washed off the dirt and sweat.

The moon signs were right according to talk she had overheard from some farmers at the farm market. She was counting on a harvest big enough to sustain her through the harsh winter snows---if the scavengers roaming the mountains didn't come along and steal from her like they had from those farmers that complained at the market.

Of course, she wouldn't have to worry about surviving the hard mountain winter if she hadn't left Berke's protection months ago. Berke had rescued her from a gang fight about a year before Jerry was killed. She didn't understand why he had helped her at first, but Jerry knew. Berke wanted her. It was as simple as that. Because he had saved their lives, Michelle believed she owed him. He could be very pleasant and charming when he wanted to, and it was nice for a while to be protected and cared for. In return, she gave him what he wanted from her---her body and a certain degree of affection. She even had begun to care for him until he started playing his sadistic little games with her.

Sometimes he was tender and loving, other times, he would make her play perverted sex games that went way beyond a little BDSM. It was torture. The man was like two people. Michelle soon came to fear and hate him. She left him, but he sent his thugs to bring her back. Berke rewarded them with a night of raping her.

Jerry rescued her two days later. "I'm going to kill him!" Jerry swore after he saw her bruised and swollen face and the tormented look in her eyes.

“No, Jerry. He'll expect you to do something like that. Maybe it's what he wants, so he will have an excuse to kill you. I'd like nothing better than to kill that scum, but we wouldn't have a chance against his thugs with only daggers for weapons," Michelle cried. "I just want to get out of here. Please!"

Jerry hugged her and let her cry for a while until he figured out how they could escape. They stole one of Berke's hovercrafts and abandoned it a few kilometers from his compound, then went into hiding. When she recovered, Jerry taught her how to fight more effectively. Her new skills had come in handy more than once, but Jerry's death taught her that she still had much more to learn.

And sometimes, it was better to run. Michelle wished she and Jerry had run that day.

Michelle had spent most of the day digging out all the plants growing between her neat straight rows. It was nearly sunset, and she was tired, hungry and thirsty. But she forgot her discomfort as she raised her eyes to the clear, blue sky. For one brief moment, she remembered the dirty and frightened little girl that crouched in the alley alone that rainy night. Sometimes, that little girl was too much a part of her.

As she scanned the sky, Hankura's promise whispered itself into her mind again. She shook her head, trying to deny the memory. She couldn't. She wanted to run and hide, but instinct told her there was no place on Earth to escape his beckoning.

I’m coming for you, Michelle, I’m coming… And I will be there soon.

 Jed Rankin pored over the readout data, again and again, searching desperately for the information Berke demanded. It just wasn't there. The tiny Mran spacecraft had vanished from the screens less than a minute after he'd given the Aledan pilot ground clearance.

Jed realized belatedly he never should have shot his big mouth off in the first place---especially not to Evans. The little bastard had run straight to Berke with the news. Now he was in a helluva mess. If he didn't come up with the information Berke wanted, the Overlord would see that he lost his job at Farringay Starport. Then how would he take care of Marla and the kid?

At least he'd warned Hankura, which was probably why the Aledan's tiny blip had disappeared so quickly from the scanner screens. Jed shook his head and nervously smoothed back his thinning red hair. Berke sure as hell didn't know what he was asking. That tiny Mran could have veered off in any of a thousand different directions from after the scanners had stopped picking it up.

Jed pursed his lips and frowned at the screen again. Just why was one Mran so important to Berke? Tiny ships like that slipped by the scanners all the time. Often their pilots never bothered to ask for ground clearance. Immigration hardly bothered with them so, why should he? None of the ships stayed long, and there wasn't much damage they could do to the Earth that hadn't been done during the Procyon Wars. A few hundred years later, the mother world of humanity had not yet recovered.

Little hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and Jed straightened up in his seat at the forbidding shadow that fell over his workstation.

"Well?" Berke demanded. "Did you find it?"

"N-not exactly," Rankin stammered nervously, trying to decide whether to call this well-known cut-throat 'sir.' Fine clothes and smooth manners couldn't change what he really was. "I can only assume that the craft probably held to its course and landed somewhere in the mountains east of here. If not, then I really can't help you Mister Berke."

Berke glowered at the cringing man for a moment and satisfied himself that the little weakling was telling the truth.

"The mountains, eh?" he repeated, and a sardonic grin creased his rugged face. "Thanks, Rankin."

Berke turned without another word and swaggered out of the dispatch room. When the door whooshed closed behind him, Rankin sighed in relief, mopping his brow with a handkerchief. Berke was the last person in this part of the world a man would want to antagonize. Those who crossed him usually didn't get a second chance . . ..

As Redmyn Berke left the starport complex, he went out to the nearby hover station and climbed into his auto-piloted hovercraft.

"Did you learn anything?" Bart asked eagerly when Berke slid onto the seat across from him and his partner Mason.

"Yes." Berke nodded tersely to the thugs and reached for a drink from the dispenser to his right. 

"How would you and Mason like to pay a visit to my little Michelle again?"

"What?" Bart's mouth dropped open. "I thought you had her wasted."

"She got away." He paused with a frown then his expression grew smug. "That Rankin thinks the Mran might have landed in the mountains. Michelle is there. Perhaps she has seen or heard something . . . And even if she hasn't, I decided I want her back. Bring her." Berke paused and met their eyes each, in turn, an ominous warning of his own. "No games like before. I don't want either of you screwing her. She's mine! Don't hurt her."

"But I thought . . . " Mason began stupidly.

"Yeah--well, you thought wrong," Berke retorted and swallowed the contents of his glass. The fiery liquid burned all the way down, filling his treacherous gray eyes with moisture. "I just thought she needed a lesson," he muttered and reached to fill his glass again. "She's mine. You'll just have to settle for your cut after we sell the Mran. A few more of those handy little ships and we'll have Wingale as well as Farringay in our conglomerate. Then, who knows?"

Berke pressed for two more glasses of whiskey and passed them to Bart and Mason. "Drink up, gentlemen. We must make plans.”

CHAPTER TWO

Hankura came to her in her dreams like many times before, but the pull was so much stronger now.  

I’ve come for you, Michelle… Just as I promised when we touched minds as children. We are meant to be together…

He took her into his arms and held her close, with her face pressed against his shoulder, and he caressed her hair, kissing the top of her head. His body was strong and warm pressed to hers. His erection pressed into her belly and she sucked in her breath as desire throbbed in her core. Despite what she had been through with Berke’s men, the soothing tenderness that flowed directly into her mind told her she had nothing to fear from this man.

He told her without words how he wanted to pleasure her body and fill her with his hard cock, how he could drive her to ecstasy when they joined together as one. She raised her eyes to his. She saw passion and tenderness as well as felt it like an incoming tide of emotion echoing through her mind.

His kiss seemed to electrify her whole body with sensation, causing her to press her body against his, wanting more of him. She wanted to feel his skin against hers, and his cock thrust deep inside her to soothe the aching emptiness.

Then the dream changed and they were in bed together naked on a soft, silky sheet.  Hankura was on her and in her, thrusting in and out of her in a hard, easy rhythm that felt so exquisite that she uttered a cry of pleasure with each driving lunge. It was so real she could feel his weight on top of her and the delicious friction of his muscular chest against her erect nipples.

Hankura was hers, and she was his, and they always would be.  Somehow, she had always known that. As the years passed, the knowing dimmed for a while as she pushed it back when she was with Berke.

 As they make the carnal journey toward the pinnacle of their desire, their climax was about to erupt like a geyser spewing hot water from deep in the earth.  Closer and closer, higher and higher they soared…

Then they were both ripped away, split in two, back in their solitary beds…alone.

"No!" Michelle cried as she woke, still aching to feel him inside her, to know the warmth of his hard body against hers, and the comfort of his thoughts entwining with hers. But Hankura wasn't there, he never was. She was alone in the dark cabin, wanting a man she had never seen except in her dreams.

Cursing the uncomfortable wetness spreading over his groin, Hankura awoke in the solitude of his small spacecraft. It was just a dream, but the result was real enough. Michelle had given him some of the best erotic dreams of his life without even knowing it. It was a bittersweet meeting of their minds that always left him depressed afterward. He always woke up alone, ready to sell his soul just to hold her . . . To make love to her as he dreamed of doing. In those moments, he believed it was certainly worth the risk of going to Earth.

After a few calming breaths, Hankura got up from his bunk and went into the sanitary closet to shower and dress. He still had another hour to sleep, but he wasn't tired anymore. When he was dressed, he slumped into his pilot's seat to monitor the auto-guidance system.

Hankura knew that going to Earth would be risky, long before Jed Rankin warned him of the dangers. But he had no choice now. Aside from Michelle's beckoning, a power overload in the auto-guidance system had sent him off course and ate away most of the five small crystals that powered the Arius Mran.

If he didn't put down on Earth and get replacements, his ship would eventually lose power completely, and he would die in space. On the other hand, if he put down on Earth, he could get himself killed by merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hankura let out a rueful sigh, shifting his lean, long body in the pilot seat. It made him vaguely sad as he considered the path that led the mother world of humanity to this state of ruin. The Earth had known a proud and glorious history until they had tried to take Procyon III from alien colonists. Retaliation for the massacre of the alien colonists nearly destroyed Earth. A series of conflicts followed, ending Earth's reign as a major power in the Federation.

The planet had become a dystopian nightmare after the Procyon wars. Earth's natural resources were severely depleted, and the population was decimated.

Lengthy negotiations brought the conflict to an end after three hundred years. The Federation had been forced to admit wrong-doing to the Mesaarkans and relinquish all future claim to Procyon III. Since that time, the Mesaarkans had built a thriving colony, and their world had become a prominent influence in the United Galactic Federation.

They considered that the ruin of Earth settled the debt owed by the humans. As retribution, one million people had died for each Mesaarkan killed in the attacks. Many more had died in the famines and pestilence that followed while peace was being negotiated.

Now after hundreds of years, the greatest part of Earth still lay in ruin. But Earth had a star port in Farringay, and there was no reason Hankura couldn't find Michelle and purchase the fuel cells he needed. He figured he could be back in space within a few days.

Finding Michelle was the least of his worries. Her presence in his mind was growing stronger and stronger the closer he came to Earth. When the shining blue face of the mother world loomed ahead, he knew exactly where to find her.

 Hankura locked in the computer to guide the Arius Mran in for a landing. The power converter in the guidance system was working right again--too late to save his power crystals.

The landing was routine until he crashed into the forest.

 Trees cracked under the weight of his ship, and branches scraped the hull heavily as the craft set down, echoing the sounds of destruction through the quiet of the night.

The damage was superficial e according to the computer readouts. But, considering his recent experience with the guidance system, Hankura decided to check the hull himself in the morning. He didn't trust a computer that would send his ship almost a full sector off course.

To conserve what little energy was left in the power crystals, he shut down the outside lights and most of the interior systems. Although he wasn't due to sleep for a few hours, there was little else he could do in the dark forest. So he lay down on his bunk and tried to relax until daybreak.

 He lay for a long time staring up at the ceiling interior of the ship's upper hull and let his mind wander.

He sensed Michelle reaching out to him, and it was as though her soul were trying to meld with his own. Without ever having seen her, he was physically aroused. His groin ached with the overwhelming need to join her body to his. It happened many times before in the erotic dreams they had shared, but never with this intensity. He understood that this mating instinct was being triggered by the psi-bonding. Now, it threatened to overwhelm his other reasons for coming to find Michelle. He had never wanted anyone so much.

Hankura sensed that he had been a cherished imaginary friend, sometimes more real to her than others. He kept her company when she was alone and afraid, and he shared her fears in his dreams.

Michelle didn't really understand the strength of their connection, though. Even when the voices came to her in the months before Jerry was killed, Hankura had seen that she didn't realize the power of thought she could control. She was a latent psion, wild and uneducated. She was everything Aledan society shunned in the people of the mother world. The prospect of taking her there worried him because they would quickly see how different she was. He and Michelle would have to deal with that.

Hankura didn't fight it as her essence invaded his mind. The bond was too strong. After fifteen minutes, Hankura knew he couldn't rest. He got up and assembled a pack for his journey, then changed from the metallic coverall he was wearing a loose-fitting shirt and trousers. On his belt, he hung a laser/stunner just in case . . .

Although he was a physician by trade and didn't know if he could kill, he didn't dare venture out into this strange world unarmed.

At sunrise, he left the ship to check the hull. It was marred by scraping branches but undamaged just as the computer indicated. Hankura paused to stare up at the trees towering over him. His rough landing had opened a gaping hole in the greenery that would expose his ship air crafts passing overhead.

He couldn't risk having anyone find the ship--his only way off this miserable planet. So, he used his laser and sheared off some of the surrounding brush to camouflage it.

Mother of Life, what am I doing here? He cursed silently as he tossed leafy branches on the pile that was beginning to cover his ship. Why didn't I just take a freighter?

But it was not a valid question. He knew full well he had loved piloting the Mrans from the first time he'd sat behind the controls in space with the freedom of the stars in his grasp.

He'd sacrificed companionship for his freedom, however, on this journey back to Aledus. He'd hoped the solitude would help him sort out his life. Now he was more alone than he ever thought he would be--except for her.

Twittering sparrows startled him out of his thoughts as the birds rustled the branches overhead. He finished covering the ship and set out to find Michelle. As he moved through the trees and brush leafy branches and thorny vines seemed to reach out and slap him in the face. Brittle twigs snapped, and dry, dead leaves rustled on the ground. His noisy tramping through the woods sent numerous frightened animals scurrying away. Although he saw few, there were living creatures all around him, and he sensed their fear of him.

He could have reassured them, but his obsession with finding Michelle kept him moving. Only that obsession could have made him struggle so relentlessly through the thick brush of the mountain forest. He'd lost track time altogether when he finally saw an opening ahead that renewed the strength of his determination. Two tracks were etched in the dirt, a strip of green growing between them. This open path was less direct than his route through the forest, but it stretched out before him invitingly. He sensed that it twisted eventually toward the big clearing where Michelle lived. And taking the path was a lot easier.

Hankura! As Michelle awoke with his overwhelming presence in her mind; it was more real than she had ever known before. He was coming to find her just as he'd promised all those years ago.

So many times, Jerry had tried to convince her that Hankura was merely a product of her imagination! She had started to believe her brother, but Jerry was wrong . . . Hankura was real, and no one would ever convince her otherwise again. He was real, and she had to find him.

Following the tree-sheltered path deep into the woods, Michelle sensed his approach long before she caught sight of him. It was a strange feeling--a kind of magnetism that made it impossible for her to turn back. It frightened her a little.

Then images of places she had seen in their shared dreams started to unfold in her mind as the strange-familiar presence grew stronger. She saw the endless blackness of space and sensed his loneliness on the journey to Earth. She didn't know how to shut out his memories.

Michelle stopped at the edge of a small clearing. The sudden urge to turn and run almost overwhelmed her. He--Hankura was coming nearer. He was in her head stronger than ever before, and it scared her.

They saw each other almost at the same time and stood staring in awe for several moments before either moved toward the other. Her fear and awe entwine with his own and mixed with h compulsion to reach out and touch her . . .mind and body.

He was all she had expected physically--tall and well-muscled with dark hair and emerald green eyes that seemed to look right through her.

Michelle knew she was beautiful in his eyes despite the ragged overalls that clad her slim figure. His sexual attraction awakened feelings that she had suppressed for a very long time. A vision of them entwined in a sexual embrace accompanied that yearning.

Her face flushed. Michelle was shaken as she realized her vision of them together touched his mind, too. His eyes were warm, and he grinned, moving toward her with his hand extended. It was clear he meant to fulfill her sexual longings.

 "Nooo!" She backed away in unreasoning panic. She wanted him, but she was afraid to give herself into his possession despite the bond of their minds. She was afraid of the way he made her feel. He moved closer, and she turned and ran.

As Michelle ran, Hankura knew her fear, and he understood when he saw the memories flash through her mind. Taking up his pack and slinging it over one shoulder, he ran after her. He overtook her more quickly than he expected when she tripped and fell over a tree root.

 He knelt beside her and reached to comfort her, but she screamed and struck at him. Her wiry strength surprised him as he caught one driving fist and then the other. But before he realized her intention, Michelle broke free and knocked him on his back, scrambling to hold him down. In the stunned moment Hankura hesitated, she found her knife. Straddling his middle, she held the point against his Adam's apple.

Hankura met her steady gaze with a startled look. His first impulse was to bat away the knife and overpower her, but he knew that would be a mistake. Just then, she needed to feel in control of the situation, and he knew why.

Michelle, I didn't come all this way to hurt you. I'm not like those monsters who raped you, simply because I'm a man. You know me, and I know you. I'm Hankura. Remember our dreams? Remember!

She read the truth in his thoughts even though her fear from her past made her try to deny him. After all these years, he finally came back for her. She sensed that he was warm and gentle and strong; just as she always knew he would be. Now she knew beyond all doubt that he had never been a dream.

Michelle started to tremble and took the knife point away from his throat. Then she moved off him and sat back on her knees, clenching the hilt of the dagger in her fist. She saw a drop of blood where her slight pressure on the knife had caused the point to nick his flesh and regretted that she had hurt him even a little. So many emotions welled up inside her, she started to cry. She had waited so long for him, been through so much.

Hankura sat up slowly on the ground beside her and held out his hand, aching to comfort her. As she saw his outstretched hand through her tears, she looked into his face and let herself feel his warmth and compassion. Slowly, she laid down the knife. She put her hand in his and let him draw her gently into his arms and hold her close. For a time, she wept softly against his shoulder and shared her memories with him. His own eyes filled as he perceived the pain and joy and fear of her past, and he held her more tightly, softly stroking her tangled hair. Then he shared his memories with her, the story of his life so far.

When she was calmer, he reached into her mind:

Now you understand. We've been part of each other since we first touched minds as children. Our minds are in harmony because we're psi-mates. That's why we've been linked all these years.

"How can that be true? I'm not a psion." She shook her head.

But you are. That's how you knew I would come back to find you. We are two halves of a whole yet separate unto ourselves. You just need to open your mind to me to know what I'm thinking.

The gentle caress of his thoughts washed through her mind as his fingers idly strayed across her cheek in a physical caress. Men had always looked at her with lust in their eyes, but no one had ever looked at her the way he was looking at her---except in her dreams about him.

She didn't question his attraction because he had already shared a lifetime of memories with her and explained the intensity of his feelings for her in the span of a thought. He was the Aledan who had touched her mind in compassion those many years ago. She had trusted him then, and she was starting to trust him again.

I could never hurt you, Michelle. You are part of me. I want you to feel that. I want you to need me the way I need you. I want you, but I would never force you. If anyone tries to hurt you again, they will have to deal with me.  Remember those sweet dreams we shared so many times. It can be like that for us if you let it.

Her eyes widened, and she couldn't look away. She trembled with uncertainty. He reached and touched her cheek softly, his eyes promising his touch would give her that kind of pleasure if she would let him.

 You're beautiful, Michelle, and your beauty goes beyond what I can see with my eyes. When our minds touch. . ..

She drew a sharp breath as he filled her mind with the memory of one of their erotic dreams and it caused a sensual fluttering in her loins. As her breathing quickened, she looked at him with a sudden hunger that made him ache for her. Her lips parted willingly as he bent to kiss her, pulling her tightly against him. Emotions he had experienced in their shared dreams surged through him. He drew back, startled by the intensity of the torrent of unspoken passion that passed between them. He sat quietly and looked at her for a moment.

The warmth of her body pressed against him, wrapped in his arms was a balm to his soul. Her lips felt like no other lips he had ever kissed. Home was not a place or a dwelling, it was the woman in his arms. She quivered and sighed as he caressed her and their mouths stayed fused together until he broke the kiss to look at her face.

Michelle saw herself in his eyes. She read the flow of his thoughts as he studied her stunning blue eyes. Blue eyes were rare to humans except for Terrans. He admired the way her auburn hair framed her face in soft waves and shaded her eyes, making her look sultry and the way her nose turned up at the tip. He ran his fingers through her long hair with a pleased murmur, and she smiled at him. She too liked what she saw--the strong jaw line, his dark green eyes. His skin was warm, and she let her hands wander over his chest and shoulders, reassuring herself that he was real.

Hankura kissed her again, slowly savoring the feel of her lips, exploring her mouth as a prelude to the other places he wanted to explore. She pressed her body against the taut muscles of his chest, and the feel of her stoked his passion almost beyond his control. He wanted to take it slow, to savor these moments, as he had dreamed about so long, but she was too aroused and willing now that she had let go of her fear.

He could sense her desire in his mind, and it heightened his own. She pulled away, looking shy and a little nervous but inviting. He groaned and pulled her close again. With shaking fingers, he unfastened the bib of her ragged overalls and let it fall. As pulled her close for another kiss, he and she began tugging at his clothing and he started helping her.

It was impetuous for them to simply strip and copulate on the soft bed of moss under a canopy of tall green trees, but their need to mate was so urgent they could think of nothing else. Hankura’s telepathic ability told him they were completely alone in the woods. No one could bother them.

Knowing how she had been abused, tempered Hankura’s need somewhat. There were many beautiful women in his past, but none that could compare with Michelle. That she was his psi-mate may have augmented his attraction to her. Now that the was wrapped in his arms with her body against him, he realized he had been in love with her for years through the dreams they had shared.

They had shared so much more than sexual attraction. They shared their hopes and fears.

Hankura wanted Michelle to feel nothing but pleasure when they made love. Because he could read her mind, he knew exact how to please her. She liked the feel of his hands on her body and the way he kissed her and teased the inside of her mouth with his tongue. When he cupped her breasts and massaged her nipples, the sensations shot straight to her core and heightened her desire.  If he laved and sucked on them long enough, she would cum without his even penetrating her.

As he loved her with his body, he also loved her with his mind, and her love echoed back to him. He knew the exact moment she surrendered to her desire for him and silently urged him to fill her with his member. She opened her thighs for him just like in their dream, and the flower of her sex glistened with her juices. He held himself above her with the head of his cock poised at her entrance until he sensed her unspoken plea to fill her to the hilt.

 Hankura slid his cock easily into her slick tunnel as far as he could and Michelle, Chelle in his mind, gave an inarticulate shout of pleasure.  He pulled part way out and pushed in firmly as she arched her hips up to meet him.

More! More! Her mind shouted into his.  Deep and hard, fill me with your love, Hankura, my beloved. Only you have ever made me feel this good.

In her mind, he saw a vision of a fountain shooting water high into the air. As their arousal increased they were carried on that stream up into the air he knew with certainty they would climax together when they reached the summit----and they did---each time hey made love that day.

They made love many times on a bed of soft moss until they lay exhausted in each other's arms. By then the sun was starting to set. The air had grown cooler, but they hardly noticed anything except each other in the heat of their embrace. They laughed aloud together, relishing the pleasure of finally meeting.

Eventually, they got up, intending to dress. Then, suddenly they were kissing, and a new shock of awareness reverberated between them. Hankura hugged Michelle close and groaned as her nearness aroused him yet again.

There was so much he needed to tell her--things he'd kept from her when he shared his memories with her--things he wished he didn't ever have to tell her. Soon enough, she would know everything about him. Hankura didn't want to think of that just then. He only wanted to make love to her again. 

One more hour in her arms wouldn't change the future or the past . . .

CHAPTER THREE

It was dark when Michelle led Hankura from the forest and into the clearing where her cabin stood. As they walked along the path in the moonlight, Hankura sensed that Michelle was feeling hurt and angry with him now that the glow of their mating had faded some. He stopped and drew her around to face him. What is troubling you, love?

Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at him. "Why did you let Jerry die?"

He flinched as though she had struck him, and his eyes grew bright.

You didn't have the strength, She-ell. I didn't save you, you saved yourself. I just helped you find the way. To save Jerry, you would have had to give up your life force---and that may not have been enough . . .. I'd hoped you'd understand why I withdrew. I couldn't bear your pain. I would have saved him if I could, She-ell. I'm deeply sorry that I couldn't.

As she sensed how deeply the memory hurt him, Michelle put her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. Jerry wouldn't have wanted her to sacrifice her life for him, and she understood that Hankura could not have saved him. Hankura held her close and grieved with her for a man he had only known through her.

 He trembled against her, and Michelle looked up into his face. His eyes were bright with tears, and the force of her own grief was echoed back to her. Suddenly she understood how vulnerable he was to her pain. She hugged him tenderly, wanting to soothe him. After a moment, she looked up and saw the tiny wound on his throat. She touched it with her finger and concentrated on making it heal. When she took her finger away, it was gone.

Now she began to realize even more clearly the strength of the bond between them. But she wondered if that was enough for them to build a life together on Hankura's world.

Hankura sensed her doubt. How can you doubt it, She-ell?

"Oh, Hankura--I've dreamed of this moment so many times. In the worst times, I prayed for you to come. Now, I just don't see how our lives can fit together. I want you for my mate, but I just don't know how I can live on Aledus. We don't even speak the same language, except in our minds. What can I be on Aledus with just what I learned on the streets of Farringay? I don't know your customs, Hankura, I can't even read!"

Hankura framed her face in his hands and shook his head with a rueful smile. I admit that you'll be an alien there. But you have the intelligence to learn everything that you need to know. I'll teach you much of it myself. Michelle, I must go back. I promised.

"Yes, and you wish you hadn't. It worries you. Why?" she asked aloud.

He sighed and averted his gaze. My family wants me to come back. I just want to forget our bitter parting and go on with my life. Father says I don't understand why they had to send me away instead of taking me to Belderon. He wants a chance to make up for that. I don't think he can.

"But you want him to. You want him to love you and be proud of you." Michelle turned her face to kiss the palm of his hand. "I feel your need to go back, and I need to be with you. I hate this place, but I'm not sure I want to leave knowing that I may never come back."

Life for us on Aledus could be difficult, he admitted. There was more he could tell her, but maybe things had changed after twenty years. Still, worries nagged at him.

Michelle sensed his concern, but she attributed it to fears about making peace with his family. "Don't worry, Hankura. They'll be proud of you."

As she hugged him tightly, he let himself be drawn into her optimistic mood. She was scared enough by the enormity of leaving everything she had ever known. He didn't want to frighten her anymore---especially if it might be for nothing.

After a few more minutes, they started walking toward the cabin again, following the pasture fence. Michelle's big red stallion whinnied and trotted forward to greet them. She spoke to the horse in low tones and rubbed his soft muzzle.

Hankura watched curiously. Having little experience with domestic animals, he didn't quite know how to respond. He drew his understanding from Michelle's rapport with the animal and tentatively reached to pet its head. In turn, the stallion nipped playfully at his shirt.

"See? Orion likes you already."

He sort of reminds me of a Wholaskan I met on Velran. Of course, your beast doesn't have Fask's intellect. Fask was an astrophysicist, not a beast of burden.

"Fask is the one who taught you how to run your ship."

Hankura nodded. Without him, I might never have found my way here alone.

Michelle frowned as he opened his mind to let her understand the problems he'd experienced with his guidance computer and the damaged fuel crystals.

 "Where can you get new crystals?" she asked.

He put his arm around her shoulders, and they began to walk toward the cabin again. Jed Rankin said that I could buy them in Farringay if I didn't mind paying an outrageous sum. I have the credit chips. How can I get to the Starport from here?

She gasped. "No, Hankura. You can't go to Farringay. Berke is there. He is overlord. He controls most of the city and probably Rankin, too. You wouldn't be safe, there."

I'm not afraid of Redmyn Berke. I'll fight him if I have to. I need those crystals. We'll never get off this world without them. I can go for them alone if you're afraid.

"No. I am afraid, but I won't let you go alone. I know Farringay. I can help you."

Do you have transportation?

"Orion is all I have. It's three days ride---more riding double."

That will have to do.

"But you don't even know how to ride!"

Hankura shrugged. "I'll learn."

Michelle flashed him a brilliant smile that made it hard for him to breathe. They'd made love again and again, and he still wanted her. But it was far more than mere lust.

When they touched and joined as one, she gave as freely of her mind as she did her body. In passion, Michelle could touch his soul as no one else ever had. She made him feel strong and whole---at peace with his universe for a long time after those moments when she was his universe and he hers.

He sensed Michelle's embarrassment as she read his memories of their lovemaking. They gave her pleasure, yet she seemed to be uncomfortable with her own sexuality and the depth of the intimacy they shared.

Ah, Michelle. He grinned at her in the moonlight and cupped his hand to her cheek. Our mating was satisfying when we did it. There's no shame in enjoying the memory. She looked away in confusion, and he could sense her blocking his telepathy instinctively. She wasn't ready to give him access to feelings she hadn't sorted out for herself yet. He nodded in understanding. "You did promise me some food."

"Yes." She took his hand and led him into her darkened cabin. She found her way to the table and the box of matches upon it. Lighting one and touched it to a candle on the table then moved about the cabin, cupping her hand over the tiny flame while she lit the other candles. "Now, I'll build a fire in the stove to cook our food. We can make plans to go to Farringay while we are eating."

While she went about her tasks, Hankura was left to explore the three small rooms of the cabin. He knew how to reconstruct damaged organs or grow new ones from a single cell, but he knew little about cooking food in this primitive manner. There wouldn't be much use for such skills on Aledus, so he saw no reason to learn them.

To him, the dwelling was tiny and incredibly shabby, but it looked clean. Hankura thanked the Goddess he'd had his inoculation therapy before leaving Velran. Only she knew what insidious diseases this barbaric world harbored. Before leaving Earth, Michelle would have to undergo the therapy, too. He was glad it wasn't painful because, under the circumstances, he was the only one to administer it. It would be hard for him to cause her pain even in her own best interests.

Hankura shuffled around the simply furnished sitting room, and picked up various objects and examined them. Touching each one, he sensed Michelle's aura in them.

He shook his head introspectively and wondered what Casir would make of all this. Knowing Casir, he would take it all in stride---especially Michelle. A smug grin tugged at the corners of Hankura's mouth. Here was one woman Casir wouldn't be stealing from his affections as he had Jana and Delara.

He was surprised at his sudden hostility when considering that someone might try to do that. He and Michelle were bonded now, and this made him intensely possessive of her as his mate. Pity to anyone who tried to take her from him.

Michelle pushed her hair back over her tanned shoulders then carefully spread the coarse blanket on Orion's back. She settled the saddle on top of it and tightened the cinch while Hankura watched. He handed her the bridle, then held the horse's head while she slipped the metal bit into its mouth.

"It's going to take even more time than I thought to get to Farringay since you've never ridden before. You're going to be pretty sore after the first day," she said as she buckled the bridle into place.

I'll survive. His smile was wry. "She-ell---" he said the word to her again as he tried to put his thoughts into the strange words of her language. Pronouncing the words was more difficult than he expected. It would take some practice. He shook his head.

"You called me that before. My name is MI-chelle." she pronounced it slowly for him. "But you can call me Chelle if you like. It sounds nice when you say it."

She-ell is who I see when we touch. She-ell is who you were in my dreams---who you are in my heart. It means beloved or dear one in Aledan.

"How could I mind that?" She grinned. "My brother used to call me Mishy or Mish, but Chelle sounds nice. Would you mind if I called you Hank sometimes?"

"I won't mind," he said slowly. "Chelle---" His pronunciation was closer to hers, but he still had trouble focusing his mind on the words in the current Anglic dialect that he needed to express his thoughts. So, he reverted to telepathy.

Do you think I'll have trouble buying my fuel cells? I have plenty of standard credit chips. But will they demand a visa or immigration permit?

She shook her head. "I doubt it. They don't bother off-worlders unless they are merchants or they cause trouble. They won't take much notice of one stranger cashing in a few thousand chips for some Verlian crystal cells. We just have to be careful not to draw attention to ourselves while we're in Farringay. Mrans are bringing three million credits on the black market these days, and there are enough people around who wouldn't think twice about killing you for that kind of money.

You're afraid, but you still want to come to the city with me.

 "Well, I have a bad feeling about letting you go to the city alone. You don't know what it's like, and you can hardly speak English. I don't know anyone who speaks Aledan. Forget about using telepathy with anyone but me."

Hankura nodded. I'm glad you decided to come with me.

When she had finished saddling the horse, Hankura helped her hook their light packs and bedding to the saddle. He went to open the door, so Michelle could lead Orion out of the stable then gestured for her to stop. He stood poised for a moment as though he were listening.

Two men are coming in a craft---they're looking for you.

"Berke?" she asked, and Hankura shook his head. "No, he wouldn't come himself. He probably sent Bart and Mason, the bastards," she muttered.

Michelle came to his side and peered out through the crack where he held the big wooden door slightly ajar. A small hovercraft set down lightly, and Bart and Mason climbed out. They went to search the cabin first. Finding no one inside, they started for the stable. Both were armed with laser-stunners.

Without warning, Hankura gripped her shoulders and pushed her behind him. He drew out his weapon and held it poised to fire a stun beam at the two approaching men. Then, he thought better of it. As they reached the shed, he overwhelmed them with a mind barrage, and they crumpled to the ground.

"You should have killed them," Michelle murmured.

Hankura frowned at her hatred for them and he was ashamed of what he had done. If he'd used psi on anyone on Aledus, he'd be facing a nice long jail sentence. His impulsive act went against all his training in psionic ethics. But they meant to kill him for his ship and to take Michelle from him. Realizing that he really did want to kill them bothered him even more. He understood why Michelle wanted to kill them, now.

He shook his head. Killing them won't bring your brother back to life. It wouldn't change what they did to you. It would just make us more like them.

"I have been at their level all my life, Hankura. This is my world. I kill them, or they kill me. That's the way it is."

Yes, but not the way you want it. . .. We'll take their craft to Farringay. We can be back before sundown---before they ever come to and realize what we have done.

"Only if you know how to kill the homing signal. Otherwise, it will lead Berke straight to us. Can you fix it?"

Hankura nodded. I will do it while you free the horse. We won't need him anymore when we come back. One of your scavengers will find him and claim him, or he can fend for himself. He will survive.

"Leave Orion?" Her eyes filled with tears as she realized he was serious. Until then, she hadn't stopped to think that leaving Earth would mean leaving Orion behind as well. Of course, they couldn't take him to Aledus in Hankura's tiny ship. She knew that but leaving Orion hurt nonetheless.

Hankura's expression softened, and he put his arms around her. She-ell, I know how much he means to you, how important he has been to your survival here. But we can't take him. My ship will seem small for two of us. I'm sorry.

His tenderness helped as she nodded against his shoulder and sniffed back her tears. At that moment, she consciously made her decision. She pulled away slowly and turned to unsaddle and unbridle her horse for the last time. As Hankura watched for a moment, he ached for the sacrifice she was making for him, wishing he could take the pain away. Finally, he turned to the hovercraft and went about deactivating the homing signal, but he found it hard to concentrate.

Michelle lingered over her task, stroking and talking to the horse as she unburdened him. Tears slipped down her cheeks and wet his mane as she hugged his neck. Orion nickered softly and turned to nuzzle her hair. This time the tears wouldn't stop as she imagined the empty place his absence would leave in her life.

"This is it, boy. . . I'll never forget you. Go on with you, now." She slapped him on the rump and sent him running across the field toward the woods, kicking up his heels. Eventually, he slowed and turned to look back at her. Again, he nickered softly as she willed him not to come back to her. He seemed to understand and dropped his head to graze on a thick clump of grass. Michelle watched him until her tears stopped, then shuffled over to the hovercraft. Hankura had already finished dismantling the homing signal.

They climbed into the craft together, and Hankura began to study the controls. He knew how to operate such a craft, but all the controls were marked in a foreign language which neither he nor Michelle could read. However, Michelle solved the problem quite nicely. With the touch of a button, she set the craft on auto guide and voiced the necessary command. She had seen Berke do the same many times.

The craft lifted slowly into the air, pivoted forty-five degrees and shot forward. Twenty minutes later, they set down at the edge of Farringay in an abandoned warehouse.

Hankura and Michelle walked to a subway terminal where they took a tube capsule to the Starport using some of Hankura's chips to pay the fare. That took more credit chips than Michelle had seen in six months.

With luck, she might have gotten as much for selling the extra produce from her garden in the fall. Only she wouldn't be there for the harvest.

She was going to Aledus with Hankura, and they would marry according to his cultural beliefs. Michelle didn't feel marriage was necessary. They were already pair-bonded. For her, that was enough in a world where her life held little certainty from one day to the next. But being legally bonded seemed important to Hankura so she couldn't refuse him.

The purchase of the fuel cells at the Starport was uneventful. Michelle asked for the merchandise from the service counter, and Hankura paid the required number of credit chips. She was appalled at the number of chips it took for the five small crystals that were no bigger than the tip of her little finger. Hankura grinned and shrugged as he put the fuel cells in a zippered pocket of his shirt. He would have given all the chips he had to get them. They were that important.

Before leaving the Starport, Hankura also bought two coveralls for Michelle to wear on the ship. She went right into a change room and donned one of the new outfits. She shoved the ragged overalls she'd been wearing into a refuse tube and carried the second garment folded under her arm.

Hankura and Michelle took the subway back to the area where they had left the hovercraft. Not long after they left the subway, Hankura began to sense that they were being watched. As he let his mind drift, he learned that Berke's men were indeed watching them.

They were still a hundred meters from the hovercraft. He hoped they could make it there before any of Berke's thugs could catch them. Maybe he and Michelle could hole up until dark and leave the city then.

This section of the city was mostly rubble of ancient buildings. The streets were strewn with rubbish and human wastes, and they were infested with rats and roaches. Even the destruction caused by the Procyon Wars could rid the world of vermin.

A hundred meters from the warehouse, Berke's men began trailing them from a hovercraft. It landed nearby as they fled into an alley for shelter.

Two men climbed out of the craft and followed them on foot, firing laser blasts after them. It looked as if Hankura and Michelle would escape until she fell over a pile of rusting metal. Hankura turned to defend them while she scrambled to her feet.

One man fell to the Aledan's mind barrage, but the other the other was a Tregan---immune to such a tactics. In the split second, it took Hankura to realize this and draw his laser, a searing beam hit him in the left ribs below the heart. His shot went wild as he fell, and Michelle screamed.

The Tregan flicked a switch on his weapon and leveled it at Michelle. She gasped as the blast stunned her, and she crumpled to the ground beside Hankura.

Copyright © 2018 by Christine Myers

Buy   AMAZON 

SMASHWORDS

GOOGLEPLAY